All Systems Go

Am I silly to get such thrills out of little things? Today a package arrived from Midwayusa, and I’m beside myself.

A while back, I bought a .17 HMR rifle. But I couldn’t use it. The 42mm objective on the scope, combined with the thickness of the varmint barrel, made it necessary to get extra-high scope rings, which were not available locally. I had to order the damn things. So my rifle, ammunition, bag, and sling have been sitting on the bedroom floor.

Today the box arrived. I put the rings on, and everything lines up fine. I have 500 rounds, waiting to be shot. I can’t wait. But I will. Because it’s windy today. Tomorrow should be better. The wind won’t mess up my rifle shooting all that much, because the targets are supported by two legs. On the pistol side, the wind will make the targets rock and twist; the targets are mounted on a single pole.

I didn’t lap the scope rings. I’m not sure I need to, and I didn’t feel like dropping 30 bucks on a tool of questionable value.

I chose Weaver Grand Slam rings, because they have levers that don’t fall off when you fool with the scope. The regular rings have parts you can lose. I had a hell of a time getting these rings to work, because I wrongly assumed they worked on some kind of cam action, with a limited swing on the levers. In fact, each lever turns a screw, so you have to turn it many times to back it out and open the rings for mounting.

I also got Eezox. Not sure what to do with it.

Since this is a rimfire, I assumed I needed minimal eye relief. Tell me if I’m wrong, before I poke a hole in my forehead. I mounted the scope as far back as I could get it.

This was a glorious purchase. Scope and all, it’s cheaper than a nice pistol.

Let me know if that sling looks right. There were no instructions.

Call me Lord of the Scope Rings

I am so tired of Hurricane Ike. Apart from the pain it has caused in the Caribbean, it managed to take a path that has kept it nearly the same distance from me for several days. Today the sky is sort of a light grey, and we’re getting lots of annoying wind gusts. By tomorrow morning, we should finally be free from the hurricane influence. And not a moment too soon.

I’m glad it’s getting weak. I hope it finds its way to a nice piece of empty jungle. Let Gaia take it in the face; it’s her storm, anyway.

I got splendid news RE the .17 HMR rifle. My scope rings should be here on Thursday. If that happens, Friday is RANGE DAY. I can’t wait to shoot again. I haven’t been to the range in maybe a month. It’s killing me. And this will be a special day, because for the first time, I’ll be shooting a rifle in which I have total confidence. Will I shoot badly? Maybe. But at least I’ll know what’s causing all the problems.

I decided to get Weaver extra-high rings with levers on them. The levers tighten the rings onto the bases. I chose these over the ones will little knobs that come off. Why? A commenter at Midway said the knobs have a tendency to get away from you. So if you take one off while you’re outdoors, you risk losing it in grass or whatever. The levers don’t look all that great, but at least they won’t fall off.

I have a feeling Weaver won’t sell you a new knob. That’s another consideration.

I also ordered Pachmayrs for the Smith & Wesson 27-2. Jim recommended them. He has been a tremendous help. The wooden grips that come with the gun are very comfortable, for about three shots. After that, you notice that your middle finger is completely filling the space between the grip and the trigger guard. After a while, you get tired of having the steel hammered backward into your flesh. Bad design. Jim recommended the smaller version of the Gripper grip, but I decided to try the big version first, because it has a closed backstrap. It’s supposed to cushion the recoil better, and I don’t like really small grips. My 686 Plus has a tiny grip, and it feels weird.

My dad still hasn’t collected on his Father’s Day gift, which was a concealed carry course. I’ll have to drag him to the class. He wants to go, but he keeps forgetting. He keeps talking about M1 rifles. It would be funny if we started shooting together.

I ordered some Eezox, on recommendations from readers. I might as well mention something which is sure to start a fight. I looked at some rust preventative tests online. Eezox wasn’t the top performer. One product that fared very well is Outers Metal Seal. It’s not easy to find. Break-Free CLP also did very well.

I’m hoping Eezox or something like it will put a halt to the rust on the exposed areas of my ammunition press.

Geez, I still have to take about a hundred .357 rounds apart and try to figure out what’s wrong with them. I tried to shoot some at the range, and they sort of fell out of the barrel, instead of flying true.

I still can’t get the ManCamp boys to go to the range.

While I was at ManCamp on Sunday, Val produced an interesting item. He thought it was some kind of deer rifle. It came from an abandoned house. It was a bolt-action gun with a huge bore. I looked at the bore and wondered what kind of rifle looked like that. Something was wrong. Sure enough, near the breech, I found some very rusty stamping: “.410 Bore.” It’s a single-shot, bolt-action shotgun. Crazy. Someone carved a date into the butt. Something-something-38. I managed to read the word “Stevens” through the crud.

