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Professional Scope Mounting

 

 

Professional Scope Mounting

 

Don’t be deceived by what looks to be a simple job. Professional scope mounting takes training and a good working knowledge of gunsmithing to get the most out of the combination of gun, scope, mounts and ammo. Maybe the sporting goods store has a stock boy that can tighten down #6 screws tighter than the space shuttle’s gas cap but there is a lot more to this job than just making sure it is tight.
Let’s define a few terms before we go any farther to keep the confusion to a minimum

Ring- This is the round clamp that goes around the scope and has an arrangement on the bottom to attach it to the base.

Base- The small unit that attaches to the gun (usually with screw but not always) and provide a means for the ring to attach.

Eyepiece- the end of the scope next to shooters eye ( usually sharper than necessary!)

Objective end- The opposite end of the scope from the eyepiece. Measured in millimeters

Parallax- An error in viewing two object from different locations. Hold up your finger and look at the tip and the wall behind it, now move your eye around and the finger appears to move against the wall. This happens in the rifle scope when you look at a close target (like 25 yards) and move you head position on the comb of the stock. The crosshairs appear to move on the target. It can be adjusted to match the target distance or for most factory hunting scopes it is factory adjusted at 125 yards. It is basically a short range problem.

Picatinny- A military standard for a scope base similar to the weaver style. Weaver bases will attach to a Picatinny rail but Picatinny rings and devices will not fit on the Weaver base. If using a weaver ring on a Picatinny base it should be slide forward before the ring is tightened on the base. Even though weaver rings work this is not a desirable setup. Best to have the base match the ring. While originally a scope base these are used for almost any device being attached to a rifle like night vision equipment, flashlights or lasers.

Zero- A setting on the scope or sights that will align the aiming point and the strike of the bullet.

MOA- abbreviation for minute of angle. It equals roughly one inch at 100yards, two inches at 200, 5 inches at 500, and so forth. This also means it equals ½ inch at 50 yards, ¼ inch at 25 and so forth. So if your scope will move you ¼ minute per click then one click will move you 1/16 inch at 25 yards or 2.5 inches at 1000 yards. Read this over or draw it out with a straight edge or whatever you need to do but you have to understand MOA. When you want to move a scope that is centered 20 MOA to the left and the mounts are 3.8 inches apart it will require a good understanding of MOA!

Power- Usually denoted by a number followed by an X like 6X or many times in combination with the objective lens size like 6X42 would be a 6 power scope that has a 42 millimeter objective lens. Variable scopes have an adjustable setting and fixed scopes are only one power.

Collimator- A device to make a parallel line up. Used by the gunsmith to align the aiming point with the center of the bore. While it does not sight in the firearm it is a very useful tool allowing the gunsmith to see how precisely the scope adjustments move the aiming point and determine how much backlash is present.

Reticle- A system of fine lines used to aim. (Duh! It’s the crosshairs)

Mill Dot- A system of dots spaced on the reticle lines used to measure range.

Windage- Movement from left to right or horizontal

Elevation- Movement up and down or vertical.

Drop- usually a measurement in inches of the path of the bullet in relation to the line of sight reflecting the effect of gravity on the projectile.

Selecting the ring and base combination that is right for the job will be the first hurdle. A quick look at the current Brownells catalog reveals 20 pages of scope rings and bases. One piece, two piece, Weaver, Leupold, Picatinny, See-thru, Unertl and many more can make it hard for the person that doesn’t know what they want. Maybe we need to clarify just what a good scope mount should do. Hold the scope securely in line with the position of the eye when the gun is mounted to the shoulder and return to the same place (zero) if it is removed and reinstalled. Being adjustable so the scope adjustments can remain close to center would be nice too. Most of the available mounting systems have something to offer. The old Weaver mounts are solid and return close to zero, The Old Redfield system is harder to remove and return to zero but it is adjustable for windage.

After selecting take a look at what will be holding the bases to the firearm. In most instances it will be screws. Overwhelming favorite is the 6×48 with the 8×40 gaining ground. The 6 is a wire gauge size and the 48 is the number of threads per inch. These small screws have proven adequate for many years, however as firearms have become more powerful and scopes larger the effects of recoil that must be endured by the screws that are responsible for holding it all together have raised the strength requirements. Poor screw fit due to being too long or too short has created the majority of problems associated with scopes but it doesn’t end there. Screw head diameter and wrong threads have also been real pain for the gunsmith trying to turn out quality work. These problems are usually avoided by buying quality mounting products. Even if you buy the best it is still a good practice to inspect all the parts for defects before assembling on the gun. Look close and make sure threads are there and that they go all the way to the bottom of the hole. Try the screws in the holes and make sure they are not loose if you wiggle from side to side.

After you are satisfied with the fit and quality of the bases and the length and fit of the screws it is time to attach them to the gun. Take your time and snug each screw individually and then check the base for tightness to the gun. This step is important to make sure all the screws are actually holding the base to the gun and not coming tight without the head of the screw resting against the base. After you are satisfied each screw is performing like it should you can tighten. Judgment and experience are a great help here but nothing really beats a torque wrench. Thirty inch pounds is plenty of pressure with a 48 thread.

