2010 Range Report

The Final Shoot of 2011

2011-12-26T17:44:00.002-05:00

(L-R) SKS Model M, Yugo SKS, Henry AR-7

My Yugo SKS with TechSIGHTS installed. I centered the rear sight, then used a sight adjustment tool to sight the rifle in using the front sight post.

Dirk's SKS Model M

Dirk Files shooting his Model M SKS. I covet this SKS with it's short barrel and removable magazine.

Adjusting elevation on my Henry .44 magnum's Skinner sights. Simply loosen the Allen screw on the right and rotate the sight to raise it up or down. I set the peep sight half way up before beginning to sight in the rifle.

Tapping the front sight to correct windage. I had to file about 1/8" off the top of the front sight to bring my shot up about a foot. Brass is soft and easy to work.

Henry AR-7 .22LR. Once again the AR shot without a single jam. It continues to be 100% jam free.

Dirk with his SKS

VIDEOS TO COME

.357 Magnum

2011-10-17T20:56:00.000-04:00

I think this was taken in the spring. Shooting a .357 Magnum with some hot loads courtesy of Dirk Files. The best part is Lucy's reaction at the very end :)

My sister at the range

2011-08-21T20:49:00.001-04:00

I honestly never thought I'd ever see my sister holding a gun, never mind looking like she's having fun shooting it. I told you you'd like it! I wish I could have gone shooting with her, but she lives on the other side of the country. I'm proud of you Claudia! Now I need to buy you an NRA membership.

Field testing some new 'ears'

2011-08-20T21:27:00.001-04:00

In upcoming weeks I'll be testing a pair of Pro Tekt 300 NRR 26 - Black Behind the Head 'ears' by ProEars. I never liked the fact that when I have my ears on, something as simple as taking a hat off or putting it on becomes an issue. If I'm on the firing line, I usually have to leave my position or risk hearing damage, having only my plugs for protection. With the behind the head model of ProEars, the headset is held together by wires that drop slightly below the unit and wrap around the backside of the head, freeing up the top of your head. I'm sure there are various types of hats (ie: cowboy-type) that simply cannot be worn with standard muffs. I just took this quick mugshot to prove that you can with this set.

This is what I was looking for when I tested Pro-Hears. I quickly discovered that this device was not designed to protect a shooter from the degree of harmful noise that is encountered on a shooting range. ProHear (not ProEars) is for hunting, when a shooter is standing behind a single gun and not beside ARs and .44 magnums.

I'm sure this Pro 300 unit should do the trick. It has both the hearing protection and amplification that I'm currently getting from the ProEars set that I've used for years, plus it has the behind-the-head setup that makes them more versatile. It also allows for double-plugging, which is a necessity on a shooting range if anything bigger than a 22LR is being fired. The amplification really is helpful on the range when I'm double-plugged, allowing me to hear through the plugs at a near normal volume. This is extremely important when someone is in training. The student must hear the instructor and the range officer, and this type of ear protection and amplification should get the job done. I expect to hit the range once more before small game season opens September 1st. I'll give you a full report on how well they work. Check back next weekend. Here's contact info on the company:

Altus Brands, 484 W Welch Ct, Traverse City, MI 49686 E-mail customerservice@altusbrands.com http://www.proears.com/

Henry Lever Action Octagon Frontier Model 50 and 100 yard test

2011-06-18T18:28:00.012-04:00

From the bench.
First row of targets is at 50 yards. The one in back is at 100.

Today I tested out my Henry .22LR setup for the current woodchuck and September squirrel hunting season. I recently mounted a Cabela's 'Caliber Specific' scope (3-9 x 40) on the 22 and shot it at both 50 and 100 yards. This sight is fairly inexpensive, going for around $99 and when on sale, as low as $49. I paid $69. The scope has a bullet-drop reticle that I wanted to test. The upper cross-hair is used for 50 yards, the one below for 75 and the lower for 100.

The ammo I tested was Aguila SuperExtra high velocity 38g hollow points and Federal high velocity 36g hollow points. Why did I chose these two brands to test? Simply because it's what I had on hand. Aguila is my favorite round, and the Federals were picked up in a 525 round value pack at Walmart for around $17. My plan was to just fire off a lot of rounds at two distances to see what kind of group I get, and to test how well the bullet-drop recticle was calibrated.

First let me say that I was very pleased with the scope. I first sighted it in at 50 yards, then brought the target out to 100 and aimed at the lower crosshair. It really works. As you can see, the group was quite accurately raised so the bullets were encircling the bullseye. I will actually feel confident taking a crack at a chuck at 100 yards and little guesswork will be involved in the shot.

Aguila SuperExtra at 50 yards

Federal Hollow Points at 50 yards

Aguila (left) vs Federal (right) at 100 yds

Which brand worked best? It's obvious that the Aguila shot best at 50 yards, but when shooting out to 100, it seemed to even out a bit. The Aguila still gave me better group than the Federal, but not by much. Since most of my squirrel shots are taken at 50 yards, I'll be sticking with the Aguila. My next test will be with CCI, since so many in the Henry facebook group swear by them.

Dirk Files shooting his AR .223
Thanks for the use of your club's range.

Lucy Leta Bessette shooting a 22LR target rifle

Nice shooting Lucy!

Shooting at the range with Dirk and Lucy

2011-05-28T15:17:00.009-04:00

Turned the camera on for a minute while I unloaded the Henry into a squirrel target.

Dirk Files

Lucy Leta Bessette

Lucy's 100 yd target w/ iron sights

Me and my Henry .44 Magnum

Dirk invited me to shoot at his range today, so I brought my Henry .44 Magnum while just about everyone else was shooting an AR. I did notice that one guy at the very end of the range had a Sharps. Very cool! I'd like to get my hands on one of those some day. I believe Lucy and Dirk both shot .223's and Dirk also had his .22LR AR. Lucy was shooting at 100 yards and claimed to have shot her best target ever with iron sights. Excellent, considering I'm lucky to be able to see that far. I usually set up at 50. With cowboy-type sights the front sight totally covers a paper plate at 50 yards. If I were to shoot at 100, I'd need to sight-in the rifle so the very top of the front sight lands at the bottom or in the center of the bullseye. Maybe some day I'll make that switch, but not today. Today's shoot was just to plink and have fun, not to test ammo and loads. Instead, I filled up a .223 military ammo can to the top with .44 Magnum and went to town. My plan was to free up a bunch of brass so I can start precision loading .44 magnum, and very precisely check the loads so the next time my daughter joins me at the range, she doesn't get any surprises.

Thanks again Dirk for the use of the range and the good company. Have a great weekend, but don't forget that there's a lot of guys who won't be able to spent today or any day at a picnic. They have families that will be alone. It's a good time to say, "Thank you", to cut their grass or to do them some act of kindness.

My daughter's first shoot

2011-05-14T20:16:00.012-04:00

Up until last week my 21 year old daughter and her friends showed zero interest in my love of firearms, hunting or shooting, and in fact, it had become a joke in my house that dad's become a gun nut. I said "until last week". Friday my daughter (a 3rd year college student) contacted me and said that she and her long time friend were interested in looking into getting handgun permits. As you can guess, I was eager to give them the opportunity to give shooting a try, especially since I have gained so much enjoyment from it over the years, and I feel so strongly about the vital importance of the Second Amendment.

Sorry I couldn't get all the guns in this photo

I immediately contacted my buddy Dirk and asked him if I could bring the girls to his gun club in the next week or two. He responded with a big 'Yes' and within a week we were all at the range. When I bought my first handgun, my handgun experience and knowledge was extremely limited and I mistakenly took the advice of a salesman at a local gun shop. "The most popular concealed carry gun is a S&W Airweight .38 Special with 2" barrel." Little did I know that the little gun was a beast in disguise, and recoiled so hard that at times my fingers would be skinned and bleeding after shooting 100 rounds or so at the range. I didn't want these girls to make the same mistake as I did.