Strange gun. But it was free, so who cares?

I can’t even guess what a gun like that is for.

Let me know when UPS gets here. I am itching to shoot.

I Burned Fossil Fuel for Nothing

Here is a bummer for you. I went to Bass and got me a sling, scope rings, and a rifle bag. And it looks like the rings and sling may have to go back.

The scope I bought has a 42mm objective lens. I bought rings that were supposed to work with a lens that size. But when I put them on the rifle, the scope rested on the barrel. DOH.

I just checked the Burris page. Guess what? Burris uses bigger lenses than other makers. How they can do that while still calling it 42mm is beyond me.

Now my head hurts.

I assume they mean 42mm is bigger than the lens on a competitor’s product with the same specs. And maybe the thick barrel is the problem.

I took the sling out of the bag and noticed something funny. It only has one swivel. What the hell? The gun has two studs. Do I attach the sling to the one stud with a cable tie? I happen to have a swivel I’m not using, but I’m not totally sure the sling can be opened up and inserted in it. Guess I’ll figure it out.

They don’t even sell Eezox. It’s a weird store. In some ways, they seem almost ashamed of their shooting products. At least I enjoyed the giant saltwater aquarium. I always stand by it for a while and imagine myself killing all the fish.

I sure hope there is nothing wrong with the bag.

More

Cheer yourself up by reading about the other President Jefferson. Moxie met him at a fundraiser held by Jackie Treehorn.

I Should Have it Blessed by the Dalai Obama

My new scope is here. I am just about ready to try out the Savage .17 HMR. I’m pretty excited about it, since all my other rifles have little problems that make it hard to distinguish my bad shooting from error caused by mechanical booboos.

I went outside and aimed it at the construction guys across the street, to see what the optics were like. Needless to say, I did not bring the gun with it. Even I am not crazy enough to aim an empty rifle at neighboring yards.

I need rings, and apparently, I really, REALLY need something called Eezox. Someone in the comments recommended it, and Varmint Al says the company that made some of his barrels recommended using it before shooting for the first time.

I looked it up. It seems to be some kind of dry lubricant. I wonder if it would be better than Hornady One Shot, to keep powder flowing smoothly in a powder measure.

Guess I better head for Bass. I know of no other local place that will have the little items I need.

Mice Fear Me

Swell news today. I picked up my latest adopted baby. A Savage 93R17-FVSS. In case you haven’t memorized the entire Savage line, I’ll inform you that this is a .17 HMR bolt-action rifle with a heavy stainless barrel and no sights. The scope is still on the way.

I also have ammunition. I ordered it from Midsouth while I was waiting.

Looks like a nice little gun. Seems very light, to have a barrel like that.

I can’t wait to get to the range and see what it will do. My earliest chance is Friday, but I don’t know if I can swing it.

I think I should have done this two years ago. Or earlier. I’ve had fun with the PSL and the K31, but I really needed something with fewer idiosyncrasies. Something I could take out of the box and shoot. This looks like a good choice. It should be ridiculously accurate at a hundred yards, and the ammunition is cheap, as was the gun itself.

The PSL has a trigger problem. The K31 needs scope shims. My Nylon 66 just doesn’t seem to like scopes. The new gun shouldn’t have any of those problems. Now, when I miss, I’ll know who to blame.

The ammunition is just plain weird. Tiny little miniatures of high-powered rifle rounds. And each one has a red plastic insert in the bullet’s cavity.

I don’t know what accessories I need. I have the Boresnake, and I’ll be buying a bag for the gun, but after that, who knows? It has studs on it for a strap. Maybe that would be a good idea.

Now I feel like I can quit looking at rifles for a spell. This one should be a dream to shoot, so I should be able to learn a great deal from it. I certainly hope so. You never know when your city might be invaded by chipmunks.

Do we Dare Hope?

Here is my .17 HMR situation. The rifle will be in my sweaty paws next week. Midsouth has Hornady V-Max ammunition for under ten bucks a box, so I’m getting some of that. And I found a good deal on a Burris Fullfield II 4-14x scope, so that’s on the way. If it turns out to be more magnification than I want, I’ll put it on the K31 and move the 3-9x to the .17. Picked up a .17-caliber Boresnake when I ordered the rifle, so I’m all set RE cleaning.

