Karabiner Model 1931 .308 Straight-pull

Karabiner Model 1931 (K31) Swiss Straight-Pull Rifle

 

Quite some time ago, I had some amateur radio equipment which an old guy a few miles away desired to have and I traded it for this rifle.  Oddly enough it had a sniper-scope, or what qualified for one in it's day on it, but he wanted to keep that scope, so I had the gun fitted with a peep-sight much like the one pictured here.  I don't really like a peep sight. It is difficult centering that front pin in the big aperature and then on the target, but it is what it is. 

Mine has been bored to .308 and, unlike some of my guns, I have shot this one some.  I have even killed a few whitetailed deer with it on the farm. It is particularly useful from a high tree up on the ridgetop that I used to love to sit in, but it was a very difficult climb, both to the ridgetop and then up the tree. 

I brought it out on the 100-yard range and put five rounds through it before I could find a hole in the target to go by.  It turns out that it was shooting high, over the target altogether.  I had almost given up when, aiming very low, I got one in that I could see and, so, I popped two more in and at least got a group to measure, although it is a very primitive one...I'm sure the rifle can do better.  Now, at least, I've identified the problem and can devote some time to it when I get a chance. 

I was able to score an 11.7-inch group, which was nothing to brag about, but I will shoot this gun again.

Cooey Model 82 .22 caliber Rifle

Cooey Model 82 Rifle .22 caliber Rifle (light stock)

 

Having shot the dark stock Cooey Canadian, I decided to shoot the light one as well, and what a surprise was in store for me!  While the previous model stuck out the best group so far, the light model was fraught with problems!  First of all, I had a real difficult time getting a legal 5-shot group!  My first effort gave a nice 4-shot group with the fifth nowhere to be found!  Then I tried a couple more and got one marginal one only by including the tape that held on an adjacent target.  In addition to that, the gun had bolt issues...sometimes when I ejected a casing, the bolt would jump the restraints and come right out the back of the action!  This happened several times unless I gently operated the mechanism.  Oh boy! 

I finally put up a larger target and did manage to get a couple more groups to at least get this gun on the charts.  It may be an ammunition issue, because I shot a box of Thunderbolt LR.  We'll see how that goes down the road.

The two groups that I was able to score were:

4.9-inches

3.4-inches

 

The best one was good for 14th place of shooting so far.

Remington Model 870 Express 12-ga shotgun

Remington Model 870 Express    12-Gauge Shotgun

I had an impromptu opportunity to shoot another Remington 870 than my own Wingmaster when, probably due to accumulation of grit and wax from my shabby reloads, my gun refused to shoot on the 3rd station of a trap round after my having broken the first ten birds!  I was in the zone and shooting factory shells, but the firing pin failed to set over 3 different shells and I dejectedly turned and walked back to the rear.  As I got there, someone waiting for the next squad offered me the use of his over and under. One of his teammates then offered me his 870 Express, which I took, because the 870 was what I had been shooting.  I walked back to the firing line and missed my next shot, but managed to get in the zone and break the second.  Then the scorer had me shoot 3 to catch up, 2 of which I broke.  I finished with 20, which is a personal best for me by two birds!  My team moved to the 20-yard mark on the handicap round and I broke 16, another all-time best, my previous attempt at that distance netting me only 6!  Other than my gun going down, it was a very, very successful night, and I was happy to buy a beer for the loaner after his round was over.  The gun felt just a wee bit more massive than my own in the stock, but not by much.  It was great.

Savage Model 842 30-30 Rifle

The 30-30 is a nice caliber rifle, although I do not happen to own one (yet).  My friend who came for the weekend brought his Savage, an old-timer, to sight in.  I love old-timers.  Bolt action with the magazine missing because he had loaned it to a brother-in-law, we shot a few groups with it.  After he felt fairly comfortable with it, I endeavored to shoot a very careful 3-shot group, which turned out to be low and under the target!  It was raining hard by then and we gave up rather than have me change my sight picture and try another one.  The gun shot very nicely, although it is old, rugged, and a little beat up. 

The weather stayed bad and we didn't get another chance to go out back with it, but we had as much fun as we could, and I derived pleasure from handling and shooting this old-timer. 

Remington Model 742 Woodmaster

It was sprinkling and there was little to do, but a friend arrived in the driveway for a weekend visit to the farm with two rifles in the trunk to sight in.  He is not an avid hunter or shooter but killed an antelope with this rifle 7 or 8 years ago when we made a very, very fun hunting trip to Wyoming.  In remembering the antelope, he said he was aiming for the pocket and hit it a bit low and to the right.

Of course, when we put up a target at 100-yards, and I shot a group of three with the cross hairs right on the bull, it produced a 4.1-inch group low and to the right, but on the paper.  Of course we couldn't leave well enough alone and we moved the cross hairs up 4 clicks and left 4 clicks.  The next shot hit in the same place!  So we moved it up 9 and left 9 and a shot went high and to the left by about an equal amount.  We figured we had overdone it, so we backed off half of that on each parameter and I shot another 3-shot group, thinking this is going to be great!  They all sailed over the target, leading us to suspect the scope!  One nicked the paper hig and pretty much center.  We gave it up because the rain was coming down harder and harder, but still are not sure about that scope!  I would love to have taken the scope off and shot it with open sights, but it was not my gun to do it with; maybe another time! 

I just love these old guns, though.  This one is a Woodsmaster.  My 870 shotgun is known as a Wingmaster.  He had taken this one to a gun shop and the guy told him that this model tends to wear from the bullet striking the breech on entry...that it is a design flaw thing.  That may be true, but it loaded and shot and ejected just fine.  I loved it.

Cooey Model 82 .22 caliber Rifle (Dark stock)

Cooey Model 82  Rifle .22 caliber  (Dark stock)

 

The Cooey Canadian rifle has a rich history and a great deal of information available.  I have two of them in .22 cal that I inherited from my father.  I refinished both of them and one turned out a little darker than the other and I refer to this one as the Cooey Dark. 

It was time to shake down another .22 cal rifle, so I took the Dark out and put up some rabbit targets and a couple small sighter charts at 50-yd.  The gun shot well and I realized that the common sight picture left a pretty nice group, but low, off the paper.  I changed my sight picture so that I covered the target with the front bead, bisected by the rear notch, and this seemed to do quite well.  In fact, I was very pleased with a couple of the groups, particularly after I got rid of the shooting glasses, which were fogging up on me. 

 

I obtained 8 groups I could measure, after shooting up a box:

 

1.7 "     7.1 "     3.0 "

2.4 "     1.6 "     1.3 "

1.7 "

2.9 "

The gun now temporarily owns the top four groups that I have shot.

 

The 1.3-inch group was very satisfying but one shouldn't be surprised.  These guns were commissioned by the Canadian government for training rifles, and the stocks go right out to the bitter end, so they are engineered to be good guns.  Why would you train your soldiers with inaccurate rifles?  Anyhow, it was a lot of fun shooting it.