You boys remember that little incident I had a couple of weeks ago with 5744 powder? Well, I decided I was beating a dead horse dealing with Accurate Arms as there was no way they were going to admit any wrong doing, so I decided to keep on shooting that powder. I always did lead a somewhat reckless life so what the heck. I did decide to stop using it in the big bores with the exception of very limited use.
I went to the gunclub last Monday and shot up 400 rounds of assorted rifle ammo all loaded with 5744. I chronographed nearly every load with no major variations.
I brought a pair of 1895's in 30-40 to try out the Lyman 215 gr.gc bullet. I was somewhat satisfied but I think I was pushing them a bit fast. Groups ran around 3 inches with both guns.
A takedown 1894 in 32 Spl. was a tackdriver with 2" groups at 100 and 4" at 200. I was shooting little rocks out to 300 meters with ease. I had a liner put in that rifle with a 1-14 twist instead of the factory 1-16. This baby shoots. (did not take any pics of the targets)
A takedown 1893 Marlin in 38-55 was the day's winner and will show you that conventional wisdom does not always apply. If you notice, the first target was about 4 inches with .379 bullets. The next target was with everything the same but with .377 bullets. The .377 bullets outshot the .379 bullets easily and the bore measures .378!
Keep in mind I do not practice benchrest habits. I use a rest and shoot. if the gun gets hot, its gets hot. I keep on shootin'. I shoot fast and have fun. This ain't no contest and I ain't winning no Cadillac.
I had one of my homemade "shoot 'n see" targets at 200 meters. It measures 8" square. I shot very fast with 15 rounds with a front support only and hit it 12 times. The three misses were right off the target. This is going to be my new NRA silhouette rifle. Was made in 1902 and has a 100% perfect bore.
The homemade shoot 'n see" targets are easy to make. Just get some white cardboard (or white paper over brown cardboard) and stretch some Saran Wrap over it. Paint it black and let it dry. Thats all, the bullets will do the rest
I shot many targets and these below are representative. I also shot lots of steel and my favorite, rocks. Happy shootin'
--Sixgun
,.379 bullets
bullets,
.377 bullets,
,my homemade "shoot 'n see" targets. Very neat as you can make them any size for just about nothing.,
,Just a stupid pictue of a 100 rounds of 30-40 Krag ammo loaded with 215 Lymans. ,
