Today I was able to go out on the Hilltop Range and shoot the 40/65 over the enrire course: It was a good day.

I've been thinking about taking this rifle to shoot in the Quigley Match this year, "Lever Rifle Class". I've thought about it, I cast the bullets for it last winter and now it is time for the final preparations and checks: Quigley is only six weeks from this weekend!

My technique for practice is to shoot at least 30 rounds offhand at the 440 yard Bear. At 1/4 mile he is always a challenging target, not to add the
distance. As usual, offhand was tough.

When came the time to shoot off the sticks I ran the rifle through all the distances we have available here. The reason I do this is that I need the practice of running the rifle through various sight settings on the staff since these graduations are a bit wide, there is no vernier and I NEED to get better at it!

The course of fire is like this:

Small Diamond; 395
Bear; 440
Tiny Square; 470
Small Square; 503
Buffalo; 552 (500 meters)
Big Diamond; 587
Bull; 606
Big Chicken; 648
Big Round; 670
Big Square: 834

Three straight hits required before moving to the next distance.

This Marlin is basicaly a hunting outfit with long range sights. At 9 pounds is not very stable. With the short sight radius it gives up quite a bit compared to the high-class single shots. The lever rifle itself is a bit less reliable than some because of all the machinery it has under the barrel.

On the other hand the rifle is a pretty good item. It'll keep everything inside about 2 MOA reliably provided I ALWAYS remember to check for binding or stickiness at the magazine hanger..

I ran through the targets in good shape and it was my good fortune that a fellow shooter came along to spot for me about half-way through. Together we moved through the Big Chicken, Big Round and the Big Square; him calling shots, me fiddling with the sight staff.

The "final exam" is always the 834 yard distance. At this range we have the big 4 X 4 steel set up for normal shooting but for those days when conditions are good and a fellow wants to really test his load and his shooting we have the 24 X 24 diamond set at the same distance.

I got on the 4 X 4 easily: the first shot was a hit. Then after hitting it my required three times in a row I moved over to the small diamond.

In practice a fellow can hardly see this target through iron sights; It appears as a little tiny white spec balanced on the top of the sight blade. There is normally room for about five or six targets to fit on top of my wide blade so you may see that it is an interesting target.

This target received my last 12 rounds and it was interesting work. I got a hit with the first shot, then moved around a bit, missing just a little high, then just a little right (playing in the wind), hitting a few times (never three in a row) and winding up with a hit for the last round which took courage since (as we all know) a hit with the last round in the box is always MUCH better than a miss.

The rifle performed very well. Any miss made during the course of the session was either my error or "Condition" sneeking up on me. At the critical distance on the samll target I was especially happy to be able to see the effect of sight changes or holding appear down-range exactly as I made them: No hunting around for zero as happens when group size is the real problem for misses.

Take it all-around I think I'll take this simple rifle off to the big match, just for fun.

Good afternoon,
Forrest

Forrest methinks that trigger got substancial work??

Interastin' post-- keep up the good work.

Aladin,

A: Forrest methinks that trigger got substancial work??

F: Well, some time ago I did soft-solder a shim to the hammer in such a place to reduce the sear engagement to near-nothing. Then I carefully filed the soft steel shim until the sear engagement increased enough to provide a reasonably reasonable trigger.

Understand, I'm no trigger smith but so far so good.

Good evening,
Forrest

HI FORREST ALL THINGS CONSIDERED YOU DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB UP ON THE HILL WITH THAT LEVER GUN, I HAVE TROUBLE HITTING ANYTHING WITH MY SHARPS! SEEMS AS THOUGH THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS SEEING THE TARGETS. BELEIVE A BETTER REAR SIGHT WOULD DO ME AND YOU A LOT OF GOOD. ALSO I WILL MAKE IT UP THERE MORE OFTEN NOW THAT I WILL BE OFF WEEKENDS. BASIC PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND MORE PRACTICE. GARY

F: Well, some time ago I did soft-solder a shim to the hammer in such a place to reduce the sear engagement to near-nothing. Then I carefully filed the soft steel shim until the sear engagement increased enough to provide a reasonably reasonable trigger.

A: Forrest that sounds similar to the job I did on the 'pipe'. I musta had that sear and trigger out 15 times or more before I accidentally arrived at an almost perfect trigger. Somewhat too lite mind you-- but reliable, repeatable and cracking like an ice-cycle, albeit well under #2. I finally have got used to it. A shooten friend has fired a few groups and just smiles and shakes his head at it. But he has hinted at a 'job' on his A-bolt....but there's NO way.

BTW-- Welcome to the group BIGDINGER.

[ 05-09-2003, 22:16: Message edited by: aladin ]

Gary,

F: There you are!

G: ALL THINGS CONSIDERED YOU DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB UP ON THE HILL WITH THAT LEVER GUN, I HAVE TROUBLE HITTING ANYTHING WITH MY SHARPS!

F: I have seen you shoot very well once you've gotten the target in sight and the sights set OK.
Never give up! I've seen enough to know that you're a good shot. The finer things in a shooter's life, being familier with the range and the targets placed there are all part of the game. Keep it up and soon you'll be right there!

I look forward to seeing you there soon, like this coming Sunday!

Good evening,
Forrest

Aladin,

A: That sounds similar to the job I did on the 'pipe'..

F: The trigger on the M1895 is far from perfect! I sometimes have to stop, recock the hammer and take a new squeeze as the sear sometimes will not release as planned. I lose patience with the whole program of reworking the trigger after a certain number of times taking it appart. Now, it shoots well, I can deal with the inconsistent release and it'll work well enough for the season to come.

A: Welcome to the group BIGDINGER.

F: Gary is a fellow shooter here in Sheridan: We know one another.

I agree: Welcome to the site!

Good evening,
Forrest