(L-R) My daughter Erin and Sarah

They sure can't say they didn't have a selection to chose from. We provided them with everything from a .22LR revolver to a .357 magnum, including revolvers, pistols, a .380, a couple .38 Specials, a 17HMR single action Ruger and others. They also had hundreds of rounds at their disposal, including all the purchased and hand loaded ammo that they could shoot. We laid it all out for them. Now they would soon discover if they liked shooting or not. I think the video says it all. The next time out, they get to shoot centerfire Henry rifles, ARs, an SKS and whatever else we can pull together.

I froze a bullet in flight!

Check out this single frame that I froze from one of the videos I filmed today. Going through the clip frame by frame, the highlight to the right of the barrel only appears in this single frame. It's the bullet leaving the barrel! The tiny highlight almost touching the barrel is in all the frames, but the highlight to the right of that appears only in this frame and is in alignment with the barrel prior to recoil.

Erin and Sarah modeling Maximumeyewear.com goggles.

I didn't have the girls shoot with these goggles on because I picked them up to wear over my prescription glasses. As you can see in my videos, I wear the pair Erin has on all the time and Sarah's goggles just arrived. I plan to use those for reloading, but since they look a lot better on them than on me, I asked them to do some modeling.

Thanks Dirk for the use of the range and a heck of a lot of guns!

It actually shoots straight!

2011-04-23T13:58:00.008-04:00

I wish I could say it was a beautiful Spring morning, but the truth is that it was pouring and cold. Dirk invited me to shoot at his range today, so there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to shoot with a friend, especially considering that my SP101 .357 Magnum was just returned from Ruger. I couldn't wait to see if they actually fixed it. If you've been following my blogs you know that this Ruger has been a headache since day one. I bought it used from a gunshop, and it has always shot low and to the left. I did everything to resolve the problem on my own. I checked Internet bulletin boards (and discovered that this is a common problem). Experimented with various loads and primers, had the front sight cut down and brought it to the gunshop of purchase for a test firing. None of these things worked. Bulletin boards consistently blamed the problem on the shooter. Since my hands had been resting on my range box and I was shooting single action, I couldn't see that as being a possibility. I finally decided to give Ruger a call. Ruger said that they stand behind their guns and agreed to pay for the repair and to ship it both ways. The guy I spoke to said that I'd have it back in 1 week. It actually took closer to six, but that's because they decided to change out the barrel and the plant no longer keeps replacements in stock. I guess like most companies, they are trying to reduce inventory to keep overhead down. That really didn't matter. I was just happy that my prodigal revolver had finally returned home.

It was incredibly frustrating spending time and money reloading hundreds of rounds, just to throw them away due to worthless test results resulting from a defective gun. If this Ruger finally works, I can actually begin to differentiate the effectiveness of one load against the next.

I set the target out at 25', which is where the first line of frame-holders are located. I rested my hand on the rangebox and fired. The first round was a bullseye! Yes!! The next few rounds were a bit off target, though I was still hitting the plate. Was the bullseye a fluke or was I screwing up? I moved box aside and took a relaxed but firm grip on the revolver. I slowly squeezed the trigger, fired, and I was in the orange again... and again! The Ruger was finally fixed, and you can see by my targets which bullet/powder combination shot the best. Targets 1-4 were set out at 25 feet and 6-8 at 50 feet. I was very pleased with the Hornady lead bullet / Unique Powder combination. My loads were near starting to intermediate. Dirk believes that grouping may be even better with a hotter load, so that's what I'll be working on for the next shoot.

A note to all you SP101 owners that have been told that the problem with your gun lies with you. I suggest that if you have tried everything else, you might very well have a defective barrel. I suggest giving Ruger a call to discuss it with them. The people there are very helpful and pleasant and you might finally get the Ruger you had hoped for. The SP101 is obviously a good shooter. If yours isn't, give Ruger a call.

Targets are posted on the .357 Magnum Reloading page CLICK HERE. Note the Maximum Eyeware goggles. Don't shoot without them, especially test loads.

Thanks Ruger!

2011-04-19T16:03:00.003-04:00

I'm happy to report that Ruger has repaired and returned my SP101 .357 Mag. today and did it all free of charge. Ruger said that they stand behind their product, and it looks like they did. I'm also pleased to mention that it was the gun and not me to blame for it shooting so poorly. Ruger replaced the barrel and the front sight (which is at least 1/8" lower than the previous). They also adjusted the front latch, cleaned & oiled the gun, then gave it a safety function check and test fired it, all free of charge, including shipping both ways. Also were included a new box and manual. Thanks Ruger.

The repair time was around 5 weeks instead of the estimated one week due to the fact that Ruger no longer stocks barrels in inventory and must order them. I'm guessing it's a cost saving measure. Most companies are keeping their inventories to a minimum.

Saturday Dirk and I will be shooting at his club and I'll let you know how it performs. Wish me luck!

Shooting at the East Windor Sportsman's Club

2011-04-09T22:00:00.029-04:00

Today was an absolutely perfect Spring morning, and Dirk invited me to shoot at his gun club today. I brought a Yugo SKS and a Henry .357 Magnum rifle, and Dirk was shooting a Winchester '94 30-30, and testing some 7.62 x 39 ammo that he loaded for his AR. My objective was to test two loads, and to once again test the TechSIGHTS on the Yugo SKS to see if removing and remounting the sight during cleaning threw the sight out of alignment. This was a problem I've had with all previous sight systems that weren't screwed to the receiver. All tests were shot at 50 yards.

DIRK FILES

BOB RICH (shooting goggles by Maximum Eyewear)

Hornady bullet tests
The two loads tested were:
Hornady 140g Cowboy w/4g Unique (left target)
Hornady 158g SWC/HP w/3.5g Unique (right target)

I was extremely pleased with the results of the 140g Cowboy (see video). The Hollow Point Semi-Wadcutter shot fine as well, but not quite as good as the Cowboy. I'm guessing it had to do with the extra 18 grains of bullet weight since the powder charge was almost the same in both cartridges (about .3g above the starting load). I'll do more tests of the SWC this Spring, testing it with various powders and working up hotter loads, which could improve accuracy. This is a very reasonably priced quality lead hollow point bullet which I believe would do an excellent job on any coyote. Note that the cowboy cartridges were loaded with the Lee Auto-Disk, proving that the unit charges cases at a consistent rate.

TechSIGHTS
The sights on the SKS were right on, which proves that removing and remounting the sight does not throw off the adjustment. The replacement front sight post really does improve accuracy, and the TechSIGHT makes target acquisition a breeze.

Gun cleaning with Dunk-Kit
The only thing that I dislike about shooting the SKS is cleaning it. Cleaning the Henry and the SKS took about an hour, but then I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to cleaning the SKS. Some say that as long as the barrel and piston are cleaned, the gun can be put in the case. I guess it's the way my brother taught me to clean my (his) rifle and shotgun when I was a kid that makes me feel unsettled if I go to bed without my guns being totally cleaned. This is where Dunk-Kit makes life easier. Being able to disassemble the firearm and throw the parts into a 5 gal. bucket of solvent really speeds up the process.

I throw all the small parts into the bucket, including firing pin, piston, trigger assembly and barrel, letting it soak for a couple of hours. Then I pull the parts, turn the barrel around and soak the receiver end. This is where Dunk-Kit is really nice. I run a wire brush through the barrel while it's sitting in the bucket, then do the same with a patch. Instead of changing a patch 10 times, I use just one, washing it over and over in the bucket. I do this until the patch comes out the blue/green color of the solvent. Then it's only a matter of lightly scrubbing the piston with a brush, drying the parts off and hitting it with a light coat of oil.

Thanks again Dirk for the use of your club's range today.

