C.O.R.N.Y. virus, Dakota variant....

We're on borrowed time up here for weather and there's nothing worse that looking at a rifle all Winter wondering if it's going to shoot.

Today was 46 degrees, sunny and winds 14-18 from the 9 o'clock direction....pretty good conditions to test in at our range as anything going L-R is going to be a 'weather report'. My supply of BIB 88's is dwindling so I defaulted to the Sierra 87 PSP flat base/lead point bullet. While not exactly a BR bullet, this Sierra will shoot to 1/2" or a bit better in every good .25 I've worked with. Powder was the old standby IMR4831. Three shot groups today just to see if the barrel had promise....no loading at the range, just loaded some at home stopping a full grain below book max.

It shot pretty well at 51.0 (.523) and 52.5 (.469) and the 53.0 shows promise...just needs more powder. A little weather report on all the groups. Anyway, I can put it away, redo the bedding over the Winter and get it back out next spring for some more in depth work. I believe it can be a legit 5 shot 1/2" gun with a bit more massaging. The chamber is nice on the body but big at the neck (.293) and long on the neck length (2.525 on the 2.494 SAMMI max). I was able to jam the Sierras with .050 of the bullet in the case neck, though.

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Sierra 87's:

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Sierra 87 and BIB 88:

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As a little bonus from Sierra in the box of bullets...a chunk of walnut shell. Now we know what they use to polish their bullets!

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All in all, a pretty good day.

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After seeing a muzzle get 'big' after RemClean, I default to JB. The barrel was one of Stan Ware's .30's...a Lilja 3 groove 1:17. It looked good via the Hawkeye bore scope but the muzzle was bigger than when he had checked it with a pin gauge when new. After taking 2" off the muzzle end and indicating a new crown, the barrel went right back to shooting well. Whether the formulation stayed the same as the name changed from Gold Medallion to RemClean to 40X Bore Cleaner, I'm not sure. I would suspect it did. I do use RemClean on 0000 steel wool for polishing aluminum.

Coincidence? Maybe. Probably just coincidental. I'm sure there are lots of shooters using it with no issues. But there had never been any muzzle issues before or since.:confused: And since I've been using JB w/o issues for a good 25 years, I just default to what I know works.

I like trying new stuff but on things like this my medical back ground comes out. First, do no harm.

Good shootin'. -Al
 
dmort said:
Nice groups...bet you hang on to this one. Mort
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Mort, my 3 year old grandkiddo Cal seems to have 'claimed' it. He saw it in my gun room and pronounced: "Grandpa, that's a big gun. That will be my gun when I'm bigger, okay?" :D

He likes to help me clean case necks and organize brass. He has his own chair and little tool box with some 0000 steel wool and a can of Never Dull in it. When we were done, he had to measure my thumb....good stuff! :cool:

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C'mon Gramps..... get the kid a digital caliper

(Or you gonna' teach him on a barrel mic and slipstick too?)
 
Al, real nice photos.

I use to have my grandkids help in the loading room and they learned the whole process. I let them take a whiff of Hoppe's #9 bore cleaner as it is a smell you won't forget.

We then started out talking about safety and shooting cardboard boxes with an air rifle.

I have several 22 rifles and the boys liked the Marlin 22 lever the best so they took turns shooting at 25 yards or so and then out to 50. As they got older I got to take them out varmint shooting at a friend's ranch. They got a kick out of spotting for me and taking a few shots.

They are young adults now and between college and part-time jobs, we don't see them much anymore. When they do show up here we go to the county range and bang away. I found this whole process with the boys very rewarding.....wish I could do it again.

The great thing about being a grandpa is you can really spoil the heck out of them and it's not your problem!

Mort
 
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grandkids

The other day 2 of my grandsons came down to my loading room. They were just playing around with stuff they could play with. I had to leave the room for about 5 minutes. when I came back they were going to town on my Dillon loaders working the handles.On the 650 and the square deal the dial would index when you pull the handle but the 550 on 223 you had to index by hand. The 650 and the S.D. I just ran the dials empty and scraped them but the 550 had the case under the powder measure running over with powder all over the dial down on the floor , mess. I had a heart to heart talk with them on how they had to leave PaPas loading stuff alone. They are 3 and 4 not old enough to teach loading yet. Ive seen toolsetters at lake city screw stuff up,but not that fast. I hope I got thru to em. I wouldnt have walked right for a week if I would have done that when I was a kid. Times have changed. Doug
 
boy i remember both my sons sitting on my lap pulling the loader handle for me as i was assembling match ammo for full course shoots as well as shotgun rounds.
 
grandkids

Yea, I was talking to the boys loud and fast. not like R Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket but I wanted to stress they had to leave that stuff alone. I was told I had said enough. So I shut up. Ill teach them what I know about loading and shooting , that will take about 15 minutes, when the time comes. Doug
 
Time for an update.

The verdict is in on the barrel and it's pretty harsh. My suspicion that the horrible fouling was simply due to poor cleaning by the previous owner turned out to be completely wrong. Finally had a bit of time to get in there with the bore scope this morning and here's what we've got. Young kids, older folks or anyone with a heart condition may want to leave the room as these images are pretty graphic. Parental caution is advised..... :eek:

This is the chamber neck area. Fired brass had this swirly-ish look to the necks...now I know why.

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At the end of the chamber neck as it transitions to the throat/leade area. SAMMI spec for the 25-06 chamber length is 2.494. The brass I used was 2.485 long. Checking the chamber with a case length gauge shows it to be 2.525 in length. So...what you're seeing here is .040 of hard carbon fouling at the end of the neck (2.525-2.485= .040). I've JB'd the beejeezus out of it but it obviously is still in there...the product of decades of shooting.

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Ahh...the throat/leade area as it transitions to the rifling. looks like some alligator shoes that Paulie Walnuts on 'The Sopranos' would wear!

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Not to be outdone, about 4" up from the rifling origins was this little nugget...like a hunk of coal in a Christmas stocking. :) Not that it makes any difference at this point!

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That it still managed to shoot 1/2" three shot groups with a hunting-style bullet (Sierra 87 SP) just amazes the heck outta me!


Good shootin'. -Al
 
There was an article

Pete Wass said:
is fear itself :). The stuff in it is no different from JB, just some pumice. Suspending it in oil I think aids in the cleaning process.

Pete
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in Precision Rifle magazine years ago comparing various bore cleaners like RemClean, JB, IOSSO and as I remember they used a micro fine diatomaceous earth for the cutting action. Sure wish I had saved that article. Looks like Remington has changed the name to 40X bore cleaner??
 
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