I managed to get off to the range this morning to sight in the new (to me) Dumoulin in 338 Win Mag. I was shooting the cheap Remington 225 gr. core lokts, 50 and 100 yards off a sandbag. It's a short barrel (20.5") Mannlicher stocked rifle with a commercial Mauser action by Henri Dumoulin. With the short barrel I didn't notice too much muzzle blast but it does recoil a bit. I wore my sissy pad so it didn't bother me at all although I think after hunting season I'll put a new pad on it, either a decellerator or the XXX Magnum pad. I haven't bought a new scope for it yet so mounted a spare Nikon 3-9 that I had lying around.

I bore sighted it at home then started on the 50 yd. range to get it centered. At 50 yards three shots printed one ragged hole in the bull so I moved over to the 100 yd. range. After a couple of shots to get the elevation I fired three shots, letting the barrel cool between each shot for about 10 minutes. Results were outstanding, two touching and the third about .5" away, I'm guessing .7" center to center.

The only bad news is firing rapidly it walks the 2nd and 3rd shots quite badly. The second wasn't terrible being about 1" off but the third was about 2"-2.5" off, I guess I won't try to get into a shootout with the deer when carrying this rifle. I couldn't retrieve the target since I had to leave pretty quickly so no scans today.

Yeeeaahh...that's pretty lousy, alright. I'd get rid of it, fast.

Do you take Visa?...

That walking poa issue...just peek inside the stock and look for the shiny spot. Had the same problem with a Husqvarna, and a little light sanding did the trick. BTW, if you ever want to trade it, I want to be on record as having dibs!

Thanks for the note tumbleweed, I was surprised at the groups from a cool barrel as they are even better than my Ruger 77RSI in 308. This particular rifle has a bolt that runs through the stock near the fore-end to attach the sling swivel, on the bottom of the barrel is a small soldered on piece that the bolt also runs through. That surely makes it a pain to try to get the barrel clear of the wood. I think I can live with the first two shots as they are, the third I'll try not to have to use.

Yeah Browninggu, I wouldn't stand for that. You best ship that thing across the Sabine & i'll take good care of it for you over here in Louisiana.

P.S. I'll pay the shipping

[ 12-02-2002, 01:10: Message edited by: Bear Claw ]

Hi Bearclaw, it ought to be a pretty good rifle for nutria if I ever get over to Louisiana to hunt. I guess I'll keep this one and just shoot doubles. I'm going on an Axis hunt next weekend out in West Texas so I'll give it a workout there. The guy has a bunch or Blackbuck Antelope also so I think I'll try the BLR in 300 WinMag on those.

Browningguy,
Have you shot your 458 yet?

Brian.

No, I'm afraid I've decided to keep it unfired. As you may remember I thought the gun had been hunted with when I bought it, after it arrived the scope was used but I don't believe the gun was ever fired. Absolutely no marks on the bolt face or in the barrel to sow any use. I oiled it up, went down and put it in the vault, can't even get it out to play with.

I know it's a waste of a perfectly good gun, and I do hunt with my gr. 3 and 4 BAR's, but sometimes we just make bad decisions and have to stick with them. My wife didn't even bat an eye at this one since she saw what I paid and what the book value is, she considers it a long term investment as long as it's at the vault.