Need help with an old gun

[Bigguy1951]

This old gun is a Win Model 43, 22 Hornet. My grandfather bought it new and never shot it much. He gave it to me when I was 16 which was a long time ago. I used to rabbit hunt with it and plink in general. This gun has never been the pillar of accuracy. Some shots great, most in the vicinity. Anyway I just recently picked the gun back up and started shooting it. I have a bunch of older loads using Hornady 45 gr SP and the best they would group was around 2.25" at 100 yds. I also had some old Remington 45 gr HP factory loads. They grouped worse than the reloads. I had also reloaded 10 rounds with 40 gr Hornady V-Max and these were the most accurate. I seated these a little long but was in no danger of hitting the lands. These produced two 5 shot groups that were just over 1.5" at 100 yds. Now for what I just discovered. I decided to check to see how much throat was in this old gun as they are not supposed to have a throat. To make a long story short, there is .251" of throat to play with. COAL at jam with the 40 gr V-Max was 1.974, SAAMI COAL is 1.723. Neither 40 nor 50 grain bullets are long enough to take advantage of this length. I don't believe the old gun is worth much in the way of barrel reworking, but as I have never had it done I don't know what the costs might be. Any suggestions on how to improve the accuracy of this old gun would be appreciated.

 

[wapiti25]

making it a K-hornet. I have heard it is more accurate for some guns. Try lil-gun in your reloads with the a-max.

 

[Bigguy1951]

Making it a K would be the same cost as "freshening it". I don't really want to change all of my reloading gear for just to get to a K. But it is a remote possibility.

 

[bheadboy]

mine liked cast lyman 225415 sized 224 as most of the early hornets were 223 bbl dia. thus the factory bullets of 224 are a tight fit, the cast are softer and fit the bbl better.

Bob

 

[MrMajestic]

1 1/2 MOA should kill out to it's effective range on suitable sized game. JMHO

 

[searcher]

As the others have alluded to, using the old barrel will be the least expensive way to go - even if new dies are bought , which really don't cost that much as opposed to the alternative of rebarreling. That would probably cost $425.00 on up. Add a high end barrel and around $525.00 more or less.

 

[coonhunter70]

My model 43 is decently accurate for the first two or three shots but as soon as the barrel even starts to get warm she strays but it only needs to be accurate for the first one or two shots. I use Sierra 40gr soft point hornet bullets with lilgun powder.

 

[Bigguy1951]

As the others have alluded to, using the old barrel will be the least expensive way to go - even if new dies are bought , which really don't cost that much as opposed to the alternative of rebarreling. That would probably cost $425.00 on up. Add a high end barrel and around $525.00 more or less.

Rechambering to 22 K Hornet will not solve the problem unless the barrel is shortened at the receiver end. As it sits right now, a bullet seated to SAMMI depth, 1.723 COAL, has to jump .251 inches to reach the lands. Rechambering without the shortening would not solve the existing problem.

 

[jonbearman]

Leaving it original will keep its collector value much higher ,however if it is drilled for a scope alteady then all bets are off. Then in that case I would rebarrel with a kreiger barrel in the actual .22 cal modern bore and use any bullet suited for it in k-hornet.

 

[bigedp51]

1. Buy some foam bore cleaner and let it soak over night and keep doing this until no more blue comes out of the bore, you are trying to remove three generations of copper from the bore. (and a fresh start on accuracy testing) You could also use some Kroil and J&B bore paste and scrub the bore

2. Make sure your stock bedding screws are tightly holding the action in the stock, you are looking for wood shrinkage and the possibility the action screws are bottoming out before the stock is tight. (trust me everything shrinks when you get old)

3. Try placing a thin strip of wood or plastic at the fore end tip that will increase up pressure, barrel harmonics or vibrations are controlled by up pressure and you can "tune" the rifle by doing this. On the majority of Remington 700s they have 3 to 9 pounds of up pressure at the fore end tip.

4. If none of this works then and only then do you blame the barrel.

Most production rifles with one-piece wood stocks are factory bedded using a pressure "band" at the fore-end tip; it's the only contact between forearm and barrel. It can either be filed away to float the barrel or shimmed to apply more pressure.

Understanding Barrel Bedding
by Jon R. Sundra | March 1st, 2004

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/2004/03/01/understanding-barrel-bedding/#ixzz38j1riiRU

 

[Bigguy1951]

Leaving it original will keep its collector value much higher ,however if it is drilled for a scope alteady then all bets are off. Then in that case I would rebarrel with a kreiger barrel in the actual .22 cal modern bore and use any bullet suited for it in k-hornet.

I see those with scopes selling for $300 here and there.

bigedp51, the barrel is wipeout clean and already floated. It is the .25" jump to the lands that is killing accuracy.

No choice left but to either have the barrel "freshened" by removing approx. 0.22 inches from the receiver end and re-reaming with either .22 Hornet or .22K Hornet. The down side here is that the barrel has dovetail slots for the front and rear sights and the smith would have to be very good to keep these on top. Or the second option is to of course re-barrel and really up the accuracy potential. Thanks for all you input guys.