I found a strange thing at Midsouth. They charge $33.00 for 500 9mm LRN Speer bullets. This is the size I use for the .38 Super. How is that possible? Oregon Trail, which is usually cheap, charges $52.75 (including shipping, before 10% Internet discount). Speer bullets are jim-dandy. I’ve shot billions of Blazers. I can’t figure it out. Is the price of lead tanking?

I’m checking. Lead has plummeted in price. Over the last year, it has gone from around $1.75 per pound to a present level of 86¢. Damn, maybe we’re in for some relief. That would sure be nice.

Now copper…hmm, it’s dropping, but nothing like lead. Maybe cast-bullet reloading is getting cheaper, faster than the price of finished ammunition, which includes brass casings, which are mostly copper.

I wonder if the lead drop is reflected in the price of finished lead ammunition, which has no copper jacketing. Doesn’t look like it. Cheaper Than Dirt’s lowest jacketed and non-jacketed .45 ACP prices are about the same.

I can’t find out how hard the Speer bullets are. That’s a problem. Laser-Cast bullets work fine in a .38 Super, but the speed may be too much for Speer’s bullets.

Crap.

Anyway, the information might be useful to some of you.

.17 HMR

I did it. I bought myself a rifle. Not used. Not a milsurp. A totally new, supposedly super-accurate bolt-action rifle. I picked a Savage .17 HMR with a varmint barrel. You can see it at this link. I decided to go for stainless. Not sure why. I just felt like it.

Finally, I should be able to get a grip on rifle shooting. I won’t have to worry about putting a weird mount on a gun not made for a scope. I won’t have to worry about Romanian trigger slap or the flexing of a nylon stock. Just point and shoot.

I think I’ll get a Burris Fullfield II scope, with a maximum magnification of 14. That ought to be about right, and it’s not obscenely expensive. I already have a Fullfield on my K31, and it seems very nice.

Hopefully next week I’ll be able to get to the range and wring this thing out.

I don’t know what the .17 HMR is good for. I mentioned Varmint Al, the guy who shoots ground squirrels with .17 HMR rifles. I don’t think they’ll make a prairie dog pop in a satisfying way. But it should be a very good and economical range gun.

By da Gubbermint Uh da United Nations

I have stuff to do today. I have to mail a CD to a television producer. I have to mail books to a radio station, because they gave them away to listeners and my publisher hasn’t managed to get copies to them. I need to poison everything on this entire parcel of land, except for humans and parrots.

But I’ve decided I have time to do one more thing. I am going to get me a new gun.

The only question is, .22 or .17 HMR?

Tried to get my kitchen-table dealer to get me a .22, but he never got back to me. I have waited long enough.

Not Exactly Camo

SOMEONE forgot to remind me to link to this, so I didn’t.

If you want to contribute to breast cancer research, and you like guns, this is for you. Somebody is raffling off a pink AR15 for cancer. You need this gun. Believe me.

Choices Make for Headaches

Here’s a question for the gun nerds. I think I’ll post it on the Manly Grub forum, too.

How much magnification do you need to be able to see .17 HMR holes in a target 300 yards away?

I was told 10x is all I need, but I would like to avoid using a spotting scope, in the very unlikely event that I am lucky enough to get to shoot at 300 yards.

I have a cheap BSA spotting scope, and I can barely see bullet holes at 100 yards. I’m better off looking through my rifle scope.

Another thing: would it be crazy to put a Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14x on a .17 HMR rifle? They don’t have anything between 9 and 14, so 9 and 14 are the choices. I like my current Fullfield II, which goes up to 9. The 4.5-14x costs about as much as the rifle.

I Feel Like Lot

I made another Costco-cheese pizza yesterday. Blogged it at Manly Grub. I have no complaints. As far as I can tell, their shredded mozzarella is fine, apart from being part-skim. If you like part-skim, there’s nothing wrong with it at all. My one complaint is that the provolone is sliced a little thick. I used a single layer on top of the mozzarella, and I still got some oiling off. This is not exactly the end of the world, but I think the provolone would be better if you could cover a pizza with four ounces (four slices) instead of six.

In any case, the mozzarella is a good buy. If you have to get thin provolone somewhere else, you’re still saving money because the mozzarella is so cheap.

Here’s something that would be fun. Make a pie, add six ounces of mozzarella, and then add 4-6 ounces of very thinly sliced Swiss or Jarlsberg.

I can’t quite get used to Bonta sauce. It’s good, but Super Dolce is fifteen minutes away by car, and to me, it’s better.

