Thread: Homebrew Snap Caps

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

snap caps are good for piece/peace of mind....Ive always just used a fired case in the centrefires...primer takes a fait few hits before its munted.
dry firing is good way to come to grips with triggers...plinking at simple targets is the best...balloons /clays/bit of wood its all good to begin with...if you can CONSISTANTLY hit a 3ltr plastic milk jug EVERYTIME at a certain range,well you can consistantly cleanly kill an animal at same range as the vital area id about the same...take out them front wheels and it aint going anywhere...the great creator fortunately placed the engine room between them there front wheels making our job so much easier.

Thanks for the intel Micky,

Shot placement was going to be one of my upcoming questions (wasn't sure this is the right thread). I've see a lot of YouTube footage where a long range heart/lung shot hasn't caused an immediate drop (I mean, the animal has jumped and run around and taken some time to bleed-out before it dies). Lumbar (spinal) shots always seem to drop them instantly, but they look a little tricky to me (regarding angular measurement and my lack of experience). I've been told in no uncertain terms that headshots are for heroes.

I have an invite to the local range this weekend, so this will be my first time actually firing live ammo through my new rifle. Got a box of Whitetail ammo; hopefully this will be enough to get me zeroed to 25 yards (is that an unrealistic expectation?)

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Whenever i get offered a shot with someone elses rifle, the first "shot" is on an empty chamber to avoid suprises regarding trigger pull.
In your situation where you intend practicing to develop a technique for stock hold, cheek weld, and trigger pull as a whole you could try closing the bolt just to the balance point before the knob closes under spring pressure, it should sit there at about 45 degrees. The trigger will engage normally but having the mass of the bolt to move will slow the striker resulting in less potential damage. One extra advantage is that you can just lift the lever to recock the action balance the bolt again and repeat no need to cycle the action or try to feed empty cases or dummy rounds.

Thanks Marty,

That sounds very interesting; I'll give it a go.
I see you are not too far away. Would you consider a total newbie tagging along on one of your hunting expeditions so they could see how it's done? I'm fairly stealthy, I'm safety conscious, and I'm happy to haul the kill out the bush for you if I can lift it.

Originally Posted by ocium

Thanks for the intel Micky,

Shot placement was going to be one of my upcoming questions (wasn't sure this is the right thread). I've see a lot of YouTube footage where a long range heart/lung shot hasn't caused an immediate drop (I mean, the animal has jumped and run around and taken some time to bleed-out before it dies). Lumbar (spinal) shots always seem to drop them instantly, but they look a little tricky to me (regarding angular measurement and my lack of experience). I've been told in no uncertain terms that headshots are for heroes.

I have an invite to the local range this weekend, so this will be my first time actually firing live ammo through my new rifle. Got a box of Whitetail ammo; hopefully this will be enough to get me zeroed to 25 yards (is that an unrealistic expectation?)

Take a tennis ball and place it 30 yards away from your table setup where your scoped rifle is set up with sandbags or whatever.

Remove bolt and insert an empty deprimed case (without a lump of hankook tyre!) and use it as a diopter rear sight to place the tennis ball in the muzzle circle.

Adjust scope crosshairs to tennis ball centre.

That will get your shots "on paper at the range" and should save a few bullets.

And don't forget to bring your bolt!!!


BTW, you can also play with a point blank range calculator, all you need is the height of the scope axis above bore axis, and the ammo details of course.

Originally Posted by ocium

Hi Mathias,

Yeah the little bugger is mine. Got two boys from the same litter, he is the runt. What he lacks in stature, he makes-up for with ferocity. Gotta be careful I don't turn my back on him after pissing him off, or I'll be missing a cheek - lol.
Here's a recent snap of him teasing his brother - they have just turned 2 years old (still got paint-on ears, but they're coming around).

Attachment 116199

Good looking lads. Your keen having 2 double trouble. Very loyal intelligent breed & bloody cunning. My girl is 4 and has really shown maturity in the last year. Forever your shadow and missing out of very little.

Originally Posted by Mathias

Good looking lads. Your keen having 2 double trouble. Very loyal intelligent breed & bloody cunning. My girl is 4 and has really shown maturity in the last year. Forever your shadow and missing out of very little.

Attachment 116203

Don't know what I was thinking - they are tag-teaming flanking specialists. Ajax sleeps with one eye open and Cain has a habit of pushing doors open - freaks me out when I'm taking a piss in the middle of the night and he rocks-up and sticks his hairy snout between my legs. That's a fine looking girl you have - she has the same black eye Ajax has, and Cain's good looks (Ajax is scruffy as hell but super smart, and Cain is super handsome and dopey).

Ajax


Cain

Originally Posted by Cordite

Take a tennis ball and place it 30 yards away from your table setup where your scoped rifle is set up with sandbags or whatever.

Remove bolt and insert an empty deprimed case (without a lump of hankook tyre!) and use it as a diopter rear sight to place the tennis ball in the muzzle circle.

Adjust scope crosshairs to tennis ball centre.

That will get your shots "on paper at the range" and should save a few bullets.

And don't forget to bring your bolt!!!


BTW, you can also play with a point blank range calculator, all you need is the height of the scope axis above bore axis, and the ammo details of course.

Bloke I bought the rifle from (Mark, Marsterton Hunting & Fishing) bore sighted it for me (laser I'm guessing), but I'm thinking of twiddling with the turrets and doing it from scratch to get the experience. Found a video on YouTube where a guy zeros from manual boresighting at 25 yards with two rounds. Dreams are free, right? lol

Cool idea using an empty case as a diopter! Only bore sighting tutorials I've come across use the empty chamber.
No Hankook, bolt in hand

A few times, iv stood at the muzzle end.... Look above the barrel into the wrong end of the scope. From about the muzzle or a little further back. You should see the cross hairs. Just try to even things up. You will definitely get the windage pretty good, and the elevation not bad.
I seem to get on an a4 paper at 100 no problems.