It wasn't laziness ..... really

[Jack Stanley]

Yesterday I really wanted to go out back and do some shooting . However with the snow knee deep I was likely to freeze these old fat legs getting out there . So , rather than do it the hard way by shoveling , I fired up the Deere and moved the snow around with that . It was one of those days that four wheel drive would have been a big help but I did get it done enough that I was able to walk out there without wading through the snow ;)

Fired a hundred fifty rounds through the little Browning using the six point six grain load of Blue Dot . The hundred fifteen grain cast slug worked well no leading and left a little grease ring at the muzzle . Still , the powder was slow enough that I was seeing flakes on the snow in front of the firing point . Probably not anything to be concerned of , the load seems accurate enough for practical use . I think I'll try a slightly larger slug , these were .311" coming out of the Star die . As cast they aren't much bigger , but I think I'll try touching them in a .312" die and see how that does . I'll get this 32-20 runnin' just you wait an' see .

Jack

[NHlever]

I tried to put gas checks on the last batch of Lyman 311316 bullets that I cast from my mystery alloy mixed with lead. Those, some Saeco 180 gr. FP's, and some Lyman 257420's all came out fat, and so the 311316's were more like .315......... just what you need. I had bought one box of around 40# of ingots that looked like they had a lot of tin in them....... very shiny, a little light, etc. I've tried to identify what it might be, and the specific gravity pointed to something like 50/50 lead / tin, but I'm beginning to think it might be linotype or something similar. Boolits cast from it straight are quite light, and the sprue is very brittle....... more than I remember linotype being when it was easy to get around here.. Oh well, it's all part of the fun, and learning, but I sure have quite a pile of boolits with shanks too large for some of the gas checks I have.
That Browning of yours sounds like a nice gun! I came close to buying one of those recently, but I just couldn't see the sights well enough to justify the price they were asking. Maybe I'll come across a Marlin CL, or something.

[Jack Stanley]

I've though about getting an older lyman or Redfield sight , something you would expect to see on an original Winchester fifty-three . I just haven't got to looking as of yet :oops:The rifle is really nice and I do OK with it out to about forty or fifty yards . I know a scope would be easier to hit with but I'm not drilling this for a scope , not real hot on the idea of a reciever sight either but not sure there .

Right now the only mold I have for the rifle is the H&G . Maybe something else will come along that would work better .

If Savage would make a nice little bolt action for rounds like the 32-20 and 218 Bee I bet they'd sell more than a few . After all they made an action for the 22 Hornet and put the accutrigger thing on it . To me it looks like half the battle is done , all they need is to fit a magazine and chamber it in 32-20 and I'll buy one or two .

Jack

[NHlever]

Yes, Ruger could easily do it with their centerfire 77/22 also. It would require a new magazine, and a different size recess on the bolt face, but that is no problem.

[Jack Stanley]

Yes , they could very easily , but my experience with them is that they are not likely to do very much past what they might think of , let alone what a customer might want . They are selling stuff probably as well as Savage is so it's a safe bet that nobody is gonna make a strong little bolt action for a cartridge that was declared dead forty years ago .

I had a 77/22 many years ago , and other that it's irritating trait of not ejecting fired cases more than half the time it was a neat rifle . I would have kept the Savage model 23C I had but it was worn out when I got it . This is a real odd position to be in I would gladly buy some of the rifles that were made in the decade I was born but the collectors won't let them out of their sight for less than all the gold in Ft. Knox . And the gun makers won't make anything like them again .

I just love the Browning fifty-three , it just doesn't like my old eyes very much so I just enjoy what I can of it . Having a nice little bolt rifle or falling block single shot that would take a scope would be great but if they don't show up I suppose I'll get along .


.................. Or I could start pestering the Zombie for how-to get the job done :p

Jack