Saturday's match, the good and bad

I shot in the Charlotte 2700 this past Saturday.  Probably the worst performance I delivered in years.  I thought I would muse online about the good and bad.
 
As usual, I enjoy the Charlotte facility, the staff running the match and the company of my fellow shooters.
 
During the .22 match, I put five rounds into someone else's target.  At Charlotte, the lanes are not numbered, they are color coded.  While I did put those five rounds in the correct color stand, it was just not my stand.  So, I picked out a unique aspect of the berm behind my target and used that, as well as the color, to stay in my lane for the rest of the tournament.  I figure I lost at least 45 points.
 
This season I have 'retired' my Pardini's and I shoot my .45 for center fire.  I use an Aimpoint H1 on my .45.  A few days before the match I swapped out the Aimpoint standard base with a Kodiak base.  In getting ready for the match, I made sure the Kodiak screw was nice and tight.  But in the CF Rapid Fire match and in the SF .45 match, my shots were not even close to where I was calling them.  If you are a machinist, you probably have already figured out the issue by now.  Since the base was newly installed, as it started being used, things started to work themselves loose.  I figure I lost at least 25 points before I discovered I had a loose scope mount.  I have put an Allen hex wrench on the magnetic bar in my gun box for easy access.
 
When I got home, I did remove the scope from the gun and checked to see if the four small screws that hold the mount to the scope were loose.  They were all tight.
 
I also tried swagged lead bullets in this tournament for the short line instead of my usual hard cast.  My thinking was swagged would be more consistent in weight.  But near the end of the match, my shots were off a little more than what I called them but I blamed it on the heat (93) and the buildup of frustration.  But when I got home and checked the guns over, there was significantly more leading in the barrel of my .45 than I have seen in the past.  I am not going to say I lost points due to leading, but I am going to go back to hard cast until I have time to figure out the leading issue.....which will probably be something this winter.
 
To end on good news, I checked my 10 shot string scores after I fixed whatever issue I had, and they were within normal parameters.  So even though I was pissed and frustrated, I was able to minimize the impact to the shot process ... at least, that is what I am telling myself.

it seems like this rule is being ignored. 

6.6 Target Numbers - Target frames will be numbered on alternating background of contrasting color. The numbers will be large enough to be identified under ordinary light conditions. Numbers must correspond with the firing point numbers. Target numbers will be fixed in position so as to remain visible when the targets are exposed and when concealed. 

You need to keep swagged bullets under 800fps or you will get leading.

On your swaged bullets simply coat them with 45-45-10.. problem solved.

I’m either too lazy to coat the swaged  bullets or don’t have enough time. But in my experience most swaged bullets lead the bore slightly just in front of the chamber on the bottom of the barrel. I have seen no loss of accuracy from it. Bothers the hell out of me though .
Jon

Jon Eulette wrote:I’m either too lazy to coat the swaged  bullets or don’t have enough time. But in my experience most swaged bullets lead the bore slightly just in front of the chamber on the bottom of the barrel. I have seen no loss of accuracy from it. Bothers the hell out of me though .
Jon

maybe your barrels have the correct throat?

Could be Chris

And I won't comment on the lazy or busy...

joy2shoot wrote:I....... I use an Aimpoint H1 on my .45.  A few days before the match I swapped out the Aimpoint standard base with a Kodiak base.  In getting ready for the match, I made sure the Kodiak screw was nice and tight.  But in the CF Rapid Fire match and in the SF .45 match, my shots were not even close to where I was calling them.  If you are a machinist, you probably have already figured out the issue by now.  Since the base was newly installed, as it started being used, things started to work themselves loose...........

When my Aimpoint H1 arrived, with standard mount, after not that many rounds while trying to center it, I noticed I things getting terribly worse, and sure enough, the sight was wobbling all over.  Tighten, shoot, tighten, shoot, tighten, shoot.....   Every time I got to the range I had to tighten the screw some more.  Then I read Jon's comments on the Aimpoint base and ordered the Kodiak.

Kodiak did sort of the same thing, but after a while it "locked in" and no longer loosened up.  It has stayed tight ever since.  

I understand why all this happened, but Aimpoint really should put something about this in their instructions.  As to Kodiak, seems perfectly normal, and it quickly got set where it needed to be, and stayed there.

I had problems with swaged lead too.  Pull a bullet from a loaded round.  My guess is that it would measure about .449".  The expander plug needs to be bigger to not squeeze the soft lead down.  I too had leading but I think it's due to undersized bullets and not the bullet material.  Also, the way I discovered the problem was testing at 25 yards and seeing a 3-4" group!  So you may have lost more than you think due to the problem.

How did you test at 25 yards?  Sandbag?  Ransom Rest?

mikemyers wrote:How did you test at 25 yards?  Sandbag?  Ransom Rest?

It's only 25 yards, so it won't make much difference, but I used a sandbag.