While I don’t prefer Loctite on my guns some of my customers swear they need it so I comply with their wishes. Personally I would rather be able to check screw tightness later and know the screw is actually tight against the base and not just being held by the Loctite in the threads.

If this is a custom job or a cobbled together arrangement I will use a long straight edge on the bases to check alignment with the end of the barrel. With the straight edge resting on both bases it should parallel the bore and be taking a path of its own. This is easy to see with the straight edge by the time it gets to the muzzle but a small misalignment is very hard to detect when the front and rear bases are only a couple inches apart.

Now we can cycle the action and make sure the action works freely. If any screws are protruding into the receiver and impinging on working parts you will probably feel it but close inspection is still warranted to make sure there is no contact with the bolt that might affect accuracy by disturbing alignment.

When all is well we can proceed to mounting the rings. I usually start with the front ring only and after mounting it snugly I will check ring height by placing the scope in the ring to make sure it clears the barrel. Then I use a long piece of round stock to check alignment with the bore. With the front ring in place the round stock which is no more than a long piece of aluminum rod long enough to extend from the rear of the receiver to the end of the barrel should be centered directly over the bore. If there is an alignment problem solve it by fitting or replacing before proceeding. Next the rear ring can be positioned using the round stock as a guide. Tighten the rear ring while watching the position of the round stock over the bore. It should not move. Again if there is an alignment problem solve it before continuing.

Now we have rings in line with the bore so they will they will not damage or kink the scope tube when they are tightened on the fragile scope tube. Another problem we are trying to avoid is placing any stress on the receiver from ring misalignment. This can be detrimental to accuracy just like a bedding problem would place stress on the receiver from beneath the action.

Now we have properly aligned and tight bases with rings in line with and parallel to the bore but we are still not quite ready to mount the scope. Our next job is make sure the individual bore of each ring is in alignment. We do this by lapping with a brass rod the size of the scope body (1 inch or 30 mm) coated with an abrasive lapping compound. The caps or tops are tightened only enough to contact the rod but allow movement so the twisting and front to rear movement of the lapping rod can proceed. When the two materials are rubbed together the abrasive will cut away the material in contact with the rod. If the rings are in perfect alignment (you wish!) the wear will show a pattern inside the ring of finish being removed on the entire surface. A normal result will be 20% of the finish removed after several minutes of lapping. For most installations getting the lapping above 60% will be a good fit. Since this is a fitting operation the rings and caps are now a fitted pair and should be marked in some manner to make sure they are not mismatched. This includes marking the cap not only as to which ring but also to prevent reversing the cap.

Whew! I told you it wasn’t easy but now you can clean off the lapping compound and mount the scope. All you have to do is get it straight in the rings and tighten without it moving and have it end up exactly where the customer wants it. Yes, in the end it is the customer that needs to be happy so with the job so at this point I usually leave the scope loose in the rings until the customer arrives to make the final determination as to how where it needs to be tightened. You might try to coach them a little by explaining the need for adequate eye relief and how if the scope is a little forward the head will come to a more consistent position on the stock and consistency leads to better shooting but in the end make the customer happy.

Using a scope reticle leveling device will stop a lot of disputes as you tighten the scope and hand it back and forth for the customer to check. These are fairly inexpensive and available from Brownells and others. Many people cant the gun without realizing it and nothing you can do will make them happy but putting the crosshairs level for them. Thankfully this isn’t a problem in most hunting situations since the distance is close and the target large in relation to a long range target and if the customer is a long range shooter they will already be schooled in the effects of misalignment.

This might seem like a lot of trouble but it really doesn’t take that much time after you have done a few and it just seems like a shame when all the work that went into an accurate rifle is compromised with a poor scope mounting job. I find writing up directions and handing out copies to customers that plan on mounting their own scope will generate a lot of scope jobs as the customer gains a better understanding of the importance of the job. As always, DO GOOD WORK!

 

 

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Superpower

 

 

 

Finding Your Superpower

Not too long ago I was staying at my camp at Cedar Island. It was summer and I was busy inside with supper and other things. I had an outside light on the porch and it was well after sunset when I went outside. I was amazed at the insect life that had come to enjoy the light. Now we have bugs in New Bern and Cove City but nothing like Cedar Island. There were flying bugs, crawling bugs, black ones with big horns, green ones with big eyes and in every size from tiny to XXXXL. It made me wonder why they were so different. If I was in charge of creation I would have made two or three flying bugs and a couple of crawlers and that would have been enough. I would not have made skeeters, ticks, red bugs, yellow flies or green heads.

