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IN THIS ISSUE Saeco's Modisette Dies .............................................

Model L Falling-Block Action ........................ Frank d e Haas

The Properties and Curing of Gunstock Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . John Bivins

Ruger's Red Label ...................................... Bob Hagel

The .240 (Original) Cobra ............................... Bill Corson

Blaser Bergstutzen Two-Caliber Rifle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Werner Reb

That One Accurate Rifle. .......................... James K. Geddes

2 2 Benchrest Cartridge from Remington .................... Jon Leu

Lazy-DaysMartini ................................. LayneSimpson

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20

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24

26

28

30

32

36

Afr ica 's Booming Bertha -The 4-Bore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Iohn B. del Savio 40

DEPARTMENTS

Spotting Scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Dear Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 American Gunmakers . . . . . . . 1 2 Rifle Patents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Aiming for Answers . . . . . . . . . 15 Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 NBRSA News . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 a Classic Rifles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Product Proofing.. . . . . . . . . . . 6 1 . Trophy Pointers . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6

ON THE COVER

This cosmopolitan, repatriated WinchestBr Model 1886 began as any other .45-90 in this model. An ocean voyage took i t to England as an import of a great English gunrnaking firm. After passing English proofing, away it went on another voyage; this time, to India, where it was apparent ly used for hunt ing t igers. Transparency by Bob Hills.

Adopted in August 1969 as Official Publication For National Bench Rest Shooters Association

Rille Magazine copyright 1979 is published bi monthly by Wolfe Publishing Co Inc (Dave Wolfe President) P 0 Box 3030 Prescott Arizona 86302 Telephone (602) 4457810 Second Class Postage paid at Prescott Arizona and additional mailing of f ices Single copy price of current issues $1 50 Subscription price six issues $775 12 issues $1300 18 issues $1700 (Outside U S possessions and Canada $9 00 $15 00 and $20 00) Recommended foreign single copy price $1 75 Advertising rates furnished o n request All rights reserved

Publisher o f Rille is not responsible for mishaps 0 1 any nature which might occur from use of published data or from recommendations by any member of The Staff No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the edilor Manuscripts from free lance writers must be accompanied by stamped self addressed envelope and the publisher cannot accept responsibility for losl or mutilated manuscripts

Change of address please give six weeks notice Send both old and new address plus mailing label i f possible l o Circulation Dept Rille Magazine P 0 Box 3030 Prescott Arizona 86302

The Staff

Dave Wolfe, Publisher Ralph Tanner, Jr., VP, Sales Director Ken Howell, Editor Dave LeGate, Art Director Barbara Pickering, Production Supervisor Lynda Ritter. Editorial Assis tant Richard Aldis, Staff Photographer Joyce Bueter. Circulation Manager Terry Bueter. Circulation Jana Kosco. Execut ive Secretary Wanda Hall, Accounting R.T. Wolfe, Ph.D.. Consul tant

Technical Editors

John Bivins Bob Brackney Bob Hagel A1 Miller Stuart Otteson Homer Powley Ken Waters Don Zutz

4 RIFLE 63

what? After two or three firings with even the mildest load, opening the bolt became a real challenge. The cases extracted easily enough, but they were just getting too darned long. Annealing didn’t help either.

Then came the Discovery. We had a match at our local range, and I was complaining about the problem to Larry Baggett, a fellow benchrest freak from El Paso, Texas. Larry said he hadn’t had a tight-case problem with his rifles, and he mentioned .that one possible reason might be that he doesn’t polish the chamber much when he fits a barrel. His theory is that a polished chamber can’t grip the case as well.

I pondered the whole situation that evening when I got home, since we had another match the following day. The thought of scratching u p a nice, shiny chamber wasn’t very appealing, but maybe if the chamber and brass were completely dry, it might have the same effect. Like most people, I take a swipe at the chamber with a dry patch when I clean the barrel, but this leaves a film of Hoppe’s. The case is also a little greasy, since I use a patch with Hoppe’s on it to clean the case necks before sizing.

The idea of shooting a dry chamber isn’t anything new, but maybe it’s something a lot of us have forgotten about. Remember the Model 53 Smith & Wesson chambered for the .22 Jet? One of the standard bits of advice for that gun was to keep the chambers completely free of oil. Otherwise, cartridge setback would tie u p the cylinder.

