Tuesday at the range a week ago, and other goings on.

[Buckshot]

.............Two weeks ago for the Burrito Match EL Pistolero decided we should shoot scoped 22 rimfires off the bench for group. I bring this up to get to my main thought, and that is that the 22 rimfire rifle just has to be the most aggravating, and at the same time the most gratifying mechanism man has created. At least until we started sealing magical electronics in black epoxy filled boxes and loading the automobile up with them.

I had mentioned maybe a month ago or so that I had bought a new (no box) Remington model 581 bolt action 22 rifle. I'd already had a Rem M582 which is the same rifle, just a tube fed version. At the time I took it to the range with about 5 different types of 22 RF ammo to start checking it out to see what it might like. I was glad to see that it did well with Win Dyna Points which all my other 22's shoot well too.

However it shot some PMC Scoremaster like it was high dollar Eley ammo. The rifle carries a Bushnell Banner 4X with kind of heavy crosshairs, so it's no target scope but will suffice for ground squirrels and such. In any event it put 10 rounds of the PMC standard velocity ammo into a group you could cover with a dime at 50 yards, and no leakers.

After that range session I apparently made a big boo-boo. I cleaned it! I'm not a big one for scrubbing a rifle barrel if it doesn't lead. I will run an oiled patch through if I think it'll be stored for some time. However in this case I didn't know when it'd been cleaned last, or how long it had set before I got it. I did use a bristle brush and patches. Then oiled it and put it away.

So just a couple weeks later it's decided to shoot scoped benchrest 22 RF. I figured, heck I'll use the new rifle. I ran a dry patch through the bore and went to the range. I ALWAYS have a brick of Dyna Points in my range box, but took a box of the PMC Scoremaster and a box of Wolf Match Extra. I figured I'd use the PMC stuff for the match as it had done so well previously.

Got a target out at 50 and then fired 10 rounds into the berm. My 1st round in practice was a but high just out of the 10 ring. The next was in the X, and I thought okay now we'll get down to it. The next shot was an inch below the X ring so I had 3 rounds in 1.5". Not so very shiney :-( . Suffice to say the other 7 rounds impacted vertically for maybe a 2" group. ZOUNDS! Did someone swap rifles with me?

Another 10 rounds wasn't much better. In desperation I fired 10 of the Wolf into the berm and then fired 10 into the target. It was MUCH better but not as good as the PMC had been several weeks ago, and the Dyna Points would even have done better. Another 10 of the Wolf and it had improved again a bit. So do I shoot 10 more of the PMC away, leaving me with just the 10 for the match, or stick with the Wolf? I decided to stick with the Wolf and the heck with it.

After we ate lunch it was time for the match. One of the other Tuesday regulars (not a Burrtio match guy) decided he'd shoot with us since we were shooting off the bench with scopes, and he had something to compete with. Otherwise he thinks we're nuts shooting offhand over iron sights. So he dropped his dollar in the pot and sat down with a Remington M513T with a 18X Unertl scope.

Glen was shooting a Winchester M75 with a 24X Unertl, and El Pistolero was shooting a Winchester M52 with some kinda scope I don't recall. And here I am with a 581 sporter and a clunky 4X scope. And I won. I thought I'd get creamed but it seemed the other guys all had a spot of bad luck. Both Glen and the new guy dropping one way low and I guess El Pistolero just used something his Winchester didn't care for.

So I learned a lesson here. If your 22 is shooting really good, for Gods sake doen't do something stupid like clean it [smilie=b:

Another 22 oddity is a Ruger MkII 678 pistol which is a good one and nicely accurate. It shoots most ammo well but really likes Win Dyna Points which is good because my other 22's do also. For squirrel hunting I like Remigton Vipers in the 582. I REALLY like CCI Stingers but I won't pay the freight they get for them these days. The Vipers are fast and have that flat nose and the TC nose shape. They seem to do a good job, and while not target grade they'll reliably hit in the head to 50 yards if I can hold it there.

Many moons ago I figured to try the Ruger pistol out with them. It started out rather poor and degenerated rapidly from that point. I gave up after 50 rounds hoping for an improvement. When at home I went to check out the barrel and I could see there was a major leading problem. In fact it was so bad I couldn't use a brush on the rod. I had to literally DRIVE the bare ended cleaning rod through the bore with a brass hammer!

My 22 rifles shoot the Vipers (to varying degrees) without leading at all. The Ruger pistol shoots well with several brands of ammo but the Vipers will have the bore bushed down to 14 caliber in no time. The 581 shoots the 60gr SSS Super Snipers very well ( -1" @ 50 yrds) and the 582 sprays them with wild abandon. Ah the 22 RF. Ya gotta love'em :drinks:

I was doing some cleaning up in the shop as I have 22' of reloading bench and workbench, but couldn't find a clear horizontal surface big enough to set down a coffee cup. Somehow of the other that transitioned into doing some brass tidying up. I like to keep dedicated batches for each rifle so I only have to necksize, and there's less trimming to do, and I'd almost rather wash dishes then trim brass. I hadn't done this in quite some time. I found stuff ready to be primed and primed stuff that needed the casemouths flared. Then some that hadn't been tumbled so the tumbler was going with a full load of assorted brass.