Twist Rates of Henry Rifles

2011-03-26T22:19:00.002-04:00

.22LR ROT = 1/16
.22MAG ROT = 1/9
.17HMR ROT = 1/9
.44MAG ROT = 1/38
.45C ROT = 1/38
.357 ROT = 1/38
.3030 ROT = 1/12

SP101 Update and Ruger's Response

2011-03-15T20:01:00.001-04:00

I sent Ruger an email via their website the other day and the following day I received a call from the company. We've been playing phone tag, but we finally talked today. Ruger is paying overnight shipping both ways and will repair the revolver without charge. Donald from Ruger said that they stand behind their products. I'll be shipping the gun through my local gunshop and they expect the turn-around to be about one week. I'll let you know how it works out. Let's hope the gun shoots straight so I can proceed with ammo testing.

Fun at the range and continued problems with the Ruger SP101

2011-03-12T15:18:00.011-05:00

Lucy Leta shooting a S&W .357 Mag. with a near max. load

This morning was spent at the range shooting with my friends Dirk, his girlfriend Lucy, my work associate Bill and his grandson Keagan. This was Keagan's first shoot, so it's always a pleasure to introduce a new person to the sport, especially a youngster.

My Henry .22 octagon began misfiring during my last trip to the range. Henry had sent me a new receiver cover since I trashed the original while hunting, and replacing it appears to have created a headspace issue. I sent the company an email and they immediately responded by sending a pre-paid shipping label which I received in three days. I was amazed that the rifle was repaired and returned in less than a week!

Last weekend I picked up a Cabela's scope designed for .22 cal., which I installed and sighted in with my LaserLyte green laser earlier in the week. Today I set the target out 50 yards and within a half box of ammo I was consistently hitting the area of a dime, sometimes hitting the same hole. I wish I could say the same of my Ruger SP101 .357 magnum revolver.

If you read this blog you know that I've tried everything to get this handgun to shoot decently. I've created numerous custom loads, had my gunshop test it at their range, and also had my gunsmith cut down the front site. I also asked my friends to shoot the gun to verify the problem. I was able to correct the elevation issue (that's simple), but the terrible groups and the fact that it shoots to the left has not been corrected, and the fact that it's not me was verified by the gunshop and my friends at the range. Dirk's S&W .357 Magnum was grouping within a couple inches at 25 yards. I was 6" left and all over the paper at 25 feet!

My friends have been saying from day one that I should send the gun back to Ruger. It can be such a hassle and expense to ship a handgun that I decided to try to resolve the problem locally. So far that has failed, so today I sent Ruger an email. I'm hoping that they cover the price of shipping the gun, plus repairs. I'll let you know what happens.

Below are movies I shot today, including us shooting the S&W .357 Magnum.

HOW I CLEAN MY GUNS

In my opinion the only bad part about a day at the range is having to clean the guns when we get home. Some people don't seem to care much about it, but I can't sleep unless my guns have been cleaned and put away. Maybe that's from my military background or from what my brother taught me way back when I was 12. Whatever the reason, cleaning is a lot of work and is time consuming. Everybody has their own method, but as I was cleaning my guns tonight I thought you might like to know my procedure.

If I'm cleaning a rimfire rifle, I'll usually just run a bore snake through and hit the exterior with WD40, then wipe it dry. I use RemOil in the barrel and on the inside of the gun.

For a centerfire rifle, I run a rod with a couple of patches through the barrel after running a brass brush through 30 times. I dip the patches in my bucket of Universal Dunk-kit and when it becomes dirty, simple wash the patch off in the bucket of Dunk-Kit and repeat till it's clean. Using the Dunk-Kit means that I only use 1 patch instead of a dozen. I then run a dry patch through followed by a patch soaked in RemOil. I oil the exterior with WD-40 and wipe dry.

Handguns are another story. They are much more difficult to clean, especially a revolver. A six shot revolver is like cleaning 7 guns because each cylinder must be cleaned like a miniature barrel. This is when Universal Dunk-Kit is a real timesaver.

1. Remove the grips and drop the entire revolver in the barrel, letting it soak for an hour.

2. Scrub each cylinder and the barrel out 30 times with a brass brush.

3. Next dip the revolver in the bucket a few times to wash it out. I then put a patch on a rod and run it through the cylinders and barrel, sometimes while the gun remains submerged in the solvent. Do the same with a wire brush. Squeeze the trigger a half dozen times to clean out the action.

4. Hang the guns on a nail to drip dry (see photo).

5. Soak a patch with Hoppe's Copper Solvent and cover the gun with it. Then let it sit for a few hours or overnight.

6. Wash out the gun in the Dunk-Kit bucket, hang up to dry, then totally dry with rags and patches. Oil the barrel and cylinders with RemOil. I don't use WD-40 on defensive handguns that remain loaded because penetrating oil could work its way into the primers and powder and could neutralize your ammo.

7. Rub the front of the cylinder with a Burchwood/Casey Lead Remover cloth. It will almost miraculously take off the black lead film that nothing else will touch, and will almost no effort.

8. Next I put the grips on and rub the gun with a silicone cloth. It is amazing how these cloths bring the metal and wood to life.

"I'd like to return these targets please. They seem to have holes in them."

2011-02-14T19:29:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is .357 Magnum day at the range

I worked this weekend so they're giving me tomorrow off, which I'll be spending at the range (a Valentine present from my wife). It figures that today was in the 50's (almost a record!) and tomorrow the temperature will plummet back into the low 20's. Oh well, I'll dress warm and have fun anyway. I'll be testing out some new ammo, including .44 and .357 mags. reloaded using the Consistent Crimp unit. Check back in a day or two for the story.

THE SHOOT

Today was both good and bad. The .357 magnum handgun ammo worked great, as well as the modified front sight on the Ruger SP101. Still shooting to the left though. It was so cold that I had to cut the shoot short when my fingers became so cold that I could no longer load the cylinders. It was so cold that I never got around to bringing out the .357 Magnum Henry, but instead I continued to shoot the revolver. Most of the afternoon was in the low 20's, but the wind factor made it feel below zero.

Blue Trail Range increased their price AGAIN, and now they are $30 for the day on weekdays and $30 for the first hour on weekends. That's too much as far as I'm concerned, and may be enough to motivate me to join a gun club. You'd think they'd smarten up when they see most of their range is empty. This is not going to help bring new shooters into the sport.

Grinding down the SP101 front sight

2011-01-08T19:46:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday I put at least 100 rounds through this Ruger SP101, and it's still shooting about 3" low and somewhat to the left. Today I brought the gun to the dealer where I bought it used, and one of the employees took it into their range and put 20 rounds through it at 25'. He had the same result. I discussed the problem with him and he said he would send the gun back to Ruger, but he doubted they would do much since it was what they consider an acceptable deviation. I decided not to send it back, and instead, on the way home I took it to my gunsmith. Windage is fixed in these guns, and both the store and gunsmith agreed that the barrel was straight. It's likely that the rear sight was notched a bit to the left, causing the problem. I noticed that the orange paint on the front sight didn't go all the way to the top to the sight. I began to think that maybe the previous owner had the same problem, and was aiming at the top of his paint instead of at the top of the sight.

At the gunsmith and asked if someone could grind down the front sight to just under half its current height. He said it wouldn't be a problem, took the revolver in the shop, ground it down and blued it. And he only charged me $5.00! Thanks John at Jo Jo's GunWorks. You guys are the best. I think it's now perfect. If I find that it isn't, John said he could easily replace the front sight and grind the new one down until it's right on. I don't think that will be necessary because this should do the trick. I'll test it next time I'm at the range and let you know how I made out. This is a common Ruger SP101 problem, so I hope this post helps someone out. If you have any questions, feel free to post to 'Comments' and I'll get back to you.

APRIL 13 UPDATE
Ruger paid to ship the revolver back to the factory and they are paying for the repair. So far they've had it 3 weeks. They've replaced the front sight and ordered a new barrel.

332 Rounds

2011-01-05T18:33:00.002-05:00

Today was my first opportunity to shoot at a range in months. I shot for 5 hours and put 332 rounds of .44 magnum, .357 magnum and .38 special down range. I took lots of video which I hope to post over the weekend. I did make some very interesting discoveries today regarding the new Hornady bullets and the loads I've been working up. I'll start with the .44 magnum fired through the Henry...

