Several months ago,
I did a review of Brownells Ed’s Red bore cleaner and I found that when it
came to heavy carbon build up such as found on cast bullet revolvers and
in 22 rimfires, it really did an excellent job. I also liked it because it
didn’t contain any ammonia, so the smell was fairly benign and it didn’t
eat up my bronze bore brushes.
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"In a six month test, Brownells Ed's Red proved to be a very
effective rimfire bore cleaner" |
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Well I decided to
do a extended evaluation of Ed’s Red, and would use it exclusively on my
rimfire guns over a six month period. As you know, greasy carbon and soot
can build up pretty rapidly in our 22’s. And, if you’ve read very many of
these columns, you also know that I’m a clean freak when it comes to my
guns because I’m a strong believer that “A clean gun is a more accurate
gun.” I also believe that axiom especially applies to rimfire guns since a
22 rimfire bullet is small, and because it’s made from fairly soft lead,
it’s relatively fragile as well. Subsequently, it doesn’t take a lot of
grit in the bore to damage or distort it. Obviously, a damaged or
distorted bullet isn’t going to be as accurate as one that isn’t.
While we’re on the
subject of rimfire accuracy, let me divert slightly to a myth concerning
using a bore brush to clean rimfire guns. I have a couple of good friends
who are really into highly customized Ruger 10-22’s. These are very pricey
guns, and these guys are fanatical about taking care of them. One day they
saw me cleaning a bolt action rimfire rifle with a bronze brush. This gun
has a beautiful land lapped Lilja barrel with a bore that is as smooth as
a baby’s bottom. “Stop! Stop!” they said. “You’re ruining your barrel!”
“How’s that I asked?” Well someone in a chat room on the internet had told
these guys that running a brush through would put thousands of tiny
scratches in the bore and ruin its accuracy. I doubted this assertion very
strongly since barrel steel is much, much harder than the softer bronze
bristles. Besides, despite many, many cleanings with a brush, the gun
continued to shoot very well. However, I had no real proof about the
matter one way or another. Solution? Borrow a bore scope from good friend
Dr. Jim Williams. Result? The bore after many, many cleanings with a
bronze brush was still as smooth as that proverbial baby’s bottom. Myth
busted.
However, I recently
read an article by Harry Deneen, the king of rimfire benchrest shooting,
in which he stated that when he ran a bronze brush through his barrel, he
removed it before he drew the rod back through the barrel - the idea being
to avoid any possible damage to the barrel’s crown. I have to admit that
Harry’s statement made me stop and think a moment. It’s true that the
least little bit of damage to a crown can quickly turn a good shooting gun
into a real mongrel. Let me give you an example. My friend Stan Gin who
shoots at the LA Silhouette Club asked me what loads I could recommend for
his Freedom Arms 357. I suggested a few things and then asked why he was
looking for new loads. Well the gun just wasn’t shooting no matter what he
tried. To make a long story short, Stan loaned me his gun and I tried a
variety of my favorite loads. None worked. I was flabbergasted I never
had run across a FA that wouldn’t shoot those loads accurately. Well Stan
ended up sending the gun back to Freedom Arms where after test firing,
they discovered a tiny bit of damage on the barrel’s crown. The barrel was
subsequently re-crowned and now the gun shoots great.
A couple of points
here - if a gun stops shooting suddenly, get a magnifying glass and check
that crown. Lastly, Harry’s practice of unscrewing the brush off his
cleaning rod before drawing the cleaning rod back through the bore just
might be the right thing to do in order to avoid putting a nick or some
other kind of damage on the crown, not from the bristles but possibly from
the part that screws on to the rod. Personally I plan to start following
Harry’s advice on this matter. Can’t hurt.
OK, back to
Brownells Ed’s Red My six month evaluation is finished and I can
confidently report that if you want to remove 100% of the black, sooty gunk in your rimfire barrels, this is the stuff you want to use. I found other bore
cleaners would get out most of it, but bore scope examinations would show
that residue would still be present down in the corners of the lands and
grooves. On the other hand, Ed’s Red would remove it all. Here’s my
cleaning procedure.
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- two wet patches
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- a wet brushing (5
strokes forward and back)
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- one wet patch
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- four dry patches
If the gun is not
going to be used for a month or more, I’ll follow up with a patch
containing either TM or Iosso gun oil and then two dry patches.
