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Ratshooter, you're right about the peep. I get those mixed up. I'd say it's a senior thing but I've been doing crap like that as long as I can remember...
The patching with teflon tape came about while I was looking into paper patching. I never could get paper patching to work and I had this new rifle, brass primers and powder but no bullets.
I had plenty of .452 bullets that I cast for my M1911a1 and I first knurled up some and planned to fill the grooves with Alox but it didn't seem like a good idea. Then I started reading a forum on paper patching and saw a post about teflon tape. So I dug some up and tried it. They looked good and measured about .460 so I loaded up 50 just to see if it worked. I think knurling the bullets made rolling on the teflon tape easier and I would do this step again when I make more. This is really as easy as I make it out to be.
When I went shooting I had just installed the peep and I had not yet fired the rifle. I lined the peep up with the notch in the old rear site then removed it. I figured it wouldn't be very close but that target was the first 4 rounds I fired from a sitting position shooting off hand. I forgot to bring a screwdriver the right size so I couldn't loosen the lock screws to dial it in. It was close enough that I could compensate for it and I had a great time that day. I had this old ratty can of Coors that I found in my house when I bought the place last year and I was hoping it wouldn't corrode through before I could shoot it. I nailed it dead center the first shot. I have to say that in all the guns I've had over the years, I've never had one start out this close to point of aim and this one had lots of reasons not to...
I've since acquired a few molds for this rifle and bought some 405 cast bullets to shoot out of it. I'm very pleased with this rifle as a cast bullet shooter and I don't plan to ever put jacket bullets down the barrel on this one. I also don't plan to ever load it hotter than BP equivalent loads even though it's strong as any lever gun and pretty close to Ruger #1... It's dialed in now and I really need to find more time to take it out and shoot it. It's most certainly a keeper...
I originally bought a second hand .44 mag Handi rifle for this purpose but it never shot cast well so I traded it off. It shot full house jacketed bullet loads just fine but that's not what I wanted it for...
Tony
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