With all this in mind, I full-length-sized my brass to the point that just gave a nice feel when the bolt was closed. Then I screwed a .45 mop on the end of an old cleaning rod, and put a clean rag and a bottle of degreaser (l,l,l-trichloroethane) in the shooting box.

The next day, after each barrel cleaning, I swabbed the chamber with the mop dampened with tri-chlor and wiped off the cases after reloading, using the clean cloth dampened with the same stuff.

By George, it worked! After loading the same five record cases twelve times, I can’t tell that they are any tighter than they were right after full-length sizing. My load of thirty grains of IMR-4895 behind a 68- grain bullet is a fairly warm one, and the brass chambered and extracted all day long just like it does in a faithful old .222.

Most any solvent would probably d o the

RIFLE 63 1

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Sonics let you hear everything as you would normally. And they’re just as effective in protecting your hearing as muffs. That’s not just hearsay, either. An independent test was conducted on a police firing range, and the results- available to you- prove it.

An exdusk patented design incorporates a canplex series d baffles, mailing diaphragms and chambers. And it‘s all e n d in surgical grade s i l i m for maximum ccmfcft and durability.

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-or metallic silhouette, as we Anglos now :all it, has crossed not only the borders of 3ur neighboring countries but also the ,orders between rifie a n d pistol :ompetitions. The latest such border- xossing brings airgunners into this new :ield of sport competition, thanks to Beeman’s Precision Airguns and the NRA Vetallic Silhouette Committee.

Beeman designed the course, scaled- down from the centerfire course for rifle- Shooters, for high-power air rifles like the Feinwerkbau 124 or the Beeman HW35. The chicken range is twenty meters, the boar thirty meters, the turkey thirty-eight and a half, and the ram fi& meters, indoors or outdoors. Targets meet NRA specs and are made of eleven-gauge steel with welded bases. Twenty silhouettes - five of each size - make up a set. The course retails for about fifty dollars.

Details are available from Beeman’s Precision Airguns, Inc.; 47 Paul Drive; San Rafael, California 94903. Sometime this year, t h e NRA Metallic Silhouette Committee will have regulations for the airgun metallic-silhouette course. - Ken Howell

Solving the Tight-Case Problem with the 6mm BR

The new Remington 6mm BR cartridge is proving to be a fine performer, but many shooters have complained of excessive case stretching. In some rifles, it gets to the point that opening and closing the bolt is almost a two-handed proposition.

I’ve been told that I’m always a t least two years behind the times, and I just started shooting a BR this winter. I figured the case stretching had to be caused by one of two things: either people were trying to shoot them too hot, or the brass was being work-hardened from all the case-forming operations, and the shoulder was springing back, increasing the head-to-shoulder length. The solution should be simple: burn less powder, and if that didn’t work, then anneal the case neck and shoulder.

Well, I built. a brand new rifle, chambered it for 6mm BR, and went shooting, all smug with the thought that I wasn’t going to have that problem. Guess

job, but it should be something that will evaporate out of the chamber rather quickly. 1,1,l-trichloroethane is sold under several trade names, including Carbo-Chlor and Hy-thane. It should be used with care around stocks painted with acrylic lacquer and enamel, since it can soften the finish if a spill isn’t wiped off quickly.

All this doesn’t explain why the 6mm BR case stretches when others don’t. The most commonly expressed theory is that the case is unusually thick in the shoulder, since it is formed from .308-length brass. If this is true, then the problem will remain until one of the factories gets around to making formed cases on brass drawn especially for that cartridge.

In the meantime, it appears that the cure is a simple one, and something we can all live with. - Bob Brackney

Awards for First-Timers at Super Shoot VI1

Benchrest competitors firing their first Unlimited Heavy benchrest match at the 1979 Super Shoot will be eligible for some special awards a n d trophies. The organizers of the shoot hiope to stimulate more activity and interest in “the big gun.”

