Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and fairly new to single shots, so I figure I'd post some photos of my set up. I bought a gorgeous Haenel Original Aydt last year in 8.15x46R and spent several months getting it ready to shoot. I'm also a machine-shop guru so I ended up making a lot of special tools for it as well.
At first I wasn't having any luck finding good brass for it. So I decided to turn a cartridge case (based on dimensions from my sulfur cast) to fit the chamber. I then made a set of reloading tools so I could reload the case at the range. That included modifying a Lee Loader kit I had for 7.62x54R (mostly for de-priming and priming) and a hand-held lubricator device.
I bought a stop-ring bullet mold from Accurate Molds, their 32-182L (
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)) and had it machined to my barrel (0.307" lands, 0.317" grooves). The bullet has a 0.307" bore-rider nose, a stop-ring around 0.330" and the rear bands are 0.319". I'm using a lead/tin 25:1 alloy. It comes out to 184 grains. For now I'm loading the bullet into the case (not breech seating).
My first few range visits so far I've just focused on shooting black powder: GOEx or Grafs Fg, 1.5Fg, FFg that I have on hand. Once that runs out I'll switch over to Swiss brand. I also have some IMR 4227 as well when I start with the smokeless powder.
The rifle has the typical bead front sight and diopter rear sight and a fine set-trigger. So far I've been able to print around 10 inch string measure at 100 yards with 10 shots. I'm hoping with some load tweaks I can get that down to 7 or 8. I also bought some half-scale 25-ring targets. I was able to score a 166 and 168 for 10 shots with them at 100 yards. Hopefully in time and some practice I can get my off-hand skills improved further.
Anyway, it's a hoot to shoot and looking forward to many more years learning to figure this guy from the bench and off-hand. Hope you enjoy the pictures,
Cheers,