Range Report Contender, Sauer, 8mm SLT 9-2-16

Started by gitano, September 02, 2016, 05:03:13 PM

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gitano

Overall, an OK day at the range, but lots of frustrating elements. In the end, the most important things were taken care of. Shot the new Contender chambered in .22 Hornet, the 8mm SLT, and the Model 90 Sauer chambered in .338 Win Mag. The SLT and the .338 WM were being 'tested' to see which one I will be taking caribou hunting sometime between Monday and the 20th of Sept.

Pictures of the rifles:
Sauer Model 90


8mm Steyr Long Throat (SLT)


Contender, without scope mounted.


Started off bad because I had to go through State Fair traffic to get to the range. A drive that normally takes a long half hour took an hour. When I got to the range almost all of the benches were taken. I think there were two or three unoccupied. I got set up and started with the Contender.

A MAJOR problem with breech-break rifles is that it is difficult to bore sight them. I figured I'd just dispense with the bore sighting and sling a round at the target and adjust as necessary. I put the target at 40 paces out and let fly. The target stand is 24" wide and 36" high. I missed. The whole friggin' thing. Kind of sigting through the scope and down the side of the barrel, I could see that the barrel was pointing about 2 FEET to the left of where the scope was looking. Fudge.

These are the rings I'm using on this rifle:
As you can see, they're a bit more complicated than most. They allow some significant windage adjustment without having to use the windage adjustment on the scope. You note the little hex wrench on the lower part of the picture. :( I didn't have that with me. I did have a fold-open hex wrench set, but in order to use the one I needed on this set of rings, I had to disassemble the set. :frown Took the better part of 20 minutes to get the rings moved as far as I could to account for the wacko windage. Still wasn't enough. The rifle still shot at least a foot left. However, I thought I'd just do like the Soviets did and brute force it by using all the windage on the scope I could get.

Then the next problem arose. The blasted thing was mis-firing about every other trigger pull. It wasn't the ammo, because the round would eventually fire. And it wasn't "handload" because I was using factory ammo. It's the effing receiver. :frown:frown:frown By this point I was "done" with the Contender. Took a while to get everything put back together and put the Contender away. Another busted range session with that rifle. I didn't like Thompson firearms much before the experiences with this rifle. I'm liking them less every day.

There was also a @#$%^&*ing ex-marine gunnery sgt that had decided that he was going to "run" the range. I told him a few things, included among them was the fact that I REALLY don't like marines. He had a few things to say too. The net result was that he stayed away from my end of the range, but the damage was done. Just another rock on the pile.

I decided to check the aim on the SLT and the Sauer and get the hell away from there. So I ran the target out to 100 yd. I started with the 8mm SLT shooting Hornady 195s. Here's the target.

Not much need to shoot more, especially considering the 'conditions' at the range.

I put the SLT away and got out the Sauer. Here's it's target.

Again, why shoot more? I packed up my stuff and headed home.

I'm still left with the dilemma of which rifle to take caribou hunting. I'd like to take the SLT to vindicate or off-set the 'shot in the foot' event of a couple of years ago. Especially since that was with Grant, and I'll be hunting with Grant again. But I'd also like to use the Sauer, and it did shoot 'better'. (However, that level of 'better' is insignificant for hunting.) I probably won't make up my mind until the last minute.

So the day at the range turned out "OK" because the SLT was right on, and so was the Sauer. That kind of 'good' news covers a lot of the bad experience. Now I have to figure out what the hell is wrong with that blasted Contender AND the scope mount. Either the mount holes were drilled off-line, or the picatinny rail holes are out of alignment, or the rings are 'bad'. PLUS figuring out the every-other-shot mis-fire.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

branxhunter

The two big bangers are shoot g very nicely.

I doubt the rings on the Contender are 'bad'. That ring design is my favorite type - very strong, lots of windage adjustment which is great if you are using the older reticle moving scopes, but can be a bit fiddly to set up correctly initially. I have that type of rings on my Rem .22-250, and have a bridge mount and rings in that style for my Sako .20-222 that is being built.

Marcus

j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)

Have to say that I did not think that bore sighting the contender was particularly difficult.
Those rings look like a pain as they have adjustment fore and aft, great if bases have been fitted misaligned, personally prefer adjustment on one ring only.

