<<< at self.

So I went out to the range to check out the Molly coated A-Max .223's. Had my grandson's other "Poppy" with me as we had to re-sight his Win 70 308.

When I started with the Mollies my groups deteriorated from .75 MOA to 6 inches and just got worse. I couldn't chrono the rounds as it started raining and I couldn't get the chrono out far enough without getting it soaked. I was spitting and afterward couldn't settle down enough to enjoy trying out a dozen different .22rf rounds to find the one I want to use for hunting and the one for target shooting.

When I got home I set up for cleaning and the last rifle of three was the .223. Felt the scope jiggle a bit so checked the ring clamps. Sure enough the nuts had backed off and were actually loose. I had bought the rings online (EBay) as I couldn't find 30mm rings locally high enough to mount my 50mm objective scope. Make was UTG and marked for both Weaver and Picatinny bases. Checked the package and you guessed it. Made in China. As luck would have it my local outdoors store had a set of Weaver steel rings in 30mm that worked and the scope is now mounted securely.

BTW My .22 worked great @ 50 yards with the CCI Mini-mags and Federal Champions for targets. For hunting I liked the Velocitors out to 100 yards. The CCI Stingers were not bad @ 100 when the wind died off but really high @ 50 yards. These are just preliminary findings as I wasn't in the right mood for testing. As an aside I fired off a box of .22 40 grains that I got from a military cadet instructor 30 years ago. The box was marked "Property of DND .22 Ball" without any other markings. The head stamp show they were made by Dominion Industries. Out of a box of 50 only one misfired.

Mac, when you want a small groupe with a .22 LR, don't forget to try the subsonics (and I don't prefer the holow points but I like to make it a flat point myself using a file and a little tool I made myself to keep the head straight - not my head, but the bullet )

Remember: a subsonic round doesnot get the shockwave of crossing the sound barrier, a high velocity could cross twice before reaching the target...
and when you're not allowed to use a soundmoderator: try the Z-rounds for short distances. I managed to shoot 2 rabbits sitting very close to eachother... no sound even without moderator...
(but you have to help your semi-auto-action)

www.huntingnut.com/ind...c&start=15

MacD, just because the scope rings come from China doesn't mean they are "cheap". Above is a link to some scope rings I bought for my AR. The Burris is great with 6 screws holding scope to the rings. There is one set of China onse with 4 screws that I found margina. The 3rd set with only 2 screws holding the rings was $7 and they have performed perfectly. Tightened once and have used them for two years in multiple tactical matches without a hitch.

Do you have a scope torque wrench? I thought I was tightening all my scope rings properly until I got my Wheeler. That has made a tremendous improvement to my firearms.

www.cabelas.com/produc...l+Products

Aloysius,
You got a photo of that cartridge holding tool?
Im in the process with a new CZ of finding out what it likes, so far all the really good one are solids and sub sonic.

I have them in different lenghts for .22 LR, .22 WMR and .22 Hornet. The .22 Hornet doesn't work that well with neck-sized reloads. But I still have problems with pictures on a forum. I think I've already mailed it once to Slimjim, maybe he can put a picture here. If not I will take new pictures and mail them to you.

It's basicly nothing more than a piece of steel of the right length where you put a hole in the middle of the right diameter, so that you can put a round in the hole (and the rim best left outside so that's easier to remove the round after filing).
And it's best made out af steel you can harden, but mine is still soft and still serving.

1 tip: it helps when you use a smaller drill first and sharpen the last drill into a sharper point when making such a tool.


And an extra advantage: POI remains the same, the groupsize decreases and it kills much faster. A round nose in .22 LR goes trough the animal without transmitting energy, a flat nose hits even harder than a holow point (and has better traject). I still don't undertand why they don't produce FN in a .22 LR.

Pete, I hope you got the picture so I don't need to bother Slim anymore.

Don't forget to debur after you filed a flatnose, a jeanscloth works fine for this (so you don't have to spoil your trousers)

I like that idea of the cartridge holding tool Aloysius. I somewhat have an idea but maybe Pete could post a picture once he gets them.

Here you go omni,
Hopefully this worked.
Nice photo Aloys, picture tells a 1000 words

Been there - done that -got the tee-shirt!

Just wait till you have a rear scope ring loosen up and you try to chronograph a load. Let's just say that it makes an interesting sculpture out of a perfectly good Chrony!

SingleShotLover wrote:

Just wait till you have a rear scope ring loosen up and you try to chronograph a load. Let's just say that it makes an interesting sculpture out of a perfectly good Chrony!

That's why I got Cabela's life-time warranty including "accidental" damage. I've even set my chrony up at 250 yards to measure down range velocity and check BC. Got to have a good rifle to do that but the insurance helps me pull the trigger.

With my track record that might be a good idea. My first Chrony bit the dust when a make-shift bench collapsed just as I squeezed off a shot from a 45-70. The one with the scope ring problem was #2. Now working on #3.

Anyone have a chronograph they want me to test out?

Pact Model 1 .... remote unit, you only shoot the sensors or screens .......... way cheaper than replacing the whole thing !!!

Of course I'll never admit to anything !!!

Another lesson learned, never let anyone borrow your chrony.

Mac- been there! It sucks! Agree with Slim...my Weaver bases and rings are China but they aint moved a spec since bolting them on 200 rounds of 300 mag later, at least! And that gun JUMPS off the bench/ground then slams back down on the bi-pod. The rings are dinky and I thought "well here goes". Man are they tough (steel) and their service guys are good to go too cuz I had some questions about getting the scope as low as possible, which rings et al.

Watch them sub-sonic loads in modern semi-action self-loaders. A lot of them manuals say DO NOT use them, for a few reasons.

Least ya didnt patwang a screen!

Liketo see a pic of them old school plinkers too!

The one set of made in China rings I bought had screws with offset heads and the nuts didn't have enough surface area to hold against the base so I had to keep tightening them because they always came loose ($30). The cheaper $7 ones had good screws and nuts, were better made, and haven't walked a bit.

Having the Wheeler torque wrench to me is key. I thought I was good at feeling torque by hand. I was way off.