K31: Back to the Drawing Board

Took the K31 out with the correct cartridges recently. 24.0 grains of IMR 4198 with a 130-grain cast plain-base bullet. First three shots at 50 yds within 1.5 inches; then six, eight and ten-inch groups, if I could dignify them with that term at 50 yards.

Plus, the additional new knowledge that the load apparently isn't high pressure enough to prevent blow-back through the bolt. Had a nice black soot streak down my cheek by the time I was done.

So, is it the barrel or is it the load? A quick way to find out is switch back to milspec loads, or close to them if the originals are unavailable (or too damn expensive). So a load consisting of 37.8 grains of H4895 topped with a Winchester 147 grain FMJBT was whipped up yesterday and taken to the range.

This time, groups averaged 3-4 inches, usual due to one flyer adding an inch to the groups. At this point I'm sure it's me, due to my bifocals: first that I'm old enough to need them, with all that entails about my vision and secondly, this is the worst pair of glasses I can recall having as far as useful percentage of lens. Won't be going back to the vendor for the next pair.

Regardless, I can see the barrel is fine as military surplus goes; the most recent load is mild to shoot (at least wearing a sweatshirt and Carhart jacket) and easy to make. Think I'll load up another batch of these and do some 100 yard shooting in a weekend or two.

How A Good Day Of Shooting Starts.......

 

Be the only person on the rifle range;

Have someone discard 70 once-fired 2012 Lake City 7.62 x 51 cases;

have two old Mausers throw some good groups.

 The Israeli Mauser k98 in 7.62 x 51:

 

Date: Distance Group Size or Score (in.) Shots Fired Powder Grains Bullet Diameter Primer Case Conditions OAL Notes 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.356 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.796 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.886 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 2.300 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 3.553 5 Win 748 24.3 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR FC 308 Win Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/07/13 3/29/2014 2.178 Group size Average for Session 3/29/2014 4.356 MOA Average for session

and for the Chilean Mauser M1895 in 7.62 x 51: Date: Distance Group Size or Score (in.) Shots Fired Powder Grains Bullet Diameter Primer Case Conditions OAL Notes 3/29/2014 50 yds 0.946 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.419 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.593 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 2.185 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 3.353 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 1.899 Group size Average for Session 3/29/2014 3.798 MOA Average for session

Date: Distance Group Size or Score (in.) Shots Fired Powder Grains Bullet Diameter Primer Case Conditions OAL Notes 3/29/2014 50 yds 0.946 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.419 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 1.593 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 2.185 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 50 yds 3.353 5 Win 748 24.6 Lee 90309 0.310 Fed LR R-P Win. 308 Overcast 2.640 187.5 grns w gas check. Loaded 12/14/13 3/29/2014 1.899 Group size Average for Session 3/29/2014 3.798 MOA Average for session

Blowback

Apparently I need to up the pressure in my cast bullet loads for my Type 99. I'm using reformed Remington 8mm Mauser brass, as 7.7 brass was rare when I wanted to load these. There were a number of shots where there was a fair bit of a smokey breeze coming out of the wrong end of the rifle, and a good inch of soot down some of the cartridge case. Think I'll switch the load from IMR 4227 over to Winchester 748; Win 748 runs higher pressures for cast loads at similar velocities, which should form that case to the chamber nicely. Or blow smoke into my face at even higher pressure.

Shooting the S**t

 Got an invitation from a neighbor to try out his new .44 lever action and reloads, as well as his father's Winchester Model 94 that he'd found when his father passed, and just got around to loading up cast rounds for.

Shooting other people's guns? Hell yes, I'm up for that.

Of course, courtesy demands I bring toys to share, so an AR and S&W Highway Patrolman went into the truck for the trip to the family acreage. Shooting is informal compared to my local range. The backstop is the far bank of the creek, 150 yards from the well pump house, which also serves as the shooting rest. Which leads to less than ideal sighting in with a new never-rifle using an 8-inch shoot-n-see target on a piece of 2x2 cardboard with a couple hundred bullet holes in it.

So what does one do when tired of shooting a small target with poor feedback? Horse shit. Stands out great against yellow and green grass, misses are easily seen by the chunks of dirt flying in the air, and hits are, well, very easily seen as the material flies better than the dirt does. Revolvers at 100+ yards keep it interesting.But there are things more engaging blasting horse apples at long distances. Like having a copperhead pop up while crossing the creek recovering targets at the end of the day.

 Two men emptying revolvers into water a couple feet away, without prior planning or coordination, is very interesting indeed.