All those bugs point to an amazing fact. God loves variety! Countless species and plants cover our world and even humans come in so many shapes sizes and colors that it would be a nightmare to keep one of each in stock if you were a retailer. We use the term “creative genius” but when it comes to God it is just beyond description. So if we were created by such a creative genius then what are we? Who are we and why are we here? It just stands to reason that we just have to be absolutely awesome. A creative genius would never be satisfied with creating anything normal or average.

It doesn’t make any  sense that we spend so much of our energy trying to normal and average. How did it happen? Or maybe when did it happen would be a better question. Back in the 1960s NASA was spending money trying to win the space race and be the first to land on the moon. They realized they needed to think “out of the box” to do something that had never been done. After forming think tank groups they realized it would be helpful if they had a way to find out of the box thinkers. Another name would be the creative geniuses.

With money flowing they found an independent research firm that created a test for creative genius. The test was simple and easy to give and the results were excellent. Matter of fact it worked so well that the researchers said how about we give this test to kids. The test was given to 1600 five year old kids scattered across the country. Now what do you think the percentage to test as creative genius was? 10%? 20%? If you have a five year old or you remember being 5 it probably won’t surprise you to know 98% tested to be creative geniuses. 98%! Five year old kids don’t just think out of the box they have no box. Talk to them and listen. They want to be mermaid veterinarians and spend weekends in space.

Finding so much creativity energized the researchers to repeat the test in 5 years. Evidently a lot of change takes place between 5 and 10 because the percentage to test creative genius dropped to 30%! Wow, what happened? They haven’t done anything but go to school and play and they dropped 68%. Researchers were not excited but went forward with another test at age 15. Now how creative are teenagers? Once again a huge drop in creative genius to only 12%. Researchers were too discouraged to continue testing the group but since then the test has been given to over 1 million adults. So how creative are people like you and me? Adults test at 2% in the creative genius category. From 98% to 2%! Why?

Other research has proven that by age 5 your personality has fully developed and you are who you are going to be. While you were obviously  created by a creative genius to be a creative genius the world doesn’t like it. The world wants conformity. Kind of a huge pressure of collective thought that comes from us wanting others to be like us. We want to be able to judge so we want all apples and no oranges. If we are the same then we measure ourselves and  do better than others or have more  and feel better about our accomplishments. We want credit for achievement. We want to know what average is so we can have others see how far above average we are. It’s just the way the world works.

The question is what are we giving up when we depart from what we made to be? If you look at my workbench or tool box you will see what looks like hundreds of tools. Some are everyday tools and some are speciality tools for my profession. Many are handmade just to do one special job that nothing else can do. Many of these tools are an absolute necessity for me to do my work. Many were made out of the best quality materials and ground and polished to exactly the right shape. Then they were hardened at 1500 degrees and drawn at 500 degrees to be tough and durable. They are important necessary and valuable to me but when I die most will be discarded as trash. Without the craftsman the tools have no purpose, no value, no future.

We should know that if we were created different it has to be for a reason. It seems obvious we were made for different purposes or jobs. Just like tools if you try to do something you were never designed to do you probably won’t have a good outcome. So are there things I can’t do? Well basically yes. Apostle Paul said for me nothing is off limits but a lot of things are not profitable. We have all seen it and tried it more than once. The basketball player that is too short or the horse jockey that is too big. The boy that struggled to pass basic math might not be the best one to send to the The School of Math And Science. A mule will never win the Kentucky Derby!

But what about “Be all you can be” or “you never fail till you quit” or “shoot for the moon”? Most of us grew up in a world that wanted you to work on your weak points. We got a report card and the next grading period would be focused on the low grade to pull it up to average. Even if this was a subject that held no interest and would never be used. Researchers have prover that people had several time more growth if the spend the available time working on the strong subjects. (Whew! Wish I had that research to show Mama when I flunked French I in 9th grade!) The facts and the Bible agree that you need to invest time in doing an inventory on your abilities.

Paul tells us in Romans 12 that we should present the work of our bodies as a living sacrifice. It kind of scary to think about doing Christian service. Giving ourselves over to God scares us because we think God wants to change us. He want to make us something different, something we were never meant to be. It’s actually the opposite.

Verse 2 says That the renewing of our mind will put us in touch with the perfect will of God. Renewing, meaning making our mind like it was. Remember you were to be a creative genius?  It doesn’t say replacing your mind or become something you were never made to be. Renewing is restoring.

Verse 3 says to every person not to think of yourself more highly than you should ( who popped in your mind?). But to think soberly with sound judgement of yourself. Just as bad and sometimes worse is the habit of false humility. How many times have you stopped short and not done something that was needed because you sold yourself short and said “I’m not good enough.” Don’t ever talk bad about yourself. When you work for God have confidence. Would you want your surgeon to come in and say he really wasn’t very good? I learned from an Olympic shooting coach that you start to believe what you tell yourself. You should be reminding yourself that you are awesomely created by a creative genius who is interested in everything you do! Besides there will always be someone willing to take the job of making you humble.

Verse 4 and 5  reminds us just as the body has many members with different functions the body of Christ (us) has many members with different functions. It is okay to be different and even weird if you were made that way! It was for a reason.

