Firearms and Shooting

Ryan, I did like the look of the wood handle but those g10s are really nice as well.


Chumgeyser on Youtube
E-nep throwing Brotherhood. Charter Member



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2021 01:31PM by Chum.

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Chum
Ryan, I did like the look of the wood handle but those g10s are really nice as well.

Yeah the finger grooves on the Eagle grips it came with were just not right for me. My G27 is an example of finger groves that get everything exactly right for my hand:

- They greatly increase control over a gun with a short grip by creating a strong mechanical bond between hand and gun

- They’re properly spaced for my hand shape and size

- They go right to the bottom of the frame, no contact point for the pinky at all, no awkwardness with that third finger


The Eagle grips on the 629 basically failed miserably in all three categories. Not at all properly spaced for my hand size and shape, they increase discomfort when shooting instead of increasing control and grip security, and the pinky was always awkwardly hanging around, not sure if it wanted on or off the grip. So they had to go. They’re beautiful wood though, no question there.

These VZ’s are a big improvement. And I’ve tried gripping and dry-firing it with a winter glove on, as well as a Mechanix Wear glove (my standard work gloves for outdoor stuff on the hunting property. Clearing brush, chopping up and moving windblown trees, moving tree stands and ground blinds, etc) and in both cases the grips have enough room and security to be usable.

After load development is complete, I may end up getting a set of the VZ square-butt grips. We’ll see. They’d be even better for accuracy and recoil management but they’re also much harder to hide, so we’ll see. I really like the current ones but we’ll see.

I have been looking for a long range pistol, so I ordered an FK BRNO PSD. I can't wait to try it out. Some of my dad's favorite rifles were by BRNO, so I've always held that company in high esteem.




Chumgeyser on Youtube
E-nep throwing Brotherhood. Charter Member

Sweet! Which spare barrel and which spare sights?

Ryan,
Nice. I think you will like the shoulder holster. I used a Ted Blocker Lifeline holster for years, still have it in fact.

"I am still discussing issues of steels and performance at this stage." -- Cliff Stamp, May his memory be a blessing
"Life is GOOD", -- Stefan_Wolf, May His Memory Be A Blessing
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Ryan Nafe
Sweet! Which spare barrel and which spare sights?

I went with the 9mm conversion since I have 9mm to practice with, it is still cheaper than 10mm and 40s&w, and the mags hold 17 rounds, as opposed to the 10mm/40s&w which only hold 10 rounds for some reason. The 7.5 mags hold 16 rounds. I've also heard that they haven't worked out the bugs on the 10mm mags. The 9mm barrel is rated for +p+ which is also nice. If/when they fine tune the 10mm kit I'll try to purchase that separately.

There was no option for the sights. We'll see if it comes with one or both varieties. I plan to put a red dot on it, as everyone and their mother seems to think that red dots are great for long range shooting. Considering they don't have magnification I'm not 100% convinced, but I want to see for myself. I hope it comes with the ghost ring sights as I'm a fan of those on rifles.

I can't wait to try this thing out. The 7.5fk round is pretty smoking hot (95grains at 2000fps muzzle velocity, 845 energy ft/lbs.) Apparently, at 100yards it produces the energy equivalent of 10mm from the muzzle.

It also looks like something out of Bladerunner, which is another selling point for me


Chumgeyser on Youtube
E-nep throwing Brotherhood. Charter Member

The 9mm is a good choice for a spare barrel, Chum. Available, and good for plinking and practice. Their cartridge, the 7.5 FK, is interesting. Very high speeds with fairly light bullets of around 90 or 100 grains. The penetration won’t be much but it would be adequate for defense, varmints, and neck shots on deer. It’s an interesting departure from more common handgun cartridge designs.



Jason, I think I’ll probably like it because everything is contained in one system. The gun, holster, and two reloads are all in one. And access to the gun is significantly easier than a belt holster while sitting.



First round of load development today went quite well. Right now, for a very mild defensive load, I’ve settled on 11.2 grains of Unique and a COAL of 1.600”. This gave velocities of 1,105 FPS average with the 180 grain XTP’s, velocities were very consistent with a SD of 8 FPS. Accuracy was also very good at 20 yards, showing groups of 2”. Very low recoil and only minimal blast, I could shoot those all day without any issues.


I also chronographed some ammo for my new .270 lever action and got an average of 3,218 FPS for the 130 grain GMX bullets, Hornady Superformance factory ammo. Extremely good ammo, the extreme spread was a mere 13 and the SD was 6. No accuracy testing yet, just put a few shots across the chronograph to check speed.

A 270 lever action sounds interesting. Is it a BLR? I handled one in 308 and it was very nice. It was also very light, which made me wonder how it would feel when shooting.

I have my second rimfire competition tomorrow. I’m going soon the confirm my sights. I also went on a bit of a powder spree and have about 4 possible combinations to try just in 223 and another 2 for 30-30.

