njc110381 Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 I finally managed to get my drilling out for it's first shots today. It's only taken me about two years to get it working, and it does work a treat. Trouble is the rifle is shooting 10" low at 25 yards! Think I need to adjust that a little! I took the turret cap off and there are four screws in a square, one silver and three black. It also looks like the turret should turn like a modern scope, but it doesn't! Should it? Luckily the open sights are spot on and give me minute of deer out to around 100 yards, but I would like to get the scope sorted. Any idea how I should be adjusting it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Been waiting a long time for this! Did you sort a bullet then? Not sure about the scope, is one of the little screws in the turret a locking screw?? Minute of deer would be plenty good for me on the opens! U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Well, the ammunition side of it has been a challenge to do on a budget. I could have bought brass from a company in Germany, but if and when they are in production, they are £3 each plus import duty and postage! So I went about making them from 9.3x74R. That in itself sounds simple but has taken a while. The first stage is to remove the centre of the seating die and squeeze the case in. Then hack off 13mm with a hacksaw. Next stage is to run it through the full length sizer, which takes it down a little further. Then you use a case trimmer to cut it to length accurately. The trimmer mandrel isn't an off the shelf part for this cartridge, so I had to make it myself. Once that was done I made a dummy round and tried to chamber it, but as suspected the case necks were then too thick and they wouldn't go in. After quite some thought about how to turn them down, and deciding what turning tool would be cheapest, I found that the best I could do was going to cost me around £80. So I put them all through my lathe and took four thou off of the outsides of the necks. That took a while and my lathe ate two of them, but I saved £80 so I'm happy! The bullets turned out to be .323, so not the rare sort. They are easy to find and I settled on Hornady 170gr sp. When I finally got it together I put the rifle in a tyre and put some string over the trigger. I stood back behind a wall and fired it for the first time - it's not been fired since 1940something so I wasn't taking any chances. As expected it was fine, but better safe than sorry. With some amazing luck I fired at a target with the open sights and hit it spot on. It will do until I get the scope sorted. Now all I need to do is find a deer to shoot. I did see the back end of a munty today, but he was going away at a hell of a pace and wasn't stopping for anyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 Well done and good for you sir. Have you got to scope it? How about trying some slug in the other barrels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 (edited) That's what my first post was about you daft ******! I may need to get a new scope, or get the claw mounts looked at. It's mounted very slightly on the tilt which is annoying, and if it's shooting 10" low at 25 yards I'm not sure I'll have enough clicks to pull that out? Edit.... I haven't even managed to find a click yet, so god knows! Edited January 14, 2015 by njc110381 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Err sorry :-( I was just asking if you really have to scope it if it shoots well on the opens. I am not clear if you have managed to try slug in one or both smoothbore? U:-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activeviii Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 More of a clue on the scope please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Err sorry :-( I was just asking if you really have to scope it if it shoots well on the opens. I am not clear if you have managed to try slug in one or both smoothbore? U:-( Oh don't sulk! I'm only teasing! I've not got slug on my ticket. Gloucestershire didn't like them much when I asked, so I haven't bothered to push it. Open sights are ok for close range stuff but I have turned down a couple of shots with it that I maybe would have taken with a scope. It's good to have the option. The scope is made by Hensoldt Wetzlar, who from my Google searches is now Zeiss? After an image search I found that the screws just hold the internals together and the turret should turn. It hasn't been used for years so mole grips and a hammer should do the trick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Have faith in them open sights! Takes some faith but they can do it! Consider having them so the whole target is in view so none of the sights obscure the target. Just a thought! U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 I couldn't agree more. Talking to some of the older members here they used to take deer at 100+ yards with open sights no problem. It's all about understanding and spending time with your gun. I used to take shots out to 75 yards with irons on my old combi before I scoped it. Never fluffed a shot that way. The sights on this one are much smaller and easier to use, so in time I should be able to take it out to 100 or so at least. I set to the scope with some mole grips (gently). The silver screw of the set is the lock screw, then with some encouragement I managed to get the turret to turn from one stop to the other and back. I can now do it by hand with ease. There are no clicks and the whole adjustment range is done in one 360 degree turn. So getting it spot on could be a giggle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshwarrior Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Nothing wrong with open sights out to a 100 if you practice scope make it very easy post some photos of the scope and turrets so we may be able to help and also do the mounts so we know what you've got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 179 steps. Neck shot, was hoping for its head. I could not see its head at that distance but could see the dark thistle stem just above its head! U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshwarrior Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Not saying 100yards is the limit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Bloody hell, that's a cracking shot! What calibre is the rifle? .22wmr? I'll sort some photos in daylight. I can't get them to come out well with the flash and it's too overcast to get a decent one without. It's sorted now though, just needed some more stern encouragement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Not saying 100yards is the limitI know bro. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 Bloody hell, that's a cracking shot! What calibre is the rifle? .22wmr? I'll sort some photos in daylight. I can't get them to come out well with the flash and it's too overcast to get a decent one without. It's sorted now though, just needed some more stern encouragement! No sir, 357. It is a tiny target and a fluke really! The point I found with opens is you don't see your error, or shakes when shooting off hand. This is why I think most shoot from a rest of some sort! In summer I plink away with my air guns simply to practice off hand shooting and on open sights! I would not hesitate shooting a deer to 100yds with a familiar rifle on opens! I use to shoot a Kentuckian frontstuffer rifle at rabbits to 120 or so paces, now that was fun :-). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 I bet. Follow up shots must be a giggle with one of those! Even worse than my drilling. What ammo do you use in the .357? That bunny looks very clean considering the size of bullet it's been hit with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 I don't have it anymore. The same rabbit. It was a180gr flat point in front of H4227. U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunman Posted January 15, 2015 Report Share Posted January 15, 2015 I think that when a set of claw mounts and scope are fitted there is no adjustment apart from that on the scope itself . I had a look at a couple today and can see nor facility for adjustment as the scope on one set was brazed or soldered to the scope ,the other a newer set had different set up but effectively the mounts were permanently attached to the scope in some way . I watched a guy in Belgium fit a claw mount and scope to a rifle when spending a couple of days in his shop and he told me that once set up you could not change the scope without changing the mounts as well . A time consuming job . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Often that is the case I think. The only thing mine has going for it is the scope is mounted by a dovetail arrangement, and can be moved side to side to get windage adjustment. I also found that if I removed the rear dovetail from the scope I could get a piece of folded bean tin between the mount and scope before securing it back on. That's given me about 6" more adjustment in the direction I want to go and it should now just about make it. If that fails I'm going to have to have a new claw made, which should be possible for a decent engineer. Luckily I have a pet one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunman Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 How is the scope fastened to the mounts ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 The scope has a dovetail running along the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshwarrior Posted January 18, 2015 Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) 14mm Rails can be shimmed the others that are sweeter on the the tube can and are an issue once set up and they need a very skilled man to fit correctly. Edited January 18, 2015 by welshwarrior Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 14mm sounds about right. I shimmed between the mount and dovetail with a folded piece of baked bean tin... I've only eyed down the bore to get it set but I don't think it should be a problem when I come to zero it now. I've got some movement both sides of where it looks to be correct so fine tuning should be simple enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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