BruceB
04-22-2009, 07:52 PM
Some months back I was seriously smitten by a former-military No. 1 Mk III which appeared on Auction Arms. There were no bids, and it disappeared before I could put one in. It showed-up again a few weeks ago, and this time I made no mistake.
To see my "new" 1914 sporter , go to www.auctionarms.com and search for 9059436. You'll see what attracted me! I think the conversion was done here in the USA fairly-recently, but it was accomplished by someone with a lot of taste, talent, and a feel for British sporters and their styling.
The bore of the original 1914 barrel came up brilliantly shiny after a rather rigorous cleaning. What had seemed to be dark grooves cleaned right up. Very little copper fouling was apparent, and I suspect that it was recently cleaned with an electronic cleaning method. Most old miltary rifles do NOT clean -up like this one did.
On Monday, I fired 120 rounds of NVCurmudgeon's fine 314299s, urged along by 2400 in amounts from 10 grains to 21 grains in lots of ten rounds at each charge weight, one-grain increments. The bead front sight gave me fits in the bright sunlight until I blackened it with a felt marker. Groups were uniformly under 2"/10 rounds from 50 yards, and along about the 18-grain mark some tighter grouping became apparent, with seven or eight rounds under the 1.5" mark. Speeds ran from 1290 (10 grains) to 1780 (21 grains) with decent extreme spreads and SDs ....no filler was used.
I've been resisting the purchase of a 314299 mould so far, but I might have to break down. First, I have a bunch of other designs and powders to try, and I'm really looking forward to the project. I'll post results as they become available. Some members here have already handled and fired the rifle, and seemed to appreciate it. I know I do!
To see my "new" 1914 sporter , go to www.auctionarms.com and search for 9059436. You'll see what attracted me! I think the conversion was done here in the USA fairly-recently, but it was accomplished by someone with a lot of taste, talent, and a feel for British sporters and their styling.
The bore of the original 1914 barrel came up brilliantly shiny after a rather rigorous cleaning. What had seemed to be dark grooves cleaned right up. Very little copper fouling was apparent, and I suspect that it was recently cleaned with an electronic cleaning method. Most old miltary rifles do NOT clean -up like this one did.
On Monday, I fired 120 rounds of NVCurmudgeon's fine 314299s, urged along by 2400 in amounts from 10 grains to 21 grains in lots of ten rounds at each charge weight, one-grain increments. The bead front sight gave me fits in the bright sunlight until I blackened it with a felt marker. Groups were uniformly under 2"/10 rounds from 50 yards, and along about the 18-grain mark some tighter grouping became apparent, with seven or eight rounds under the 1.5" mark. Speeds ran from 1290 (10 grains) to 1780 (21 grains) with decent extreme spreads and SDs ....no filler was used.
I've been resisting the purchase of a 314299 mould so far, but I might have to break down. First, I have a bunch of other designs and powders to try, and I'm really looking forward to the project. I'll post results as they become available. Some members here have already handled and fired the rifle, and seemed to appreciate it. I know I do!