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Gary, no blocks on either of my 1933's. A fat face and high stock does not make for easy shooting.

Time to find some blocks for the Hornet. I think I'll be putting some more rounds down range with it.

Nice shootin' Rick. Not bad for old guys handicapped with primitive weapons and optics.

Well, I carved out this afternoon to punch some holes in the postal papers. It turned out to be a lovely day, much cooler than it's been, with a slight breeze. Yesterday was clean-up day at the club, we spent a couple hours on the back-stops, so everything was ready...except when i got there I had forgotten the targets (dooh!)!!

I'm sure these won't qualify since they're on unsanctioned targets, but I'm blaming it on the possum and entering it anyway.

My 1899H x 22HP with widefield 2-7x, at 100yds. Ammo is Norma brass with 55g Buffalo Arms .227 projectiles + 26.7g BL-C(2).

This also served as my trials for seating length, and as expected the longest OAL won the day for me. Best group is 1.98" C-C, next is 1.986, and 2.11, so it's a very consistent 2MOA shooter.

And since I'm disqualified for the wrong targets anyway, I thought I'd enter my other non-factory 22 centerfire 99s;

1899 (actually strted life as a saddle ring, but now has a 24" barrel) x 219 Zipper, also scoped with widefielf 2-7x, at 100 yds

Ammo; R-P brass, 50g Nosler BT (moly'd)+ 24.1g H322

Best group was 1.88"C-C, so not much better than my 22HP. This is one that I put the free-float forearm bracket on, and have had much better days with it...but the 15lb trigger beat me up today.

And finally my 99E with a factory barrel (from Numerichs, back in the day...so technically it's all factory), topped with Minox ZA-5 2-10x

Ammo; R-P brass, 52g Berger FBHP Varmint + 33-1/2g H4895

Best group 1.25", then 1.29", again a very consistent shooter.

Nice shooting Jeff. That's a nice looking E. How do you like the Minox scope? I have one of their binocs and find it very good for the money.

Believe it or not, my best groups came with my Springfield/Savage 187S semi. Might have something to do with the scope. Shot a pretty decent 25 yard off hand with the 187S, then realized there wasn't a category for post '60 25 yard off hand, so it didn't count, Joe.





Somehow I lost my 50yard bench pic, with the 1919.

Joe and I had a blast yesterday. (Well, a pop anyway- it was all .22 rimfire noise.)

Joe, hard at work:



My best 50 yard benchrest target, M19-33 NRA, 10x Litschert scope:



My best 25 yard offhand open sights, pre-1960. 1948 vintage M87 Stevens:



There was little wind, clear skies, and temps in the 70's. The biggest distraction was a herd of cows that were curious as heck about what we were doing in their pasture. One knocked my mirror askew and stuck her head in the open window of my truck. We both went home with cowshit-caked tires, and one of us with the same stuff plastered to a shoe sole. Ahem. (It wasn't me.)

Those of you who know me won't be surprised to learn that my offhand match shooting days are behind me. Arthritis in the back and neck preclude that. But by golly I did it, and had fun. I stood up to the line with the magazine tube stuffed with 15 cartridges, rapped them out lickity split, re-charged the tube with ten more and completed that relay in about 10 seconds! I used that particular rifle because, well, Gramps would have smiled at it.

Joe, I don't have pics of your 50 yard bench target with the M1919. If you don't, may I suggest you dig out your target and snap a pic of it.

I have three Minox ZA scopes (steer clear of the ZX series, IMHO), and their HD binocs. All are super-clear, and best in the price range for brightness and edge-to-edge clarity, again IMHO... But I also just got a used Leupold VXR-firedot, man I like that illuminated dot reticle!! But in comparison the edges on the Leupold are a little distorted compared with the Minox.

Joe, Gary, We need to see some other photos of that manlicher stocked Savage!

I received the Colorado contingent's targets. Here are the results for Colodog and Gwrench:

50 yards benchrest, post 1960 Savage:

Gwrench:




Colodog:



I'll let them supply the commentary if they choose to do so.

Jeff, I'll let "the Great Unwashed Masses" decide whether to allow your entries in the centerfire leg. What say y'all?

Would that be Joe's M1919 you're referring to?

I think it looks like an 03A3. It's a 1919 NRA Match. That didn't mean it was a match rifle, it was just legal for all NRA matches, Joe.

I think the Zipper should qualify based on longevity of that wildcat. Not sure about the 22-250. How long was that wildcatted before Remington made it factory?

If Jeff wins with either of these, he has to buy the beer.

.22-250 was wildcatted from the .250-3000 case almost as soon as Savage introduced it. Some say Charles Newton was monkeying around with a .22 of .227 diameter on that case before he changed his mind and made it a .25. God, I wish he had kept it a .227!

Almost from the get-go A.O.Niedner necked the .250 down to .22, as did Harvey Donaldson, with some dispute over who was first. Fast forward to the 1930's and Jerry Gebby codified the wildcat to pretty much the same dimensions we use today, called it the ".22 Varminter", and then had the temerity to copyright it. For a while anybody who chambered the cartridge had to pay him a small royalty. (I owned two Gebby-built HiWalls, one in R2 Lovell, the other a .219 Donaldson Wasp.) In that case, the .22-250 far out dates the .219 Zipper which debuted in the mid-30's.

Remember, almost all .22 centerfires back in those years around WWI were .227's, based on the dimensions of the original .22WCF bores, and a couple really oddball Stevens and Maynard .22 cartridges which were the trendsetters. It wasn't until the guys who developed the .22 Hornet used Springfield M1922 rimfire barrels (which were .223) that smaller .22 bullets became fashionable. Those first Hornets circa 1930-31 were then the trendsetters for the .22 wildcatting that became known as the Golden Era during the 1930's. I don't know why exactly the shift happened almost immediately to .224 diameter, but it does explain why we have some oddball .223 diameter Hornet bullets to this day.

Newton did bring out a pretty rare chambering around the time his .250-3000 was off and running- the .22 Newton, based on the .30-06 case, which again used the old .227 style bullets. P.O.Ackley also had a couple wildcats based on the .227 bullets, too. All those .227 wildcats were real screamers, and never found favor because of the reputation for being barrel burners after a few rounds, proper propellants for them not existing until much much later.

Great targets Colodog! We need to know your hardware specifics!

I'm chasing you in that post-'60 scoped division, and Rick's pre-'60 25 yd off hand title too. But next weekend is out for me, when's our time window close?

I will have to check the car. I only brought 3 in, I think Mallow ate it. Mallow is the cow that tried to kiss Gary through his window. When she was born, her mother dropped her in a creek and left. My BIL found her, and Doc Schultz bottle raised her. She thinks she is a 1200 pound lap dog. She knows my wife's Tahoe that I was driving.

Jeff, here's my 1919. Rick said they made about 11000 units the first year. I think this one is 7978, so it would stand to reason it's a first year production.





Randy, 99guy, came up to my farm to shoot one weekend. This is the 25 yard bench target I shot with it. The first ten shots I fired. Wish I could have done this off hand, Joe.

Found the 50 yard target, nothing to write home about, might be runner up for the dead skunk award, Joe.

Plenty of time left. 10/8/16, at midnight. (Now there'll be someone out there that night shooting his targets by the light of his car headlights...)