A couple of years ago pe4king turned up at the range with a Browning TCT in .223. It was really his boy's rifle but, the little green eyed monster tried rising. I regularly referred to that Browning as "our" rifle when ever Kev and I spoke of it. Lo and behold, he turned up one day with a new Winchester 70! All very nice we said, then the bomb shell...... He'd gone and part ex'd the TCT for it!!! Nooooooooooooo!!!
As it turned out, it was in the local shop, where I have a very good relationship with the manager.... I work there sometimes. Anyway, the TCT now has my name on it, but how to pay for it? A purusal of the cabinets leaves onlyone gun that I could see let go. Not easily, but could possibly learn to live with. Anyone remember the Mini 14 project that won a couple of bets? That was the candidate. Anyway, the Mini 14 sold. Guess to whom? pe4king! Oh, the web we weave......
So there I am with a great condition Browning TCT in .223. I really like .223. I reckon with a quick minds eye count up, I'm now into double figures the amount of rifles I've owned in this caliber. I have always found them to be very accurate guns. One of my other regrets was getting rid of a Savage 12BVSS in .223 that was like a 5 shot laser out to 800m! This Browning was going to give me that sort of accuracy in a "Mouse Gun" yet again! As said, I even got a Mini 14 to shoot less than a three inch group, 1.5" actually....!! The TCT was fabeled to deliver 5 shot, 100m groups of .3 to .5 of an inch, with the right ammo!
And why wouldn't it not be a tackdriver? It has a stiff, super short action with the short throw and locking of an A-bolt. To this is a very heavy, almost an inch diameter at the muzzle, fluted, 1 in 8" twist 22" barrel with a target crown. This is all sat in a glass bedded Bell & Carlson stock, which I add Leupold steel mounts and steel tactical 30mm rings and a Mark 4 LR/T Leupold scope and hang a Harris bipod off the fore end. Every thing about screamed "SHOOTING MACHINE!"
Eight bullet weights ranging from 53gn to 73gn were assembled with five different powders. Kev previously had only really shot factory through it with a little reloading as, well, "It was for the boy and he really just wants to make noise...."
Appalling! Nothing I tried would give anything better that just over an inch! It wasn't even that three shots were close together then two kicked the group out, no, all five shots were all over the place with most groups running around the inch and a half..... Things didn't look good. I passed the rifle onto a gun smith asking him to tear everything apart, re-crown it and put it all back together. The test it. This he did, with yet another combination of powder and bullet, that I had not used. He also couldn't get three rounds in under an inch and a quarter.
The shop was aware of what was going on. It was all very frustrating and disheartening. Can't believe I sold my Mini 14 for this....
Now I've never been a fan of Remington. I've had a couple before. In fact one that gave me grief until it was re-crowned was a 700 Police in .308, that gave stellar performance after the crowing job, but, confidence in the gun was long gone. And that one sold to 20series long before we got to know each other in "forum land". But, even after that, I never wanted to own a Remington. Why should that come up? The shop offerec to take the Browning back. In it's place, I was offered a brand new VS in .223, with an HS Preciosion stock and a bolt handle job. The Bowning had me beat, so I accepted. Now I really couldn't believe I sold the Mini 14 for a Remington!!!
I had that Remington at the range this weekend. Went through a barrel running in process using some factory PPU and S&B just to get the scope on the paper and the barrel started. It was shooting around the two and a half inches which didn't make me feel great, but, those groups had a load of action with a cleaning rod mixed in with them!
After getting this barrel work done, I tried a group of five rounds with a load I know was good in the Mini 14, but untested in anything else...... five rounds three quarters of an inch, three of those under half!! Bloody Remington! It went and performed. The signs look somewhat promising for a rifle I've overlooked, in fact derided for years! And from a company that has shown they can't build a lever gun with what they've done to Marlin, but perhaps, as I've been told many times before, the staple Remmy 700 is a good rifle! tesnews
And to top it off, due to circumstances, I've gone and bought the Mini 14 back!
:lol:
