Grendel Success

 So I made it back to the range with my 2 problem rifles. Despite limping to the 100 yard target stand and back a few times, finally had some success. I now have a load for the Grendel using the Sierra 120 grain game king that produced sub-MOA 3 shot groups. I didn't even have to mess with the barrel harmonics to get there. It has a 1-10 scope and a mediocre shooter. A higher magnification and/or better shooter would most likely produce tighter groups.

The Ishapore Enfield is still a problem. More experimentation is required.

Bad Knee

 There was a time when my father-in-law asked if I knew then what I know now now about the effects on my body would be, would I still do that stuff. I answered absolutely yes.

I twisted my left knee wrestling in high school, fell on my left knee cap when I slipped coming out of a semi-truck trailer working my way through school. Then bent my left leg backwards playing softball. Blew out my right shoulder working on an old car.

I was on the high school wrestling and golf teams. Had to quit golf and move to second base playing ball due to the shoulder injury. Sold my dirt bike because after a day riding I limped for a week. Played soft ball until I was 45. Then my eldest returned from the marines and got me hooked on paintball. Had to wear a knee brace to walk after playing. Finally had to quit paintball when I was 65. That was ten years ago, and I still miss it. I also miss the Boss and I riding our horses.

Over the years I've tweeked the knee a few times, but a couple days wearing a brace got me back to normal. Not this time! Three weeks ago, after mowing grass, the left knee was hurting and it still does. Got another three weeks to see a bone doctor.

In my old age my activities are a lot less physical. I used to be a hunter, now I'm a gun guy.  Walking 100 yards to set up a target is now painful. So I still haven't found the right load for the  Ishapore or the Grendel.

Fuel Prices

 Everybody seems to be concerned about gas/diesel prices. And the direct impact on the cost of everything. The theory is that this is directly proportional to the price of crude oil. I don't think this is entirely true. 

Years ago crude oil was as high if not higher than it is now, and gas prices were much lower. I believe the price issue is mostly due to refineries. For years the government waged war on fossil fuels, so why would any company invest money in refineries when being fought by the government.

In addition, I recently learned the the same refineries that process diesel also refine heating oil. Those refineries are running at maximum capacity.

Pressure = Velocity

 Over the years I've owned, and still own, 2 handguns that produce higher velocities than the reloading manuals predict. The first was a Ruger Security Six, and the other a Kimber 1911 45acp. Higher velocity means higher pressure. I usually do all my reload testing for accuracy (consistency) then measure velocity just for the record. This time that bit me in the ass.

Using Sierra bullets and Sierra loading manual I found a load for the AR15 Grendel that met my expectations. Recently I loaded a box for confirmation without measuring velocity. That was a mistake. I was ignoring possible pressure issues. After about 15 rounds into the box, the rifle locked up. I couldn't clear it, so it's at the local gunsmith.

Ignorant/Stupid or Both

 A few decades ago I realized that my political values were and are quite stable. Since then the republican party drifted slightly left and the democrats have fallen off the end of the road. It used to be that the word socialism was considered a taboo. Now the democrats use it to hide the fact that they are pushing communism. Which, actually means, they are after absolute power over every aspect of this country.

If you vote for their promised utopia you are either ignorant or stupid, and you'll get what all the other countries have become that went the same way. There's a reason that a whole lot more people try to come here. 

I have concern for our future. There seems to be a lot of ignorant/stupid people out there.

Grendel Test Again

 Retested 3 different load weights of TAC pushing 120 gr Sierra GK bullets. The best of the 5 shot groups was 1-1/8 inches at 100 yards. That isn't a great number, but 3 shots clustered at 3/8 inch. That makes me think the other 2 were not a function of the hardware & ammo, but the guy pressing the trigger.

Crappy

 Haven't had a chance to do additional load testing for the Grendel because of a crappy situation.

The Boss took a bath and it wouldn't drain all the way, and the toilet was bubbling. The pump up toilet in the basement pumped up into the bath tub and overflowed the toilet in the main level. One hell of a shitty mess. A day later plumbers ran a camera down the vent and managed to push the clog down stream. The camera showed a partially collapsed pipe with some roots that was collecting solids. So for a few days we didn't put any toilet paper into the system. 

Yesterday plumbers started digging up the pipe that runs to the septic tank. It leaves the house under the concrete patio and runs under the concrete, parallel to the house, for about 60 feet. The sewer pipe is a thin wall polymer of some kind. About 12 feet were at least partially collapsed. The collapsed length has now been temporally replaced with schedule 40 PVC. All joints are fitted but not glued because I'm having the total length sleeved internally, old and new, to strengthen and prevent future issues like this. 

