quote:

Originally posted by jorge:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:

Naw Doc. I just have very large ... HANDS!

You CAN'T, you're a fighter pilot with just a BIG watch!

A G-Shock no less!!

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:

Naw Doc. I just have very large ... HANDS!

You CAN'T, you're a fighter pilot with just a BIG watch!

Remind me never to go fishing with either of you two

Back to the range today, tripod and chrony working this time. Still about the same as two days ago on the regulation. Right at 2.5" no matter what load I used. The loads used two days ago were 100grs of IMR 4007 SSC with the CEB #13 570gr solids. No speed info.

Today I shot 102, 103, and 104grs. The elevation came up just a bit but the spread is similar. Over 5 shots each, the right barrel averaged 2,103fps and the left barrel averaged 2,108fps. Very consistent. I have one more grain to go to reach Max but I'm thinking this is good to go, especially with the velocity I'm getting out of those 24" barrels. This is the target from the last 4 shots. It could be that I was getting a bit tired as well as I strung them horizontally just a bit.

I may run a few North Forks through the rifle as well to see how they perform.

You're good to go with that!

That is a fabulous looking rifle. Tasteful, practical, pure quality. A great round to boot.

Todd makes one hell of a pig stopper. Fine looking boomer!

Mike

Very nice, Todd. Are all these targets at 25yds?

I will give the 105 a try, nothing to lose.


Best regards

Malek
Good shooting/hunting and God's best

Yes, Todd and Tendrams, that was what I was getting at. I quite like a heavy action and sometimes think my Heym is a bit too 'elegant' in that area. On the other hand, the bolster (the word I couldn't remember) distinguishes a db rifle from a shotgun whereas more bar and less obvious 'fence' can be redolent of a .410.

Just don't make the same mistake this chap does at about 3 to 8 minutes into the film;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6H0dq7JHUA

Looking good Todd!

Nice clip Adam! Interesting, the gun looks like a shotgun where they show the muzzles just prior to the charge, but he clearly gets two rounds out of an old Kynoch box. Hollywood!!

I notice he employed that African practice of leaving it till tomorrow to skin. Don't they like hair on their trophies?

Definitely a big English double. George Adams used one in 470NE. The opening of that film shows him tracking up and shooting a couple Lion and the second shot was a "full load".

Todd, Splinter pictures!!! I thought you F'd it up your new rifle already!!!@

Nice rifle Todd. Congratulations.

A touch light perhaps at 10 1/4, but respect for choosing that weight.

I get my Royal .500NE in about 6 weeks and I guarantee I'll be just as excited.

Enjoy it

Great shooting Todd!

Maximus,

I think you'd be surprised at the 10.25 weight, as long as it fit you. I would say this gun's perceived recoil is much less than my Merkel, and that one fit well also. However, it had a lot of drop at the heel and would bite the trigger finger at times when firing the rear trigger. Please do post a thread when you receive that Royal 500NE. I'm sure that's going to be a rifle to proud of!!

I've got some North Forks on the way. We'll see if they close the gap any. It's not bad at all but I'd like to halve what I've posted so far.

I do appreciate all the nice comments fellas but really, Jerome of VC is the guy to receive the accolades for building a nice rifle. And of course Ken, again for working with me on making it affordable.

Todd, can you tell me what your stock dimensions are?

Mine are 1 1/2" drop at comb, 2 1/2" drop at heel and 15 3/4" length of pull (centre).

It will have 24" barrels and finished weight will be 11 lbs.

quote:

Originally posted by Maximus Brutus:
Todd, can you tell me what your stock dimensions are?

Mine are 1 1/2" drop at comb, 2 1/2" drop at heel and 15 3/4" length of pull (centre).

It will have 24" barrels and finished weight will be 11 lbs.

I don't know off the top of my head. I suppose I would have to measure it, but I'm away from home right now. I'll do so as soon as I get the chance. LOP is 15.5". That one I do know.

Of course, with a properly fitting stock, the 11 lbs will just make it even nicer to shoot, but you could easily go lighter. When I had the Merkel, which was 10.5lbs, although it never really bothered me at the range, a box of 20 rounds or more would often leave me sore for a few days, making a return trip to the range uncomfortable within the next couple of days. With this new rifle, I didn't notice that. I put 20 rounds through it on Friday, loaded Saturday, then returned on Sunday and shot another 30 rounds. Even then, still no soreness in the shoulder.

I really do want to see pics of your Royal when it arrives. That's a rifle I could only dream about, at least at this point.

Maximus,

I just measured the stock. Very similar to yours. Drop at Comb is 1 & 1/8". Drop at the heel is 2". LOP is 15.5".

Similar indeed. I'm also pleased you have 24" barrels as I have chosen. The proportions don't look wrong at all, which some had suggested to me they would.

Maximus,

The more I read of your posts, the more I find myself in agreement with you. I don't know why, but 26" barrels on a double look strangely "wrong" to me. I know that is going against British Best Gun tradition, but it just does. 24" looks right to me, feels right in terms of handiness, and I can get 2,100fps with todays powders. Why carry the extra 2"?