Another Year Paid For

Just got back from the annual paying of dues and policy brief the local gun club. $85 per year for a range with up to 300 yards of distance available, covered shooting areas, electricity, and potable water. NRA membership is required. Not a bad price, compared to what I've seen for dues at many ranges that have webpages.

It also seems that new members are showing up in greater numbers than I've seen in the last fifteen years. It's great seeing new people spending more time shooting. Unfortunately, it makes going to the range interesting in ways I'd rather avoid. Like young people who can't understand why I'm bitchy about fingers out of the trigger guard when they're not actively shooting (and especially when combined with pointing that pistol laterally down the firing line while squinting at that target downrange). Or wandering around behind the firing line with weapon in hand doing 360 degree sweeps while chatting with friends. Or my personal favorite, the experienced shooter/hunter who sits at the bench fiddling with his unloaded (just ask him!) rifle pointed downrange while others service their targets. All of which are specifically forbidden in the range rule handbook.

Aside from maybe five members I've known for years, I'm starting to feel safer behind the firing line when I go to the range. Hell, I'm actually to the point where I like how the Army runs firing ranges.

Redneck Gun Repair

or How To Replace A Hakim Ejector Spring On The Cheap.

First, let me note that it's possible to shoot over 50 rounds of surplus 8 mm and have all of them extract without the spring. I'm a little surprised by this, but having unintentionally done it, it's possible.

Seen clockwise above, the breech cover, bolt carrier, bolt, extractor, and safety housing. My first clue something was off occurred when disassembling the rifle for cleaning, and the extractor just fell onto the table.

Looking at this, my first thought was to wonder where I could buy a small piece of leaf spring material. Then, how to grind/cut/shape it for a good fit. That's when it occurred to me that I have a pile of leaf spring material sitting around:

The easily acquired, cheap stripper clip. In this case, from 5.56 rounds. These were sitting in the corner of the basement for the last 10+ years, but the rust scrubs off with a little steel wool and oil. A brief touch with a cutting wheel, or an appropriate handsaw, and a small length of leaf spring is available.


The piece above needed a little grinding along the long edge to adjust the width, and another cut to remove the retention curve at the tip.

Below, the finely-milled slots for receiving the spring can be seen at the base of the extractor recess.



With a bit of gentle pressure, the new spring can be slid into the milled recesses:


Next, gently prying upwards on the spring allows the extractor to be started into its recess:



A bit more gentle pressure, and the extractor will snap into place:


Total time to make, less then ten minutes, and a hell of a lot cheaper than buy the original parts via online auctions.

Old Rifles

With an "obsolete wooden stock rifle match" (we'll get into the concept of "obsolete" down the road) coming up this past Saturday, I thought I'd get into the spirit of the match (as I perceived it) and get old school. As in a Czech 98/22 formerly in Turkish service. This particular model is chambered in 7.9 x 57 mm Mauser. For its age, and who was using it, it's in reasonably good condition. The bore is darker than I'd like, but with strong rifling and what appears to be a muzzle in good condition. Unfortunately, using 154 grain Romanian military surplus ammunition off of a bench rest, I was getting "groups" of around two feet. No keyholing, just really, really bad accuracy. I've a feeling the muzzle is more worn than I'd thought. I'll probably end up running some Yugoslavian 198 grain rounds through it to see what happens, but when groups are that big, I think it's more than simply ammo preferences.

I Have Been Remiss

in not noting the most excellent gift given to me by my wife this past R&R/delayed Christmas. I'd noted this furniture earlier when I'd inadvertently run across while browsing the web. I'm happy to say the gentleman who makes these was able to get a set to her shortly before my arrival home.

I will note that the image doesn't do the wood justice by any means. Made of walnut, all the pieces have a warm, rich appearance that I wouldn't have associated with an AR-type rifle. My only fear now is that I'll scratch them while out at the range. I'll probably be hauling an extra-thick blanket to cover the shooting surface every time this one goes out anymore.

I'm damn fortunate in my spouse's consideration when it comes to gifts.

A Day At The Range

Recently went to another post in the area to check zeros on the rifles. Of all the ranges I've been on, this one probably has the most impressive berm:

Somewher around 1600 feet of vertical rise from the range, I was told. But then it was time to get to business, which meant getting down in the talcum-like dirt that coated everything in short order.
After verifying zeros, we headed back out towards the gate. On the way, we passed by an armor graveyard from the Soviet-Afghan war:


Including this interesting piece, which is a T-34/85 if I remember my Soviet armor correctly.
Oh, to have the chance to haul that back home....

