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I just noticed a stolen guns report on the Los Angeles
Silhouette Club web site
(www.lasc.us). Most of the dozen or so firearms
that were taken from a shooter in Tennessee were silhouette guns. To have
your home violated and your property taken is a real tragedy of course, and
as silhouette shooters we should do our best to help the individual recover
that which was taken. Please go to the LASC site (www.lasc.us) for the
details and keep a look out for those guns. These days there’s no telling
where they might turn up. There’s also a phone number for the detective who
is investigating the crime.
Also at the LASC site is what I consider to be one my better
articles from a couple of years ago. It just happens to deal with the
subject of how to choose a gun safe
(Gun Safes 13-3).
A good quality gun safe coupled with an home alarm system can provide a
significant degree of protection, and likely save you the considerable
turmoil the unfortunate victim and his family has gone through.
Meade Corp
As you known from my scribbling in this pages, Meade Corp. which
is a major manufacturer of astronomical telescopes, bought Simmons, Weaver,
and Redfield last year. Well last July I and about six other writers had a
chance to tour the Meade factory and to interview Meade’s corporate
management. The overall message was clear. They are putting a lot of
technology and cold, hard cash into their new acquisitions. The result of
their efforts will be on the dealer shelves this next year and I guarantee
you that it’s going to be very exciting. Watch for my 2005 Shot Show story.
You’re going to like what’s happening.
100 Yard Scoremax
As you might remember, some months ago I did an evaluation of Lapua’s Scoremax ammunition. Scoremax uses a 48 grain bullet as opposed to
the standard 22 Long Rifle’s 42 grain bullet. The advantage of the longer,
heavier bullet is that it’s ballistic coefficient is higher. With a higher
BC, Scoremax loses less velocity over distance and hits the 100 meter rams
faster and with more weight. The end result is enhanced knockdown.
I also found that Scoremax was very accurate. Depending on the
conditions, quarter inch groups at 50 yards was very doable. Shortly after
the article was published, I received some comments expressing doubt about Scoremax’s potential accuracy at 100 yards. A person stated flat out that
Scoremax absolutely could not be accurate at 100 yards and cited a
theoretical reason for the opinion. Well I was in a pickle since I didn’t
have any data to discuss the 100 yard issue one way or another.
As I’ve stated in past columns, I rarely will evaluate 22 ammo
accuracy at 100 yards basically because the winds at my range are always
present and commonly will blow in several different directions at the same
time. The further out you go, the more complex the conditions become. In
fact yesterday I observed a benchrester’s wind flag actually turning a full
360 degrees a couple of times. How do you cope with something like that? If
there’s one thing I’ve learned about shooting 22’s, it’s that the slightest
puff of wind can easily spoil a group.
Additionally, because my range is basically in a desert
environment, summer time mirage is a significant problem as well -
especially at 100 yards. Trying to shoot groups when the image in your scope
is boiling and sliding all over the place is just impossible (for me
anyway). On the other hand, a question had been laid down about Scoremax’s
long range accuracy and I decided to examine the issue further.
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"These 100 yards groups illustrate that Lapua Scoremax is a very
capable long range performer." |
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So it was back to the range with a box of Scoremax and my
Bullberry TC which was topped with Burris’s preeminently capable 8 X 32
airgun scope. I decided to go as early in the morning as possible, hopefully
to avoid the worst of the gusty winds as well as to shortcut the inevitable
heat build up which produces mirage. Shooting was done off of my Uncle Bud’s
Bulls bag which is filled with a combination of sand on the top (for firm
holding power) and walnut tumbling media (to reduce weight) on the bottom.
My 100 yard target was a heavy crosshair inked on the back of a regular
pistol bull target with a magic marker pen. I’ve found that laying the
scope’s crosshair on top of a target crosshair is the most accurate way to
shoot precise groups when evaluating ammunition.
I found that if I took my time and waited (and waited and etc.)
until there was a pause in the wind I could get good results. It also helped
that an adjacent benchrest shooter had his wind flags out. They were
definitely a big help in judging conditions.
As you can see from the photo, Scoremax was definitely capable of
producing very good groups at 100 yards. In fact these groups would be very
acceptable at 50 yards. So I’ll stick with my original conclusion about
Scoremax - that it has first class accuracy and superior down range
performance.
Brownells "Ed’s Red"
Ed, in this case, is C.E. (Ed) Harris the well
known gun writer. Ed’s Red refers to Ed’s updated formula for "Frankford
Arsenal Bore Cleaner No. 18".
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"This bore
cleaner does a 1st class job on hard
carbon build up and black gummy soot." |
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The original Frankford formula has been around since at least
1920, and is very similar to the standard bore cleaner that had been used by
our military services for decades. In spite of the fact that this cleaning
material has been around for at least 84 years, it has a fairly large
underground following that swear by it. If you don’t believe me just go to
any of several shooting related chat rooms and type in "Frankford Arsenal
Bore Cleaner" and stand back. The response will be vigorous to say the
least.
The formula for the Frankford cleaner was first published by Major
General Julian Hatcher in his classic book "Hatcher’s Notebook" in 1947.