Remember, if you’re
the type that doesn’t mind mixing your own, Ed’s Red is a simple blending
of equal parts of mineral spirits, acetone, and Dextron transmission
fluid. Me? I’d rather let Brownells do the work. <Mix
your own? Here's the recipe: Ed's Red>
Sneak Preview
A serious outdoors
kind of person always will own some basic pieces of gear that will form
the foundation of their interaction with good old mother nature. Among
those pieces of equipment is a good rifle, a good pistol, a good knife, a
good jacket, a good pair of boots, a good flashlight, a good back pack,
and a good pair of general purpose binoculars. There are lots other things
of course, like all our silhouette gear, but as I said we’re talking the
bare basics here.
All of these
outdoor tools will share some common characteristics. First of all, the
quality of their materials and components will be first rate. The design
will also be extremely practical, and because of this, they’ll work every
time we call upon them to do their thing. Not just work “kind of ok”, but
work exceptionally well. They’ll also work all the time. In other words,
they can be relied on to function through adverse circumstances, through
abuse, and even, most seriously of all, through neglect. Their reliability
under extreme conditions will always be exceptional. To qualify as one of
these extraordinary products, it also has to be backed by a manufacturer
that will stand behind the product 200% no questions asked. Lastly, it
should be understood that sometimes these tools may be expensive to buy
but also, sometimes they can be very reasonable in price. Let’s talk about
a piece of equipment that falls into this second category.
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Leupold Wind River
10X42. Very
nicely ergonomically designed armor coated binoculars by Leupold. |
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I recently lucked
into a chance to evaluate a prototype of a new Leupold Wind River 10X42
set of binoculars which is going to be introduced into the market in 2006
- the Cascades. The opportunity literally came out of the blue. One
morning, I got an e-mail asking if I’d like a chance to check out a new
product. Well, how’s anyone going to say no to Leupold on a deal like
that? Anyway, these things are so new, that when the binocs showed up a
couple of days later, I found that after opening the shipping box, they
were wrapped up in just plain, brown paper. The fancy outside packaging,
fitted foam packing, literature, etc. hasn’t even been developed yet. Even
the neck strap was missing. No matter, because what I found was a set of
very nicely ergonomically designed armor coated binoculars.
Let’s
talk about the exterior first. As mentioned, these are armor coated. One
thing that I really liked, was the fact that the black rubber coating
around the rear of the binocs, the part where you put your hands, has a nubby texture for
an especially good grip. Folks living in hot humid areas like the South
East and Midwest where hands can get coated with sweat will certainly
appreciate that. Someone at Leupold was
using their head when they decided to do that. The rubber coating out on
the barrels, the non-gripping part, is smooth and provides a nice subtle
contrast.
Each of the
eyepieces has a rubber coated collar around them, which, when twisted to the
left, elevates the collar up and out around a half inch to provide sun
shielding. Eyeglass wearers will probably want to keep the shields in the down
position in order to get their eyes as close to the lens in order to get the
best field of view that the binocs are capable of delivering.
I also found the binocs
to be very comfortable to hold. It seemed that I could hold them steady for a
longer time than most other binoculars. I believe my ability to do so probably
comes from the design and the weight (about 25 ounces) - neither too heavy or
too light. In other words, just right for the size (5” high X 7” wide). In
other words, design, weight, and size/balance came together in a nice, easy to
hold package.
Focusing was especially
easy and is accomplished by turning a large, one inch diameter, ribbed, rubber
coated knob located between the two barrels. When I held the binocs to my
eyes, the index fingers of each hand naturally fell into place on both sides
of the knob. I found that I could easily push with one finger and pull with
the other to focus things with perfect precision. The fact that the focusing
mechanism was silky smooth with absolutely no stiffness or binding was a major
advantage.
As all experienced
binocular users know, in order to get a good image, one of the barrels
(usually the left) needs to be manually adjusted to your eye. To do so with
the Windriver’s, you’ll find that there’s a cap on the end of the center
focusing knob. Just lift the cap (it comes up with a snap), and turn right or
left to adjust the left barrel focus. When everything is correct, just push
the cap back down. There’s an index mark to help you find the right spot for
you.
I also found that these
binoculars were tripod adaptable. You’ll find a plastic cap with a slot for a
coin on the front of the center spindle. Just screw off and you’ll see a brass
threaded receptacle that will accept any standard tripod adapter. Cool. Tripod
adaptability is one of the “must haves” for my binocs when I want to do
serious long term viewing of any area.