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Ryan Nafe
The 9mm is a good choice for a spare barrel, Chum. Available, and good for plinking and practice. Their cartridge, the 7.5 FK, is interesting. Very high speeds with fairly light bullets of around 90 or 100 grains. The penetration won’t be much but it would be adequate for defense, varmints, and neck shots on deer. It’s an interesting departure from more common handgun cartridge designs.

It will penetrate 3a body armor at 100 yards. It will also take down 400+ lbs boars at 50 yards.

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Ryan Nafe
I also chronographed some ammo for my new .270 lever action and got an average of 3,218 FPS for the 130 grain GMX bullets, Hornady Superformance factory ammo. Extremely good ammo, the extreme spread was a mere 13 and the SD was 6. No accuracy testing yet, just put a few shots across the chronograph to check speed.

A .270 lever action... very cool! Like me2 I'd like to know more about this.


Chumgeyser on Youtube
E-nep throwing Brotherhood. Charter Member

It’s a Winchester/Miroku 1895. John Browning’s last lever action design. Pictured next to a Savage in .25-06 for a size comparison, the Savage has a 22” barrel and the Winchester’s is 24” but they’re essentially identical in overall length.

I was looking for a rifle to use for short-range hunting, something that was easier to carry and faster into action than my big 7mm Rem Mag. This Winchester, used but in extremely good shape, was up on the shelf at the local dealer. I inspected it, did a bit of dry-firing and aiming to check the trigger and handling, and immediately bought it. The trigger, while still heavier than I’d prefer, is FAR better than the BLR trigger. Much cleaner, very little creep. While I had hoped to find a lever action in .44 Mag, this rifle was simply too cool, too powerful, and handled too nicely to pass up. And the thing points and swings like a target shotgun, it’s really quite wonderful. It’ll be a fantastic piece for deer and bear at close ranges.

Teddy Roosevelt, one of the last truly great men to hold presidential office in my view, spoke very highly of these rifles. As a kid I read his book African Game Trails several times, it’s pretty cool to have a new-production copy of the rifle he took to Africa, even if mine’s not a .405 Winchester.

This revolver is absolutely awesome. I think I’m much happier with this than something like a .45 or 10mm 1911 or Glock. It’s very accurate, handloads enable everything from mild .44 Special/.45 Auto power to full-power magnums launching 240 grain JHP’s at 1,200 FPS, reliability is extremely good, and reloads with a speedloader are very fast, only a couple seconds slower than my G27 reloads.

This and my G27 are the only handguns I’ve had that I can immediately tell I’m never selling. They’ll be around as long as I’m around.


Edit to add: The VZ grips are exceptionally comfortable, even with full-power magnums. I’m not gonna be getting their square-butt target grips, these current ones offer very high control and comfort while still being relatively easy to hide. I’m very happy with them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2021 09:34PM by Ryan Nafe.

Damn that's a sweet lever action! What a find.

Um, that revolver isn't bad either


Chumgeyser on Youtube
E-nep throwing Brotherhood. Charter Member

IMO the 270 Winchester is a greatly under rated cartridge right now. It’s a flat shooting, powerful cartridge with decades of proven performance. I’m doing a really good job of talking myself into that Tika that’s been sitting at the local gun shop for a year. It’s the only left handed bolt action in the store.

The lever action part is just icing at this point on that rifle.

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me2
IMO the 270 Winchester is a greatly under rated cartridge right now. It’s a flat shooting, powerful cartridge with decades of proven performance. I’m doing a really good job of talking myself into that Tika that’s been sitting at the local gun shop for a year. It’s the only left handed bolt action in the store.

Check out this quote from the summary portion of Nathan’s article on the .270 Win. As much as I like the .308 and as much as I like how hard my 7mm Rem Mag hits, it’s hard to argue with this:

“Through our guided hunting services, I am able to gain a great deal of statistics. Without a doubt, the .270 Winchester has proven to be the most effective cartridge carried by clients in comparison to other non magnum, small bore cartridges.”

[www.ballisticstudies.com]


My uncle says similar things, and nobody I’ve ever talked who’s used it for deer has had anything but praise for it. It just works, especially with handloads.

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me2
I’m doing a really good job of talking myself into that Tika that’s been sitting at the local gun shop for a year. It’s the only left handed bolt action in the store.

If it’s one of the basic T3 rifles with the synthetic stock, either blued or stainless, you’d be hard-pressed to find a rifle more accurate and with a better trigger out of the box. No need for messing around with tuning or aftermarket parts, they’re fantastic shooters, at least 95% of them. In .270 it’d be a great choice for a relatively inexpensive hunting rifle that’ll handle pretty much anything inside 300 yards.

I’m finally getting my handloading setup going. I’m kicking myself for waiting until now, but after my uncle walked me through the process for that .44 Mag, it’s gonna be a serious interest and hobby of mine. I’ve always been very particular with my ammo selection and it sort of dawned on me on Friday that I can make anything I want, whenever I want, and work with any cartridge I can manage to find components for.

