Lee Enfield .303 cal MK2 (F) rifle

Lee Enfield .303 calibre MK2 (F) rifle

 

I had so much fun a couple weeks ago shooting my friend's Enfield Mark I that I decided to put my Mark II through the paces.  I bought this rifle some time ago at a resale or antique store in the good old days when they were not afraid to sell firearms.  It's a beauty but I have to admit that I have never shot it!  That is unacceptable, so I brought it out, set up the target at 100-yds and the telescope on the shooting deck, and shot three 3-shot groups.  The gun has a large circular rear aperature and the front sight between two bars.  I shot the first group trying to center the front sight in the circle and the pattern was high and to the right but a very respectable 4.8-arc seconds, tying the best I have done so far this year.  For the second group, I rested the front sight on the bottom center of the circle and at the bottom edge of the target.  One hit the paper and two went under!  For the third group, I rested the front bead on the bottom of the circle and dead center.  I shot a fantastic 3.6 arc-second group in the central area of the target and was very happy.  This gun has a good barrel, I think!  Lots of fun!

Footnote V: Walther LP 53 (aka LP58) air pistol exploded view

Springfield Model 82 .22 Rifle

Springfield Model 82 .22 Rifle

 

This was my grandfather's .22 on my father's side.  I have both my grandfather's and father's (Model 15).  This particular one was given to me by my paternal grandmother, which is quite an honor because I not only am not the oldest cousin on that side of the family, but there are a slew of them which were quite close to my grandmother.  I did not see her all that often, as when my parents divorced, the dad side tended in those days to bow out. 

Anyway, I got it out of the safe for a shakedown box of bullets and had some fun on a sunny day after a rainy night.  I was able to keep seven 5-shot groups on the paper and of those three were quite satisfactory all things considered.  I was using those old macked-up Sears targets which are a little hard to see 50-yds away.  I scored the following group sizes:

2.0"     2.3"     2.5"

3.8"

4.5"     4.8"

5.2"

 

The gun seemed to be sighted in a bit high, so I took a deeper bead the second time through and that brought it down.  Next step, of course, clean it up and have a much, much more serious day and see if the groups can be tightened up.

Footnote U: Ammunition for .22 calibre

5/9/13 I purchased four boxes of .22 shorts for $ 3.99 a box just on a whim because I have a ton of .22 ammo in the armory, but plan to deplete some.  Also, for some strange reason, people are hoarding .22 ammo like crazy.  I guess many more people have .22 guns and the ammo is relatively cheap. 

Fortunately I have a pretty good supply of .22 calibre, particularly long rifle, which is what the automatics like my High Standard feed.  I took stock:

CCI Blazer   LR                                         2 bricks of 500                       = 1000 rounds
                                                                   425 rounds in boxes               = 425

CCI Mini Mags LR                                    4 cases of 100                        = 400

Thunderbolt                                                1 brick of 500                        = 500
                                                                    575 rounds in boxes               = 575

Federal Spitfire                                                                                          = 60

Remington "golden bullet" shorts               4 boxes                                  = 200

Federal LR                                                                                                 = 100

Winchester Wildcat LR                                                                             = 150

Remington .22 HV shorts                                                                          = 50

Remington .22 target shorts                                                                       = 50

odd lots laying around                                                                                = 25

super short shorts                                                                                        = 90

TOTAL                                      3625  rounds           

Footnote T Ammunition supply for .303 British

Ammunition Supply for .303 British

I went through the Armory and tabulated my supply of .303 British, which proved to be a considerable supply, not in any need of topping off.

3 Boxes Remington 180-grain soft point + 21 more rounds                   = 81 rounds
2 Boxes UMC 174-grain metal case                                                       = 40
1 Box Federal 180-grain soft point                                                          = 20
    Winchester 180-grain soft point                                                          = 9

                            TOTAL                                                                        150 rounds

Winchester Model 94 Octogon Barrel 30-30

Winchester Model 94 Octogon Barrel 30-30

When we had a 100-yd session on the farm, my friend was most interested in sighting in his Winchester 1894 Octogon .30-.30 lever action, tube-feed rifle.  It is a real beauty.  The Model 94 is famous but this one is OLD!  We cleaned the bore and lubed all the moving parts before taking it out back.

He first shot a group of 3 and hit the 8-ring with one, signalling hopefulness for a good day.  This shot was only 2 minutes high and 2 minutes left!  He wasn't able to post a 3-shot group with all three hitting the target, and neither could I!  He hit one 8 minutes high and 3 to the right and another 8 minutes high and 5 to the right, but on different groups.  I tried a 3 shot group carefully aiming at the lower left corner, thinking the gun was shooting high and to the right, and none of mine hit the paper! 

I am sure that he wants to try and group this gun later in the summer, because it is his deer gun for brush areas, being shorter barrelled.  If he does, we will probably start at 50-yds and see just what the heck is going on, before moving it out with some sight adjustments.  It was real fun shooting a 30-cal lever action.  30-30 means, of course, .30 caliber and 30-grains of powder.  Don't know if that latter number is adhered to anymore with modern powders, of course, but it sure is a fun gun to shoot.

Lee-Enfield Mark I .303 British

Lee-Enfield Mark I .303 British

I got an opportunity to delve into my friend's collection of old "rustbuckets" and talked him into bringing two specimens over to my 100-yd range on the farm.  We started by dragging out my two Lee-Enfields and comparing.  His is a Mark I, mine are a Mark II and a Mark III and it was a real thrill to look at them all three sitting on the dining room table before we got to work.

