Post by edge on May 6, 2007 20:04:08 GMT -5
For a while I have been toying with the thought that if I had a 45-70, or a .458 Win Mag, or a .458 Lott, why would I want to lose the barrel or ruin it to turn it into a ML.
I decided that the only way to know if it will work was to give it a try. Being cheap
, I decided to look for the cheapest platform that I could find. I settled on the 45-70 NEF HandiRifle.
For those not familiar, it is a break-open that can be had for 200-250 dollars.
When mine arrived I gave it the once over, and was very pleasantly surprised by the bore. It absolutely puts my old Savage ML to shame. The question was would it shoot.
Well very quickly I found a problem with a break open design. I figured that I would use the scope off of my converted 50 caliber ML but since I only had medium rings it would not fit.
It turned out that the only scope that I had that would fit was a very suspect piece of crud ( very generous ). It turned out the it still hit by a couple of thousandths but I don't think that it matters that much.
This scope has never repeated on anything that recoils, and really belongs on a .22 rimfire......but I had to TRY to pull the trigger.
Unfortunately this thing does not have a trigger, it has a lever that breaks at a crisp 57 pounds! I swear that it could hold a 10 year old and not break ;D
Needless to say it took about 10 shots to figure things out, and needs to be lightened or I could not hunt with it.
I had 5 powders that I had on hand that seemed to be in the range for this rifle. Alliant 2400, Accurate 2015, IMR 3031, and H4198.
Alliant only filled the case about 1/2 full, but I wanted to zero with this as I have had a half pound left over since I bought my ML-I. I do not like powders that don't come close to filling the case and this one scared me. You could double load and still have room for the bullet!
2015 seemed almost perfect with almost 100% fill.
3031 was a compressed load and I could not get the bullet all the way down. These were unfired cases and after firing that may change.
H4198 also had a large range of loads from about 80% to a compressed load.
Everything used a 300 grain Remington bullet.
I shot pretty fast, only running one patch of Hoppes #9 between each round.
It took me about a dozen shot to find the target and figure out the confounded trigger, but I thought that the 4198 looked the most promising.
I took 2 shots and they looked to be about 2 inches apart low and left about 3 inches from the bull. I had two shots left so I adjusted the POC scope up 12 and right 12.
The next two shots were within 1/2 inch of each other BUT up 2 inches and still 3 inches left.
I guess that either the scope don't track for cr*p or I got an incredibly luck two shots about 3 1/2 inches from where I was aiming, and honestly I don't know which it is
I have some family business to take care of and may not test for a while, but next time I'll try to have a real scope set up.
I still need to make a mold of the chamber, slug the barrel, make a breechplug, and make some sabots.
With a little luck I can get the trigger down to a manageable 25 pounds and get back to the range in a few weeks.
edge.
I decided that the only way to know if it will work was to give it a try. Being cheap
, I decided to look for the cheapest platform that I could find. I settled on the 45-70 NEF HandiRifle.For those not familiar, it is a break-open that can be had for 200-250 dollars.
When mine arrived I gave it the once over, and was very pleasantly surprised by the bore. It absolutely puts my old Savage ML to shame. The question was would it shoot.
Well very quickly I found a problem with a break open design. I figured that I would use the scope off of my converted 50 caliber ML but since I only had medium rings it would not fit.
It turned out that the only scope that I had that would fit was a very suspect piece of crud ( very generous ). It turned out the it still hit by a couple of thousandths but I don't think that it matters that much.
This scope has never repeated on anything that recoils, and really belongs on a .22 rimfire......but I had to TRY to pull the trigger.
Unfortunately this thing does not have a trigger, it has a lever that breaks at a crisp 57 pounds! I swear that it could hold a 10 year old and not break ;D
Needless to say it took about 10 shots to figure things out, and needs to be lightened or I could not hunt with it.
I had 5 powders that I had on hand that seemed to be in the range for this rifle. Alliant 2400, Accurate 2015, IMR 3031, and H4198.
Alliant only filled the case about 1/2 full, but I wanted to zero with this as I have had a half pound left over since I bought my ML-I. I do not like powders that don't come close to filling the case and this one scared me. You could double load and still have room for the bullet!
2015 seemed almost perfect with almost 100% fill.
3031 was a compressed load and I could not get the bullet all the way down. These were unfired cases and after firing that may change.
H4198 also had a large range of loads from about 80% to a compressed load.
Everything used a 300 grain Remington bullet.
I shot pretty fast, only running one patch of Hoppes #9 between each round.
It took me about a dozen shot to find the target and figure out the confounded trigger, but I thought that the 4198 looked the most promising.
I took 2 shots and they looked to be about 2 inches apart low and left about 3 inches from the bull. I had two shots left so I adjusted the POC scope up 12 and right 12.
The next two shots were within 1/2 inch of each other BUT up 2 inches and still 3 inches left.
I guess that either the scope don't track for cr*p or I got an incredibly luck two shots about 3 1/2 inches from where I was aiming, and honestly I don't know which it is
I have some family business to take care of and may not test for a while, but next time I'll try to have a real scope set up.
I still need to make a mold of the chamber, slug the barrel, make a breechplug, and make some sabots.
With a little luck I can get the trigger down to a manageable 25 pounds and get back to the range in a few weeks.
edge.