The rest of chapter 12 names a long list of spiritual gifts that each of us have been
given in different proportions and gives us the instruction “to exercise them accordingly”.

So what’s the point or as I ask my students “what did you learn?”

1. I am designed by God to be different for a reason.

2. I have gifts (superpowers) given by God so I can do certain things better than others.

3. I have to make an honest frank assessment of what I can and cannot do.

4. If I focus my efforts on being what I was created to be instead of what the world wants me to be I will be the most effective and best version of myself.

5. While I was created with certain gifts it is completely up to me how or if I use them.

 

 

 

 

 

Timothy P. Whealton

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Help! My new rifle doesn’t group

It brand new and shoots 3 inch groups at 100 yards.

It shows up a lot in September. They got a new gun and went to the range to sight in and it doesn’t shoot well. Maybe they have an unrealistic idea that all guns shoot in one hole or should. As the gunsmith you will have to do a little detective work before you start chasing down the problem. First see if you can isolate the problem to one area.

  1. The shooter-  Ask how they shot the gun. Off a bench? Sand bags? truck hood? Distance? Have they shot before? Have they ever shot a small group? Do they have another rifle that shoots well? Most deer hunters don’t practice and have little experience shooting. The average hunter sights in with less than 10 rounds and then fires 5 to 10 rounds during the year. Contrast that with a high-power competitor that shoots 3000 aimed rounds a year and you realize your customers will vary in experience and capability.
  2. The ammo- always surprised how many people think a good gun will shoot bad ammo. Its more like a race car. Good guns are built to use the best ammo and might even shoot bad ammo worse than a clunker. Most guns will shoot some loads better than others. It is always best to let the gun tell you what it wants to shoot instead of you trying to make it shoot what you want. No I don’t like load sensitive rifles but that doesn’t mean I don’t have to live with them. Factory ammo is much better than it use to be. Yes there is some bad stuff on the market but you will basically get what you pay for. I usually have a standard test load for each caliber. It might not be the best load for that particular gun but it will usually be good enough that I will know that if it wont shoot my test load something is wrong. Example- Federal Gold medal Match for 308 loaded with 168 Match Kings. If it wont shoot that then something is wrong!
  3. Optics- Let me just say this first. I hate scopes. They can make your life miserable. I can find the flaw in the barrel, action or bolt but you are always guessing with the scope. Use your bore-sighter and turn the adjustments both ways while tracking the movement of the reticle. It should be smooth and reverse direction without backlash. It should be close to the center of movement. Scopes don’t work well at the end of adjustment. Check all the screws in the base and rings. If they were put on with thread locker then you need to understand that the screw might be tight but the base can be loose. The tightness you feel is not the head of the screw pushing against the base. It is the threads locked. If all checks good and you still suspect the scope use a known good scope for a test. I didn’t say a new scope or another scope.
  4. Barrel- Look first down the outside while holding it up to a light. The light reflected along the outside will show a bulge. Inspect inside with a borescope if you have one. Check the headspace. Pay close attention to the throat. That is the short section in front of the chamber where the bullet first hits the rifling. If the throat is crooked or damaged (and a lot are) the bullet will be pushed off center when it enters the rifling and accuracy will suffer. I make a chamber cast with cerrosafe from Brownells. It is reusable and melts in boiling water. Nothing else will show you the throat as clearly. Clean the bore and then push a tight oiled patch down the bore while feeling the resistance. If it has a loose section it will never group. Slug the bore to confirm.
    Cartridge and cast of the chamber

    Notice how short the throat is. This is a factory 300 win mag. Look where  the rifling starts on each groove. If it starts at the same place all the way around that is a good throat.

    If the is nothing else apparent I will freeze a barrel and then watch the barrel return to room temperature to see if the barrel is warping during temperature change. Just put the barreled action in the freezer overnight and then clamp it in your milling vise with a dial indicator on the muzzle. Don’t touch it and let it warm to room temp. If the bore is off center it will be a banana.

    freeze test

     

  5. Bedding- What you want bedding to do is cradle the action without putting stress on the action that will shift during firing. While target guns are designed to float the barrel most factory guns will allow the barrel to push against the forearm. If the action isn’t bedded it will probably be better left with some upward pressure. Use your bore sighter again (collimator) and look through the scope. push on the side of the barrel and make sure it returns to the same position. Then tighten and loosen the guard screws and look for movement. If the barrel or action can move and stay in more than one place that is a problem.

Accuracy problems can be challenging but having a system and a lot of time and effort will give results. The problem for the gunsmith will be getting paid for his work! Knowing gunsmithing and making money don’t always go hand in hand.

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David and Goliath

David and Goliath

I recently went back and read the old bible story about David and Goliath again. I guess I have read it more than a few times through the years but I don’t think I ever took a “critical” look at all the elements of the story. I was amazed at how much of the story is still relevant advice for us today. Even though I’m hesitant to recommend killing as the “go to” solution for solving problems it seems obvious that there are times when it just works. In spite of that fact the importance of this story doesn’t hinge on the fact that David killed him but rather on the techniques David used to overcome his opponent. The techniques are timeless and should be taught at all levels.

