A day at the Range.

[W.R.Buchanan]

So yesterday I got a chance to go shoot some of my new loads and some factory loads. These were mostly shot in my Browning A5 with Hastings Rifled Barrel with Open Rifle Sights at 50 yards..

First on the list was my newly concocted load using the Lyman 525 Slug in Green Remington STS Hulls. These had 18 gr of Green Dot with a WAA12 Clone Wad, and a .125 Nitro Card under the slug, and then Fold Crimped closed.

The first three shots were good and grouped at 1x1.25 about 1.5" to the right of POA. Then I shot two more which went stupid. Attachment 271798

I think that was due to the way I was holding the gun on the rest. I should have been holding it with my support hand on the fore end instead of on the buttstock. But still the first three shots were acceptable and especially with Open Sights.

The second group was only 3 shots and they were acceptable and in the same position relative to the POA.
Attachment 271799

I feel with a little more work I can make these Lyman Slugs really shoot well from the A5 Rifled barrel, which has not been the case in the past or with Smoothbores. I managed to find some of the wads and they all had nice engraving on the petals but the Gas Seals were cocked to one side on all but one which collapsed perfectly. Don't know if that indicates anything, but that's what I saw.

Then I just had to fire 3 Lightfield Slugs and 3 Brenneke's. The Lightfield's Hurt! and they were low end Lightfield's !

They grouped well but cut ragged holes in the targets which weren't supported very well as my target boards are in need of replacement.
Attachment 271800

The Brenneke's were all over the place which is not at all what I expected. They were easy to pick out on the targets though, and you can see the Splines on the holes of the Brenneke Shots. These sucked from the rifled barrel so they will be relegated to Smoothbore HD use if we go to Urban War.
Attachment 271801

The last loads I shot were 10 Lyman Slugs that were loaded into some Federal Blue Hulls and roll crimped closed. I knew these wouldn't fly in the A5 so I shot them at a root growing out of the 100 yard berm off hand from my 18" M500 HD gun. This gun has the 18.5" Vang Comped Barrel with Rifle Sights which Mossberg claims to never have produced? Everything shot to POA!

I duly impressed bystanders by hitting very close to the root 6/10 and was within 1 foot for the other 4 shots.
In other worlds a man sized target would have been 10/10!

So anyway that's what I did yesterday.

Randy

[dverna]

Well done Randy!

[tomme boy]

LOL! Those Lightfields are wick ed!!!! Try the 3" ones. The biggest thing I found in shooting them was ME flinching after the first shot. I knew what was coming.

[megasupermagnum]

Mossberg has made all kinds of barrels over the years. It is a shame all the shotgun manufacturers have more or less settled on 3-4 basic options, and everything else is custom. Mossberg used to offer barrels of all chokes, plain or vent rib, C-Lect adjustable choke, 18.5", 20", 22" 24" 25" 26" 28", 30", 32", even 38", some open sight, some folding sight, some ported, most not. They used to make all kinds of stuff. Now a days It's pretty much 18.5" plain, 28" vent rib with choke tubes, and a 24" slug barrel. So boring. They wont even sell the 20" 590 barrels. It is a real shame too, as while the 500 with the 28" barrel (really closer to 27 3/8") is ok, The 500 is really great with a 30" or even 32" barrel, likely because the receiver is shorter than many other shotguns.

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK: yesterday I revisited the Lyman Slugs drove up to the range in my Jeep and was surprised that there was no one there. 2PM Sunday aFternoon and it was nice weather. Couldn't believe I had the whole place to my self.

I had 15 rounds to shoot, so I attached 4 targets to my newly rebuilt target stand and fired away. the first 5 shot groups looked like About 6" ! So I just blasted the last 5 rounds offhand at distant targets none of which I hit.

I couldn't explain this as previous groups had showed some promise. I looked down the barrel and it appeared clean with no powder flakes or anything. So I packed up and drove home.

I hadn't done a deep clean on that gun since coming back from Front Sight so I pulled a Bore Snake thru it a couple of times and reoiled the bolt and barrel slideways.

Then just for giggles I ran a cleaning rod with a paper towel patch thru it,,, It came out black! WTH? This barrel looks clean and shiny with a bright light in it so I figured it was clean.

45 minutes and alot of "amazement induced" profanity later, I finally got some clean patches out of it. I used every kind of Bore Cleaner, Plastic Remover, Kroil, Ballistol, Brake Cleaner, and anything else I could find that smelled like it would clean. I scrubbed it with a Bronze Bore Brush, for 5 minutes and then patched it and then had to do it again cuz the patches were filthy. Did that 3 times! The brush really showed where the fouling was, and it as all powder and plastic fouling.

