Second Custom Rifle Build
Marlin Action
Green Mountain Barrel
Caliber 204 Ruger
March 22nd, 2017
Got out and shot the new rifle this morning. I had already fired 3 test rounds through the barrel but then disassembled everything in order to blue the barrel. That meant resetting head space and the whole 9 yards. I am OK with all that because it is a great training. It chisels away at the fear factor and builds a little confidence.
This morning I only needed 18 rounds through the barrel to complete the break in procedure that I always use, which is fire 3 and clean.
The scope I had installed was an old Simmons 8-32X44 Varmint (fine reticle) with sun shade made in Japan or the Philippines, not the Chinese wonder they produce today. I tried this scope last summer on a Remington 700 in 204 and ripped it off the gun in frustration. It looked good when I mounted it but at the range I could not get it to focus or cooperate. I figured I would give it one more chance before running it through the chipper shredder.
Back at the range with it today it was still crappy. On 8 power and with the parallax set at 100 yards I could come close to reading the printing on the target but as soon as I increased power at all everything went south. And the reticle was almost invisible.
I loosened the lock ring on the focus screwed it in all the way and it seemed a little better but still only on 8 power. I kept shooting the rifle and cleaning the bore every 3 shots and then messing with the scope. In a last ditch effort I started turning the parallax to higher yardages (clockwise on the threads). Just kept turning until things suddenly started to improve, which makes no sense. So I looked at the parallax numbers to see where it was actually at and low and behold it's on 25 yards.
Digressing a little bit, I bought this scope off of ebay, worth the money if I could make it work. It appears that the parallax had been un-screwed too far at some point and was out of wack a full turn. So now I turned it clockwise to 100 yards and began to work on the focus. Presto, problem solved. Now from 8 to 32 it looks pretty darn good.
I could actually see the target and reticle clearly. The gun is shooting great for using ammo borrowed from my Howa 204 (because if fit well).
Bill
Last Modified: Thursday, March 30, 2017 11:26 AM