I listened to a sermon a while back and the preacher seemed to miss the point. He labored and labored over how a young boy went into battle with a giant and used a pebble and God to kill him and win the battle. He talked about how if you have God on your side you meager skills will be enough because he will magnify your efforts. While I don’t disagree that God can certainly magnify anything he wishes I saw a lot more than meager efforts from the young man that was being groomed to become king.

In case you don’t remember the story  the two armies were camped close enough to hurl insults at each other and Goliath was yelling a challenge every morning that if they had a solider that would come fight him that they could settle the battle and declare a winner without everyone going into battle. All they had to do was select a solider to meet him and beat him in battle. Only problem was Goliath was at least twice the size of most men and an experienced expert at hand to hand combat that had never lost. I’m sure he was covered with scars from battle and had back hair thicker than the girls from Dover! You have probably met more than one of these loud mouths in your life but apparently Goliath could back up his boast. At least it looks like the soldiers believed he could because no body wanted to try when the cost of losing was certain death from a big rusty sword! So it had been a stalemate for a while before David showed up to drop off stuff. He wasn’t even a solider but he hears the challenge and immediately accepts. He is too small to wear the heavy armor or carry the big sword so he goes into battle with only his slingshot and wins. Everyone is amazed and he is an instant star.

How did he do it? The bible leaves no doubt that it was the hand of God but exactly how did God get the outcome he desired. It seems to me that David was groomed for this fight long before he ever saw Goliath. He used his past training, skill, cunning and bravery on that day along with good dose of common sense. Here is how he did it.

He stuck with a proven performer. Seems a lot of us want to abandon what has always worked in favor of something untried when we face a new problem. Sure the sword was the weapon of choice for war but David knew he would lose in a sword fight. Goliath was far to strong to fight up close and the slingshot would allow him to pelt him from a safe distance. It was a weapon David had practiced with and he knew it’s strengths and weaknesses. It would not kill unless the hit was perfect but it would sure make for a bad day for “Big Boy” even if he could only score hits. Remember “stoning” was a particularly painful form of execution.

He had a plan. How can you go do anything if you don’t have a plan? Notice the part of the story where he picked up the stones? He selected 5 stones. Did this mean he didn’t have faith? No it simply meant his plan was to do the best he could with what he had. I’m confidant that if Goliath hadn’t had  enough after the fifth stone that David would have picked up more and more until the giant’s head looked like it had been through an all day hail storm.

He had technique! You can’t do anything well unless you have a technique. You can practice the technique, improve the technique, change the technique or even abandon the technique but unless you have a technique you won’t improve. It was a technique he had perfected as a Shepard guarding his flock.  He knew that if he stayed far away and threw the stones that Goliath would have time to dodge or deflect the stones. His weapon of choice would have to be used up close. The bible says he ran straight towards him and was close enough that Goliath had no time to react but not close enough that Goliath could use his sword.

He matched his equipment to the task. How many times have you tried to use the wrong tool and gotten poor results. The bible says he selected smooth stones from the river bed. Ever wonder why. Wouldn’t a jagged stone make a nastier wound? Certainly it would but David was going to use all his skill to make a good shot (sounds like he went to Atlantic Shooting School!). He knew a jagged stone would not fly straight or come out of the sling at precisely the right time so even back then premium ammo was worth the effort.

He didn’t stop till he was sure the job was done. I’m guilty of this one! Start celebrating when the hard part of the job is done but something goes wrong finishing up the easy part! When Goliath went down he cut off his head without delay. Imagine if he had run back to his side to gloat after knocking him down and Goliath had gotten back up ready to fight! The old surprise slingshot technique might not work twice!

How many Goliaths are you facing? Even if you have never faced a real challenge you can be sure that some are waiting in your future. Maybe some of the same techniques that worked thousands of years ago will work for you too. Bottom line is you have to do your part and that means doing it the best you can, as hard as you can and for as long as it takes. After all, God didn’t design you to fail. So when the times to take down the giant have a plan, stick with what you know, use your most effective technique, have good equipment and don’t give up till you are the winner! Don’t worry about God doing his part, you just make sure you hold up your end of the bargain!

 

 

 

 

Timothy P. Whealton

 

 

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Have we changed?

Ugly by Design!

