I finally got to the range yesterday!
It was a great day; about 75 degrees and no wind. I brought 6 rifles and a handgun with me and got to shoot 4 of the rifles and the revolver. 2 of the rifles were Handi's, my 45-120 and the new to me 38-55.
Time is getting short, deer season opens the 17
th, and I didn't have one rifle ready to go.
So, contrary to my normal quest for maximum accuracy, I decided that minute of deer @100 yds would be acceptable accuracy at this point.
During the monsoons we just had here I had cleaned all the weapons and loaded ammo in anticipation of a range trip. For the 45-120 I had loaded 6 rounds with charges heavier then the 1900 + fps load that shot so well before. But for some reason I didn't load any of the "known to be accurate" stuff!
Don't ask me why...
It took two of the 6 loaded rounds for the rifle to foul and settle in, remember I also did a lot of stock switching during the rainy season, so I shot the last group with a charge of 5744 that was 2 grains heavier then the old load. About a 2 inch group.
Not great accuracy, but I made a sight adjustment and said good enough.
If I get a chance next week I'll load some more and try again. But, where I'm hunting this year, 100 yards would be a
very long shot so MOA accuracy isn't that critical.
Next up was the 38-55 TC I bought from Steelbanger. (I hope you are reading this Frank!) Remember, I bought it just for the wood and action, planning on selling the barrel. But I didn't. So I bought some hard cast .380 dia., 260 gr. FNGC bullets, had some .379 dia., 265 gr. jacketed bullets made, reamed the chamber, mounted my old Weaver K 2.5 on the rifle and loaded up some ammo!
The sequence went: 1 shot at 25 yds - sight adjust, 1 shot at 50 yds - sight adjust, shoot groups at 100 yards with the cast gas checked bullets to fire form brass. 28 gr. of 3031 gave good groups, not great, but acceptable under my new criteria. BTW, the only rifle I have shot with lighter recoil is my '73 in 45 Colt! And the TC really acted like she wanted to shoot!
So I tried the 3 jacketed bullets I had loaded over 30 gr. of 3031. It was a somewhat arbitrary selection of powder and charge, and I wasn't expecting to much.
But those bullets dropped into a group of something that appears to be just over 1.25 inch!
I'll measure it tonight. I was a
very happy camper! And with that big point of soft lead for a nose, the bullet should kill as well as it shoots!
The other two rifles were lever guns so I'll post about them in that forum. Hi-ebber! And day always be a hi-ebber!
I still have my 7x57 with it's new and shortened thumbhole stock and the new to me 25-06 to try! I call the 25-06 my 3in1 gun because the action, stock and barrel all came from different people! I just hope the weather holds this next week so I can see if it will put 3 bullets in one hole!