Range Support

Ninety-Pound Partner and I have been assigned range support for the Mk 19 Grenade Launcher this afternoon (that would be her at the far left, demonstrating why she has the nickname). Range support is good duty for medics; make sure everyone is hydrated, watch for signs and symptoms of heat injury, and be ready for anything else that can happen on a weapons range. While most people might think weapons-related accidents are a priority, it's actually heat injuries that are most common. At this moment, the range has an ambient temperature of 90 degrees, there's minimal shade even off the line, and firers must wear full armor. Not a good combination, even for younger troops. That's why the Army has provided with all sorts of wonderful handouts, such as the one I recently found in the latrine:


The Army loves handouts, and apparently so do soldiers.

And now, NPP and I will wait to see if it's true about some soldiers not showing up, which will result in much happiness and explosions downrange for the medics.

Mustn't Let The Peasants

get their hands on the special, special, military brass.

Hell, we PAID for it the FIRST time it was used........

Day Off (sort of)

As one of our physicians who generates a lot of procedures is off for the week, I've been "voluntarily" flexed from work for the day (voluntarily as in, I can say "no problem" with a smile and use some PTO, or be ordered to take it off and get some negative remarks in my job review about playing well with others; might as well keep some brownie points). There's no shortage of tasks to be done around the house, especially as the deployment looms in what seems to be the near future. On the other hand, there will be little time off up to that date, and virtually none afterwards. So, given that it's not raining, snowing, or sub-zero, it seems like it might be time to get some range time in.

I've committed to taking out the AR-15 every time I get out there until leaving; many people seem surprised by this, but the Army, or at least the part I've been exposed to, is only concerned about weapons proficiency during annual qualification. The rest of the time weapons are something to be locked up lest one go missing and ruin someone's efficiency review. For those of us in the support role (not combat arms), I look at weapons as similar to a fire extinguisher. It's unlikely I'll need it, but if I do I better damn well be able to operate it quickly and efficiently. And nothing builds muscle memory and skill like practice.

But it shouldn't be all practice without fun. Which is why I'm considering which .30 caliber to take with. There's an M1 sitting in the corner that was picked up shortly before the last deployment, which still hasn't been fired; next to it sits a new-to-me Soviet M44......decisions, decisions.

Maybe Tomorrow......

Loaded some up tonight; classwork and weather allowing tomorrow........

Slow, Dirty........

and plenty of fun!

Finally got out shooting yesterday, although not the 7.62 x 51 I was planning on. Given the scarcity of ammunition, I feel more comfortable just holding on to my recent find. But, as I got out of work early yesterday, and it was sunny out, I needed to find something to shoot. Fumbling about in the arms lockers, I looked for something interesting, recreational, and most of all, reasonably easy to restock ammunition I'd burn up. Which led me to the reproduction 1858 Remington, a gift from The Wife years ago (The Wife has outstanding taste in gifts). So far, there hasn't been much of a run on cap and ball components, although one reader has noted Midway ran out of percussion caps recently. But, thirty rounds lasts well over an hour with this gun, while I'd burn up that in ten minutes of leisurely shooting with my modern revolvers.

It was enjoyable just shooting for pure relaxation, with the old single-hand target stance, rather than modern holds. For anyone who would have seen it, there was an interesting contrast: while I slowly shot and reloaded, leaving substantial clouds of smoke for every round fired, a young man in tactical gear several yards to my right practiced his tactical reloads and weapons transitions with his M4 carbine and Glock. I'm pretty sure he burned up a lot more money than I did, although he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as I was. And probably enjoyed cleaning far more than I did at the end of the day, although a bottle of Smithwick's Ale made the task a little less onerous.

Keeping with the theme of Remington and blackpowder, I think I'll whip up a batch of blackpowder cartridges for another vintage gun, although this one isn't a reproduction, but a (mostly) original. A little something to look forward to for the next sunny day I can sneak away from responsibilities.

But now; time to go do the first of several days worth of post-shooting/cleaning rust checks.

Even Here........

The .22 rimfire has run out in the big box stores. No backorders allowed. Damn, people have to be really freaked out to overtake rimfire production capacity.

I don't think many people are going to be willing to turn it in if Pelosi & Pals got their wish either.

I Got Your Definition Of Good Right Here

My reading on the ethics in interaction of business and the environment, apparently written by a watermelon, was interrupted by the Big Brown Truck of Happiness, dropping of 500 pieces of sized, trimmed, and deprimed once-fired 7.62x51 NATO brass. Looks good from inspecting random cases, and far easier to get (which isn't saying much) than actual loaded rounds. If I'm lucky, the local gun show coming up may have some large rifle primers at a less than painful price.

