Dave DeLaurant
Member
I took my latest find to the range yesterday: a bolt action 8.15x46R stalking rifle (lower photo) recently purchased from Simpsons. It has a very nice bore and exterior finish, though I discovered some patches of shallow pitting on the barrel under the forend.
The proofs are B-U-G (no 'N' for nitro) and the action dates from the black powder era, so I handloaded some ultra-light ammo: .315" Lapua 98 grain HBWC over 2.5 grains of Trail Boss, in reformed Winchester .30-30 cases. Very light recoil and no indications of sticky extraction. Accuracy wasn't great, but given the .321" bore I didn't really expect much.
I later adjusted the sear geometry after the cocking piece dropped by itself several times while closing the bolt. It's safer now, but the greater sear engagement prevents the set trigger from functioning. I'm going to leave it that way -- I had one UD at the range and that is more than enough!
The second rifle is a bit more like the one in DocRock's posting awhile back, in 9.5x47R. It has much deeper pitting on the underside of the barrel, so I've DQ'ed it for the present. I may try using it later on as a zimmerstutzen with primer-powered X-ring rubber bullets -- I did a test with some of their .38 rubber bullets that seem promising.
The proofs are B-U-G (no 'N' for nitro) and the action dates from the black powder era, so I handloaded some ultra-light ammo: .315" Lapua 98 grain HBWC over 2.5 grains of Trail Boss, in reformed Winchester .30-30 cases. Very light recoil and no indications of sticky extraction. Accuracy wasn't great, but given the .321" bore I didn't really expect much.
I later adjusted the sear geometry after the cocking piece dropped by itself several times while closing the bolt. It's safer now, but the greater sear engagement prevents the set trigger from functioning. I'm going to leave it that way -- I had one UD at the range and that is more than enough!
The second rifle is a bit more like the one in DocRock's posting awhile back, in 9.5x47R. It has much deeper pitting on the underside of the barrel, so I've DQ'ed it for the present. I may try using it later on as a zimmerstutzen with primer-powered X-ring rubber bullets -- I did a test with some of their .38 rubber bullets that seem promising.
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