This year, Super Shoot VI1 will be competition in Unlimited Heavy and Heavy Varmint classes. For information on the shoot, which is scheduled for May 25-28 at Kelbly’s Range in Marshalville, Ohio, get in touch with Skip Gordon: N-73 Stedwick Village Drive; Budd Lake, New Jersey 07828. Skip has registration forms, and registration will be accepted through Thursday. May 24 for both classes, and for Heavy Varmint class for one hour on Saturday. May 26. after the UNL-BH competition - Ken Howell

Exterior-Ballistics Reference

In Rifle 26 (March-April 1973). Homer Powley presented a new system of exterior-ballistics calculations specifically devised for small-arms bullets. Since Homer’s equations were not based on the same s tandard projectiles used for calculating the ballistics of artillery projectiles, ballistic coefficients based on the Siacci and Ingalls systems don’t work in Homer’s equations. This is true of any two systems, not a praise or criticism of Homer’s methods, since systems based on different standards necessarily use different values for comparable ballistics parameters.

Homer’s article in Rifre 26 listed the ballistic coefficients of a number of popular sporting bullets - but not for every component bullet available to handloaders.

Now Homer has a sixteen-page guide, which includes the drag and ballistic coefficients of a great variety of bullets,

from a Remington ,17 twenty-five grain tb a Nosier ,375 three-hundred-grain. Bullet brands represented include the expected well-knowns like Hornady, Sierra, and Speer, but also some less common brands like Colt, Sisk. Norma, CIL, and RWS. Chances are, the bullets you’re using are in Homer’s list.

The guide also includes a number of additional bullet characteristics such as length, location of the center of gravity, height of head, rounding of head, meplat diameter, and sectional density.

This new Compendium, which makes the ballistics system in Rifle 26 vastly more usable, is available from Homer Powley; Petra Lane, RR 1; Eldridge, Iowa 52748, for thirteen dollars. If you don’t have a copy of Rifle 26, there’s sad news: we don’t have any back-issues here, except our own file copies. But for a couple of bucks, our Circulation Department will Xerox a copy of Homer’s original article. - Ken Howell

Books for Gunfolk

Questions from readers and answers from our technical editors make fascinating reading. After a while, without trying, we come up with something like a poll of readers’ interests. For example, we frequently get queries about sources for gun books - sometimes requests for information on how to locate certain books and other times, requests for good sources of gun books in general.

Intense interest in any hobby feeds well on a good collection of books,-md gun hobbies are by no means without good book coverage. No matter whether your interests a r e in gunsmithing or handloading, in ballistics or firearms history, in rifles or shotguns, in casual sport shooting or in organized competition shooting, a number of experts have labored to produce a library for you. Unfortunately, more than a few good ones are out of print. Fortunately, even these are sometimes available from booksellers specializing in gun books.

Seldom does the average bookstore have any gun books at all, let alone a selection or the specific one you’re looking for. Three well known specialists in gun books carry virtually every gun book in print - and some out-of-print books as well. Their booklists are well worth having in any shooter’s reference pile.

Probably the oldest and most famous among shooter-readers is Ray Riling Arms Books Company; P . O . Box 18925; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19119. Two other deservedly well known sellers of gun books are the Rutgers Book Center; 127 Raritan Avenue; Highland Park, New Jersey 08904, and the Fairfield Book Company; Box 289; Brookfield Center, Connecticut 06805. - Ken Howell

8 RIFLE 63

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HE RANGE BUZZER sounded loudly, T almost ominously, as I approached the shooting bench. The range was clear for firing. Before me lay several large brass- cased cartridges sporting quarter-pound projectiles and hefty charges of Fg black powder. To one side stood a battered military 50-caliber ammo box containing loading paraphernalia for the large-bore cases. To the other was the rifle designed to fire them.

Methodically, I cinched up my shooting jacket, adjusted my safety glasses and ear protection, then reached for the heavy double rifle. Unlike most Twentieth Century doubles, this one was a back- action, under-lever model - circa 1860 - a lovely Holland & Holland with hammers. I inserted a cartridge into the right barrel and eased the action closed. Cocking the hammer back, I checked the stability of my stance and took airh at a smallbore rifle target fifty yards downrange. The trigger had an extremely hard pull, almost three times that on a modern sporting rifle, but the hammer finally released, and the shell fired, belching a huge cloud of acrid white smoke from the muzzle. I was shoved back violently as the barrels continued to climb.