People are still giving me comments on rifle scope choices. I have decided the best thing is to get a .22 with peep sights and practice at 50 yards. Once I feel like I can shoot a rifle, I’ll start worrying about the scoped guns.

A reader suggested .17 HMR, which is a fairly inexpensive caliber. The guns cost about what a .22 does, and the ammunition runs around ten bucks for 50 rounds.

I don’t understand ballistics at all. I don’t understand why some calibers are more accurate than others. You would think that if a caliber had accuracy problems, the people who design the ammunition and barrels would fix it, but I guess it doesn’t work that way, because some calibers shoot better than others. That is the situation with .17 HMR and .22 LR. Supposedly you can shoot the toes off a fly with a scoped .17 HMR, and you can actually kill vermin at three hundred yards. I’m starting to think a .17 HMR rifle might be a good move, once I feel good about the way I shoot with open sights.

In connection with this caliber, I found what may be the greatest website in the universe. I am referring to Varmint Al’s. This guy shoots pest animals for money, and he has some crazy gear. He lives in Northern California, where they have a ground squirrel problem, and ranchers pay him to go out and pop ground squirrels on their property. He’s also a machinist, and he has all sorts of skills. He seems to like the .17 HMR a whole lot. You can go to the site and see photos of his many victims.

Last night I tried to find Brother Andrew’s book, God’s Smuggler. The B&N site said a local store had it, but they were wrong. I tried another store, and of course, they didn’t have it either. But if I had wanted books on witchcraft and idolatry, or if I had wanted books by shiny-haired, disappointing televangelists, I would have been all set. They had plenty.

It’s peculiar, but it seems like bookstores down here really push the occult stuff. For years, I’ve noticed that they tend to put it on the eye-level display areas behind the checkout counter. And the kids they hire always seem to be creepy little Goths. Am I the only one who has noticed this?

The second store had Corrie ten Boom, so that’s good.

I took a look at The Screwtape Letters. I don’t think it’s for me. It just doesn’t speak to me. It seems like it’s about an intellectual approach to Christianity, whereas I see Christianity as a matter of faith, character, and emotion. I’ve had certain types of experiences, and I want guidance from other people who have been down the same road. I don’t see how a completely fictional book could serve that purpose. When religious writing becomes too theoretical, it loses me. Even Christians can be effete. I want to hear about things that have worked in practice, in the real world. A real-life example is worth more to me than a library full of theory.

I had to order God’s Smuggler online. I wonder if the US is becoming a country where you can get any kind of porn you want locally, but you have to have a computer to find religious instruction.

A reader sent me a link to some downloadable sermons, and I listened to a Baptist preacher who said he had slowly been squeezed out of the public eye. When he was young, people used to ask him to pray at public functions, but the invitations dropped off with time, and people even turned down the free use of a building belonging to his church, because he refused to cover up the scripture on the walls. In the sermon, he flatly stated that America isn’t a Christian nation any more. Man, that is scary. God made us great, and he can take it all away. It’s strange to realize that the United States needs evangelism. This is one reason I want to move to a nice backward area where you can have a flag in front of your house and go to a church with a heterosexual pastor. Maybe that’s wrong; maybe the proper thing to do is to try to improve the area where you live. But I don’t like being in a place where people are beginning to see Christians as evil. If things continue to deteriorate, I can see us winding up a persecuted minority within 25 years, at least in some areas.

More Scope Info

Remember when I asked for advice about scopes? Chris Byrne tried to post an informative comment, but it was too long for Haloscan, so he reposted it at his blog. You can find it here.

He also posted it on the Manly Grub forum, and you can find that post (and you can reply) here.

Thanks again, Chris.

Another Quagmire

I mentioned the notion of getting a cheap, accurate bolt-action rifle and a scope. I had the Savage FVSS in mind, I think. The plastic one, not the wooden one. Then I asked about scope choices. Right now, I have no place to shoot beyond 100 yards, but I thought it might be a good idea to get something good enough for actual varminting; you never know when you might get an opportunity. I received all sorts of weird suggestions.

Reader Blindshooter says he has a 6-24x scope he uses a lot. KDT says 10x is all you need, under 400 yards. I read up on the choices, and it looks like the best choice, without breaking the bank, would be a Nikon. People are raving about them, and they cost about a third less than comparable Leupolds. I’m wondering what makes most sense: the 6-24×50, or the 4-16×50. Even if I somehow find myself shooting at longer ranges, 300 yards is about the best I can hope to find. Is there really any point in getting magnification I will probably never need? And here’s something weird: there is no real difference in price. Due to the vagaries of Internet discounting, they’re both in the same range.

