I was reluctant to pay an entire $10 bill just to get into the local gun show, but having a little time to kill on a Sunday I figured that the worst it could do was disgust me. Sure enough, there was plenty there I found no entertainment in seeing, but I did come across a table with a really nice old L46 HB .222.
An inquiry of the licensed dealer behind the table resulted in one of those stories ("belongs to an old uncle who's going blind and needs to sell, so no tax or paper work, you know"). Beside it was an extremely nice old Ithaca-SKB 200E SxS 20 gauge shotgun with some really nice wood, which belonged to the same "old blind uncle". Now, if there are two things that float my gunboat, it is old Sakos and small gauge doubles. So, I started the dance, told him I hadn't seen all of the show and needed to browse around a little more before getting serious.
After a while I drifted back to his table after sauntering among the the salt water taffy, Chinese fighting knives, and copious amounts of literature espousing every conspiracy theory you've ever heard of a many you haven't. "Okay, what will your uncle take for both?" "Dunno, but I'll call him", was the response. After a little humming and hawing on both parts, we finally hit on a dollar figure that was at least a break-even if things didn't work out with either gun. Paid the man and took off for home, heavy with guns but light of money.
The L46 came with a set of original high rings (needed for clearance on most heavy barrels). So I slapped a loose 3-9 Leupold on it (gloss, matching the pristine bluing of the rifle). When the sun got a little lower I gathered up some .222 ammunition and took it to the bench. After a slight adjustment to align the bore and the crosshairs on a 50 yard target the first shot was close enough that I moved to the 100 yard target to try a group.
The trial ammunition was some old stuff in ancient Herter's cases which usually are just fine, but I wear safety glasses when shooting these rounds from the late Jurassic. The glasses are foggy and aiming through them is less than precise, but the three shots covered with a dime (quite literally, see photo below). The next group was fired with some of my handloads built to somewhat "tighter" specs. I'm not competent to measure the three shot group on the next photo -- let's just say that it is anything but disapointing!
Now, if the SKB 20 Gauge double will just shoot as well I will have had one fine day at a gun show. Even though I came away without the pot metal Ninja throwing knives and a chaw of genuine buffalo hump jerky.
An inquiry of the licensed dealer behind the table resulted in one of those stories ("belongs to an old uncle who's going blind and needs to sell, so no tax or paper work, you know"). Beside it was an extremely nice old Ithaca-SKB 200E SxS 20 gauge shotgun with some really nice wood, which belonged to the same "old blind uncle". Now, if there are two things that float my gunboat, it is old Sakos and small gauge doubles. So, I started the dance, told him I hadn't seen all of the show and needed to browse around a little more before getting serious.
After a while I drifted back to his table after sauntering among the the salt water taffy, Chinese fighting knives, and copious amounts of literature espousing every conspiracy theory you've ever heard of a many you haven't. "Okay, what will your uncle take for both?" "Dunno, but I'll call him", was the response. After a little humming and hawing on both parts, we finally hit on a dollar figure that was at least a break-even if things didn't work out with either gun. Paid the man and took off for home, heavy with guns but light of money.
The L46 came with a set of original high rings (needed for clearance on most heavy barrels). So I slapped a loose 3-9 Leupold on it (gloss, matching the pristine bluing of the rifle). When the sun got a little lower I gathered up some .222 ammunition and took it to the bench. After a slight adjustment to align the bore and the crosshairs on a 50 yard target the first shot was close enough that I moved to the 100 yard target to try a group.
The trial ammunition was some old stuff in ancient Herter's cases which usually are just fine, but I wear safety glasses when shooting these rounds from the late Jurassic. The glasses are foggy and aiming through them is less than precise, but the three shots covered with a dime (quite literally, see photo below). The next group was fired with some of my handloads built to somewhat "tighter" specs. I'm not competent to measure the three shot group on the next photo -- let's just say that it is anything but disapointing!
Now, if the SKB 20 Gauge double will just shoot as well I will have had one fine day at a gun show. Even though I came away without the pot metal Ninja throwing knives and a chaw of genuine buffalo hump jerky.