Have we changed or has the world around us changed? Is it our point of view or a new mindset? I watch very little television but if you watch an old television show it doesn’t take long to see the difference. If you go back to the time before TV the changes are even more apparent.
I watched and old rerun of the TV show the Rifleman recently. It was from the 1950 era and starred Chuck Connors. It was the same theme almost every episode as I remember. Lucas McCain would go to town with his young son Mark. There would be a bad man in town intent on doing harm to innocent people. Lucas would confront the evil man and eventually there would be a gunfight. Lucas would shoot and kill the bad man.
Not much different from our modern TV shows except for one thing. Lucas hated to do it! The show went to great lengths to show how much he hated having to take life. He would do it to protect innocent life but only then as a last resort. After he had killed the bad man it showed how sorry he was and how taking a human life was a terrible thing in any circumstance.
If you can stand to watch a modern program you will see leading characters that will kill without a second thought. Modern technology has made it so realistic that blood and body parts flying through the air are hardly noticed anymore. The gun comes out and goes off in a second and 2 minutes later the character is over it and on with his life. Has this changed us?
I wonder the effect of our television and movies with people around the world that don’t know what an American is except for seeing us on screen. Do they think we are really like that? They sure seem to be disgusted with us.
I remember being a small boy and going with my Dad when he would buy fishing tackle. Even though we went into the store to buy fishing tackle we would always go to the back of the store to look at the guns. I can remember him holding me up on his arm so I could see. It must have been in the mid-1950s cause nobody could have picked me after that without equipment. I can still remember how beautiful they were. The shiny black steel and the beautifully finished walnut gunstocks lined up in a wall rack were a sight to stir the imagination. Every gun in the store was beautiful and every gun there was for hunting or target use.
It is disappointing to go look at the guns when I go to a sporting goods store now. The beauty has gone. Everything is flat black or camouflage. It is almost like the gun was designed to look fearsome instead of beautiful. When I leave the gun counter and walk over to the knife counter it is the same story. The shiny blades have been made dull black and the edges of the knives look like predator teeth.
Our publications have changed as well. Since I am in the gun business I constantly receive gun magazines and sporting publications. These mirror what the general public pick up off the rack at the store. Bottom line is beauty has gone out of style. Even the people that hold the guns are scary looking. I took this picture while in the checkout line at the grocery store. I didn’t arrange it at all.

Figure 1Wal Mart magazine rack. Ugly by design

Does TV, Internet and print reflect what we think or do they tell us what we think?
Maybe we have just been told what we like so many times that we are starting to believe it. Adolf Hitler knew a few things about control and he said “If you tell them something long enough they will believe it.” I think that is exactly what has happened. Is it past the point of no return? Is scary the new beauty? Is it too late?
One thing I have been told enough that I believe it is that it is never too late to change. The Bible says “Think about what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.” The key word seems to be THINK! Do it often and do it for yourself. Don’t let a website, politician or anyone else do it for you. It has been proven over and over “What the mind can conceive the mind can achieve!”

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Peanut Match March 31 2018. Cove City, NC

CERTIFICATE of ACHIEVEMENT
THIS ACKNOWLEDGES THAT

HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE
ATLANTIC SHOOTING SCHOOL PEANUT SHOOT

This person hit a single skinned shelled peanut at 300yards with one shot A.S.S.

It will be here before you know it! Any Rifle, any sight, no excuses. Sandbags on the ground or bench. No muzzle brakes

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John 3

At first you might wonder why 3 John is even in the Bible. It is the shortest book in the New Testament. It is the only New Testament book that doesn’t contain the name Jesus or Christ. It looks to be a personal letter only with little connection to our modern time but careful study proves otherwise.

3 John shows us that problems between Christians have been happening ever since the resurrection. This book was included in the Bible because the message hasn’t changed. Conflict between Christians hurts the church, the members and most of all the unsaved? How can it hurt the unsaved? How many times have you seen someone hesitant about beginning a relationship with Jesus because they have witnessed behavior by Christians that made them turn away. There can not be a larger loss than a human soul lost for eternity that would have found salvation in a church focused on God’s will.

So what is God’s will? Jesus told Paul when he converted him on the road to Damascus. Acts 26-18 “to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.”
Sometimes these conflicts escalate into open ugly hostility but most of the time they will be more like a smoldering fire that can go on for years. They will greet each other and smile but there is no smile on the inside. This life style will even spread to their children and affect their lives as they are learning how to handle relationships.

But how do we as Christians handle and resolve the conflicts that arise in our church families? Like most problems it’s fairly easy if you are not one of the parties involved. Probably nothing is easier to solve than other people’s problems but terms like “they just need to get over it”, or “it’s time to move on” or “that’s just silly” never help.

God’s plan for us is a plan of starting over. The wonderful grace of God allows us to start over with a clean slate. We ask for forgiveness and God gives us a completely clean start. It is called being “born again” because at birth we are sinless and have no past. While it will never be possible for us to forgive like God he has equipped us try and follow his example. Through the study of God’s word we can become better Christians and be as the scripture says “known for our love”.

Here are some of the natural things to avoid.
1. The blame game. How long has this been going on? What did Adam say when God asked what he had done? “She made me do it! It’s her fault! You made her so it might be your fault too”. We have to own our part of the problem or it will never be repaired.

2. It’s not right but it makes me happy and God wants me to be happy. Wrong! God will never ask you to sin even once as a path to happiness.

