Grandson's Rifle Shoots Well Enough To Keep Original Barrel

[CurtInAtl]

Took my little project rifle and a box of Venezuelan surplus to our shooting camp yesterday. It made nice clean holes in the paper with no sign of the bullets being unstable so it would appear that the barrel is OK.

 

I had the smallest boys out there try it out and it seems to be just the right proportions for a 10 or 11 year old. Most of the adults just asked when it was going to grow up.

 

I was surprised that even with full power military ammo and a 16" barrel it was not uncomfortable to shoot. The Pachmmayr recoil pad worked great.

 

Next I am going to pull the barrel back off and drill the receiver for the scope base and get it ready for the Duracoat. Any thoughts on whether I should shoot the iron sights separately or go ahead and loctite the screws and shoot them along with the barrel and receiver? I have to wait for the bolt to come back since I am going to have to mill out the receiver tang a bit for clearance.

 

I am about to go flush it out with hot water since I am not entirely sure if that Cavim ammo is corrosive or not. It is boxer primed but I am going to have to swage the primer pockets since they are heavily crimped.

[donmarkey]

I don't think you could reinstall the sight without scratching up the duracoat. It is just a surface coating anyway so no need to not do it as an asembly. It's nice to find out an old barrel still shoots good.

Don