Let me introduce....

[Clarence]

Victor,

Come on over to Columbus, as others have said. You'll learn more about shooting and your rifle in a few matches than in a year of bench testing. The shooters there are a great group of guys that will help you in every way they can. If your rifle weighs 12 lb., 2 oz, it's perfect for silhouette. I would have gotten at least 2" less barrel, but you're not going to change barrel length with that beautiful engraving near the muzzle. The fouling in the long barrel is more manageable in S. TX than Arizona and New Mexico, where the humidity is always extremely low. I'd try blow-tubing and then go back to wiping if you see any issues with it.

I echo the recommendation of seating the bullets into the lands to compensate for slight variations in neck tension.

Windex with vinegar is for cleaning, not for wiping, IMO, as others have said. Many people believe that leading starts easier from a clean, dry bore.

Beautiful rifle!

Clarence

[Jim Kidwell]

Victor,
I am sure the the people at Yaupon Creek would welcome you and allow you to shoot in their match, even if your rifle is overweight. What you would learn from people such as Clarence would greatly reduce your learning curve. They are also a fun group.

I would also suggest an MVA scope if you wanted to be eligible for any awards. With the scope, the weight limit is 15 lbs. FWIW..............................Jim

[vgostomski]

Clarence, Dave and Jim,Thank you very much for the invite. The range near Columbus is the one I refered to earlier. And yes, I'd love to come pick you brains and shoot as well. As for awards, I'm not into them,,, just love shooting when I have the time. I see there is a shot this weekend that I'll have to miss, boys baseball season duties.... This is a little different game, not too much though. I went to the range today and threw 50 rounds down range,,,,,,, nothing can substitute for trigger time. I'm starting to get the feel of the set trigger even! That being said, I'm going to throw some more #'s out for anyone researching a 45-90... Here we go:

The following items were all the same, bullet-to-bullet
Oehler Chrono: 35P
34" heavy barrel
550 brooks Creedmoor w/ 5 grease grooves
30/1 lead
F210M primer
.030 VFW
Bullet seated to hunting depth, roll crimp at top of upper grease groove
SPG lube
10 shot strings

70 grains (by weight) 1.5 swiss
.110" powder compression
ave - 1264 fps
19 FPS deviation
notes - this shot decent, recoil is not to bad. Curious, the hotter primer caused 6 FPS drop from the WLR primer load (temp was the same).


72 grains (by weight) 1.5 swiss
.155" powder compression
ave - 1281 fps
18 FPS deviation (take away the 1 flyer and it is 11 FPS)
notes - wow, did the group open up quick


74 grains (by weight) 1.5 swiss
.200" powder compression
ave - 1297 fps
11 FPS deviation (take away the 1 flyer and it is 7 FPS)
notes - just as quick as it opened up, it closed up plus! I don't believe my eyes will allow for better groups with open sights.


I hope this helps someone down the road. Since the website was updated, the search feature is a little "off".

Victor

[DAVE ROELLE]

Hi Victor:

Looking forward to shooting with you at Yaupon Creek -------------------- the range is in great shape and shooting steel critters is great fun (if somewhat humbling )

I'm sure in your research you have studied "neck tension" and "bullet runout"--------controling these characteristics of the loaded cartridge was critical in improving longer range performance for me.

Dave

[Clarence]

Victor,

Plenty good load to get into silhouettes and learn a lot! As Dave said, it's humbling, but great fun!

Clarence

[Ted Kramer]

Hi Victor,

Welcome and my compliments on your beautiful rifle. You'll get lots of pleasure from shooting it I'm sure.

Are you related to the late Curly Gostomski who started North Star Co. in Ohio making those nice trade guns?

Best regards,
Ted K.

[vgostomski]

I played with rimfire silhouettes in the early 90's. Quite a lot of fun to say the least. Didn't care for the rams though, although it was one of the easiest targets to hit, it was the hardest to fall. The actual target was only the upper 1/3 of the ram with rimfire.

Ted, to my knowledge, I don't believe I'm related (at least directly) to a Curly. But the Gostomski name isn't to common, so a distant relative he might have been.


Victor

[DAVE ROELLE]

Hi Victor:

With your cartridge and the load you have working, knocking over rams won't be a difficulty no matter the bullet strike location -----------------------now hitting em on a windy day is a different story

Keep well and stay safe

Dave

[Free_Stater]

Damn.

Looking at that rifle makes me walk funny. If I look any further, I might embarrass myself.

Sorry to hear about your dad, but he sure lived a long, and I'm certain, a productive life.