anomad

I have done some 22 sillywet matches. Went the whole 10/22 route at first, spent a lot of money to be almost as good as the bolt guns. Decided to do an experiment. Put a 4-14x Barska on my Marlin 60C with whatever rings I had laying around. Despite the trigger and cheap scope I can shoot almost as high a score as the worlds most expensive 10/22. My next project is a Savage bolt action.

Nice job.

I think H4895 is a little "crunchy" through the Dillon powder measure. It wouldn't always snap into position without a little nudge. I went with their powder adapter and use my lyman. Although it does add a step to reach up and actuate the powder drop.

Very interesting test Mike, thanks for taking the time to write it up.

Maybe there is something to those light triggers?? I think I kind of over-did it on the dry firing. So how much material can I remove by sharpening the trigger hook before it won't work anymore? I would have to take off quite a good bit (thats a scientific unit) to get it really sharp. Its probably 2 pounds now.

Thanks for all the replies fellas. In a fit of caffeine induced euphoria this morning I took the stone to the trigger hook and sharpened it up. Can't push of SA notch now, made the let off a little more crisp, although its still a little on the light side. DA trigger still abominable, but enough dry firing and spinach and I should be ok......after this blister heals. I have given my lil' trigger finger a nice blister dry firing. [Ricky] Its not a rocket appliance [/Ricky] I learned something this weekend!

Thanks HSMITH. I found this: http://smith-wessonforum.com/eve/forums/a/...04/m/6171078242 Yeah, the SA trigger is not trustworthy on this gun right now, so if I make it DA only its a net gain. Doesn't bother me either. I don't want to start grinding on the trigger too and have to buy two new parts if I can get by with one. After taking the trigger out and looking at it closely, that appears to be the guilty party. its very much rounded off. Could have happened at the same time the hammer spur got cracked, wouldn't surprise me at all. I have some good stones, i might try sharpening it up. The hammer has a pretty clean notch, so I am leaning towards blaming the trigger and either an accident or an over zealous trigger job.

Yeah baby! You should see me with an arc welder and a grinder! That's scary. I am trying not to turn this into the worlds most expensive model 10. I wanted it to be a budget classic carry piece, but its already gone over-budget. I'm also a little miffed that the reputable gunsmith I sent it to 'dropped the ball' on the action tuning. Sending it back to Smith would be at least another hundred bucks. So how hard is it to fit a new hammer if I hate DA only? I don't want to use light springs that require super special reloads to go bang, that's not how I roll. My little angel on my shoulder says I should use this as a learning experience and go for it.

Here's the story. I picked up a model 10 (CAI import) a while back at a pawn shop for pretty cheap. Finish was a disaster but it didn't look like it had been shot much. I sent it off to be rust blued and have the action gone through. The DA trigger was not smooth or light and the SA trigger was scary light. Well, the bluing turned out good (a rust blue job, almost a matte finish). The SA trigger is still scary.....and it pushes off, which ain't good. The 'smith found the hammer spur was cracked when he nickel plated it. The DA trigger is H-E-A-V-Y, but smoother than it was. Didn't come back the carry gun I was hoping for. So, as my tiny brain thinks about this . I would like to hear if folks think this would be a good platform to mutilate with my dremel and convert to double action only? It would fix the cracked hammer spur and single action scariness by telling those functions bye bye. I would have to do something about the heavy DA trigger though, like dry fire it 5 million times a day and eat a lot of spinach. I haven't researched lighter springs yet, reliability is a must. Worse come to worse I guess it would cost me a new hammer and maybe having it 'professionally' fitted.

I haven't loaded short colt, but I have a lot of plain 38 smith and wesson, and of course 38 special. I concur about swaged leading much worse than hard cast. Laser Cast or the like just don't seem to lead unless they are smokin hot loads. Might want to try a smaller outfit like www.tennesseevalleybullets.com I just got 1500 38 DEWC's from him delivered for about 100 bucks.

I have had the same failure to extract you describe, although in a G22, using a LWD 9mm conversion barrel (no other modifications). It happens every 1000 rounds or so with cast round nose bullets if I get weak in the powder department. If I keep the loads on the warmer side (I would have to check my books) it happens less frequently. I chalked it up to a weakness of a conversion barrel, based on my and others experiences. Good luck, glad the TC bullets run better for you.

I am a little surprised that the consensus here is not to carry hand loaded ammo. Seems like what kind of ammo you used would be a small matter in a self defense shooting. At least, rather low on the list of things that would get you in deep doo-doo. I know there are many cases that involve over penetration with your average 9mm ball ammo. But I don't know of any where someone got framed as a whacko for reloading their own ammo. Could certainly happen though and is easily prevented, if that sorta thing keeps you awake at night.... We have a 442 in the house and the trigger is quite heavy, but it smooths up nicely with use and a little lube. But I wouldn't hesitate to tune one up for carry. There are a number of reasons for advising against handloads. First off, none of us can make better, more consistent, more reliable ammo than the manufacturers. Yes, it's possible to tune your handloads so that they're more accurate, achieve higher velocities, etc in your particular gun, but that doesn't mean it's "better". Not only that, but they're the ones doing ballistics testing in various media etc....none of that is easily done by a hobbyist. With all of that aside, why allow anyone the opportunity to attack your intentions in court? If you are forced to defend yourself and get questioned in court why you used a particular "deadly ammo" you can say "it's what the expert at the gun shop, or the gun magazine recommended" and there really isn't anywhere further for that line to go. It doesn't matter if you know ten times more about guns and ammo than the gun shop guy, or the magazine writer...the jury doesn't know that and nobody can blame you for taking the advice of "professionals". I've taken this line of thinking one step further. I purchased identical ammo to my duty ammo to keep in my personal guns. In the unlikely event I have to use one of them while I'm at home and can't get to my issued guns, I already have an out. Why did I use that ammo? If they did the research (they did) and determined it was good enough to issue to protect the public, I figured it was good enough to buy and keep in my personal guns....pretty hard to argue that. My sister is a lawyer, she would advise (for a small fee) against owning a gun if you really wanted to avoid gun related legal issues. Sorry for the thread drift. The point is do carry and do defend yourself if needed. And by all means tune the j-frame up if it makes wifey happy and more likely to carry and/or practice. If you don't mind shipping the gun, Sam has tuned up a couple k-frames for me, much to my satisfaction. Wildcat Traders

I am a little surprised that the consensus here is not to carry hand loaded ammo. Seems like what kind of ammo you used would be a small matter in a self defense shooting. At least, rather low on the list of things that would get you in deep doo-doo. I know there are many cases that involve over penetration with your average 9mm ball ammo. But I don't know of any where someone got framed as a whacko for reloading their own ammo. Could certainly happen though and is easily prevented, if that sorta thing keeps you awake at night.... We have a 442 in the house and the trigger is quite heavy, but it smooths up nicely with use and a little lube. But I wouldn't hesitate to tune one up for carry.

Thanks Chuck, I will check out jetloaders too.

Did I mention they time me with a calender?!