Gun Show

[MGySgt]

About 8 months ago I was at a Gun Show and picked up a Lyman 31141 (170Gr GC HP) mould with handles. The guy wanted a ridiculous low price for it and I was not going to leave it there for that price. He wanted more for a Lee DC!

I borrowed my son's H&R 30/30 (about 25 years old I bought it when he was 8 or 9) and cast some up just to see if they would shoot.

Shouldn't have done that - I have been looking for a 30/30 since then. Wanted a new NEF or a Rem 788.

Went to a show this weekend, 2 788's but one was in 222 and the other one was a 243. Lots of Marlin and Win 30/30's but I wanted the bolt or single shot.

I did wind up buying a NEF in SS in .223. Brought it home mounted a Simons 4X12 on it, cleaned it and then took it down back with some of the crappy re-manufactured 223 I have that my AR-15 doesn't like at all (Jams).

Zerroed the scope and moved it to 100. Most groups were in the 2 -4 range, good trigger for an NEF. Came back up to the house and ate lunch and cleaned it again. Took it back down to the range with some Black Hills 50 grainers. Well the last 6 shots - 4 were about an inch group and 2 others (left of the group) were almost touching - I had to mount the scope high due to the hammer and I have to watch the Tilt of the rifle. Would have been an outstanding group for this little rifle IF I could just shoot!

Now comes the next phase of this project:

Extra Barrels.

One will be a 30/30 for the 31141 HP mould.

But what about:

35 Whelen? - always wanted one of those.
7MM/08? - good cartridge for the Grand Kids later on.
22 Hornet?
30/06?

Decisions - Decisions - Decisions

Sorry but this 223 will not see cast! The 44, 45 and 476 boolits give me enough trouble casting with out going to those little suckers!

Drew

[moodyholler]

There is one of those little rifles floating around here in Whelen with a box of shells. Someone buys it, shoots it one time, and sells it. It has had 5-6 owners in 10 years. I have heard it kicks real hard. FWIW, moodyholler

[MGySgt]

Moodyholler - I had an idea that they might be a hard kicker in the NEF configuration. I have seen a lot of different ones at gun shows in 30/06, 270, etc, they had lamenated stocks and fairly thick barrels which caused them to be HEAVY. The only reason I can see for them to be heavy is to reduce recoil.

Thanks for confirming what I already thought. Even their 20 ga shots guns have a little more kick then you would think a 20 would kick.

Drew

[NVcurmudgeon]

There is one of those little rifles floating around here in Whelen with a box of shells. Someone buys it, shoots it one time, and sells it. It has had 5-6 owners in 10 years. I have heard it kicks real hard. FWIW, moodyholler

Sounds like one of those .44 Magnum stories that used to make the rounds. Apparently there were a lot of S&W M29s around that could be had cheap, including a box of factory ammo with six rounds fired.

[ebner glocken]

Several years ago I worked at a factory (around 1500 employed). Most of the shooters there had their "big gun" for whitetail. Someone there bought this ruger .338 win mag for deer, I watched this bastard child trade hands there 5x, this gun kicking the crap out of all who had it. By the time someone tried to sell it to me it had 3 boxes of shells with it of different bullet weights and 3-5 rounds out of them a piece and the price was hard to refuse to say the least. Thats been around 6 years ago and that ruger has kept a happy home with me ever since.

[onceabull]

ebner G. If that Ruger is a bolt gun,it's a mate for my #1 elk rifle.No boolits though , as I'm still shooting from the boxes of Federal Nosler Partition 250's that came with the rifle !! Suspect the same motivation that led to your acquiring that one. :roll: Onceabull

[Single Shot]

When you order your barrels, get the hammer extension and you can lower your scope.

I just bought a bull barrel .223 NIB and it was missing the extension. I called NEF and they sent one out NC

And I already had a mould for it.
5312

[MGySgt]

Single Shot - it has the hammer extension already. When I mounted the scope it came down hard on the hammer you could not move it! I have a Leopold 2X7 that I will probably wind up puting on it. I used the Simmons 4X12 just to wring all the scope accuracy out of it I could.

Still thinking of the 35 Whelen though - maybe just maybe!

Drew

[Mk42gunner]

NEF/ H&R have a one and a half pound weight they put in the hard kickers stockbolt hole. Unfortunately this ruins the balance of the piece.

I have one of the N*** turkey guns in 12 Ga 3 1/2". With the weight it wieghed 7 lbs. It was still to light for the payload; the balance was horrendus. The muzzle whipped skyward so fast it was like taking a stiff left hook on the jaw. Without the weight it is 5 1/2 lbs and makes a dandy squirrel gun with 2 3/4" field loads.

I also have one of the older H&R's in 30-30, it is comfortable to shoot if you can kep the transfer bar from breaking. After shooting a 9 1/2 lb 35 Whelen quite a bit; I would not want any part of a factory eqivelent load in a light H&R.

Robert

[725]

Just a thought or two for you NEF guys. I put lower scope mounts on all of mine and even for some of the guys around here, and then after attaching the hammer extension, I grind the hammer and extention unit down to clear the scope. A little blueing and it an easier shooter to use. I hate high mounted scopes and this process only takes a few minutes. Judgement is required to decide how much metal to remove. I love those little NEF's, but don't mind altering them to suit my working style. If it was a Win 70, I wouldn't be so eager to grind away. Also, for the heavy recoilers, I shove a merc recoil dampener in the through bolt hole which makes even the painful ones purr like a kitten. Helps offset the heavy barrels for a better balanced rifle, too.