First, a good brass brush dipped in solvent, through the bore.  Then a good spraying of Rem oil to loosten up the moving parts and clean up the bolt and firing mechanism.  We then wiped her down and put a patch through the bore and took her out back to the range, all set up for 100-yds complete with telescope.  He did not care to shoot it but was more interested in sighting in his other rifle, so I put a three shot group out there.  I managed to keep it within 7.1" and the ring score for the three shots was 20 points.  It recoiled like a mule and we felt this to be an adequate result for a shakedown shooting.  I tried another 3-shot group at the end of our session, and managed to put two only 2-inches low and 2 inches to the left AND 6 inches high and 2 inches to the left.  The third shot did not hit the paper. I don't know if I flinched or what, but it is most likely that it was the shooter and not the gun. 

I am not sure as to whether he is interested in sandbagging this gun and trying to shoot tighter groups in the future, but that certainly would be the next stage.  I have two of my own to do, so we will see what the future brings.  So many guns and so  little time.

It was really fun shooting this piece of history and I only wish it was part of my armory so that I would have all three. 

Springfield Model 15 .22 Rifle

Springfield Model 15  .22 caliber Rifle

 

This .22 Caliber rifle belonged to my actual father and was likely his first gun for just plinking and learning about firearms in his day.  It is pretty well-kept and was given to me by my grandmother on my mother's side.  How she came to possess it I do not know, but it is likely that he had it on the farm around the time of his divorce from my mother and it just got left there.  My other grandmother gave me his dad's .22 so I have them both.

I set up some 50-yd small bore targets and shot up a box of Federal LR that was in the armory.  I didn't make a project yet of doing any sight adjustments.  I am a believer that until you demonstrate that a gun is shooting acceptable groups there is no point in making fine adjustments as long as you are hitting the paper.

I only missed the paper once so I have nine groups I can score.  From tightest to widest they were as follows:

2.0     2.3     2.5

3.5     3.6     3.7     3.8     3.9

5.7

 

all in inches + tenths of an inch.

 

Looking at actual scores from the targets, the following:

38     36     32     31     30

23     22

19     10

 

We will see how the Model 15 compares to my other .22 cal rifles before deciding which one to really work up first.  This is just a shakedown run.  Lots of fun, though, on a beautiful day.

Level 2 Turkey Hunt

Level 2 Turkey Hunt

 

The toughest part of a morning hunt is just dragging yourself out of bed at 5:00 a.m.  It's a heck of a lot easier to do it in mid-May than late November, though, and once I got the boots and camo jacket on it was just a 5-minute walk through the timothy and orchard grass to tuck myself in just above the fenceline on the field going up toward the spring.  I had seen 3 of them strutting across right there a week or so ago at 6 a.m.  I settled myself in among some little pines and enjoyed the caucophony of birdcalls.  A rufus-crested towhee alighted on a fence post just twenty feet away and serenaded me for a while.  I got real comfortable and dozed a little.  After an hour, maybe an hour and a half, a coyote bounded out of the edge of the orchard and was zip-zapping right toward me.  I figured for a close encounter, but then he amazingly stopped, circled a little bit and returned the route he had come.  I sat amazed that he could possibly have picked me up because I was absolutely still.  Then I saw why...he hadn't picked me up at all.  Two deer, possibly the same two I watched last night in the draw, came creeping out, tails straight and very, very alert.  They crossed right to where he had been and slowly melted away into the old orchard, stalking very carefully.  I rested some more and was dozing in and out when a turkey glided in from the woods on a low trajectory and landed in the grass down in front of me.  It sat very still for five minutes, then started moving around, very alert!  I could not help but see the similarities of behavior with cormorants, the head looking left, then right, then left again.  My hunt was suddenly promoted to level 2, but it was a hen and I would not shoot it.  I played around slightly with how much motion I could get away with and the bird strutted around, standing very still for periods of time, then sneaking back and forth.  It seemed to be waiting, and I was hoping that it was for some toms to appear, but to no avail.  After about twenty minutes of teasing me, it sneaked into the draw.  I waited another half hour, then returned, very happy with the day's excitement.  I am one notch farther along on this learning curve, and it was fun.

Level I Turkey Hunt

Level I Turkey Hunt

Got out on Friday afternoon/evening to the draw below the sleeping spot.  Sat myself in there for a delicious nap which was interrupted by a little red squirrel crawling on me.  I dozed in and out on this beautiful day with the M-66 Ithaca in my lap.  Later on, I heard a snapping sound, followed by another a few minutes later and knew something was afoot.  Finally I turned my body 45-degrees and put up a huge buck that was standing nearly behind me.  He leaped into the air in a dazzling show of surprise and panic and bounded zig-zagging through the popples while I laughed quietly.  He was just SMOKED!  Snorting and alerting the entire woods all the way to the spring.  That was a real treat.
About 30-minutes later, a big doe and her yearling appeared from the open field on the hill into the edge of the woods on the north side of the draw and slowly made their way down toward the clear field at the bottom, probably crossing into the pines.
Saw no turkeys, although, just before sunset I thought I heard a tom sound off up the hill and pretty far away, so they are roosting way up in there somewhere.