Eventually I got some clean ones thru it, and I have to say I couldn't really tell the difference in the way it looked before and after, which is probably why I hadn't cleaned that barrel with more than a bore snake before.

Gosh,,, I wonder if that's why it wouldn't shoot?

So now to load up some more slugs and reshoot those targets.

The Ojai Valley Gun Club Range is a 600 acre Ex Navy Seal Training Facility located about 15 miles north of Ojai CA, off Hwy 33, in the Los Padres National Forrest.

It was the first time ever that I had the whole place to myself. It is pretty creepy feeling when no one is there.

I'll try again soon.

Randy

[Ford SD]

for shot gun .. plastic use Ed's Red with acetone

I keep a bottle of Ed's Red .... no acetone for everyday cleaning ....

I even used on the rusty hinges on the cargo trailer ... rusty bolts on the car ...etc

[megasupermagnum]

I've had a few people bring me a gun that looks like it had been put up wet when granddad last hunted back in 1952. My cheat is a steel rod I threaded on one end for the shotgun bore brushes. I then chuck that rod in a drill, and work that back and forth slowly. That makes a tough job a lot easier. I've never had to use anything besides Hoppes #9 with that yet.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Yeah, this is a Pristine Hastings Rifled Barrel and it ain't gonna get the Drill Treatment. Smoothbore Barrels are another story and I use the drill motor on them lots of times, and sometimes with a Flex Hone if the bore requires it. But using the drill motor with a brush on that rifled barrel would eventually knock all the nice sharp edges off the lands in the rifling essentially killing a $500 barrel

This time I was blown away at how long it took to scrub the plastic out of that barrel. I just won't let it get that dirty again.

What exactly is the formula for "Ed's Red?"

Randy

[megasupermagnum]

Whoops, I thought this was a smooth bore.

[longbow]

Not sure if you guys know about Castpics but lots of good info there.

http://castpics.net/dpl/index.php
http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/default.html

Some seems to work and some not but this is working - Ed's Red:

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/HowTo/Ed.pdf

[Ford SD]

Yeah, this is a Pristine Hastings Rifled Barrel and it ain't gonna get the Drill Treatment. Smoothbore Barrels are another story and I use the drill motor on them lots of times, and sometimes with a Flex Hone if the bore requires it. But using the drill motor with a brush on that rifled barrel would eventually knock all the nice sharp edges off the lands in the rifling essentially killing a $500 barrel

This time I was blown away at how long it took to scrub the plastic out of that barrel. I just won't let it get that dirty again.

What exactly is the formula for "Ed's Red?"

Randy

I have saved old Glass Hopps bottles for storeing ed's red

https://www.vkhgc.ca/documents/Ed%20gun%20cleaner.pdf

short form
Ed's Red Bore Cleaner
1 part Dexron ATF, GM Spec. D-20265 or later.

1 part Kerosene - deodorized, K1

1 part Aliphatic Mineral Spirits
CAS #64741-49-9, or substitute "Stoddard Solvent", CAS #8052-41-3, or equivalent.

1 part Acetone, CAS #67-64-1.


(Optional 1 lb. of Lanolin, Anhydrous, USP per gallon, or OK to substitute Lanolin, Modified, Topical Lubricant, from the drug store)

MIXING INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix outdoors, in good ventilation. Use a clean 1 gallon metal, chemical-resistant, heavy gage PET or PVC plastic container. NFPA approved plastic gasoline storage containers are OK. Do NOT use HDPE, which is permeable, because the acetone will slowly evaporate. Acetone in ER will attack HDPE over time, causing the container to collapse, making a heck of a mess!

Add the ATF first. Use the empty container to measure the otherainer to measure the other components, so that it is thoroughly rinsed. If you incorporate the lanolin into the mixture, melt this carefully in a double boiler, taking precautions against fire. Pour the melted lanolin it into a larger container, rinsing the lanolin container with the bore cleaner mix, and stirring until it is all dissolved. I recommend diverting up to 4 ozs. per quart of the 50-50 ATF/kerosene mix to use as "ER-compatible" gun oil. This can be done without impairing the effectiveness of the remaining mix.

For more info, and there "is" more info, see source below:

Source:http://castbulletassoc.org/blog/arti...-red-revisited

[W.R.Buchanan]

Thanks for the recipe I just happen to have most all of it, so I'll make some tomorrow and try it on a couple of barrels that I know are plastic fouled.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

I cast up 120 Lee Slugs yesterday and I'm headed back down to do a bunch of buckshot pellets right now. that should keep my in projectiles for some time. I already have 100+ Lyman Slugs from my Mihec Mould. It makes such good boolits!!!!.

I have to load the Lyman Slugs into the STS hulls for another go at Grouping them. Going to use a different powder charge this time. and also going to shoot some in the M500 with Rifled Barrel.

Randy