The sleeving may be a week away, but the system is useable again.

Thankfully our fifth wheel camper sits next to the house, so at least we didn't have to rent a porta potty.

Grendel Load Test

 Took the Grendel to the range late this morning. What I consider high temperature and high humidity caused water to condense on the rifle, that is stored in air conditioning. The scope lenses also fogged, so I had to wait to start shooting.

I had 3 loads each with 2 different powders. The groups were inconsistent at best. Seems the Grendel is a bit finnicky about powder charge weights. A 0.3 grain difference can be significant. To make things worse, after getting home, I noticed that the linear compensator had loosened. Now I'll need to redo the experiment.

Oh well, a bad day at the range is better than a good day at work.

- - - - - - Update 7/12

Reran the previous load testing with the linear compensator remaining tight. Three of the loads are worth running again, two with TAC and one with 8308. Both pushing 120 grain Sierra Game Kings. It seems the barrel likes velocity in the 2400-2500 f/s range. Once I determine the best load I'll play with the compensator location to see if I can tighten the groups by changing the the barrel harmonics a bit.

6.5 Grendel

 Made it to the range yesterday with the AR 6.5 Grendel.  I had 8 experimental hand loads using 2 different powders all with the same bullet (120 Gr Sierra). Two of the loads were promising with 3 shot groups of 1" & 1 1/8". I'll be loading more of of those and trying a different powder as well. At some point I'll experiment with different positions of the linear compensator mounted on the barrel. The weight will modify the harmonics of the barrel, frequently resulting in tighter groups.

Trip West

A few decades ago the Boss and I took our first trip west to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We liked it there, and with some pressure from me, we went back there recently. This time I was pulling a fifth wheel camping trailer. We drove through Indiana going and coming on the worse interstate highways I've ever been on. I70, I65 and I74 are all in terrible shape. At least I70 is being reconstructed. A couple of years ago I broke a band on my truck tire driving on I70.

 - - - - - 

While away a local company cleared our leaching field. He claims all is now working as required, and the septic tank should not overflow. Maybe in the spring, with all the rain we get, I'll know if that is true.

Crappy Situation

Bought this house 14 years ago because it was near my workplace and has room for the 90yo father in law. It's always had a slow working leaching field maybe due to the old clay tile and/or the soil in this area. Making a long story short, had the tank pumped and just 2 weeks later it was full to overflowing again. Had a drain plumber out and determined that the leaching field is basically noy working. 

Had a guy here Friday who specializes is repairing leaching fields. Supposed to get a general range of cost estimate Monday to fix the field. Unfortunately some of it is under the asphalt where the 5th wheel camper is parked. If there is a collapse they'll need to dig and replace. I expect this will cost several thousands of $.

Swiss K31

 Made it to the range again today for a short session with the Swiss K31. Managed to fire  3, three shot groups in an inch and a five shot group slightly larger. The old rifle is original except for a 2-7x scout scope. Was pushing a Sierra 180SPT at 2530f/s with IMR4350.

So now the Ishapore (308) and the Swiss (7.5x55) are zeroed with minute of angle ammo.

I brought the AR 6.5 Grendel, but forgot about the magazines. Crap, got a lot of ammo testing to do.

Ishapore Ammo

 Took the Ishapore back to the range to adjust zero and double check the load. (IMR4064 and Sierra 165 grain HPBT). After adjusting zero, fired a 5 shot. 1" group at 100 yards. It has a 2-8x scout scope mounted.

Looks like I'll be having issues getting any more powder. IMR4064  seems rare, and N140 with a very similar burn rate was a no-go at 2 on-line sources I checked.  It has a shortened barrel so I probably need to stay with that burn rate and bullet velocity.

Success

Put a linear compensator on the short barreled Ishapore and the extra weight on the end of the barrel had positive results. I tried 3 different loads and all had smaller groups than before. In fact one produced minute of angle. 

I also tried 5 different loads in the Swiss K31. Two loads gave me minute of angle, one with 180 grain bullet and the other 165 grain.

 Both had low power variable scout scopes mounted. If my eldest son was there, the groups would have been smaller. He can outshoot me with a rifle every time.

Next up is trying different 6.5 Grendel loads in the recently modified AR. The small case my make it more challenging.