The recoil never seemed to quit and felt as if I’d just been hammered on the shoulder with an eight-pound sledge. I had to take a full step backward to keep my 160-pound frame on an even keel. When the smoke cleared, there was a large hole on the paper cutting the eight-inch black at 12 o’clock.

Though I’ve had extensive experience shooting big doubles on game as well as targets, I certainly wasn’t ready for this brute. For several years and as many extended safaris, my two standbys for taking thick-skinned game up close were a duo of Westley Richards doubles in ,450 3 1/4-inch and ,577 three-inch Nitro Express. The big ,577 throws a 750-grain slug and generates over seven thousand foot pounds of energy at the muzzle. It’s usually more than enough to knock an irate tusker back on his hunkers with a properly placed frontal shot. It recoils, to be sure, even with its fifteen-pound weight, but it doesn’t compare in any way with the piece of artillery I’d just fired. This was no ordinary “lightweight” in the .450-,500 class, nor a hot-rock super-duper, modern pachyderm poleaxer. No sireee! This

behemoth was the granddaddy of them all - the mighty 4-bore elephant gun.

Major H . C . Maydon, famed early African hunter-sportsman, in his excellent book, Big Game Shooting In Africa, classified these early big bores as “large bores;” that is, any rifle with a bore larger than the .600 Nitro Express, and referred to them as NB’s or the number of lead balls of that bore diameter it takes to equal a pound in weight (similar to our method of determining a shotgun’s gauge). He first made this classification around l m 9 , but even at that early date, he openly admitted that the large-bore elephant guns had seen their day and were obsolete for hunting. The more modern ,450 3 1/4-inch had taken the throne as the standard for thick- skinned game. But there was a time in African and Indian hunting when the large- bore doubles were the only game in town, and if one wanted to take up hunting elephant and rhino for sport or ivory and horn, he had to employ a 4, 6, or 8-bore blackpowder rifle.

The large-bore double evolved when African hunting was in its infancy, around the 1840s. The European and English

explorer-hunters soon realized that the relatively small-caliber blackpowder rifles they had used so successfully oh their homeland’s fauna proved ineffective on Africa’s thick-skinned game. They needed a rifle that could deliver a smashing blow with enough penetration to reach the vitals on elephant, rhino, and buffalo. It stood to reason that a large-diameter, hardened projectile was necessary, along with a heavy charge of coarse black powder. The only guns at that time with actions large enough to accommodate such a loading were the already existing large-gauge smoothbores used by the market wildfowlers. By reinforcing the massive breeches on 4, 6, and 8-gauge guns and substituting a single ball for shot, the early hunters soon had a solution to their problem.

The large and long barrels were trimmed to twenty or twenty-four inches for handiness and to keep the weight down to a minimum. Depending upon the barrel length and density of the stock wood, a typical 4-bore would tip the scales anywhere from eighteen to twenty-four pounds. This was just about enough weight to absorb some of the brutal recoil the heavy twelve to sixteen-dram powder loads generated.

The early 4-bores were, of course,

muzzleloaders. Breechloaders didn’t debut until the 185Os, when centerfire cartridges became the rage after the early pinfires based on the Lefaucheux and Bastin LePage actions. They were manufactured by such prominent gunmakers as Purdey, Gibbs of Bristol, Westley Richards, and Holland & Holland.

T h e muzzleloaders were generally smoothbore instead of rifled, for a number of sound reasons. To begin with, a smoothbore was quicker to load from the muzzle than a rifle owing to its less-critical tolerances. To facilitate loading with the rifles, a two-grooved number was manufactured and called a “cape gun” (not to be confused with the later side-by-side rifle-shotgun combinations), probably stemming from their widespread use in the vicinity of Cape Colony in South Africa. They fired a special winged or belted projectile that was made to fit exactly between the grooves, thus eliminating the difficulty when reloading and aiding in stabilization. This probably originated from the early English Brunswick military rifle that also sported two grooves and fired a belted ball that was easy to load under battle conditions. Greener, Gibbs, and Jeffery were among the champions of this system.