The Perfect Weapon

is a show on the National Geographic Channel, featuring, what else, weapons. Now, if the underlying theme of the whole show is weapons, one would expect some degree of research on your topics.

But.

When you start your comments with "this is a reproduction Colt Navy revolver; you'd think you would shoot it one-handed, but it's really heavy and kicks like a mule" you know what ever else comes out the host's mouth, it's probably going to be downhill from there.

And so it was.

However, the vintage weapons vs pig carcass was interesting, although it wasn't a complete carcass. Take what you can get over there I suppose.

Pattern 14 On The Range

I actually made it out to the range yesterday. Keeping it short, I took one rifle, the Pattern 14 I'd wanted to take out some time ago. Also twenty rounds of cast .303 to try out. The point of today's exercise was to see how well the rifle could shoot the handloads at fifty yards. Not very far, but when the muzzle looks like this:

it's better to start at close range. I'm sticking with cast loads so that expense and recoil are minimized during the course of testing. I'm intending to gradually counterbore the muzzle back to unpitted rifling, which will be about half an inch.

I do not like altering issue rifles, but when there's damage or wear that's repairable by a method that would be armory acceptable, I'm willing to replace or repair parts. I'm not aware of counterboring in British service rifles, but finding an issue replacement barrel in at least very good condition seems unlikely. So, we go to the backup plan of keeping the external appearance correct, but using internal modifications to keep the rifle in good working order.

The biggest surprise of the day was that the rifle was capable of groups within three inches off of sandbags. Not a great group under normal circumstances, but when the bottom half of the muzzle looks like coral reef, it's unexpectedly good. I didn't find any keyholing either, which I was expecting.

The brass is once-fired (before yesterday) S&B. It was full-length resized for the cast loads, although future loads will be neck sized to extend the life of the brass. I did note that all the primers backed out somewhat during firing.

If I recall correctly, this indicates low pressures during firing. The primer pockets were tight during loading, so I'm confident the enlarged pockets aren't the cause here. Also seen is a bright ring often associated with incipient case head separation. As this was present after the first firing, and all future loads will be neck sized, I'll continue firing these with the same load while watching for any changes in the brass' condition.

The next step is a slight counterbore. I'll refire with the same loads and compare to yesterday's targets for group size. I'll be extremely surprised if I can't improve the groups significantly once the bullet doesn't ride over the damaged portion of the muzzle.

The Weather Gods Hate Me.......

I have a nice new batch of cast bullet .303 for my P-14 that I loaded up last night, and I was planning on chronographing them. Until the light rapidly diminished in five minutes while I was in my living room. So, while I reconsidered loading up all the gear, it started coming down so hard and fast that we suddenly had a river running in front of our house. Another shooting session shot to hell and gone.

Shoot, Then Shoot Some More

Competed in an across the course high power rifle match today. Eighty-eight rounds of .30-06 through an M1 Garand set up with National Match parts and glass bedding. Nice day for shooting, with not much wind and a clear sky, although wearing the leather shooting jacket while sweat pours down into your eyes isn't fun. We're fortunate enough to have actual pits for our targets, so everyone takes turns being a "pit pig" raising, lowering, and marking targets.

.223 makes a nice sharp snapping noise when it goes over your head, and a pretty good thump when it impacts the loose dirt in the berm.

Our target holders are vintage, having been salvaged from an army post where they'd been scrapped as obsolete. If I recall correctly, they're around one hundred years old. Several of the members put a lot of time into restoring them to working order. The rest of the rifle pit is only two years old, but is probably one of the nicest in the Midwest. Lots of work left to make it look pretty, but the foundations are all there.

The match ran from 0800 to 1330, with shooting from 200 & 300 yards. Then a short break for lunch, and on to my match, the NRA Combat Pistol Event.

We've just started outdoor pistol matches on the new range this summer, although it's been operating about four years. Today was a minor landmark, with eight shooters present, including a young woman who had never fired a handgun before.

Shooting for the Combat Event takes place at 7, 25, and 50 yards. I'm finding a lot of people who've attended will shoot their pistol at less than 25 yards, and haven't even considered trying to shoot out to 50 yards with them. Even a 25 yards, the scores begin to drop rapidly.

The collection of arms today was pretty eclectic. We had a Glock, Walther, Makarov, Beretta, Kimber, Taurus, and some others I didn't get a close look at. It's interesting to watch handling proficiency as the owners operate under pressure. What's effortless when you're casually shooting turns difficult with stress in place. I'm hoping it will motivate some of these shooters to practice more. I believe a lot of shooters become complacent about their skills over time, because they shoot the same way repeatedly.

It's easy to think you're good when you're never challenged.