It has also been suggested that I work on my open-sight shooting. My only problem with that suggestion is that I am not anxious to do that with my current weapons. The Romak and the K31 beat my shoulder up pretty bad, and although I’m saving the brass, I doubt I’ll ever take the time to reload it, because it’s all Berdan-primed. I don’t mind the bruising when I’m shooting with a scope at 100 yards. But I’d be shooting at half that distance with open sights, and it seems silly to use a cannon for that. The Savage would be fine, but if I scope it, iron sights won’t be an option.

I have a .22 rifle, but I’m not sure it’s accurate enough to fool with. If you want to learn anything, you have to have a gun that shoots considerably better than you do. I suspect that the Nylon 66 has enough error in it to confuse me at the range.

I guess I could use the Romak. The ammunition was cheap, and it’s supposed to be very good stuff.

In the past, I’ve considered getting a cheap Savage .22 LR, because they’re very accurate, and the ammunition is cheap. Maybe that’s still the best course.

Another reader emailed me and suggested I try to carve out a niche, writing about guns. Believe me, I would love to. The main problem with that is that I know almost nothing about the topic. That doesn’t stop most writers, I know. Maybe the answer is to turn ignorance into an asset. Find someone who would publish accounts written by an admitted gun doofus, trying to improve himself.

Which Scope?

Here is a new question for the gun clingers.

Let’s say you get yourself a gun suitable for varmint hunting. You know you’ll probably do all your shooting at 100 yards, but you want to be prepared in case you completely lose your mind, get on a plane, and go shoot prairie dogs. Or maybe God will smile on you, and you’ll move to a place that has a 300-yard range.

What kind of scope do you need?

I have a 9x scope on the K31, and it’s dandy for 100 yards, but I have no idea what you need at higher distances.

Nibble on They Tiny Feet

I can see why Kim du Toit gets so much traffic. It’s not the weekend pinups. It’s the guns! Every time I post a gun question, I get a pile of comments.

Last night, I asked about varmint calibers.

I feel funny, using the word “varmint.” Nobody really says that, except for shooters and cartoon characters and the Beverly Hillbillies. I have no idea what part of the country that term comes from, but wherever it is, I’ve never been there. Maybe Mel Blanc made it up. It’s sort of like “ornery.” Who says that? Or at least, who pronounces it the way it’s spelled? In Kentucky, people pronounce it “onry,” as in “onry old bitch.” I’ve never heard “ornery.” Or “dagnab it” or “consarn it.”

I’ve fooled around with two weird rifles: the K31 and the Romak III. The K31 is great, but the scope mount is not quite right. The gun shoots low and to the right, by around 8″ at 100 yards. The scope won’t adjust far enough to compensate. I haven’t gotten around to shimming it so the scope will be on the point of impact. I can’t quite get used to the idea of cutting pieces out of a beer can and putting them inside my pretty black rings. The Romak has a trigger problem I haven’t succeeded in fixing. I think it would be nice to get a cheap, accurate, modern gun that shoots relatively inexpensive ammunition, so I can finally learn how to shoot a rifle.

People are making suggestions based on the idea that I would hunt with it. I don’t see that happening. I have nowhere to hunt. If I did, I’d be hunting pigs. And that would mean scoping the Desert Eagle. There is no way I’d be able to resist. I wouldn’t be making long-distance shots, so a scoped pistol would be perfect. Although I’m afraid the pigs would pop like watermelons.

You don’t need much of a rifle to hunt pigs, anyway. The Cubans rely on the .22 LR. I think it would be a little weird, showing up with a heavy-barreled .243 with a scope. The Desert Eagle would be weird, too, but the fun factor would outweigh the weird.

I think the .223 and the .22-250 are good choices, because the ammunition is cheap. Not much more expensive than pistol ammunition. I might be able to avoid the trauma of setting up to do a new caliber on the ammunition press.

People were asking about the distance. As far as I know, down here, there is no place where you can go past 100 yards. But it seems like the best choices for that distance are the varmint calibers, so it doesn’t make any difference.

The first time I shot the Romak, I was next to an old guy who shot his own wildcat loads. Combining a .243 with something else. I forget. He said he spent his vacations killing prairie dogs. Imagine, paying two or three thousand dollars to fly to another state to shoot giant rats. That is a guy who likes to shoot. And not someone you would want to make angry.

Maybe I’ll expand the gun board at Manly Grub. In fact, I just did. I know the profanity filter will drive a lot of gun nuts away, but I don’t care. The Internet is filthy enough already.

Thanks for the tips.