Then I spied the 60 rounds of 577-450 I'd loaded up and shot for Winnemucca '05. They'd been tumbled but nothing else. I kinda hated to mess with them because the CH-4D dies I have want to size the casenecks back to hold a .459" slug and the Martini wants a .472". I'd cut off a Lee 458 Win Mag size die to run half the caseneck up into for sizing, and there were cobbled up means of casemouth flaring and seating. It was just a hatefull PITA overall, but better then nothing:-). I decided NOW was the time to fix that sitch-iashun.

I'd just gotten a set of ER40 spring collets so this would also give me a chance to play with those too! So I got a 1" collet (the CH-4D Martini dies are 1" unlike the Lee 1.25" dies) and set it up in the lathe with the die and a carbide insert boring bar in the toolpost. I found the surface and dialed in for a .005" cut to start and hit the power feed. The boring bar slowly dissappeared into the die and then all of a sudden it went, SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH! And then it stopped as the bar ran past the neak area. I reversed the feed and ran it back out letting it take a spring cut, which it did with a faint hiss. After making a finish cut I took the die out and was happy to see a very nice smooth bore.

I know the die was hardened. I don't know what that screeching was all about but now the die sizes the caseneck to a nice .470" ID. It was so nice I left the setup the way it was and put in the seater die. I made 2 passes on it and it now has .005" clearance all around after seating a .472" slug in the caseneck. I'm all happy now beacuse I can use the 3 die set the way it's supposed ot be used without a bunch of cobbled up odds and ends.

The shop is still kind of a wreak, but I CAN set a coffee cup down in a couple spots!

...................Buckshot

[Bret4207]

Glad to see the "Tuesday" serial continue Buck. I know what you mean about 22's or CF for that matter. Sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone rather than risk screwing the stew up with a "clean" barrel. I've spoken before about my '93 Mauser 7x57 with the rough barrel. If I remember to run a a patch with frog snot on it down the barrel prior to shooting it will stay ok for quite sometime. I don't know if it's the solvent in the liquid alox softening up the old stuff or the fresh snot filling the pits, (my pet theory), but it helps.

You do of course realize you've jinxed any hope of winning the next Burrito Match now, don't you?

[JDL]

Yes'ir .22s can be hair-pullers sometime! I've found the Dynapoints to be very good in a couple of mine, a Marlin 39A in particular. Problem is I can't seem to find them anymore :-(. Same story with the PMC Target ammo. All my .22s perfer it, with the exception of the above mentioned 39A. Should've bought more when the getting was good. -JDL

[XBT]

My dad had a Winchester tube feed standing behind the kitchen door when I was a kid, which I carried and shot a lot. I don’t know the model number; it was just a tube feed bolt action. All these years later I was in a pawnshop one day looking at a Krag when the clerk asked, “ya got any grandkids?” and handed me a Rem. M-582. The gun looked good except that the trigger was stuck rearward, and would not move. I told the clerk and he said, “ I’ll have our gunsmith look at it”. As I was handling the rifle I remembered all the fun I had with the old Winchester at home. The price on it was around eighty dollars as I remember, and I finally told him I would buy it “as-is” for twenty-five bucks. The deal was made and I took it and the Krag home.

When I took it apart I found the trigger group had some sort of hard stuff in it, it looked almost like someone had put Elmers glue in it. It cleaned off easy and when back together the gun shot fine, with a good trigger pull.

It turned out to be one of my favorite guns, and I shoot it a lot. Last winter when I was bored I stripped the shiny finish off the stock, and after a light walnut stain, I gave it an oil finish. It looks better now.

The M-582 was inexpensive gun when built, and probably won’t impress your friends much when they see it, but they are reliable and accurate.

My grandkids will have to wait until I’m gone before they get this one.

[9.3X62AL]

Rick will likely tune in here over the next day or so to detail the Burrito Shoot from 10/03/06, but I'll read ahead and mention that I used the 109-year-old Win '73 to campaign with this week.

Before and after the match, I fired some boolits sent my way by W30WCF for the 44-40, consisting of two variants of #427098 (one from the 1950's, another more recent) and the RCBS Cowboy boolit in 44 caliber. All were sized at .429", which matches the grooves in the bore's indifferent surface. I also had some loads using boolits that Buckshot gave me some time ago, a 200 grain RFN with two narrow lube grooves. All loads used RL-7 powder at 100% loading density-plus, which is supposed to duplicate black powder pressures and ballistics safely in the old '73s and provide support for the boolit--just like the column of black powder in the case was supposed to do "back in the day". These powder weights varied from 22.0 to 24.0 grains--the lighter weight for the 217 grain Lymans, the heavier weight for the lighter Buckshot critters.

Short answer--on paper, the Lymans shot some of the best groups that rifle ever fired, and the RCBS was almost as good. The RCBS would occasionally have a lapse, though--1 out of every 7-8 rounds would REALLY go galley-west, cartwheeling with a definite WHIRRRRR downrange and striking several furlongs away from the intended target. The Buckshot Coffee Can Specials shot about like the rifle usually did--2.5"-3.0" at 50 yards.

