Some more work with the 32-20

[martinibelgian]

The target from my last outing with the little 32-20 below - shot last sunday at 100m prone, with sling. Getting - and maintaining - good accuracy in a small calibre with BP requires good fouling management, and it took me a while to learn how to handle the issue best in order to keep the rifle shooting optimally.

The little BSA 12/15 performed admirably - admittedly, it does have a very nice trigger. It did receive a new tang sight ladder in order to be able to reach out a bit further, and I think the rifle and load are ready for more testing at 200 and 300m... I'm pretty confident that 200 won't be a problem, and the major issue at 300 will be spotting the shots.

The 9 at 2 o'clock was the 1st shot from a cold & clean barrel, followed by the 9 at 12. A slight adjustment of elevation, and the other shots just followed. The 10-ring is just a bit less than 2 MOA at 100m, all shooting with aperture sights and 2-point sling.

Yes, I did leave the range happy Happy with rifle, load and shooter.

[GrumpyBear]

Nice shooting, looks like you have the fouling control figured out.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Dang good shooting with that lil pop gun. 300 I am guessing is going to be a stretch.

Kenny Wasserburger

[martinibelgian]

Well, it's not the typical 32-20 bullet, more of a .30-20 actually - .308 barrel with a 1:12 twist, shooting a 152 gr bullet. And a 172 gr bullet to try too with the same fouling management regime...
Still, the main purpose is to have a short-range BPTR, anything over 200 is an added bonus.

[riflecountry]

Could you share your findings on fouling control?

[martinibelgian]

Well, better start out with what didn't work: Just humid patches won't, the rifle either doesn't like moisture in the bore, or the patches don't have enough moisture to retain accuracy.
What works for me is 2 really wet patches, soaked and squeezed just a bit by hand, followed by 2 dry ones. The wet patches produce drops at the muzzle, that's how wet they have to be.
All patches are not really a tight fit in the bore, if you really have to push to get the rod through, it won't work.
Add to that the right patch material and a jag of the right size, and things start to come together.

[martinibelgian]

I'll be trying to simplify the procedure some, see if 1 wet patch will be enough, or a single dry one. But for me the really wet patches are key . I'm using a cleaning cloth made of viscose and polypropopylene sourced in a local supermarket that I cut myself to size. The stuff really soaks up water, so will hold quite a bit of moisture when wet, and absorbs water quite well when used dry.
And yes, I use plain water.

[martinibelgian]

Update - today some shots at 200m, and I can confirm the jbm calculator is pretty accurate. 13.5 mins over the 100m setting put the 1st shot in the 9 ring, only the shot I pulled was in the 8. Yes, she'll perform at 200.

[omgb]

I have found that I can get by with less moisture if I use a solution of 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water. The antifreeze enhances the solvent action of the water and at the same time, imparts a thin antirust film in the bore. This film, even though very thin, seems to retard fouling build up.

[martinibelgian]

I have found that I can get by with less moisture if I use a solution of 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water. The antifreeze enhances the solvent action of the water and at the same time, imparts a thin antirust film in the bore. This film, even though very thin, seems to retard fouling build up.

I do have the intention to see if I can get by with a ssimpler routine - water soluble oil being on the list to try. Antifreeze, that's a term that covers a diverse variety of products...
Is it for the windshield wipers, of for engine coolant?

[omgb]

I use the generic green stuff. Prestone or its equiv.

[steveu834]

I have tried the orange prestone and had good results. But now I’m using VW G12+ 50/50 with distilled water on the recommendation from my friends in Wyoming. It works better than the orange stuff and I can the it in my Jetta!

[martinibelgian]

Well, it's on the list of things to try! The VW stuff would probably be more readily available than the prestone stuff I presume. From now on, it will be finetuning the cleaning routine and redoing the load testingWith different bullets.
Also thinking of ordering another mould around 175 grs, just need to find a mould supplier that can cut me a RN mould according to my specs. Accurate is top, but unfortunately, no RN moulds from them...