I had very high hopes for the Hornady 300g HP-XTP bullets with Winchester 296 (17g). What a letdown! From 50 yards, 50 rounds peppered a 13+" area! Terrible. Since I had only one load, I can't pinpoint the cause. Was it the bullet, the powder or the combination of the two? I don't know yet.

The best .44 Magnum group was with a Hornady 240g SWC-HP bullet and 6.0g of American Select. Group size was 2". Excellent!

The second best 44 magnum group was with a Hornady 240g SWC-HP bullet with 6g of Unique powder. The groups were about 2-2.5". I couldn't ask for much better considering the Henry doesn't come with precision sights. I'm betting that the group would be down to an inch with a scope. I also tried the same bullet using 5.3g of American Select. The result was nearly the same, but it was a close second to the Unique.

Next was the .357 Magnum Henry tests. Best was the Hornady 158g SWC-HP with 4.0g of Unique. All holes were within the 2.5" X-ring. Next was the Hornady 125g bullet with 14.9g of 2400 powder. This was a real ass-kicking load! Much more recoil than the previous load, which didn't have much more recoil than a 22 magnum. This load was a blast to shoot, but not very accurate. Holes covered 3 rings (13").

It was a long, fun day, and I even got to shoot a flint-lock.

More to come...

A quick tour of Blue Trail Range, Wallingford, CT

2010-12-30T20:05:00.001-05:00

It's Almost a Miracle!

2010-11-14T19:47:00.004-05:00

I recommend clipping on the YouTube button and watching this video full screen so you can observe the target.

I didn't say 'It's a miracle!" without very good reason. For the entire time I've owned this S&W 38 Special, I haven't been able to hit the broad side of a barn with it. Of course every once in awhile I'd land a round on target, but it's the rare exception and not the rule. This week I installed a set of Crimson Trace Laser Grips and today was my first opportunity to try them out. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to see the red laser dot at near 25 yards in daylight, but was surprised to discover that I could. Today's sun wasn't direct, but if you're adjusting your sights in bright sunlight, I suggest using the reflecting target that comes with many bore sighters. Laser Grips are really designed for low light and interior situations, so to tell you the truth, I didn't expect to see the dot at all because the red dot from my laser bore sighter was invisible in a similar situation.

A close-up of the upper right target in Jamie's movie. Most of the holes off the target where there when we got it... really.

The fixed sights on the 38 are either so far off or just so difficult to align accurately that even when braced against my shooting box from a seated position I couldn't hit a thing. This gun has been nothing but frustration since the day I bought it. Since I couldn't hit the target using the fixed sights, making the laser dot meet the fixed sights wasn't a workable solution to get me on paper. The laser's factory settings didn't work for me either, but after a bit of trial and error, in a short time I was able to nail the target with nearly every round using the laser. You can imagine my surprise when I shot 5 rounds, landing every one in the black. Then handing the gun to my son, he had matching results! We honestly never though the gun was capable of such accuracy . In the movie above Jamie lands 5 rounds out of 5 on the small black target located in the upper right corner.

The next phase is to zero in the laser at an indoor range under low light conditions. The goal will be to reduce the group size down to the X-ring, which I believe will be achievable shooting single action. After that, I'll need to work on my double action technique. A trigger job would really help in that department.

Crimson Trace Laser Grips have proven to be worth every dollar, and my only regret is that I didn't purchase the gun with the grips pre-installed. Don't make the same mistake.

Defensive Loads

2010-10-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

I just worked up some loads for home defense. For years I was hearing that we should never use reloads or load your own defensive ammo. I'm now hearing from various legal organizations and podcasts that ammo never comes up as an issue during a trial. Take that info with a grain of salt, but I'm not worrying about it anymore.

I was getting great groups with the following load through my Henry .357 Magnum, so I think it will work well as a defensive load. Tonight I loaded 20 rounds, 5 for the revolver and 15 to load into 3 speed-loaders. First I measured and dumped my powder into the cases, then I dumped it from the case back into the measuring tray to verify that the load was exact. I don't want any errors with these cartridges.

For the bullet, I'm using a 110 grain Hornady #35700 HP-XTP with 13.9 grains of Accurate #9. Starting load is 12.6 grains and maximum load is 14.8 grains. Velocity should be around 1400 FPS. I'll test these at the range the next time out, but this is one load that I hope to God that I will never have to test in the field. I'm considering trying a heavier bullet, but I am concerned that a full house round with a heavy bullet will be difficult to control in a high stress situation. I'd rather hit my target with a lighter bullet than miss with a heavy one.

First shoot with the Ruger SP101 .357 Magnum

2010-10-09T19:53:00.001-04:00

I picked up a used Ruger SP101 last week and shot it for the first time at the range today. See the photo above for what looks like the best load of the day at 25 ft. I shot around 200 rounds of both .357 Magnum and .38 Special, including some commercial +P loads. Every round shot flawlessly, and I was amazed how manageable the recoil was compared to the S&W .38 Special Airweight. I was done after firing 25 rounds through the snubby (see my posts below), but the only thing that stopped me today was that I ran out of ammo. I was firing the revolver as fast as I could load it, and had expended all of my ammo in less than an hour. This Ruger is a blast to shoot.

The SP101 shot great, but I didn't say it was flawless all around. My plates are 9" in diameter, and right off the bat I noticed that I was hitting 4" low and 3.5" left at around 25 feet. It was less noticeable with some ammo, but the expensive commercial +P ammo didn't even hit the plate! The best group was about 1.5" in diameter and landed about 2" low and to the left. I received an excellent suggestion from Ronnie which is posted on my Range page. I'm hoping this is the fix I need, and it's with me and not the gun. I started doing some research on this and it appears to be a common problem.

I'll end this here and continue with reloading results on the .357 magnum reloading page.

UPDATE:
"Response: We recommend that you send your entire firearm into our Product Service Dept for evaluation. Ship to Sturm, Ruger & Co. 411 Sunapee St. Newport, NH 03773. Put a detailed letter inside with your firearm stating the problem. Include a daytime phone number, return physical address, and mailing address. Individuals cannot ship firearms through UPS. Handguns cannot be mailed, they have to be sent by FED EX or through a firearms dealer."

Another form letter. No suggestions, prepaid shipping label, shipping box, nothing. FedEx runs about $50 to ship a gun overnight. I don't think I'm ready to spend that money without any idea regarding what they plan to do and what the repair will cost me. I've read numerous horror stories on bulletin boards from people with the exact same problem that had their SP101's ruined by Ruger's repair department. If I can't fix the problem, I think I'll take it to my local gunsmith instead. Ruger really makes me appreciate Henry's excellent personal customer service. This isn't my first encounter with Ruger, and as you can guess, I'm no fan.

Flying shrapnel at the range

2010-10-09T16:53:00.000-04:00

Check out today's Wheelgun Journal and .357 Magnum Reloading pages for information on today's shoot. One thing I need to bring to your attention is a safety warning. Today at the range there was a guy at my right shooting a .357 Magnum and his rounds looked like reloads. While I was loading my .357, he fired and within a split second I felt something like a bee sting on the thumb of my right hand. I looked down and it was under my leather glove. I ripped it off and there was a slight abrasion on the thumb, but nothing else. Within a few minutes the sting went away.

I always wear leather shooting gloves that only expose my fingertips whenever I shoot. I also usually wear a set of shooting goggles with side shields over my glasses when I'm shooting reloads. I always thought it was to protect myself from injury caused by my gun and ammo. Today I realized it also protects me from the people shooting around me.

I discussed what happened with the guy who fired the revolver. It appears that something likely flew out from behind his cylinder. Possibly a piece of a blown primer. I'm not sure, but from the size of the scrape that was on my glove, it appeared to be a piece of shrapnel about 1/16". I'm guessing that if I didn't have the gloves on I would have ended up in the Emergency Room with someone digging out a piece of brass. Even with glasses on, the object could have taken my eye out since it came from the side. Thus the need for safety goggles with side shields which totally enclose your eye area.

