I got to give my rebored Browning Lo-Wall a real workout this weekend. It was a beautiful, completely calm afternoon and the targets and benches were both in the shade, so there was very little problem with mirage, allowing me to shoot about as well as I can.

At 100 yards, 8.2 grains of 2400 behind a 120 grain RNFP was shooting into under 1-1/2 inches. Since the current scope on the rifle is a 4x, I suspect a little more power might help shrink those groups a bit.

Since I had the range to myself, I finished the day shooting at the 200 yard targets. Group size was very good - 3-7/8 inches for 15 shots. Group size was about 1 inch greater vertically than horizontally, which I again attribute to the 4x scope. I was shooting at a leftover target which consisted of a sheet of butcher paper with a blaze orange 2x4 inch rectangle in the upper righthand corner. I was trying to hold at a corner of the rectangle, but am pretty sure that the crosshair was heavy enough that I wasn't getting consistent vertical hold. The amazing thing is the drop. With the rifle zeroed 1 inch low at 100, the center of the 200 yard group was almost 20 inches below the point of aim. Talk about lobbing them in.

Nevertheless, I'd be comfortable trying to take a standing woodchuck out to about 150 yards or a turkey out to 100. I'd intended this rifle to be a squirrel and bunny gun, but Pennsylvania changed the rules while I wasn't looking, so that's out.

I've got a 6x Weaver on the way to replace the 4x Daly currently on the rifle. Once I wring it out some more, I'm probably going to go with a set of iron sights - tang mounted rear, such as a Marbles, and some sort of globe front, possible with a spirit level. Any suggestions for the front sight?

This really is a fun gun and, although it wasn't cheap, it really didn't end up costing a whole lot more than what the new Marlins are going for. If you want one, a .22 Hornet is the place to start. The Browning, or a Ruger No. 1 or No. 3 will all work, as would a small frame Martini, if you can find one in the Hornet or are willing to convert from rimfire to centerfire.

One other neat thing. The bullet is slow enough that there is a distinct period of time between the bang and the thunk on impact. The recoil is little enough that with a better scope than the one I have, you should be able to actually see the bullet strike the target. And the gun is pretty quiet, too. Not a bad combination, particularly if you are shooting in more settled areas.

Learned something this weekend about my Lo-Wall. I had asked for a SAAMI minimum chamber when I had the barrel rebored. What I didn't realize is that the minimum chamber, along with the normal throat, would preclude the use of SWC bullets unless they are seated very deeply into the case. RNFPs are fine, seated out to a cartridge OAL of 1.390", but the SWC (sized to .312) wouldn't chamber with a cartridge OAL as short as 1.360", which was as short as I could make them without crimping on the front driving band instead of the crimp groove. Fortunately, the SWC loads fit my Ruger Bisley small frame just fine and I had plenty of RNFP cast bullets (sized .313) to load for the rifle.

So, if you are thinking of having a rifle chambered for the .32 H&R, you may want to go with a longer chamber or a longer throat if you intend to use SWC bullets.

More as I learn from my experiences.

Interesting - keep posting you progress.
Ed