As you probably know,
almost all standard binoculars are 7X35’s - meaning that they’re seven power
and have 35mm objective lenses. The new binocs will be offered in both 8X and
10X so if you want a slightly wider field of view, go for the 8X model.
However, I found that my 10X version had a nice wide image measuring 27 feet
across at 100 yards. This is no doubt due to the extra large 42mm objective
lenses.
I took the
Leopold's to
my public range last weekend and passed them around to several of my fellow
“range rats” and asked them to give me their opinion of the image produced.
The opinions ran from “Boy, these are really nice” to “These are sure bright”.
Those comments pretty well sum it up. The image is particularly bright and
clean, and the resolution is very crisp. Indeed, the first time I looked
through these binocs I thought to myself “If Leupold’s Wind River stuff is
this good, their Gold Ring products must be spectacular!” As you know, I’ve
never reviewed any Leupold binoculars in these pages before, and so I was very
surprised by the very high quality of this more moderately priced product.
I then trained the
Leopold's on one of my favorite targets which is a line of wood power poles 500
yards down range. At the top of each pole is a ceramic insulator and I could
easily see that each insulator had five ribs. This is really excellent
performance. I also noticed that color fidelity was perfect. Neither was there
any fringing or distortion. Nor was there any color tinting. The image was
just as nice and pure as could be, with just a touch of exaggerated stereo
that you get with almost all binoculars.
As an added bonus, the
binocs are also 100% waterproof. If a manufacturer tells me a product is
waterproof, you know what I’m going to do. So out came the yellow plastic
bucket and in they went for a full hour. No problem.
So what can you do with
these binoculars. Almost anything you want. They’re a natural for any hunt.
Just want to observe the local wildlife? They’re a perfect choice. I live
fairly close to a National Forest and there are plenty of interesting critters
like coyote or raccoon passing by in the arroyo behind my house. When sitting
on my patio slurping my coffee in the morning, it’s also fun to glass a
wheeling red tailed hawk hunting for breakfast or the occasional golden eagle.
Like to shoot airgun silhouette? These are perfect for that discipline. Using
an 80mm 60X spotting scope is radical overkill for that application, but these
10Xer’s with a stereo image is perfect for spotting the tiny targets. They
focus all the way down to about 11 feet with crystal clarity so there’s no
problem seeing the tiny chicken targets.
The bottom line here is
that these binoculars are very well built product and that produce an
exceptional image. Prices for the Wind River Cascades aren't available yet but
I’m sure they won’t break the bank. Definitely put them on your 2006 watch
list.
Bushnell Buys Michaels
of Oregon
I’d been hearing little
rumors of Bushnell and Michaels talking merger but to be honest, I didn’t
think much of them as the two companies are totally different creatures.
Bushnell has a very formal corporate culture, and of course has a huge sports
optics presence, and Michaels is more of a conglomeration of many relatively
small mom and pop type shooting accessory businesses like Hoppes, Stoney
Point, etc. that Michaels has bought out and mushed together under their
banner. I really didn’t see a good fit either in company cultures, or in
business models. Well lo and behold, Steve Ware shoots me an announcement that
the buy is a done deal. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather.
Anyway, we’ll have to
wait to see how this pans out. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out
that this move is just a step in an effort to pump up Bushnell’s earnings
numbers so that the investment firm that owns Bushnell will be able to sell
the combined entity at a tidy profit a year or two down the road. It’ll be
interesting to watch.
Senate Passes
Legislation Against Junk Lawsuits
If you haven't heard,
on July 29th, the Senate passed legislation blocking lawsuits that attempted
to hold gun manufacturers liable for any criminal use of their products. As
you know, this was a thinly disguised attempt to put gun manufacturers out of
business. No matter that thousands of American workers would be thrown out of
their jobs. The bill was overwhelmingly passed 56 to 31. A similar bill
banning these lawsuits is in the House of Representatives and is expected to
easily pass. President Bush has indicated he will definitely sign the
legislation.
Actually both
bills had strong support from the general business community who feared
that if gun manufacturers were held liable for the criminal use of their
products, suits against manufacturers of automobiles, kitchen knives,
baseball bats, etc. would be right around the corner. Glad to see that
Congress occasionally uses common sense.
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