2 Then 3 Then 2

 About 13 years ago we decided to downsize our home and also move closer to my place of employment. As we were going through the move we lost our Siberian Husky, putting the Boss into mourning. For years the Boss was interested in a Shiba Inu, so we bought a puppy. That helped the emotional issues. We then went looking for another husky. At a rescue facility, a 1.5 year old husky shepherd mix chose the Boss, so we took him home. Today the husky is 15 years old, and we put down the Shiba last week. 

About 4 weeks ago, a woman at church picked up a little dog wandering down the middle of the country road. The Boss brought him home. The little Rat Terrier had no collar or chip. Lost dog posters were put up, and someone tore them down a few days later. We speculate he was abandoned. This little dog was not well maintained. Last week we had  the vet remove a growth on his lower leg, skin tags and most of his infected teeth. He's doing very well, and he and the Boss have bonded to the extreme.

So we had 2 dogs, then 3 dogs, now back to 2 dogs. So now the Boss is happy to have a dog that likes to cuddle.

Scout Rifles

 Got the scout scoped K31 to the range again. Managed to duplicate the best of my last best loads by putting 4 rounds in 1-1/8" at 100 yards. Last time it was 3 rounds in 1-1/4". I'll be taking it back out with slight variations of the powder charge. This time I'll have a cheek riser attached to the stock.

Finally got the modified Ishapore ready for load testing. The scout scope is now aligned with the barrel and I have attached an adjustable cheek riser to the stock.  Unfortunately the Burris rings that fit the picatinny rail that I used to align the scope bring the scope up higher than I like. 

Also loaded a couple more ammo tests for the FN Hi -Power 40 S&W. So far I've never been very happy with the accuracy using Universal powder.

Ishapore Scout

 As I've posted in the past I've been messing around with turning a hacked up Ishapore Enfield into a scout rifle. The last was getting the barrel threaded and a brake installed. I want to be able to tune the barrel harmonics. After that I purchased a scope mount specifically made to replace the rear sight assembly. Using a laser bore sighter I found the scope to be at a significate angle to the barrel. So I bought a set of rings with inserts designed to correct this issue. Using the maximum offset, front and rear, the problem seems to be corrected. Only a range session, or several will tell if all is well.

The rings use polymer inserts, some with offset bores, and that can rotate to eliminate torque on the scope tube. The local gunsmith recommended them. This allows the cross hairs to be centered in the tube to improve visuals and eliminate having extreme cross hair movement.

Back Home

 The wife, 2 dogs and a 5th wheel camper made it home from Utah in one piece. So now I need to rest from our 'vacation'. We were away for about a month, and saw some truly magnificent country.

There were a few 'bumps' along the way.

Had to get a local tech to get the trailer AC running during our Moab stay.

Heading back on I-80 we spent 3 nights in Rawlins Wyoming. One night the temperature dropped to the mid 20s F. The propane furnace barely produced any heat at that elevation (7,000 ft).

The high, gusting cross winds in Kansas and east Colorado wore me out.

Came within a few feet of smashing into a small car on I-80. One trying to enter, came next to the one in front of me, then both hit their brakes. My brakes locked, then I managed to swerve around them. Thankfully there was no traffic to my left.

Traveling

Recently I pulled a 5th wheel camper from Ohio to Grand Junction Co across I-70. Found the road condition from marginal to just terrible. Last fall I was on I-70 from the Ohio state line to Indianapolis. Pavement was so bad I busted a band in the front tire of the truck. This time I refused to drive I-70 on that stretch, using SR 40 instead. The farther west, the pavement improved to just tolerable.

In all of Kansas and eastern Colorado had to fight strong gusty cross winds. It was so bad I drove well below the speed limit to maintain control. Damn that was tiring.

Extraction

 A couple weeks ago my dentist found a cavity below a crown that extended to the root of the tooth. We'll be traveling for about a month starting the first part of April, so this was a concern. I had a choice between extracting the tooth or taking antibiotics the whole time we'd be away. Years ago I had a tooth become infected while on vacation. Something I never want to repeat, so yesterday I had the tooth removed with a small part of the bone. The gum should be healed by the time we leave, but I'll still need to be careful because the bone won't be healed for a few months.

In about 3 months I'll get a bridge created across the empty space anchored by the 2 adjacent teeth. Those teeth both have crowns that need attention.

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Hopefully I'll be able to get back to the initial ammo testing with the K31 before we leave.

Swiss K31

 Took the Swiss K31 with the Hi-Lux LER scout scope to the range. I loaded 3 bullet weights as a first determination as to what weight I should do additional testing. I have 150, 165 and 180 grain bullets, I arbitrarily picked IMR 4350 for the 180, and 4064 for the other two. Three shot groups at 100 yards with the 150 and 180 grainers were about 1-1/2 inches. That was about as I expected. for an old military bolt action. The 165 grainers were quite a pleasant surprise, with a group of about 5/8 inch and 2 in the same hole.

I will repeat the test, but I expect similar results. If that happens it'll be the easiest and quickest load determination I have ever experienced.