Here's where I got my goggles: maximumeyewear.com

Thankfully nothing happened today and I went right on shooting and had a great morning. Things could have turned out very differently if not for safety equipment. Think about it.

Testing Hornady's .38 cal COWBOY bullets w/ American Select powder

2010-10-02T20:37:00.003-04:00

My friend Dirk invited me shoot as a guest at his gun club today. We arrived at 10am and shot till 3:00. While there I tested 13 loads I worked up to shoot through my Henry .357 Magnum rifle, using Hornady lead bullets and American Select powder in both .38 Special and .357 Magnum. I was very dissatisfied with the test results, so I've taken them off the blog and will run the test over at a later date.

This week my scope loosened up on my Henry GoldenBoy 17HMR (my primary squirrel rifle), so I used the opportunity to sight that in as well. While there, I also had fun shooting a .223 AR, a Mosin-Nagant 7.62 x 54, a double-action .357 magnum revolver and a .45 auto. Thanks Dirk for a great day at the range.

Dirk Files

Shooting at an Idaho back yard range

2010-09-08T22:44:00.003-04:00

I later instructed Alex to practice aiming with his right eye.

It's been a long time since I've been on a real vacation, so for our 25th wedding anniversary my wife and I flew to Idaho to spend 10 days with my sister and her family. As you might expect, I shot a lot of video clips and when we returned home, I created a 1.5 hour home movie for us to remember our time there. On the second day, my brother-in-law and nephew took me to a friend's house in the hills where we could shoot in his back yard. My nephew had a new .308 and my brother-in-law a new .22, which I helped them sight in. The boy is my nephew's son Alex, who is itching to start hunting. I wish I could take him squirrel hunting with me in CT. Since I can't, I promised him that I'd ship him the tails of my first 4 squirrels. This clip is an out-take from my larger home movie.

Range Safety Talk

2010-07-31T21:04:00.004-04:00

Recently I took my buddy to the range for his first formal shoot. He told me when it was over that he felt much more comfortable after hearing the range officer's pre-shoot safety instructions. It let him know what to expect and what was expected of him. If you've never been to a range it would be good for you to watch this 6 minute video. Thanks Fran for permitting me to video you today, and Ralph for the cameo appearance at the very end. Safety first.

Sighting in the Henry Lever Action Octagon 22 S/L/LR - Model H001T
Today I replaced my scratched receiver cover with a new one, and switched from the scope back to iron sights. The job today was to sight the rifle in... MORE

Henry Lever Action Octagon 22 S/L/LR - Model H001T

2010-07-31T19:15:00.000-04:00

July 31, 2010

If you've been following my blog you know that the last time I hunted in the rain I took a spill and badly scratched my receiver cover. Anthony Imperato, the president of Henry Repeating Arms was nice enough to send this klutz a replacement cover. Since I wasn't using a cantilever scope mount, that meant that I had to remove the scope from the receiver and either leave it off or install it on the new receiver cover. I decided to leave it off and reinstall the rear iron sights. Once the swap was complete and the sight was reinstalled, I put my green LaserLyte bore laser in the rifle and pointed it out my basement door and onto a tree about 50 yards away. To my amazement the dot was exactly centered on the sights. I have no idea how that happened.

At the range today I fired my first 10 rounds at 50 yards to see if I was on paper, and was pleased to discover that I was only a few inches to the right. I unscrewed the tiny set screw on the rear sight and with a rubber hammer, tapped a wooden dowel that I had resting against the sight. A few taps to the left and my windage was right on. I was still an inch high, so I loosened the elevation screw on the sight and lowered it ever so slightly. The target shown at the end of this video was my last target. Not bad at all for 50 yards from a guy looking through bifocals.

July 6, 2010

Today I set the targets out at 50 yards and tried out various ammo. I set up 6 plates and took around 13 shots into each. Each plate was designated to a specific bullet. You decide which is the best.

One note I should add: Lever actions are a blast to shoot, but it is not as easy to get a consistent tight group at the range as it would be if I were shooting a semi-auto such as a 10/22. The lever requires that you raise the rifle out of position and readjust your position and the rifle after every round. With a low-recoil carbine like a 10/22, you simply hunker down and keep squeezing them off. This should be taken into consideration when analyzing the groups.

Aguila SuperExtra Copper Platted Bullet 22LR - 38g

Aguila Super Maximum Hyper Velocity 22LR - 30g

The group wasn't bad, but as usual, the bullet hit about 6" above the target. Logic tells me that this round travels so fast that when the other rounds reach 50 yards, this bullet is at 100. At 100 yards the bullet will fall the 6" to be right on target. I suggest carrying these for long shots, but not using them for regular hunting. If you sight your rifle in using this cartridge, nothing else you shoot will even be close if you need to change your ammo. Either use this cartridge exclusively or only for long shots.

Aguila Sniper Subsonic 22LR - 60g

I was surprised that I didn't have a problem feeding these rounds through the Henry, since they fed poorly through every other firearm I've tested them in, including revolvers. The one problem I did have was ejecting the 22 short-like case. Three out of 13 stayed in the receiver and required that I turn the rifle over to shake it out. Other than that, I was amazed at the accuracy! The CCI 22 shorts were terrible, yet this similar round with a very heavy bullet shot great. I'm guessing that the Aguila Sniper case must be loaded much hotter than the CCI shorts. This might prove to be a good squirrel round.

CCI CB Short 22 Short - 29g

These rounds are so underpowered and travel so slowly that I could see the bullet travel in an arc through my scope (see the video). It was as if I were lobbing tiny softballs. Note the problem I had ejecting the cases. Once a case didn't eject and the following round fired normally followed by both cases ejecting together. That's not good. I won't buy these again.

Aguila SuperExtra Black Bullet 22LR - 38g

Remington Golden Bullet 22LR

Crap. Don't waste your money. You can buy these in 500 round boxes at WalMart for about $20. You get what you pay for. One round of the 15 didn't fire at all, which was usual for this ammo. Remington is the worst ammo I've ever used. When I first bought my 38 Special, I shot a lot of Remington through it because it was relatively inexpensive. Out of every 50 round box I'd have 2-5 misfires. Maybe it just doesn't shoot well through my guns, but it sure has left a bad taste in my mouth. I wouldn't even trust it for squirrel hunting, never mind personal protection.

Gun cleaning with Universal Dunk-Kit

2010-07-28T19:55:00.000-04:00

www.cylinder-slide.com

Mike's first day at a range

2010-07-17T23:19:00.014-04:00

It's always fun taking someone to the range for the first time, and today was no exception. Mike and his wife are old friends and two of the best people I have ever known. We served for many years as deacons together, but since that time we've become occupied with different things, and though we touch base from time to time, we don't get together as much as we'd like. About a couple months ago our wives set up a time for us to get out and have dinner together. It was an evening of good food and friends, which always includes a lot of catching up. Anyone who knows me realizes that talk inevitably turns to politics, the second amendment and fun with guns. That night was no exception. Mike told me that he was considering getting a handgun permit, so I invited him out to the range. As a guest, he could shoot my guns and see if it was something that he'd really like to follow up.

I was somewhat surprised last week when Mike gave me a call and said he was interested in shooting with me. As luck would have it, it was the one week I hadn't reserved a spot at the range. The following week I was sure to make a reservation, and this morning we headed out to go blast'n. This would be Mike's first shoot at a range.

It was a hot one; sunny and in the 90's, but the humidity wasn't as bad as it has been. I brought my 2 Henry centerfire rifles, the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. Over the week I worked up 50 .38 Special starting loads as well as 100 light .44 Magnum cartridges to make Mike's experience as pleasant as possible, not wanting his first memory to be of a black and blue shoulder. I also brought around 150 other loads I had worked up over the past month, just in case. Today was going to be Mike's day, so instead of shooting, I spent most of my time teaching and filming. Mike obviously shot before and caught on quickly; not showing any fear of the firearms. I started him out with the Henry .357 Magnum shooting .38 Special starting loads. We progressed to the .357 Magnum loads, then to the .44 Magnum starting loads, increasing to more moderate charges. I told him that after a couple of hours of shooting, I'm sometimes wasted, but he said that he felt invigorated! That's excellent.