I do make exception for the 577 and 600 however. Since the barrels on those guns, and the frame, stock, fore-end, really everything but the triggers, are oversized, 26" barrels seem to visually balance better in that case. From a performance standpoint however, I was getting 2,050fps from 24" barrels on my 577NE.

Cheers.

This is the result of today's session with North Fork 570gr solids. Seems my rifle wants to regulate at 2,000 instead of 2,100. That approximates Hornady factory fodder. These are 102grs of IMR 4007 SSC and about 2,060fps. 100grs of 4007 produced 2,025 and regulation of about 1.5". This was my first experience with the North Fork bullets. In this particular rifle, they regulate just a bit better than the CEBs, at least for the traditional 570gr solids. Seems strange to me but increasing velocity actually opens the regulation a bit. That's backwards from my experience to date.

Next up will be the lighter CEB bullets Sam and Michael are working with. Hopefully the rifle will regulate well at the higher velocities they are getting. Last data I saw from Michael was 475gr Non-Cons at 2,450fps and 510gr #13 solids at 2,350. That's a serious improvement in terms of energy for a double rifle.

Left 2 was a bit of a flier. It was pretty windy today and a bit tough to hold on target. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:


Left 2 was a bit of a flier. It was pretty windy today and a bit tough to hold on target. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Keep it up and we'll nickname you shootawayII!

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Brooks:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:


Left 2 was a bit of a flier. It was pretty windy today and a bit tough to hold on target. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Keep it up and we'll nickname you shootawayII!

There was this hurricane ablowing in today. I fired that that left barrel and that rascal bullet got hit with a 1,500 mph gust, did a 360 around my truck before heading down range to the target, realized it bypassed the chrony, backed up, went through the chrony, and just before it struck the target, there was this earthquake that hit, probably a result of all the Oil and Gas fracking goin on round here, and yeah well, you know the rest. Especially because I was standing on uneven ground and my barrel was fouled because I used the same cleaning brush twice which caused the barrel to bend, and since I know so much about shooting with open sights and no one on this forum but me knows how to shoot those open sights, and because my left arm wasn't supported, my bullet started dropping, and it really doesn't matter anyway since I'm shit scared of elephants and those brass bullets sliced off a major section of my rifling and all, yeah, it impacted about 20 inches left which is really good shooting and much better than anyone else could do.

Ya mean like that!!

What did I miss?

Edit: Just to make sure, for those who don't follow shithispants, urr uhm I mean, Shootawayoverthereintheotherdirection, this is an attempt at sarcasm with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Only an idiot ASS CLOWN could really believe all that, which is exactly the point!

You've got all the excuses covered!

Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Brooks:
You've got all the excuses covered!

Congratulations!

Nice shooting Todd, great pick with the target bullets and gun.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:

Left 2 was a bit of a flier. It was pretty windy today and a bit tough to hold on target. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[

What ever the case, the equals one Dead Jumbo..

Nice shooting. I was going to pitch in with some friendly advice and critique, since We Of The North have a nack for these things and have a deeper, almost spiritual connection with large-bore firearms and the mysteries of accuracy, trajectory and iron-sight use...but you seem to have a handle on it.

Not bad for a Texan!

I must now return to my gun cleaning. I have a new gasoline-powered bore scrubber to try out...it should extend bore life up into the triple-digit-range! Let me know if you want to borrow it for your new gun...I have a spare grinder head for it in .500-caliber. Plus, my wife got me a heated shooting helmet for Christmas, so it's gonna be a gooooood day....IMNSHO*!



* - in my not-so-humble opinion

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:
Nice shooting. I was going to pitch in with some friendly advice and critique, since We Of The North have a nack for these things and have a deeper, almost spiritual connection with large-bore firearms and the mysteries of accuracy, trajectory and iron-sight use...but you seem to have a handle on it.

Not bad for a Texan!

I must now return to my gun cleaning. I have a new gasoline-powered bore scrubber to try out...it should extend bore life up into the triple-digit-range! Let me know if you want to borrow it for your new gun...I have a spare grinder head for it in .500-caliber. Plus, my wife got me a heated shooting helmet for Christmas, so it's gonna be a gooooood day....IMNSHO*!



* - in my not-so-humble opinion

Gasoline powered bore scrubber with a .500 caliber grinder bit attached!! Alright now, that should get the copper and brass out!!

But I don't know about the heated shooting helmet. That might work in the Great White North, but down here in Tejas, it would be better if the shooting helmet were air-conditioned!!

AC's for sissys!
Davy Crockett never used it!

quote:

Originally posted by Maximus Brutus:

I get my Royal .500NE in about 6 weeks and I guarantee I'll be just as excited.

Enjoy it

I'm looking forward to a review and pictures! Congrats on the pending arrival!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Brooks:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:


Left 2 was a bit of a flier. It was pretty windy today and a bit tough to hold on target. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Keep it up and we'll nickname you shootawayII!