The heavy charges that were used in

these rifles often caused the ball or slug to. blast down the barrel, ignoring the rifling, and stripping itself before exiting. Since most shots were at point-blank range, under twenty-five yards, the smoothbore was more than accurate enough to place its mercury, tin, or pewter-hardened balls in the vitals of the large game it was primarily intended for. Some also believed that the projectiles traveled at a higher velocity when fired down a smooth barrel and had a greater hitting energy than the fully rifled version.

Accuracy at fifty yards was sufficient to take most game. Field trials run by Holland & Holland around 1883 against other manufacturers’ rifles proved their product to be superior to all others. They called for a 4-bore rifle whose weight was not to exceed twenty-four pounds and whose barrels were not to exceed twenty-four inches. The powder charge had to be heavier than eleven drams and the range set at fifty yards. After ten shots (which had to be fired at a range other than the one used for the smaller rifles, because of irate neighbors) the group measured under three inches center-to-center.

Of the recoil generated by these wheelless field cannons, the legendary Frederick Courteney Selous in his book, A Hunter’s Wanderings In Africa, wrote:

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“The four bore kicked most frightfully, and in my case the punishment I received from these guns has affected my nerves to such an extent as to have materially influenced my shooting ever since, and I am heartily sorry that I had anything to d o with them.”

Selous also wrote of being actually knocked off a large anthill when shooting at elephant with the 4-bore. It was from accounts like this that the rumors of bone- crushing recoil began.

Sir Samuel Baker, famed for his husband-wife Search for the Source of the Nile Expedition of 1860, did much hunting in both Ceylon and Africa with the big guns. He even had a 2-bore, which became known amongst the natives in the Sudan as “Jenab al Mootfah,” or “Child of the Cannon.” Baker was a giant of a man and could handle both the recoil of the large guns as well as their tremendous weight. He wrote: “My battery consisted of one four bore single rifle weighing twenty one pounds and one long two ounce rifle weighing sixteen pounds (a 2- bore) . . . . . .”

To give the reader some idea of the hazards encountered while shooting big game with the 4-bore, Baker writes: “I took a rest on a man’s shoulder (common practice in those days when a gunbearer was a necessity rather than a luxury) with the four bore, and, putting the last sight up, I aimed at the leading buffalo, who was walking in the water parallel to us. I aimed at the throat, to allow for his pace at this great distance (which he estimated at over four hundred yards). The recoil of the rifle cut the man’s ear open, as there were sixteen drachms of powder in the charge.” (Baker said he hit the animal, and the ball passed completely through.)

William Baldwin, another early African hunter, was also forced to use the large- bore rifles for his hunting in the late 1850s. He wrote that once, while galloping after an elephant, “The top of my powder flask came off and the powder was loose in my pocket and I haphazardly loaded by the handful. I gave him a final shot with, I should say, about twelve drams of powder. Down he came with a crash, his shoulder blade smashed to atoms. My excitement

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was so great that 1 didn’t feel the recoil, though afterwards I found my forefinge; broken and my right cheek covered with blood.”

After reading these accounts, you might well realize my apprehension when the opportunity came to shoot and evaluate a 4-bore double. As I mentioned earlier, the rifle was a lovely Holland & Holland. That’s where all the loveliness stopped. The twin barrels were fully rifled and twenty-four inches long. Made of finely etched Damascus steel, they seemed to look much shorter than they were because of their bulk. The smooth lines of the massive breech were offset by a pair of large hammers complete with stalker safeties. The action was opened by an under-lever that had to be swung completely to the right before the barrels and breech separated.

The stock was made of straight-grained walnut, no doubt for added strength. Both the forearm and pistol grip were checkered eighteen lines to the inch for a better grip as well as for appearance. A solid soft-rubber recoil pad protected the butt as well as the shooter’s shoulder from damage. With a length of pull approaching 13 7/8 inches from the front trigger to the butt, 1 found the rifle fit just as well as my ,577 Nitro double.

This particular rifle was made for hunting in India and had the Maharajah’s name for whom it was built inlaid in gold script on the top rib. Scroll engraving adorned the action and breech in a tasteful, yet not ostentatious way.

The rear sights consisted of a series of fine folding leaves set at fifty, one-hundred, two hundred, and three hundred yards. I seriously questioned their practicality. On a gun that was only effective up to fifty yards and rarely, if ever, shot at distances greater than that, I couldn’t see the need for more than one fixed fifty-yard sight.