I found I have turned into one of those people that shoot so they can reload. I found, mostly by luck, good loads for for 223 and 308. For accuracy my 30-30 loads are about on par with the factory stuff, but much cheaper, especially now. You’ll enjoy it immensely I’m sure. With one exception, the powders I use will work for all three calibers I reload for rifles. The pistol powder I have works for a huge variety too. With you starting in 44 magnum this might not be true, but a single pound of pistol powder goes a long way. I’ll get about 1,200 rounds out of the single pound of powder I’ve been using.

I’ve avoided it because it doesn’t have the higher round count I’ve been looking for and I didn’t really want I get into another caliber for reloading. However, for a one and only bolt action, 270 is not a bad choice.

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me2
I found I have turned into one of those people that shoot so they can reload.

I think I’m likely to end up in the same frame. It’s just so interesting, the load development and actual manufacturing processes. I’m pretty OCD about things like symmetry, overall length, etc. and I can make stuff come out perfectly if I want to.

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me2
With you starting in 44 magnum this might not be true, but a single pound of pistol powder goes a long way. I’ll get about 1,200 rounds out of the single pound of powder I’ve been using.

With my current .44 Mag load consisting of 11.2 grains of Unique, I would get 600 rounds from one pound. With something like 2400 or H110, which my uncle and I decided wasn’t worth it because of the short barrel, the charge weight would be more than double that of the Unique, at 25 to 28 grains, which would yield ~ 250 rounds from one pound. I’m pretty happy with the current load. Accuracy is very good, I’m getting consistent velocities at 1,105 average, and it’s relatively economical to use.

If only I could find an 8 lb jug of Unique. I want to start casting for my 30-30. I could get nearly 700 rounds of cast loads per pound and 9mm would be even better, over 1000. However, Unique is quite rare right now. That’s not as big a charge for 44 mag as I had thought. You can stretch that a while.

I found this pretty funny:
[www.youtube.com]




"I am still discussing issues of steels and performance at this stage." -- Cliff Stamp, May his memory be a blessing
"Life is GOOD", -- Stefan_Wolf, May His Memory Be A Blessing
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me2
That’s not as big a charge for 44 mag as I had thought. You can stretch that a while.

It really depends on the burn rate of the powder. Unique is about as fast as you can realistically go for the .44 Magnum, at least for me. Any faster and it starts to have problems with inconsistent velocity because of the low percentage of the case that’s full of powder. You can also play very dangerous games with pressure when doing that, big spikes can happen with only very small increases in charge weight.

Right now, the 11.2 grain charge of Unique is at about 40% of case volume. Just enough to not have problems with inconsistent velocity. Something like H110 would provide 100% fill, and the charge weights would be around 29 or 30 grains. 100% fill is just too expensive and unnecessary from this gun, you’d be looking at a mere 200 rounds per pound and most of that would be burnt in the massive fireball at the muzzle.

I’ve got my eyes open for powders which are only slightly slower burning. Something where the book-maximum charge weight is about 14 grains would be perfect, and a single-base powder if I can find it. That’ll give me about 50% to 60% case fill, slightly higher velocities, still burn fast enough to be pretty efficient from the short barrel, and he much cleaner than the flake-type double-base Unique.

Me2, what scales are you using? And were they purchased recently or a while ago?

I’m using the little balance beam scale that came in my Lee kit. It has the stainless ball in it for the 10 grain increments marker

Oh and I bought it about a year ago. I’d assume it’s relatively new. Nothing firearm related was sitting on a shelf for long then.

Gotchya. I have those and Nathan has stated that they’re generally the most accurate scales available, the downside is that they’re very slow to use because they don’t have a magnetic dampening device.

I’m considering getting a different set of scales in order to make things a bit faster but it’s difficult, other scales are not necessarily accurate or consistent. They’re very hit or miss, and digitals aren’t any different in that respect. The best ones would be laboratory-grade digital scales but they’re extremely expensive.

You mean balance beam scales in general or the Lee specifically? The Lee scale does have magnetic dampening. I typically use the scoop with the Lee die and trickle up so it doesn’t bounce too much. That is for developing loads. For production I use the little Lee powder measure and check weight every 5 to 10 charges, depending on pistol or rifle. Some of my 9mm loads are about 4 grains total so I watch them closer. I’m headed toward powerless reloading set up. Balance beam scale, acid pickling to clean brass, trimming dies that cut on the press, mechanical calipers, etc. I have to oven dry the brass to be sure it’s completely dry.

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me2
You mean balance beam scales in general or the Lee specifically? The Lee scale does have magnetic dampening.

The Lee ones specifically, I guess I hadn’t checked the box recently so I thought they were the same as they used to be, no damping system. My mistake, I suppose. That’s actually good news for me, I’m gonna try using those then. I’ll have to weigh out charges for each case though, I’m not comfortable with the dispensers yet.

Ryan,
Your Smith revolver is gorgeous. I really like the after market grips. That one should last a lifetime.