Man, I don't know anyone as jinxed as you, you musta been one evil m.... in a past life!!!!:D
I guess a trigger spring replacement is in order, quite possible that it is a little saggy or even broken - they did have rep for this.

Good to see both big guns shot well, I guess we have to hope that you take correct ammo with you for the 'bou.:jumpingsmiley:
Turvey Stalking
Learn from the Limeys or the Canucks, or the Aussies, or the Kiwis, or the...
                   "The ONLY reason to register a firearm is for future confiscation - How can it serve ANY other purpose?"

davidlt89

Dont know about the scope but I have owned four thompsons centers, I had to replace the spring Joe is talking about in two of them. Ammo was only going off on the second and third try! Very easy and inexpensive to do, should solve that problem. God bless.
Romans 12:2
     
2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

gitano

Sounds like the spring is the problem with respect to the mis-firing.

As for bore-sighting, essentially have to take the barrel off of the receiver to do it. That is the definition of "major" in my book. And please don't insult me by telling me you don't have to do that. I know you don't technically HAVE to do it. However, getting the dog-legged rifle in some stable platform is just as "major" as taking the barrel off of the receiver. If you don't think that's more of an issue that looking down the barrel of a bolt gun, then we just disagree.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)

Did not have to take barrel off of mine to boresight, just broke action and got on with it.
Holding the 'broke' rifle was not much of a problem, if I can do it...no insults implied.
Turvey Stalking
Learn from the Limeys or the Canucks, or the Aussies, or the Kiwis, or the...
                   "The ONLY reason to register a firearm is for future confiscation - How can it serve ANY other purpose?"

gitano

Do you think I didn't try that? Do you wear glasses?

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

gitano

So I finished bore sighting. There are 5.5 turns on the windage knob from stop to stop. Starting in the center, (2.75 turns from one stop), and with the rings as far right in the rear and left in the front as they go, (in other words, "pegged" left and right ), I still had to use 2 full turns of windage to get the scope aligned with the bore. I set the target stand up in my yard at 25 yd and just set two staples in an "x" to shoot at. Without further adjustment, I made these five holes with PPU ammo:


There were no misfires.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

sakorick

I sure hope my 8x63 shoots that good! Great groups!!
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

gitano

#9
Having nothing more important to do, I replaced the hammer spring in the Contender. It was straightforward, but non-trivial. I had to turn a 'dummy' pin on the lathe to hold the spring in place while I pushed home the real pin. I spent about an hour trying to install the new spring without having to make the dummy pin. I should have started out making the pin. :frown

I measured the ID of the holes in the frame and the OD of the factory pin - 0.187". Assuming, (reasonably, I would argue), that the hammer holes and the frame holes were the same dimensions, I took only the hammer out to the shop. (I think that is a reasonable assumption since the pin has to first go through the frame, then through the hammer.)

Once I had the pin turned close to the final diameter, (the hole diameter in the frame), I test-fit, then cut, then test-fit, then cut, and so on, until the hammer fit nicely on the pin. As soon as the hammer fit nice and snugly on the pin, I cut the pin's length to be flush with the outside width of the hammer - 0.370". However, when I tried to get the pin through the frame, no go.:frown While a 0.189" diameter pin did fit through the holes in the hammer, it did not fit through the 0.187" holes in the frame.

Imagine that. :frown

I made another one. :frown

So I spent two hours on a task that should have taken half an hour. That folks, is the cost of the education of "learning by doing".

As best I can tell, the original spring was a bit sprung, but it's difficult to say for sure. Nevertheless, the rifle now has a new hammer spring. I expect all of the mis-fire issues to be gone. I am going to try to get to the range tomorrow.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

farmboy

If I remember correctly it was a contender that I came close to taking to a gunsmith to reassemble years ago. A real pia.

gitano

I probably would have scratched something I didn't want to scratch if I hadn't given up and just made the necessary pin.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

Hunterbug

That's some good shooting. When I got my Contender I had to break it down and clean the heck out of it and get some CLP on the hammer spring. It would fall but not hard enough to fire. BTW, all 3 of those guns look great.
Ask not what your government can do for you. Ask how your government can go away and get out of your life.
 
 
The unarmed man is is not only defenseless, he is also contemptible.
Niccolo Machiavelli

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