Scratched the Itch

The Bosses knee replacement surgery combined with the weather has kept me away from the range the last couple of months. Today I scratched that itch.

I have a pump action 30-30 purchased back in the 70s. It seems to be a good choice for my left handed, non-gunny son. I had it repaired after sitting idle for a few decades. It has a 3-9X scope mounted which I zeroed at 75 yards today. The longer range positions were all occupied. It seems reliable with the 110 grain varmint bullets I loaded for it at least 40 years ago. With zeroing and plinking I used about 20 rounds. I have another 40 old rounds loaded and ready.

I put a new & lower scope mount on the CETME which today I also zeroed. It will need to be adjusted again at a longer range. I bought it maybe 20 years ago along with 2 crates of South African Mil. Surp. 7.62x51. I still have 600 rounds remaining. Today I used 20. I've started working on hand loading for the Enfield bolt gun with the same chambering. Will probably do the first experiment during the next range trip.

I have some Magtech 7.62x51 that I've fired in the Enfield bolt action. I found it to be significantly less accurate than the old South African stuff, despite having a tighter velocity spread. Bullet weights are the same.

The new Hogue tamer grip installed on the Super Redhawk 454 does help reduce hand punishment. Unfortunately the grip did not help my marksmanship. 

Also have new grip on the Charter Arms Target Bull Dog. Fits my hand better than the original. Instead of shooting my hand loads I tried a few Magtech factory rounds. Out of 15, I had 3 that didn't fire. They looked like light pin strikes. I've never had that before. Hard primers? Thin rims? I need to look into that some more. 

I also tested an old Llama Micromax 380. It was on loan to a daughter-in-law for about 15 years without being fired in that time period. It occasionally failed to feed with my hand loads and Fiochi factories, all FMJ round noses. I need to look into that  as well. I cleaned and lubed it last week. Maybe a magazine issue?

Just for fun a put some rounds through the lever action 454 consisting mostly of 240 grain Hornady XTP Mags. Plenty of fun. The same load I use in the Super Redhawk. At 75 yards the heavier 300 grain version hit about 12 inches lower.