General Hatcher ran the Frankford Arsenal for many years and was
considered to be perhaps the top U.S. small arms expert of his time. The
original formula contained interesting ingredients such as sperm whale oil
and something called Pratt’s Astral Oil. Obviously, trying to exactly
replicate this formula is impossible these days and that’s where Ed Harris
enters the picture.
Ed writes that he is a very active high power shooter who uses lots
and lots of bore cleaner and that he just wasn’t happy with either the results
he was getting from the usual commercial cleaning products on the market, or the
fact that they cost and arm and a leg. (I can certainly relate to the cost
part.) Consequently, some where around 1991 he became convinced that the
original Frankford formula could be inexpensively reproduced using modern
materials. By doing a lot of research and enlisting the help of an organic
chemist he did exactly that.
You’re probably wondering about the sperm whale oil part. It turns out
that sperm whale oil is a great lubricant and was once commonly used in
automobile automatic transmissions. In fact, I can remember that as late as the
1970’s, you could still buy a little bottle of sperm whale oil as a transmission
additive at your local automobile dealer’s parts department. Well today, it
turns out that Dexron automatic transmission fluid (which was developed when
sperm whale oil pretty much disappeared off the market) is a perfect substitute.
Seems it’s full of organometallic antioxidants and surfactants. (Just try saying
that three times real fast.) As most of you know, Dexron is red in color and so
that’s what gives "Ed’s Red" it’s signature hue.
As to Pratt’s Astral oil. Harris says it’s just acid free, deodorized
kerosene. Substituting "K1" kerosene which is used in things like outdoor tiki
torches, indoor space heaters, kerosene lamps, etc. will work just as well.
So what’s Ed’s formula? Just equal parts of Dexron, K1 kerosene,
mineral spirits, and acetone. Ed also lists up to one pound of lanolin as an
optional ingredient.
The fact that lanolin is listed as an optional item in Ed’s formula is
a significant departure from the original Frankford mixture. The reason I say
this is because General Hatcher in his book makes a big issue of the value of
lanolin, and says specifically that lanolin is supposed to be part of the mix.
He goes on to say that our soldiers in the Pacific during W.W.II often preferred
to use captured Japanese bore cleaner because it apparently contained lanolin. I
guess our guys felt it did a better job of protecting their M1’s in that hot,
wet, tropical environment. Interesting, Ed in his writings agrees and also
states that with lanolin in his formula, it’ll protect metal for up to two
years. Anyway, lanolin is available at your local drug store, so feel free to
throw some in the bucket with all of the other stuff.
The C.E. Harris formula is available at
(www.lasc.us)
as well as Harris’s instructions on how to safely mix it up. Ed says it is
especially effective in cleaning out built up carbon and primer residue and that
copper fouling is greatly reduced when the mix is used on a regular basis.
Well, there are two kinds of people when it comes to stuff like this.
Those who like to do it themselves and those who like to have someone else do it
for them. I admit I’m one of the later group. Getting all this stuff together,
stirring it all up, and bottling it is a major hassle as far as I’m concerned.
So when I saw that Brownells is now offering Ed’s formula conveniently mixed up
and ready to go, it looked like the perfect chance to try it out without the
work.
One point however, I found that the Brownells mix faithfully follows
Ed’s original recipe and so does not contain lanolin. Harris says his basic mix
"gives adequate corrosion protection and lubrication for most users without it."
However, he also says that if you intend to store a gun for over a year, you’ll
probably want the lanolin enhanced version of his mix. In my case, my guns are
used on a regular basis, so not having lanolin in the mix was not an issue for
me.
I tried Ed’s Red on a variety of guns which included a couple of 22
rimfires, my Freedom Arms 357 revolver after using heavy cast bullet loads, and
my MOA 7 BR. I found that if there was one area where Ed’s Red really shined, it
was in removing black gunky stuff - especially on the revolver. That ability
also lent itself to doing a first class job with the 22 barrels. A couple of wet
patches had my Anschutz bore shining like new. However, I found it to be less
effective in removing lead and copper residue.
For me, I plan to use the red stuff on my guns as an auxiliary cleaner
to first get all the black soot off and then follow up with a traditional bore
cleaner to get rid of any metal residue down the barrel. Ed’s Red is a fun
product with an interesting history that has a definite niche on everyone’s
reloading bench. By the way, Ed is donating his royalty fee on every sale of his
bore cleaner from Brownells to a shooting organization. Now that’s what I call a
first class guy.
Sale of Accurate Powders
In the last issue I reported that after several months of
negotiations, the sale of the Accurate Powder Company to Western Powder was
imminent. The sale was finally completed on September third. All operations have
ceased at the Tennessee facilities and have been transferred to Western Powders.
Consequently, anyone needing load info for Accurate’s products or other
technical support will have to have to contact Western at 406-232-0422. Western
continues to emphasize that it has no intention of making any changes to the
Accurate line of products. We’ll see.
Dystonia Correction
In last month’s column I stated that the Dystonia Medical Research
Foundation spent 87 cents out of every dollar on research. The Foundation has
informed me that this is incorrect. While it is true that only 13 cents of every
dollar is spent on administration, 37 cents is spent on things like education
and public awareness efforts. The remaining 50 cents is spent on research.
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