I'm Touched

 I now have glasses that corrects my seeing 2 instead of 1 red dot, and eliminates the ghosting of cross hairs. The astigmatism in my dominate eye changed dramatically. Unfortunately I've not had the opportunity to hit the range since. I still want to tune the barrel of the cut down Ishapore, recheck the grouping from the K31, and try different loadings through the newly converted 6.5 Grendal.

But that's only part of why this post. 

A former coworker and shooting buddy sent me the following. It touched my heart.

I’ve been meaning to say something to you for a long time, and I’m finally at a place where I can say it straight (read sober)..

When we worked together, you spent a lot of time trying to teach me things I didn’t really understand back then. I was drawing pictures, getting things done, but I didn’t fully grasp what you were showing me. You were patient with me anyway, and you gave me more of your time and trust than I probably deserved at the time.

Somewhere along the way, years later, it finally clicked. I could actually see what you had been trying to teach me. Not just how to draw something, but how it works, how it holds together, how one thing affects another. Once I saw it, it changed the way I think. One day I saw an image in my mind, yep, tolerance stack ups…”well, I’ll be damned, is it really that easy”?

I wrote something a while back, and I realized recently that a lot of it came from what you tried to teach me. I’m including it here. It’s my way of saying—I got it. It just took me a while.

There’s also something else I need to say. I didn’t treat you the way I should have. You stuck your neck out for me, and I showed up in a way that made you look bad. And the last time we spoke, I was out of line. That’s on me.

The truth is, you were a better friend to me than I was to you, and I wanted you to know that.

I don’t expect anything from you. I just needed to say it, and to thank you for what you gave me. It mattered more than I ever let on.

New Glasses

 So I now have new glasses on order. My very dominant eye (right) has a big change and the beginning (very small) cataract. I dismounted and brought one of my red dots with me to the eye doctor. The new prescription will fix the double dot issue, but I'll still see a little tale on the dot. I can live with that.

I think I'll have to migrate away from red dot sights in the future. My vision issues seems to have less of an impact with an optic that has a heavy cross hair. In fact I just purchased an optic for my 6.5 Grendel AR build with a heavy plex reticle.

Old Eyes

 I thought about taking the 454 lever action on the pig hunt but changed to the Enfield at the last minute. That turned out to be a good decision. The Enfield has a heavy plex reticle while the 454 has a red dot on it. When home I looked through the red dot and saw 2 red dots. It turns out all 4 of my red dot optics have 2 dots. I knew my vision was getting worse, but I didn't realize it was getting this bad. Have an eye doc appointment next week.

Wild Pigs

 Late last week I joined my eldest and his son on a wild boar hunt in South Carolina. My son stayed with his son of 15 the whole time. I never got a shot , but the grandson harvested a 160 pound pig. He said the shakes got him after the shot. Very normal for an inexperienced hunter. I'm quite happy the youngster not only got a shot but brought home the bacon as well.

Years ago I got 2 Russian boars, one about 200lbs the other 450lbs. I think they're going to consider going to Tennessee next time, and maybe hunt some Russian boars.

Talking Heads

 I've had my fill of the talking heads claiming truth without giving any proof. For instance, if ICE is operating illegally, explain how and what law is being broken. Also if operating legally, what law allows their actions.  Being humans, it's likely that some individuals have stepped over the line. That's not what I'm talking about. We shouldn't be considering that a few represents the whole.

The same talking heads continually jump to conclusions without having the whole picture concerning the actions of individuals. I don't want to hear your propaganda.

Little Piggy

 Next month I'll be joining my eldest and his son on a wild pig hunt. I'll be deciding between a 7mm Mag, Brit 303, 454 lever action and 454 revolver. I have others, but those are my first choice. Years ago I took a Russian boar at under 50 yards with the 303.

When my schedule and sort of decent weather coincides I'll be hitting the range to evaluate first shot  alignment to the scope. Both bolt guns are MOA or better, but I haven't looked at first shot in years. Both 454 units are 100 yards or closer for me. On a good day, farther. The lever action has a red dot sight, and the revolver wears a 2X scope.

There's a possibility I'll wear the revolver in a chest holster and carry one of the bolt actions.

If the 2 bolt guns above don't satisfy, I have scopes on a 6.5mm mauser, 308 Enfield, and Swiss K31. The 6.5 and K31 shoot nice small groups, but they're not zeroed. The best I have so far is 1-1/4" from the 308., and it's not zeroed.