I always tumble my cases as soon as I get home, so I took a quick count and figured that he shot over 150 rounds. We both had a great time, and chances are good that Mike will soon be going for his permit. Sometimes I enjoy showing someone how to shoot as much as shooting myself, and today was one of those occasions.

.357 Magnum

.44 Magnum

One last thought. Mike and I had a discussion in the car debating the pros and cons of Christian gun ownership. Here's a thought that I had the following morning. King David was known as "A man after God's own heart". He was a shepherd as a young man, and was known to have killed both lions and bears with a simple rock and sling, which was the weapon which he carried and obviously had mastered. He did not depend on God to protect his sheep because that was his responsibility. When duty called and his brothers and their army were pinned down and unable to advance due to an advanced weapons system owned by the enemy known as 'Goliath', David was prepared to stand his ground. While his brothers hid in fear, David stepped forward, refused the last minute preparation offered by King Saul of a spear and heavy armor, and instead, pulled out his side-arm and made his move. Goliath wouldn't back down so David fired off a round and nailed his enemy right between the eyes. David carried his weapon, knew how to use it and trusted his God. This "Man after God's own heart" set the example which we would all be wise to follow.

Today's ammo test: 22LR and .38Special

2010-07-03T23:54:00.001-04:00

Though I really enjoy shooting the Henry Big Boy .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum rifles at the range, it was time to do some ammo testing for the 'Henry Rifle Test Page'. I took the Henry .22LR Pioneer model w/ octogon barrel, grabbed a box of just about everything that I had hanging around the house and headed for the range.

To keep it interesting, I also threw my .38Special into the range-box with 3 loads that I worked up for it (about 120 rounds). If you go to the following pages, you'll see videos of the shoot, as well as target still's with load data. Below are the links to the corresponding posts:

Henry Rifle Test Page

.38 Special Reloading Journal

Tested out some new loads through the S&W 38Special

2010-07-03T19:57:00.000-04:00

Shot some new loads through the S&W Airweight 38Special today. Here's a video of me trying out a new air of Maximum Eyewear goggles. If you're interested, you can check out my product page for more info. The targets and loads are posted on the .357 Magnum reloading page. CLICK HERE

.38 Special / .358 magnum reloads test

2010-06-20T18:45:00.004-04:00

I took both the .357 Magnum Henry and the .38 Special S&W to the range today. It was miserably hot and humid, but I had a great time shooting for a couple hours. I couldn't have been happier with the results of today's shoot. Everything shot today was a reload, and what a difference from commercial ammo! CLICK HERE to see the results.

From the range last weekend

2010-06-13T20:43:00.000-04:00

Here's an out-take from my shoot last Saturday. I was testing various reloads, and this was one of them shot through the Henry 44 Magnum. Click on the YouTube logo to watch in HiDef.

This guy was shooting to my right last Sunday. He was shooting a .223 but it was so loud that it hurt my ears even though I was double plugged. Every time he fired a round I felt a jet of hot gasses hit me in the face. If you notice, his barrel is ported to reduce the muzzle rise, but that also increases the sound to the shooter. The upper is set up for a lefty, with shell ejection to the left, directed right at me. Watch the netting as the empty cases and gases hit it with every shot. When I mentioned it to the guy, he apologized, and though I would have never considered asking him, he put the rifle away and shot with his other AR, which ejected to the right and wasn't ported. Like I said before, you meet the nicest people at the range. I wish I could have gotten the sound on video for you. It was like he was shooting a 50cal. I was afraid that it would blow the mike in my camera.

Click THIS LINK and scroll to the bottom for more info and to see the targets and load data.

Click THIS LINK to see my report on the NAA Mini-Master.

My first test of the Henry .357 Magnum, and Roger's monster 50 caliber Desert Eagle

2010-05-29T20:46:00.004-04:00

Today was my first opportunity to shoot the Henry Big Boy .357 Magnum. If you follow this blog you know that I recently started loading for .38 Special and .357 Magnum, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Though I've been loading this ammo for months, I've never had the opportunity to fire a single round. A standard load for the .44 Magnum is around 19 grains, and all of a sudden I'm loading 2.7 grains into .38 Special cases. Can this be right?! How could that possibly be enough powder? It's like the cases are almost empty! That's what the reloading manual said, so it must be right. Then I began loading for the .357 magnum, which is basically the same case, a bit stretched out, and all of a sudden I'm up to 14 grains which almost fills the case. It has to be right, but I have to admit that I had to see it shoot to believe it. That's all I need is a squib in my new barrel. So here I was with a never fired rifle and a bunch of loads I was a bit unsure of. Last week my 44 Magnum wadcutters jammed, which didn't make me feel any better about shooting today. No matter, I still was itching to rip off some rounds with that beautiful brass rifle.

I started shooting the very light .38 Special 150 grain roundnose bullets that Dirk had cast. The 3.5 grain Bullseye load gave me a group of 4.5" and they felt like 22LR rounds through the Henry. These were so light that they weren't a lot of fun to shoot. I still have 40 rounds plus another 50 rounds loaded .5 grains lighter. I think I'll save them to shoot through the S&W AirWeight snubby. I'm sure that revolver will send a lot more feedback to the shooter.

Next I decided to skip the other .38 Specials I had loaded and switch to the .357 Magnum rounds. The first were 110 gr Hornady 35700 HP-XTP hollow point w/ 16gr 2400 powder. First I shot 8 rounds at the top right 'Shoot 'n See' chipping target, then 8 at a similar target below. Those groups were down to under 2". I was VERY happy with that. Finally, I shot at the lower plate with the same 110gr bullet loaded with 13.6gr of Accurate #9. 9 rounds went into a group 1.5", with 2 fliers which made the group 2.25". That was not bad at all.

I didn't know Henry Repeating had shipped the Henry to me until the middle of the week, so when I finally tried to call in a reservation, it was too late. I had to show as a 'walk-in', and there were a half dozen others who were also hoping they could take the place of a no-show. Just my luck it was a perfect morning and everyone who was scheduled to shoot was there. I had to wait 2 hours for a bench to open which only left me an hour of range time. I did use those 2 hours productively by filming a couple guys shooting, which are included in this video, and I also managed to scout out some brass that's now in my tumbler.

I went to one table and if I didn't know better I'd think I was shooting there. The guy had a Henry .44 Magnum and a Henry .22 cal. octagon Pioneer (my small game rifle). Roger was also there with his monster .50 cal. Desert Eagle, so I asked them both if I could film them for the blog. They were both happy to oblige, so they're included in this video clip. Next weekend I hope to be back out with the .357 Mag. and some other loads to test. I've been asking Hornady to kick in some Cowboy bullets to test, and though they agreed to send them when they become available, so far they haven't arrived. I've never seen these bullets on the shelf in my area or I'd pick some up. I guess I should email Hornady a reminder tonight before I forget.

Monday is Memorial Day. Wishing you a great weekend with your families, but asking that you remember the war dead and attend a memorial service if there's one in your area. They gave up their life for our freedom. It's the least we can do to publicly pay them honor once a year.

The Range Box

2010-05-29T06:30:00.003-04:00

Range time cut short by wadcutter jam

2010-05-22T15:46:00.018-04:00

I screwed up today by not listening to the cowboy action shooter and reloading expert at Henry. He warned me that wadcutters have a tendency to jam, but since they didn't cause a problem in the past, I shot them anyway... about a dozen of them until the rifle jammed bad enough to require a trip to the gunsmith. Click here for MORE

At least the trip wasn't a total loss. I took my NAA Mini-Master and discovered more interesting information, which I've posted HERE. Find out what ammo shoots well and which doesn't.

