I'm just amazed by my shooting buddy who is 84 years old. He is a hunter gun enthusiast who has Sauer, Sako, and other respectable moose guns (7mm Mag, 300WSM) but nothing puts a smile on his face like his original old P17 now in 338-06.
The P17 (BSA I think) he bought as a teenager over 60 years ago and shot all manner of surplus ammo with corrosive primers. After thousands of rounds shot over the years he could no longer hit a pie plate at 200 yards. My guess is that there was no rifling left in the barrel.
A local barrel maker rebored the 30-06 to 338-06 (for $200) and now it shoots like gang busters. The BSA still has the original trigger with yards of creep but my friend can now put 5 shots in an inch (@100 yards) with reloads most of the time. It amazes me that he is still that good of a shooter and that an old sucked out gun can be restored to such glorious accuracy.
The P17 (BSA I think) he bought as a teenager over 60 years ago and shot all manner of surplus ammo with corrosive primers. After thousands of rounds shot over the years he could no longer hit a pie plate at 200 yards. My guess is that there was no rifling left in the barrel.
A local barrel maker rebored the 30-06 to 338-06 (for $200) and now it shoots like gang busters. The BSA still has the original trigger with yards of creep but my friend can now put 5 shots in an inch (@100 yards) with reloads most of the time. It amazes me that he is still that good of a shooter and that an old sucked out gun can be restored to such glorious accuracy.