Paper patched GEW 88??

[mikeym1a]

Called my clinic this afternoon to see if they could look at my knee. They are supposed to have x-ray capability there. It's now 1642, and so far no response. If I don't hear from them by 5, I'll hobble around and try a bit more casting. As slow as I'm moving, it'll take me an hour to get everything set up! I've found that if I bend forward at the waist at about a 45degree angle, and keep my knees slightly bent, I can motivate with relative ease and only minor discomfort. Can't do that for long, as the arthritis in my lower back starts to complain after a while. It likes me to stand straight. Oh, well, shuffling on......

[Cosmiceyes]

My Grandmother had her knees replaced,and two weeks later broke up with her boyfriend for not taking her dancing! 's

[mikeym1a]

I called the clinic yesterday about 2, and asked to see someone about my leg. They said they would call back. If they haven't called back by 5pm today, I'm off at 7am tomorrow to go to the emergency room. The knee itself is still sore, but now I have a knot in the middle of my calf. That worries me. AND it RAINED AGAIN last night. I would put up with the pain to go shooting if it was dry, but, as this is a 'primitive' range, I'm not gonna battle mud with a bad leg. POOH!!!!!!!!! Oh, well. I've looked at some other old guns here, and might be able to shoot them with the boolits I've been making. Looking forward to trying.

[barrabruce]

Stop belly acheing and shoot out the ute window like a real man!!!

A computer stool to scoot around helps with out weight bearing.

[mikeym1a]

Stop belly acheing and shoot out the ute window like a real man!!!

A computer stool to scoot around helps with out weight bearing.

I could shoot out of the truck window, but I'd still have to slog through the mud to set up and retrieve targets!!! X-rays done late this afternoon. See the doctor early tomorrow morning. It rained on the way back from the x-ray. But, the weatherman did say a low front was supposed to move in, pushing this wet weather off the coast. I hope so. I'm starting to mildew!

[mikeym1a]

Well, I'm up early (0633) to get ready to go to see the Dr. Felt really cool when I got up. The A/C was off all night, and I was really hot when I went to bed, so I checked the temp. It's 54.5degrees outside, and the humidity has fallen from 75% to 65%. As it was in the 80's for the last week, a drop to 54 is quite noticeable. Now, if the sun will only shine, I'll be much happier! The weatherman got it right. The low front out of canada got here! Here's hoping that it brings a bit dryer weather. Now, to see if the Dr can fix my knee. Moving around a bit, but still very weak and sore.

[barrabruce]

Don't they have road sings over there???
People use them here for load development it seems, as the splattering's are pretty scary if that's the best they can shoot.

Well the road sign target practice has dwindled down a lot over the years ......guess they gave up and bought a bow 'n arrow or took up something else .... thank god!!!
Don't half make you be ashamed of being a shooter having to look at the lousy groups these people shoot!!!

Barra

[mikeym1a]

Yeah, they do, but I can't take them home to brag with, they won't fit in the car!!! Dr says no fractures, so it's soft tissue damage. It'll take a while to heal. Haven't used the crutches at all today. Son is off tomorrow, maybe he'll go with me when I go shooting. Weather cool, and clear and SUN SHINEY!!!! Perfect shooting weather. Looking forward to tomorrow.

[mikeym1a]

No shooting today. Reality got in the way. But hopefully tomorrow. Loaded up some rounds for the good '88, and chambered one, just for fit. the patch showed where it rubbed against the throat. Guess I got it mostly right! Here's hopes for tomorrow!

[mikeym1a]

Boolits all loaded. Portable bench ready for breakdown. target frames ready for assembly. Now hoping for good weather, and no interruptions. It'll be interesting to see how well these 2 120yr old guns shoot. If I did my part right, the one should do pretty well. The other? The rifling is more a suggestion than a reality. We'll see.
cheers!!!

[mikeym1a]

Was able to shoot today, and I was terribly disappointed. I used to be a good shot. Of the 50 rounds fired, only 3 were on the target, and they were on the wrong one! I had 3 pistol targets set up about a foot apart, at about 120 ft. I was having trouble focusing, brought the wrong sunglasses. The rest fired at the targets went over the targets, even when I aimed 6 inches low. At 75 & 100 yds, I was able to ring the silhouette with fair regularity. They were several misses, but most I called. Would the sights on these old guns cause them to shoot that high at that short range? It was fun to shoot them. Just got my bore scope in, gotta install the software, and then examine the bore of these 2 old guns. At lest every round went off when I pulled the trigger, ejected cases looked normal, the push on the shoulder felt good. Disappointed in self, but had fun anyway.

[Cosmiceyes]

I could shoot out of the truck window, but I'd still have to slog through the mud to set up and retrieve targets!!! X-rays done late this afternoon. See the doctor early tomorrow morning. It rained on the way back from the x-ray. But, the weatherman did say a low front was supposed to move in, pushing this wet weather off the coast. I hope so. I'm starting to mildew!

Do it like a "man"! Go out there,drink a six pack,drive to where you want to shoot,and drop the empties out the window. Drive back over to where you can shoot out of the window,and start on the second six pack so you have new targets when you shoot up the old ones.By the time you finish the second six pack you'll probably just take a pain free nap. After the several hour nap,and so you don't miss dinner pick up all the empties,and go home.No pain ,and a smile on you face from can hunting.
Sad thing I have actually met idiots that really do that kind of everything in life.My Brother drank himself to death last year.