Roger, the guy who gave me cans of 44 Magnum bullets got some payback as I gave him all the H&G wadcutters I had reloaded. He'll be shooting them through a handgun so for him they won't be a problem. Roger makes us laugh because it seems that every time we see him he shows up with a bigger and louder handgun. Today he brought a 50 caliber pistol which he shot at the next table. Here I was shooting a min-revolver loaded with 22 shorts, and he was shooting a cannon, making my revolver sound like a cap-gun. The gun did draw the attention of a teenage girl, who Roger let shoot a few rounds through it. She just thought that 50 was the coolest thing. I guess size does matter. And I always thought puppies were a chick magnet.

Next to Roger there were 2 guys shooting SKS's. One had a Yugo and the other a very sweet Sporter model. I posted those photos on my SKS page.

So even though the afternoon was cut short, I'm glad that I do have some things to report to you. Check the SKS, NAA and Henry 44 Magnum page for those reports.

Henry Varmint Express 17HMR - Model H001

2010-04-24T19:12:00.000-04:00

From my August 2008 post
My 17HMR Henry Varmint Express arrived yesterday, so I took the 'Dusk to Dawn' Banner scope off my Ruger 10/22 and put in on the Henry's cantilever scope mount. I didn't have a range reservation, so I took a trip to the range today in hope that someone wouldn't show. I was in luck and I was able to shoot the VE for the first time.

I fired 200 rounds; 100 'CCI TNT' hollow point varmint cartridges (my standard round for the Golden Boy) and 100 rounds of 'Remington Premier Magnum Rimfire' with ballistic tips. I began shooting the Remington ammo and my past experience tells me this will be crap ammo like the other Remington cartridges I've shot. Their 22 rounds gum up my rifles with a wax coating that's on the cartridge, and I usually have numerous misfires. Accuracy stinks as well. The 38 Special ammo I shot in my snubby less than a month ago proved to be just as bad, having numerous misfires. The VE holds 11 rounds in the feeder tube, and out of the first 11 CCI rounds fired I had 2 misfires. The firing pin hits looked good, but no fire. In total I had about a half dozen misfires out of the 100 CCI rounds. I had a similar experience with the Remington ammo, but about half the number.

AMMO ACCURACY: The Remington ammo actually likes this rifle, and was so accurate that I hit the same hole in the target on numerous occasions. Most shots stayed within the area of a dime, and I bet that if the gun was clamped down it would have been dead on. The CCI ammo didn't shoot quite as well, with a spread of about 3". It seems that the more I shot, the tighter the groups became. The Remington was shooting about an inch higher and to the right of the CCI. Higher I can understand, but why to the right? I tried to set my scope to a happy medium because I'm not sure what ammo I'll be hunting with. By the time I fired 200 rounds, they were hitting close to the same spot, so I feel comfortable that if I aim at something next Monday (opening day of squirrel hunting), I'll hit it. Once the rifle is broken in I'll fine tune it again.

BALANCE: I fired 11 rounds from an unsupported standing position. The GoldenBoy balances perfectly under the receiver. In fact, I can basically hold the rifle with two fingers under the receiver when carrying it and when shouldered, only one finger under the receiver is required to balance it. The same isn't true for the varmint Express. I found myself putting my hand under the lever instead of the receiver to balance it. I thought the reason might be that the stock on the VE might be longer, so I put the rifles side by side and compared them. They are almost exactly the same in length, though their shapes differ a bit. Their triggers are equal distance from the end of the stocks. My conclusion is that the octagon barrel on the Golden Boy is so much heavier than the round VE barrel that it tips the rifle forward, actually creating a nice balance when shooting. If you put a GoldenBoy in a gun case and pick it up, the front is so heavy that it's almost impossible to carry by the strap. That isn't true of the VE. In fact, the large stock comb adds even more weight to the rear, which I'm guessing is why the center of gravity is so far rearward.

If I had to choose between the GoldenBoy and the Varmint Express.... tough choice. The GoldenBoy is balanced like a work of art. But last time I hunted I noticed that the sun off the brass looked like I was pointing a flashlight into the trees. I had to cover the receiver with my arm and hands while I walked. The Varmint Express is black. The stock on the Golden Boy is absolutely beautiful American Walnut. So beautiful that I'm sometimes afraid of scratching it when hunting. The VE is also America Walnut, but it's more functional with its checkered stock and a grain, color and finish that isn't as beautiful. The GoldenBoy isn't designed for a scope. The VE is, arriving with a cantilever scope mount and pre-drilled and tapped. The design of the VE's stock is also better suited for a scoped rifle.

MY RECOMMENDATION: Buy the Varmint Express if you are going to do hardcore small game hunting. It's less expensive, more functional and better designed for the job. If you want a beautiful gun that you can hunt small game with using iron sights, then the GoldenBoy is for you. Either way, they're both a great choice.

Sheila Smith nears 'Distringuished Expert'

2010-04-17T20:27:00.006-04:00

My wife ( soon to be Distinguished Expert , she just needs one more score above 275) with her Henry H001Y

"My wife and I shoot NRA light Rifle at Somerville Rifle and pistol club. Her gun is stock except the trigger. Geoff Corn @ Match Armorers Shop did the trigger job. The gun was wearing a BSA Sweet 22 3-9x40 scope in lapped rings until about a month ago when the scope went bad ( it won`t hold it`s zero. Now the gun is topped off with a Bushnell 3-9 airgun scope. Sheila`s high score is 277-8x using Remington Thunderbolt ammo. She has 4 scores above 275 on the books in this league she needs one more to make 'Distinguished Expert'

Below is Sheila`s " Direct Affirmation" that she uses for training you are welcome to post it. That`s Sheila`s own words about her shooting. Mental management is a technique used by Olympic athletes. Our coach studied mental management at the Olympic training center when he decided that he wanted to go distinguished in service rifle competition."

"It's like me to shoot master class scores with my light rifle. I adhere to my training schedule and apply visualization as part of my mental management program. I always run my mental program prior to practice or a match. I focus on my sight picture and allow my subconscious to shoot a "10". I only think about my performance while I am shooting. My match scores are always better than my practice scores. It's like me to be a Master Class Shooter."

~Ron Smith.

CONGRATULATIONS SHEILA!

Sheila has achieved Distinguished Expert 277-8X with a Henry H001Y and Remington Thunderbolt ammo!

First shoot with TechSIGHTS and some new loads

2010-04-10T19:34:00.023-04:00

LUCY AND DIRK

I finally made it out to the range today to shoot with Dirk and his girlfriend Lucy. Considering it's been in the 90's, today felt a bit cool. Not really warm enough for just a sweater but too warm for a jacket. I arrived at the range at 10am and I was amazed that the range was empty on a Saturday morning. That's unheard of on the state range where I usually shoot. Dirk introduced me to Lucy, who I've heard many nice things about over the past year, and he spent most of today training her how to shoot his M1 Garand. Lucy said she's interested in competing in high power matches, which I think is great. I can't get my wife to touch a firearm of any kind. Lucy said she was raised around guns, but never was involved with shooting as a kid. I guess just being around the gun culture is a plus, so maybe there's hope for my kids. They shut down the handgun range today because they were doing some work on it, but they said it was OK to shoot on the rifle end. I brought out my Henry 44 Magnum rifle, which was enough to keep me busy over the next 4 hours and 200+ rounds.

