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.

- - - - - - 

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.

Ishapore Continued

 So after a lot of looking I found and ordered a scout mount made to fit Enfield No1 MkIII which is the same as my Ishapore but with a different chambering. I thought this would be the solution to my scout scope mounting issue. But I was wrong. The new mount would not fit down between the ears because one side of the ears was not parallel. Using a rotary tool I ground away the inside of one side until the new mount would fit. Every thing is now good? Nope.

As it turns out a mounted scope is at an angle to the barrel. At just 25 feet there's barely enough cross hair adjustment to align with a laser bore sighter. The thickness of a business card on opposite sides of the mounting rings fixes that issue. This is only a temporary way to measure the angle that needs correcting. Back to the gunsmith it goes.

- - - - - - 

On the bright side, the same company makes a scout mount for my Swiss K31. It's a very solid mount and fit very well. I mounted a Hi-Lux LER scope, and found the combination very satisfactory. I'll be working on hand loads now.