3. “I don’t have to say I’m sorry because I didn’t do anything wrong”. It might be your attitude that is the biggest problem of all. It has been said “attitude is more important than fact” and it is the truth!

4. We want to win. We love winners, we make them heroes and idolize them. Sometimes it might seem like we have to “chose to lose” when we forgive but in reality we are choosing to win a much larger prize.

5. Forgiveness isn’t free. If you truly forgive there will be a cost involved. If there is a debt owed to you either financial or emotional and you release that debt unpaid you must pay the price yourself. God did it for you and the price was high. I never agreed with the people who said salvation is free. A dear price was paid for my salvation!

So how do we transform ourselves into people without all these failings? Obviously we as humans can never accomplish this but as Christians we can and must turn to God for help.

The first step for a Christian will be honest prayer from the heart. Not a reciting of memorized verses but real talking to God. Then with an open and receptive heart we have to listen to God. Then we will need more prayer as we ask God for the courage to do what we know is right. Knowing what is right is a lot easier than doing what is right.

When you talk with any committed Christian they will tell you God will push you out of your “comfort zone” but he will never leave you there. Out of the comfort zone is the “growth zone” for Christians.

I use to have an old man that would come into my shop and sit around. He didn’t say a lot but he listened carefully to all the shop talk and stories. One day he opened his wallet and gave me a small metal cross. He said he had been given the cross by an old man when he was young. He said it was meaningless at first but had become more important the longer it stayed in his wallet. The old man that gave it to him said “Keep this and don’t forget who you are”.

The little cross has been in my wallet 15 years now and it has become more and more valuable. Because every now and then when I’m looking for something I will see the cross and remember who I am. I am an adopted child of God.

 

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A good book for the shotgun hunter

Dove Hunting and Shotgunning
By Hurtford Smith Jr.

I just finished reading Dove Hunting and Shotgunning. I feel like I’m able to put forth ideas on both shotgunning and dove hunting. I have been a gunsmith for over 45 years and I repair around one thousand guns each year. (No wonder I’m tired!) I am also a dove hunter. Not just an opening day dove hunter but a hunt till the last day dove hunter. I have hunted, killed, cleaned and cooked most everything that flies and is legal in North Carolina. There is nothing I enjoy more than a good dove hunt and my friends feel the same way.
Short version is I really like this book. While teaching gunsmithing at the college for several years I searched countless books about guns, shooting and hunting for students. Most were filled with lots of info you would never need and written by people that needed to ask others about what works and doesn’t. Mr. Smith has done a great job of pruning away the useless information that can confuse you and tells you what works. His book looks small at first glance but it has every bit of the information you need to be a first class field shot on doves. If you can hit the gray feathered rocket you will be good to go on anything that flies.
Bottom line is you don’t have to know everything that can go wrong. Just take the advice of a solid hunter and shooter. If you have one for a friend you are blessed. If you don’t this book will tell you the same exact thing!

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Rimfires

Working on Rimfires

 

If your business is to survive you can never forget that you have to do more than fix guns, you have to make a profit. Working on rimfires can make this hard or impossible. Built from the cheapest of materials and many times poorly designed they can be a real time consumer for the gunsmith.

The average rimfire that is brought in for service has been shot thousands of times without cleaning and when it finally jammed the stuck round was pried free with pliers and screwdriver. The delicate feed mechanism that was formed from soft steel sheet metal or plastic now looks like it was hit by a drunk driver. All the other working parts are worn badly as well and the whole thing is a mess. Of course it didn’t cost much so don’t let the bill go over $40 without calling. Try to turn away these jobs as much as possible but some will be unavoidable. I’m not talking about Old Winchesters, Marlin 39s and Rugers here but you will quickly know which ones you need to avoid.

Make sure your customer understands you have to charge for your time and how extensive the work will be before proceeding. You will have customers that will not understand why it cost more to fix that it cost to purchase new and it is best to resolve this before investing your time and money. Yes there will be customers that have a special gun that was in the family and they want to fix it up for the grandkids or just memories but sometimes it just makes more sense to turn it into a wall hanger.

Also understand that if you do a repair on one of these worn out oldies it will be your baby from then on. The story that will be told was “ I carried to the local gunsmith and it hasn’t worked right since”. It won’t matter that you replaced the extractor last month and now the trigger is slipping, it will just be your fault you couldn’t even keep a 22 working. Remember a happy customer tells 1 and an unhappy customer tells 10!

OK you couldn’t avoid it and you have to work on it what do you look for?

Chamber damage– Make sure a firing pin that is too long or unrestrained and has not peened the edge of the chamber when the gun was dry fired. If the chamber is peened from the pin striking it has pushed up a burr into the chamber and will not be able to extract when it fires. If you cut this burr away the recess it leaves will be behind the case rim where the firing pin hits and the rim will not crush the priming compound. Better to iron out the burr with a chamber iron or a smooth tapered pin which will push the metal back into the recess formed from the strike of the firing pin on the chamber edge. Look at the chamber itself and a fired case to determine if the chamber has enlarged or swelled. Make sure the barrel has not slipped forward in the receiver and increased headspace .