After the first few shooting sessions, I found that this rifle was regulated - that is, designed to shoot both barrels to a common point of impact - for a fourteen- dram load of Fg black powder and a quarter-pound spherical ball. Much to our surprise, it also grouped well with finer FFg and FFFg! Those who have had any experience handloading for the big doubles know how rare this is. Most doubles are as fickle as a society debutante at her coming out if anything but the factory loading is used. There is more of a chance of low- velocity cartridges regulating with different loads because of the lesser barrel vibrations as the projectile passes down the barrel. Hence, the slow-moving 4-bore should stand more of a chance with different loads than, say, a higher-velocity ,350 Rigby flanged.

Actually loading the 4-bore was an experience in handloading at its most literal and basic form. Cases were unobtainable.

RIFLE 63

The few that still exist are cherished by collectors and too valuable to shoot, as they are prone to splitting after repeated firing. To remedy this situation, 1 milled cases from steel on a lathe, complete with single-flash-hole primer pockets to handle American primers instead of the twin-flash- hole Berdan primers. These would then be epoxied to the remainder of the case that was fashioned from a joined length of brass curtain rod to a length of 20mm shell for added strength, then cut to the proper size.

Ordinary CCI large-rifle primers worked perfectly for ignition and were seated into the large cases by hand and set with the thumb. A premeasured charge of powder was then poured into the case, followed by a small wad of tissue paper to keep the powder relatively packed. Regular fiber wads could be used, but I didn’t have the time to cut any before my shooting session. In any case, the tissue worked just fine

Most 4-bores were able to shoot both conical and spherical slugs, but this rifle used mostly round balls because we couldn’t find a mould that could produce conical projectiles. As it was, I had to borrow a spherical mould and cast all of my balls in one sitting. They were cast with tin for hardness at a ratio of one to fifteen, not so much for any penetration but to resist

I shot several strings with the 4-bore using the fourteen-dram loads. Firing right and left barrels alternately, I found I was

about the ,458 and ,460 Weatherby. Compared to the antique booming Bertha, the 4-bore, they are just toys for tots by

stripping when fired down the rifled barrel. able to keep most of my shots in a twelve- comparison! 0

During those early years of African and Indian big-game hunting, it took an iron man with an iron will to touch off fourteen to sixteen drams of powder behind a quarter-pound ball. Modern hunters should be thankful for the advances that were made in technoloqv and brouqht

The ball was then seated in the case and lubricated by a coating of Crisco shortening, which doubled as a sealant. A mixture of Alox and beeswax can also be used.

Ballistically, the light twelve-dram load was no great shakes when compared to more modern heavyweights. It generated a little over 7,200 foot-pounds of muzzle energy, less than the modern Bertha, the .460 Weatherby. When I upped the charge to the normal fourteen-dram load, I found a decided increase in recoil, with the energy peaking out at 7,800 foot-pounds. Why the tremendous increase is beyond me. Understandably, the heaviest sixteen- dram load would increase the energy and velocity, but I believe that it would be almost too much for a man to handle with any accuracy or handiness . An acquaintance of mine, who owns a 4-bore regulated for the sixteen-dram loading, experienced this increase in an unfortunate way. While shooting conical slugs under the shelter of an aluminum roof, he touched off a round, and the rifle recoiled so violently that the front sight rose sharply and dented the corrugated roof above him!

inch circle at fifty yards. Out of necessity; because of the great weight of the rifle, I had to shoot from a sitting position, as my arms just couldn’t hold the gun up for the required time. I wasn’t able to roll with the punches as easily, but my nerves were accustomed to heavy recoil after the first few shots, and I believe there is a point where pain cannot be measured any longer.

As the day wore on, I found my groups were becoming increasingly larger. This was no reflection on the rifle, rather my quickly fraying nerves. After twenty well spaced rounds, I couldn’t take any more that day. For comparison, I tried a few rounds with my ,460 Weatherby bolt gun from a benchrest. My nerves were so shot, and I flinched so badly, that I completely missed the paper, though the ,460 seemed like a .22 in comparison!

MAY-JUNE 1979 43