Hello ellenbr
Thanks for the reply.
I see the "stop". My rifle does not have this. However, it looks like the lever was a Helicobloc lever that has the name "stippled-over" but they left the pattern at the bottom untouched.
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And, I finally made it to the range today to test this wonderful rifle. As you may be aware, I subscribe to the 75% rule for regulating my rifles. That is 75% velocity of the regulation load using the same bullet weight, will generally regulate the same as the full load. Since the regulation load for this rifle is 2200 fps with a 480g bullet, 75% velocity would be about 1650 fps with the same bullet. I didn't have any 480g bullets, but was able to acquire some 500g Hawk bullets in .482 dia. Here is the very first target I shot with this 75% load. You should have seen my smile - no buyer's remorse for this rifle.
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I shot 20 shots with varying amounts of 3031 powder; 70g, 75g, 80g, and 83.5g, which was the full load as recommended by the former owner. I shot 10 pairs total and groups ranged from 5/8" to 4-11/16". On this next target, I shot a pair of full loads on the same target as the 75% loads. As you can see, there was not a lot of difference in regulation from the 75% load to the full 100% load. And the 75% practice load is a lot more fun to shoot, being only 40.9 ft/lbs of recoil, instead of 70.2 ft/lbs. Tomorrow I will shoot it again, with some AR5744 loads.
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Perhaps, of interest to the forum members is my cooling tube. This improvised device really cuts down on the waiting time between shots strings. I shoot 4 rounds (2 pair) and insert the barrel into the cooling tube. This rig cools the barrels down to ambient temperature in about 3 - 5 minutes; about the time it takes me to step through the chronograph readings, record the shots in my notebook, and walk the 50 yards down-range to measure the holes in the target. This devise was made up using a 110 volt 2-speed fan, attached to various rubber plumbing adapters, and then attaching it to a 28" long piece of 4" diameter flexible plastic drainage tube. Total cost was about $35 including the fan. Lucky we have power at our range, otherwise I would have made one to run off my car battery.