Extractor– Check for wear or breakage. Maybe reshaping will improve functioning. Make sure it doesn’t catch on the chamber recess and its movement over the cartridge rim is without problems.

Feed mechanism or throat–See that it releases the cartridge at the correct time in the cycle and has not been deformed. Make sure that the cartridges are moved out of the throat and into the chamber without undue pressure or deforming the bullet. Remember it is a rimfire and can fire when the bolt strikes the rim to feed it into the chamber so proceed with caution!

Firing pin– Make sure the tip is correct shape and protrusion within normal limits. The best design will strike just inside the rim and not on the edge. This probably won’t matter unless it is a target rifle as long as it has sufficient force to crush the rim. If the rim is not supported by the chamber the pin strike will not be able to get good ignition. Dirt and powder residue accumulate in the firing pin recesses and cause light hits and misfires.

Trigger– Dirt and wear are the problems here. Trigger and sear notches wear down and need to be recut. If the original part was case hardened then your repair will not last unless you restore the surface hardness by carburizing and heat treating. Always check safety function when doing any work and make sure the gun will withstand several taps with the plastic hammer without firing. This can simulate the gun being dropped.

Magazines– Always a problem. Removable clips are easily lost and replacements are hard to find. Tube magazines are harder to lose but the internal springs break and rust and small dent will impinge on the follower and prevent it from working. Replacements are best but rebuild kits are available from Brownells.

Ammo– Lots of variation in ammo. Make sure the customer understands how to let the gun tell him which one it likes. This is easier than the other way around. Standard velocity, high velocity and hyper velocity all perform differently.

Remember all guns have the same basic cycles. Loading, feeding, firing, extraction and ejection are all required to be flawless. A good understanding of the cycle of operation and a thorough examination of the action will usually show what needs to be done. Work through each process and test fire thoroughly. Regular church attendance will also help ( at least with the cussing)

 

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accurcy testing

Accuracy Testing

 

The gunsmith needs a working knowledge of accuracy testing to be competent in rifle work. After all it doesn’t matter whether it is a target, tactical, hunting or plinking model, if it is a rifle or pistol it has to be accurate to be interesting. While the intrinsic accuracy of the firearm is usually the focus, this is always intertwined with ballistics to achieve the end result of a hit on target. The standard definition of a rifle is a firearm that fires a single projectile through a rifled bore to the place the sights are aligned. Sounds easy enough, unless something goes wrong. Chances are if you are interested enough to read this you already know that a lot of things go wrong every shot. Your job is to find a way to eliminate these errors or at least mitigate their effects to get a grouping of shots close enough together to satisfy the shooter.
Ever wonder exactly what you learned when you shot that group of three with all holes touching? Did you learn just as much on the next group with two in one hole and the third a sickening two inches away. Maybe you did without realizing it. A lot of shooters fire thousands of rounds without stopping to think about what the groups display. The rifle is telling you a story and you need to know how to listen.
The rifle is telling you what size the cone of fire is for the ammunition. It is a term you are probably not familiar with but every rifle has a cone of fire or area where the bullets will impact. This undetermined area is defined by firing several shots with as little deviation as possible. Now you don’t have to be a math whiz to know that if you have an unknown area and select three random points inside that area it will never be an accurate representation of that area but this is the norm when it comes to rifle testing. Does this mean you need to fire 100 round groups? No, don’t go off the deep end. First lets look at what we are trying to do.
With any range testing scenario we want to duplicate what the rifle will be doing when it is working or doing the job it was built to do. A deer rifle for a still hunter lives around the concept of one shot fired from a cold ( sometimes very cold!) barrel. The data you get from three shots might not be an accurate picture of what this gun will do the next three times this gun is fired in a hunting scenario. For the average weight barrel in a highpower rifle the temperature change is probably 40-50 degrees between shots. Combine this with the understanding that three random points are no better than a 36% representation of the group. For this rifle we need to define the group with more shots but all fired from a cold barrel. Preferably fired in the same ambient temperature as the hunt. While this might not be possible just be aware of what is best. Rifles and ammo can behave differently with a big temperature change.
So you go to the range and take a long time between shots, fire several rounds, and have good data, but what if the rifle will be used with a hot barrel? My match rifle has to shoot ten shot rapid fire strings. So doesn’t matter about cold barrel zero. Wrong! To get the most out of the rifle you need to know where that first shot is going. Careful testing and record keeping will tell you if your rifle will need adjustment after the first few shots. My best 600 yard rifle required me to come down a full minute after firing the second sighter. This is a big move to make when the first 2 are in the x ring but keeping a data book proved it. Careful record keeping and tracking will pay off.
For most of us accuracy testing will be shooting off the bench. If you think this doesn’t require skill you are misinformed. If you have never had any instructions in bench technique you need to understand you are shooting a tuning fork.