On the next subject I am building a 30-40 US Krag carbine. I will be experimenting with it too. I posted a question in the mold area for suggestions. I have dropped 20 ponds,and my knees hurt less. I have a long way to go yet on the weight loss. But the energy level is going up to! Glasses are a pain in the @$$. They aggravate the .....out of me. Glad to see you getting around. Might I suggest bright blue for target's bulls? It really enhances the sights. Bless you! 's

[mikeym1a]

Blue target bulls, Huh?? okay, I'll give that a try. I took the wrong sunglasses. My old ones do a better job blocking UV, which gives me headaches, and I wasn't thinking when I left the house. After I switched from the old sunglasses to the new clear glasses, I could focus much better. I was very surprised that I was able to hit anything with the one old gun. As I said, the rifling was sooooo faint, that I didn't think I would even get close. But, at 75yds, I hit the man torso silhouette 7 out of 10 times, and the misses were called. Some of my cartridges did not want to chamber. The paper jackets must have not been tight. they crumpled and stopped the chambering. I'll have to work on that. It was fun, though. Next time, I'll go back in the middle of the week, and I'll have the range to myself. Quite a few other shooters there. Found lots of usable brass. About 20 LC .308, about 60 30-30, some .45acp, and there were lots of .223 on the ground, not to mention the 9mm, 10mm, and a bunch of .357's. I'm amazed by people who buy and shoot and leave the empties lying. Next time, I'll see if I can mine the berm. Oh, and I need to remember to take my old straw hat. Keeps the sun out of the eyes, and helps prevent overheating, which happened today. CHEERS!!

[Cosmiceyes]

Here's what they look like. 's

[mikeym1a]

I should not have gone shooting. It seems that I have a pulled muscle in my calf, and the walking I did at the range aggravated the injury. Doctor says all ligaments and tendons appear to be in the right place, but they have many knots in the muscles. So, I 'm on light duty for 6 weeks, while this heals, and I have to schedule an ultrasound of my calf to make sure that I do not have a blood clot. Pooh. I'll try and do more shooting, anyway. I'll just have to take a helper to do all the legwork, and shoot from a seated position. The bore on the one gun looks nice and smooth. The other seems to be showing more rifling than before. Got a lot of black out of the bore when I cleaned it. Curious things, these guns.

[Dan Cash]

Guys, it surely would be nice to get back on the topic. I appreciate the vicissitudes of old age, being on in years my self, but don't destroy this conversation on the old 88 with it.

[Cosmiceyes]

mikeym1a Hurry back. I don't care what you write about as you try to develop your loads. You may not always be able to achieve much due to pain,but that just gives me the ability to pray for you as is Christian of me! 's

[mikeym1a]

Thank you. My loads started out with a load of red dot, as listed in the lyman manual, for proof testing. Both old guns performed well. Then I tried a load of 4198, which was also agreeable to the guns. At that point, I moved to a load of 38grs of 4064, which should have given an MV of 2200fps. The Spandau, which had the better rifling, absorbed this load with no problems, as it did a load of 38grs of 4895, which should have given a similar velocity. UNFORTUNATELY, my eyes and the old sights on this gun did not agree. I kept overshooting the targets. I only got hits when I was shooting at the 100yr silhouette targets. With the Steyr model, at 75yds I got hits on the silhouette, with the occasional overshoot. I could tell by the dust from the berm behind the target. Now that I know both of these guns will fire and not blow up, it will be to develop loads that they like. The Spandau is the one with the upgrades. The Steyr has never been modified. After shooting the Steyr, I have been cleaning it and keep getting black crud out of the barrel, and the rifling appears more pronounced. I guess shooting it has done it some good. I could barely see the rifling before, and now it is very visible. The last three cleanings have each produced lost of black crud. It is sitting now with Hoppes #9 in the bore. Later today, it will get another cleaning with a good bore brush, and many swabs. It might turn out to have a usable barrel after all. Now back to the vissitudes of old age. As stated previously, I hurt my knee. After it started feeling was when I went shooting these two guns. What I did was to aggravate the injury, which has all but incapacitate me. Two nights ago, I ended up in the VA ER due to the pain in the leg. The Dr told me I had been a bad boy and figuratively smacked my hand. When I complained about the pain in the center of the calf, he ordered an ultrasound of the calf. I spent about 6hrs there yesterday. The ultrasound showed a blood clot in the calf. I was immediately put on injectable blood thinner, and on oral blood thinner. That won't slow me down too much, but, he also said to stay off the leg and let the pulled muscle heal, 6 to 12 weeks. I'll find a way around that, but not until I get this blood clot addressed. When my time comes, I'll be ready, but I'm not ready, just yet. Too much shooting to do. AND, it's raining, AGAIN!!! )$)&$)@)#&)@!&#%)*!!! Oh, I got a new barrel for my Siamese Mauser. The original one is ringed about 5in from the muzzle. The new one is really nice looking. Can't wait to try out some paper patched boolits in it!!! Cheers!!!

[Cosmiceyes]

Wow! Three different guns to play with. While your sitting around do a lot of internet research! It's relaxing as long as it technical! Are there 4 wheel drive wheel chairs? I might need one myself! 's

[mikeym1a]

This 'primitive' range is serviced by 'primitive' roads. The electric chair would need TRACKS! I guess an SUV with very high ground clearance would make it, but, it's not for the faint of heart. You really have to want to shoot to go there. I hoping to go next Thursday or Friday, if I can convince my son to accompany me. (it's nice to have young back and knees to do the heavy lifting!) And, if the weather permits. Not gonna go in the rain and mud. I'm not one of those 'mud boggers'. It's my second day on the blood thinners, and my leg is feeling better. The torn muscles, not so much. But if son goes along, I can take a 'T' stool to sit on while I shoot, and he checks targets. Thanks!