I shot a lot of 44 Magnum reloads today. My best group came from the H&G #107A 240g wadcutters I received from Tom Dugas. I used his suggested starting load of 5.0g of Unique, and the resulting 'Crack!' sounded like a 22 rimfire. This was an extremely light load, but it proved to be quite accurate at 50 yards. I was amazed at how high the group was considering the size of the load. Wadcutters take up a lot of the internal case, so it doesn't take much powder to build up high pressures. I do think the accuracy would have fallen off substantially at 100 yards, and would require a hotter load of 6.0g. The nice thing about this load is that you can shoot these rounds all day without wearing out your shoulder. I received these bullets as a gift, and even if I did cast my own bullets, the mold is very difficult to acquire. Once again, I'd like to thank Tom for sending me the package of beautifully made and packaged bullets. I'm glad I still have 50 rounds to load for my next trip to the range. Here's a link to Tom's page: CLICK HERE

LUCY SHOOTING DIRK'S AR

The next load was a 265g Hornady with 17.7g / 1.2cc of Accurate #9. It's obvious that this rifle enjoys heavy bullets. The only reason I don't shoot these rounds all the time is that they do get expensive. The one problem I had with these loads was that they didn't feed through the gun well. For some reason they tended to hang up, so I ended up manually feeding them. Since these were from some of my first reloads made months ago with the 'Classic Lee Loader' prior to getting the single stage press, I'm guessing I made them a bit too long. That's an easy fix.

Next was the Friendswood 240g LC SWC with 19g of Accurate #9. Roger from the range gave me 500 of these, so I'm glad they shoot well through the Henry. As you can see, the group's not bad, and these should work fine for taking down a coyote at Connecticut hunting distances. I think I hit more bullseyes with this load than with any other. Considering how inexpensive these bullets are, I think they'll be a staple on my reloading bench, if I can place order when they happen to be in stock.

The final load consisted of Sierra 210g bullets with 1.3cc of Accurate #9. This load never shoots all that great, so I'm not surprised at today's results. They were all over the plate and I forgot to take a picture. You're not missing anything.

All in all I was pleased with today's results. I also wanted to try out some of the new 38 Special loads I've been working on, but after shooting for 4 hours, I had enough anyway. After the long drive home, 6 trips to my Jeep to unload, putting everything away and my brass in the tumbler, I needed a Saturday afternoon nap. Now that this story is almost complete, I've got guns to clean before bed. Another fun day at the range is over. Thanks again Dirk and it was a pleasure to meet you Lucy. Hope to shoot with you again soon. By the way, I tried to contact Bill to shoot with me, but I found out that he was in North Carolina at a car show. It must be nice to be retired. Happy shooting friends.

After the shoot...

2010-01-01T10:05:00.009-05:00

DUNK-KIT

If you go to the page (CLICK HERE), you'll see a demonstration of how I used Dunk-Kit to clean a revolver. If you're like me, you pull apart your SKS as soon as you return from shooting to thoroughly clean it. SKS's are not easy to clean, but it's not so bad during the summer when you can clean the rifle outside. In the winder it's another story, and Dunk-Kit makes the process much easier and cleaner. Simply take the rifle apart and throw all the parts into the soup. Let them soak for about an hour, hit the parts with a wire brush and let them soak an hour more. Then just hang everything up to drip dry. I have a board nailed above the bucket with nails in the edge which I hang my parts from so they can drip the solution back into the bucket. To clean the receiver and barrel, once the parts are removed I put the receiver into the solution to soak, turn it around and run my rods through it. Every time the rod hits the muzzle area, the brush or patch is cleaned and relubricated by entering the solution. This makes the process much faster and you will use a few patches instead of dozens. The Henry 44 magnum is much easier to clean since I really only have to clean the barrel. No gas pistons and valves to disassemble and clean.

Once the rifles are clean, I put the depriming die in my Lee single-stage press and knock out all the primers. This cleans out the primer pocket as it tumbles. Just remember to remove any grains that could be stuck in the pocket when the case has completed tumbling. To avoid this step, keep the primer in place. Toss the brass case into the tumbler and let the tumbler run for about 2 hours. Check out the before and after, and this is without polish or solvents added. It's clean and shinny enough for me, and there's nothing coating the brass that could weaken it.

First shoot of 2010, and man was it was cold!

2010-01-01T08:00:00.005-05:00

It was in the mid 20's and bitter cold, but that's better than yesterday which was in the teens with a wind chill of zero. At least today the wind wasn't blowing all the time. Ranges tend to amplify the wind, so it's not the place to be when it's that cold. I was actually amazed that there were so many guys shooting today. I guess I'm not the only guy on vacation.

The range with targets set up at 50 yard line (My frame wasn't up yet)

The goal today was to compare some new loads, to try out the 44 Magnum with the repaired sear and peep sight installed, and to shoot the Yugo SKS for the first time in two years. I was surprised to see so many black guns at the range today. In fact, everyone had black guns but me. Maybe that's why the guy to my left came over and told me "That's a real nice Henry". That gun is always an icebreaker. It wasn't long before we were discussing reloading and how much it would cost to get started. I guess the guy saw my 500 rounds of magnums in colored plastic boxes.

I'll get right to the point by saying that everything functioned perfectly, including the sear which worked fine. Every round fired properly out of both rifles and neither rifle required any sight adjustment. What more could I ask than that?

I was also pleased with the groups that the reloads gave me. I'm not a fanatic about this. I don't put my rifles in a vice and there will be human error in my testing, but I'm guessing that the error will be spread throughout the day, so it should even out the results.

(Plate 5) The Sierra 210 gr bullet w/1.3cc AA#9 shot the best with a 3.5" group. All targets were at 50 yards. Until I get new glasses, that's as far as I trust my ability to clearly see the target with iron sights.

(Plate 2) Next was the most expensive bullet, the Speer Gold 210gr w/ 21 gr AA#9. They made a 4" group, but they were so close I'll call it a tie.

(Plate 8) Third was the bullet I was most interested in: 240gr SWC w/ Accurate #9. It's an inexpensive commercial lead bullet (see my reloading page for details). I created two loads to test. A starting load of 18gr and an intermediate load of 19gr. The lighter load shot better, with a 4" group with a few fliers. The hotter load shot 1" wider. (Note that I shot about 150 rounds after taking these photos)

Here's the bottom line. As I see it, all of these bullets shot about the same at 50 yards. Considering the difference in price between bullets, I'm going to focus more on loading lead Semi-Wad Cutters. They're extremely inexpensive and are perfect for my short range shooting. I'm sure that at 100 yards a Hornady with a ballistic tip will shoot faster and tighter, but if you live in a state like CT where most of your shots are close, these bullets should be considered. They're also great for plinking, which is my favorite thing to do with a 44 magnum, and they don't use a lot of powder.

I haven't been able to find Winchester primers for 6 months, but this week I actually came across a box of Federal primers so I grabbed it. They're a silver primer instead of gold, and I put a micrometer on both brands and they match. I loaded a batch of lead semi wad cutters with the new primers to test them out today. They all fired as expected.

Roger at the state range gave me a coffee can full of wad cutters that he loaded very light. I brought some with me to see how they shot. They were loaded so light that the recoil was half that of the other reloads. The amazing thing was that they formed a good group on the plate directly above the plate I was aiming at. I'm guessing the bullet was light enough to raise the shot 12" at 50 yards.

One final thought. Notice that I used Styrofoam plates instead of targets. Considering the size of the groups that I'm getting, these plates are perfect targets. Paper plates will fold up and if it starts to rain, it's all over. When the bullet passes through these plates, either it burns the plate or it leaves black residue on it because every hole is surrounded with a black ring. The holes are very easy to see at 50 yards with binoculars. I honestly don't think the expensive chipping targets are any better at this distance. Another good thing about using these plates is that they will pull right off the cardboard backer and you can take them home for future reference. The way I kept track of my targets is to draw 9 circles in 3 rows of 3 in my load data book. I then number each circle 1-9 and under each circle I wrote the bullet and load. Then I numbered the plates. I shoot the specific bullet at the specific plate, and that way when I took the plates home I knew which cartridge made the group. 100 plates for a couple of bucks sure beats $1.00 a target. Wishing you and yours a Happy and Safe New Year!

Shooting the Henry Big Boy 44 magnum

One thing to be careful of when shooting this rifle with the Marble Arms peep sight installed is your thumb position. I found that resting your thumb directly on the back of the sight keeps it's edges from taking meat out of the inside of your thumb as the rifle recoils. Make your thumb travel with the sight instead of trying to stop it.