There was this hurricane ablowing in today. I fired that that left barrel and that rascal bullet got hit with a 1,500 mph gust, did a 360 around my truck before heading down range to the target, realized it bypassed the chrony, backed up, went through the chrony, and just before it struck the target, there was this earthquake that hit, probably a result of all the Oil and Gas fracking goin on round here, and yeah well, you know the rest. Especially because I was standing on uneven ground and my barrel was fouled because I used the same cleaning brush twice which caused the barrel to bend, and since I know so much about shooting with open sights and no one on this forum but me knows how to shoot those open sights, and because my left arm wasn't supported, my bullet started dropping, and it really doesn't matter anyway since I'm shit scared of elephants and those brass bullets sliced off a major section of my rifling and all, yeah, it impacted about 20 inches left which is really good shooting and much better than anyone else could do.

Ya mean like that!!

What did I miss?

Hey Todd; man I didn't know you have such a creative imagination.

Very good shooting indeed. I wonder how would it shoot at 50yds! usually that will be the next thing I will check out. In my case I like to verify the shooting of a load and for that matter the accuracy of any of my big bore rifles at 60m.


Best regards

Malek
Good shooting/hunting and God's best

Hello Malek.

Yeah, 50 yards will be on the menue for sure. I'm still sorting through loads, 6 at a time, 3 per barrel, trying to get down to about 1.5" in spread if possible and still maintain 2,100fps or so. Once I'm satisfied there, I'll move out to 50 yards. So far, I'm not 100% satisfied. 2.5" isn't bad but I really haven't had the chance to sort through many combinations just yet. So far, I've shot IMR 4007 SSC and a very few loads of RL-15 from an older batch of powder. No RL-15 with the North Fork bullets yet, at all. So this is all still very preliminary at this point. It took 14 load combinations on my Chapuis before I was completely satisfied. I'm hoping for a quicker resolution here however but realize I'm being very picky. Still, I believe in wringing out the very best performance possible before setting aside the experimentation and going hunting!!

I may be totally off here, but it would appear to me that if the barrels are spread wider than center of bore to center of bore at 25 yards, the spread would be even wider at 50 yards. I don't see a scenario whereby they move closer at a further distance if they are not already converging at 25 yards. Once I get them converging, or better yet, stabilized at 1.5", then it's time to check 50, 75, and even 100 yards for those situations where shots must be taken at a wounded and fleeing animal.

Cheers my friend.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
This is the result of today's session with North Fork 570gr solids. Seems my rifle wants to regulate at 2,000 instead of 2,100. That approximates Hornady factory fodder. These are 102grs of IMR 4007 SSC and about 2,060fps. 100grs of 4007 produced 2,025 and regulation of about 1.5". This was my first experience with the North Fork bullets. In this particular rifle, they regulate just a bit better than the CEBs, at least for the traditional 570gr solids. Seems strange to me but increasing velocity actually opens the regulation a bit. That's backwards from my experience to date.

Next up will be the lighter CEB bullets Sam and Michael are working with. Hopefully the rifle will regulate well at the higher velocities they are getting. Last data I saw from Michael was 475gr Non-Cons at 2,450fps and 510gr #13 solids at 2,350. That's a serious improvement in terms of energy for a double rifle.

Left 2 was a bit of a flier. It was pretty windy today and a bit tough to hold on target. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Damn good shooter Todd! Watch out for OSR

Yes my friend, you are going at it the right way, and if the bullets are not converging at 25 most likely they will not at 50yd and they might spread out even more. Theoretically it is true and reality will bear that.

I looked at your target again and there is quite a bit of consistency in your shooting. But since you were shooting off hand, I figured there might be a human element in pay here and shooting couple rounds at 50yd might verify that either way and give some more of an indication of what the rifle might want to do, you might be surprised. Again that is me and that how I do go about it.


Best regards

Malek
Good shooting/hunting and God's best

Good point Malek. I would tend to shoot 50yards with a set of sticks, so yes, it's possible that might settle things out a bit. I should probably try the sticks at 25 as well, but I just haven't gotten that far along yet. As stated, I'm only taking 6 rounds of each variation so far. And that simply to give me the opportunity to verify my shooting should I flinch or whatever with one round that causes a flier.

I'll get around to the longer distances eventually. Certainly long before taking the rifle afield for hunting. I really do find doubles to be fascinating to work with. We used to say in the aviation community that putting a second engine on a plane doesn't double the complexity, it quadruples it!! I'm confident the same can be said for numbers of barrels on a rifle!!

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:


For some reason, the way I hold and shoot a double rifle causes my POI to strike to the right. It happened on my Merkel 500NE, the 577NE, and now today with the new VC 500NE. I drifted the rear sight on the Merkel to get it to dead center but when Lionhunter acquired the rifle, it struck to the left for him. So yeah, definitely something about my technique.

As a result, my first 6 shots struck the paper right about 3 inches. I drifted the rear sight to the left ever so slightly and this was the result of the next 4 rounds, offhand, 25 yards.

Likely cause is that you are right handed and you will get some slight muzzle jump thus pulling the shots to the right.(Particularly if using sticks).
Another reason is that the sun could be on your left side highlighting the left side of the bead.