This was an initial test firing.
My general philosophy is to consider each weapon as it comes to me at purchase to be good without any faults; that is a zero base, and I work from there. If I don't have to bed or "float" I don't do it, until the operational history of the weapon indicates otherwise. Generally I consider normal housekeeping as sufficient.
I have an instinctive fear of doing anything to the bore of the weapon in the way of "ploishiong" or lapping, as it were. A good gunsmith can lap the bore at the time of manufacture, or barring that because he has the facilities to support that operational evolution. I "shoot it in"; that's the way I was taught in the Navy and the way any number of "Gunnies" emphasized to me. I look at three areas when I consider a weapon:
--lock work [the trigger]. At ~3.5lbs the H/R trigger is one of the best on the market; it breaks crisp and clean. While I have seen and read some of the inputs on this web concerning the trigger, I consider them anecdotal at best and excptional at worst. So, this critical area is a constant; my findings in this regard do accord themselves with the American Rifleman Report on the H/R BC trigger.
--Sights very critical, in the instance of the "Ultra" line. the Springfield Armory ART IV is a spare sight I had in my shop; it's good, but old; and, I do want to avail myself of the latest in optics. So, I shall change them at the soonest possible moment. Having been taught long range shooting I tend to a moderate magnification tactical scope, 4-16 with range finding capabilities. It has been my experience that at upper levels of magnification [20 and above] "scoping and doping" can get a bit dicey, as the upper levels of magnificatiopn exaccerbate your pulse breaks when you have the weapon in battery and are sighting the target. This becomes all the more noticeable when you have a sling belt engaged in the armpit region of your anatomy; even a shooting coat won't minimize it. You can actually see the cross hair reticle bounce with the systolic cycle; I don't know about others and what I say here is not to be taken as a criticism; but that sort of thing irritates me and serves as just one more variable to sort out. So it's on to new sights!
--"AMMUNITION"; this is the "GOLDEN CHILD", in mine own estimation. aside from good sights, this is the one area that I have the most influence in. I have seen average weapons perform with brilliance because the rifleman took his time and crafted a round that was matched to his weapon and then made it consistently forever after.
While there are those who will read this thread and laugh and make remarks about "meat on the table" and I do respect that, and they are quite right, my approach is clinical. I believe that the only purpose of a rifle is to "kill"; it has no other purpose and it must be made to kill efficiently, quickly , simply, and from the farthest distance as possible, given the conscientious observance of the fundamentals. Which ever weapon I pull from my armory I want it to come into my hands with the comfortable assurance that the round I crafted for it will exploit its characteristrics to the maximum.
I like the suggestion to get a digital camera; I will do that for the next session.
Anchor's Away/SemperFi
CPO Bull
