Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by Ranch Dog »

I'm giddy with excitement as I found the issue with the Rio Grande! I was up early Saturday morning and decided to take the rifle completely down as I did at one point during all the load work and recleaned the rifle. I felt the magazine ring band & screw might be the problem as it was in a band was hard to remove. I went ahead and went completely through the rifle again to include JB Bore Paste in the barrel, 200 strokes with a freshly pasted patch every 20 strokes.

On assembly, there was no doubt that that the ring band & screw were applying pressure to the barrel. I relieved the slot in both barrel and magazine tube further with a micro-round file and replaced the screw as it was buggered. Rossi also improved the original screw with a pinpoint on the newer screws, a little bit of shape to the point to get it started on the opposite side of the band.

I had three rounds of ammo left of my #16 load, 35.6-grains of H322, so I went up to the range pondering if the fix would work or if the rifle would be going to the resale rack. Without much fanfare, I ripped off the rounds at a target at 50 yards and walked out to the target. I was really surprised at the group; it measured 1.47 MOA when scored with my target against the screen of my laptop using the TMT software!

I loaded up what I considered max loads of BL-C(2), H322, H335, and H4895; just three rounds each and shot them yesterday. It was a boiler with the temperature at 90°, so to keep the target setups close, I shot at 50 yards.

H322 & H4895 shot inside 1.5 MOA, and H335 could be a sub-MOA load, but for two reasons; it is a hot load (2700 FPS) so it is not following the QuickLoad predictions and the second reason is I only fired two shots. The reason I only shot two loads was that between the second and third rounds, at a two-minute interval, a huge feral hog boar started to walk across the range at 225 yards. I chambered the round and shot him at the last rib as his front half was already in the brush. What is weird was that my mind had seen the 2700 FPS on the Labradar and the two hits overlapping an inch high at two inches right at 50 and made an adjustment that beaned that fellow good at the distance. The brush is very thorny and thick that he went into and decided not to follow as I wanted. Wasn't interested in eating him, just wanted to eliminate his D7 value on my land.

So, the Rio Grande 30-30 AI with the Speer 130-grain FN is back on track. I think that I will go straight to the H322 load for now as I would like to get another hog with the rifle in a hunting setup. I'm also thinking of changing out the Weaver Classic V 1-3x20 for their 2-7x32 as this rifle could be a nice pronghorn hunter.
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by klr »

Ranch Dog wrote: a huge feral hog boar started to walk across the range at 225 yards. I chambered the round and shot him at the last rib as his front half was already in the brush. What is weird was that my mind had seen the 2700 FPS on the Labradar and the two hits overlapping an inch high at two inches right at 50 and made an adjustment that beaned that fellow good at the distance.

Congrats! :t :t +guns

That's what it's all about.

Sometimes I wonder if I spend too much time chasing a perfect group.
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by akuser47 »

Pretty cool that you got the pig with it well done. +guns
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by Ranch Dog »

Thanks, guys! Decided to go with the 35.0-grains of H322, thought about bumping it up a but Quickload says not with my high temperatures. Load up some for sighting in but running out of steam as it has been a long day. 93° out there right now.
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by GasGuzzler »

So did the pig die? Just checking. You usually say and show a pic.
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by Ranch Dog »

GasGuzzler wrote:So did the pig die? Just checking. You usually say and show a pic.
I'm pretty sure I did but didn't follow up. The boar hit the brush, a 40-acre block that is tough to enter. If a whitetail went in, I would follow but it would take pruning shears and a chainsaw to take the trail. Initial blood trail, a lot of coyote talk, and a brief effort by the buzzards the following mid-morning. That block will not see a prescribed burn for another two years but I suspect I will find the skull then.

I've slowed down on my picture taking. My digital camera gave up the ghost and it is tougher to take "kill" pictures with a smartphone. I've tried several tripods, but have given up. The last four hogs, I haven't bothered with pictures, hogs taken with; Savage 170 30-30 Win, Marlin 1894CL 32-20 Win, Rem 600 35 Rem, and really cannot count this last one as no effort was made to recover it.

I've kind of run into a problem with the dogs after a hog kill. I cannot let them see it or know where it is or they will run my ranch crazy. My goal with these fellows is that they be ranch yard dogs, but a hog kill puts me way back with their training. In the middle of the night, I've let a couple of hogs walk that have crossed the yard. Dogs sleeping inside the fence and I don't want to poke the beasts as it suddenly becomes a PIA. I'm being really careful with them right now and for the next three months. My first fawns dropped on the 6th with another batch ever 28 days for three months. I don't want the brush messed with or a chance of them getting away from me while after a hog.
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by Ranch Dog »

Found an older small digital camera I had, charged the battery, stuck it on a tripod, and took it out this evening with the Rio Grande...

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My wife said I ought to smile once in awhile. Its the heat and what is ahead of me. This all was about 7:30, I just got everything all cleaned up. Going to bed.
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by GRV01 »

Awesome, neat to hear the Ackley Grande project is back on track
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by Ranch Dog »

Killed another boar at 10:30 last night. Only his head sticking above the grass, couldn't tell if he was walking toward or away from me. Ended up shooting him between the ears at 70-yards.

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Okay, going to go to the next rifle as this one is well settled.
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Re: Rossi 30-30 Ackley Improved Load Work

Post by klr »

Ranch Dog wrote:
Okay, going to go to the next rifle as this one is well settled.
Next! ;) :lol:

I'm the same way. I'll work like crazy to perfect something and then put it away as soon as it's working well. That's the trouble with my rifles - my ability to dream about and improve them exceeds my ability to actually get out there and use them.

So, what's next?
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