What's it all mean......I dunno. Boolits with wider drive bands and more lube capacity seem to do better work in this rifle, and #427098 has definite possibilities. I just got a SAECO mold for the caliber, #446 (200 grain FN) that has all the things that seem to work in the rifle--wide drive bands, single generous lube groove, and a decent crimp groove to stabilize the boolits in the weak case mouths without having to rely on the powder column to support the boolit against magazine spring tension while feeding. #427098 lacks that last element.

We'll see what happens with the SAECOs.

[Buckshot]

...............XBT, I bought my M582 the day before I got married. Dec 12th 1975 and I paid $89 full retail for it at a sporting goods store. My mom got all over me saying that I couldn't do stuff like that anymore because I was getting married :-) Well heck, why did she think I did it anyway? I KNEW how it was gonna be after getting hitched!

However don't think the 540 and 580 series Remington 22's were cheap. They were a class of rifle in a program Remington was going to institute into 'families'. The Rem 788 was the centerfire version and if you'll notice, the 540/580 series bears a more then passing resemblance to it, incliding the 6 lug rear lockup.

Remington used this same action for the 540X, 540T, 540S, 580 (smoothbore), 581, 582, 591 & 592. The later 2 were for the 5mm Rem mag rimfire. We all know now that the 5mm wasn't a success, although a fine cartridge. Maybe it just wasn't the right time for it? Due to folks owning the 5mm version and the latter unavailability of ammo for it, a couple people developed a centerfire modification, and it naturally used the same action.

Not being an engineer, I'll go out on a limb and say I believe the action is sufficient to contain the 22 Hornet.

In any event, the action is highly prized these days with many died in the wool RF shooters will rebarrel them with expensive match barrels. Some will also thread the reciever for the barrels (although Anschutz uses pinned barrels) and further modify them to take 2 action screws instead of the factory one action screw.

................Buckshot

[XBT]

Buckshot,
I never noticed before but it does look a lot like a 788. Neither are much to look at but both shoot very well. My Dad claimed the reason Remington discontinued the 788 was because it would often outshoot the M-700’s and that was an embarrassment to them. :)

I liked the first 582 so well that when I saw another a year or two later I bought it too, although I had to pay a bit more than $25.00 for the second one.

Thanks for the information, now that I know others like them also I’ll be a bit more proud of mine.

[9.3X62AL]

I've had some truly golden fortune with 22 rifles this past year. I bought a Rem 581 (detachable magazine under receiver version of the 788 look-alike) from the same source as Rick's rifle, and it is a real shooter. I also rolled the bones on a rather ratty 10-22 that I bought as a platform to attach aftermarket parts to.....and the factory barrel shot well enough to drive that aftermarket parts nonsense right out of my head. For that alone--this has been a very good year, and the 75 bucks I dropped on the 10-22 might be the best accuracy/dollar spent investment I've made in a long time.

[redneckdan]

question #1,
where is this burrito match held at? I'm looking at a possible co/op this spring out in utah, which will end about mid june. I want to rent a car afterward and go see some of the west.

question #2
is there any noticible improvement to a rimfire match rifle by installing a second action screw? the rifle in question would be a mossy 144lsb.

[ammohead]

[QUOTE=redneckdan;110158]question #1,
where is this burrito match held at? I'm looking at a possible co/op this spring out in utah, which will end about mid june. I want to rent a car afterward and go see some of the west.

Dan,

Utah is a bit of a drive to Redlands CA. But if you are in Utah the weekend before Memorial weekend, it is a lot shorter drive to Winnemucca NV for NCBS 2007. A finer shooting event to attend for a Cast Boolits member has never been assembled. And being from MI you would definately be the fareasterner so far. Winnemucca is about 3 hrs from the UT/NV border at Wendover on Interstate 80. Check it out on a road atlas and make plans to be there. It would be great to welcome another member to Nevada.

ammohead

[Buckshot]

question #1,
where is this burrito match held at? I'm looking at a possible co/op this spring out in utah, which will end about mid june. I want to rent a car afterward and go see some of the west.

As Ammohead mentioned, we're way down in So. California. However we'd love to have ya if you did get by.

question #2
is there any noticible improvement to a rimfire match rifle by installing a second action screw? the rifle in question would be a mossy 144lsb.

A lot of 22RF's are held in the stock by one screw that is useually somewhat centrally located but biased toward the action. My Remington 582 is tube fed. About 1" in front of the action is a block that's dovetailed into the underside of the barrel. It has a hole in it so the tube magazine may pass through and on the underside a tapped hole for the screw that comes up through the stock to hold the stock and barreled action together.

The issue with this is that tightening that screw can cause the barreled action to bow. It's not going to bow a great deal naturally but it only takes a very few thousandths here, to make a BIG difference out there. By adding a 2nd back at the rear of the action (and moving the front one into a D&T'd hole in the reciever ring) you can do like a 'Big' rifle. That is, actually bed the action and float the barrel.

................Buckshot