I'm old and over weight and diabetic and out of shape and have garments and ancestors and a bone in my foot so it's been hunker down seemingly forever now. But it has given me lots of time to treat my handguns and rifles to a deserved Spa Day. The most recent has been my 1949 Remington 241 that has been sitting for about twenty years or more watching its newer brethren like the Ruger 10/22 Takedown get to go WalkAbout.
But no longer. I got it out and after it got accustomed to the bright light gave it a Spa Day with a full body massage as well as detailed cleansing (no cucumber wrap though), I have some limits. The action simply didn't action at all at first and the old lube was more like cosmoline but gradually everything began moving freely and true significant dents began appearing on the snap cap rims.
Saturday morning I got to my local range bright and early, early enough to see the lights come on in the store front and the owner was gracious enough to say I could even turn the lane lights on. The brass from the previous day littered the floor but I knew where the brush was so I cleared around about three lanes and started function tests. As always, initially one round only, then two, then five and finally the full ten rounds of 22LR.
The old gun was flawless; no failure to feed, no failure to fire, no failure to eject, no hot casings on various body parts. Then I tried three different cartridges brands, two Remington and one Federal. All were from Bulk Pack yet every round fired; it was just as I remembered it to be. Frankly it was far more reliable and accurate and just plain fun than the 10/22.
Once I was sure that everything was working I shut the lanes and lights down and went back out to the store front. The owner wanted to see what I had been shooting. He was amazed by how well everything fit together and considering the fact that it was older than his dad I think he was impressed.
But no longer. I got it out and after it got accustomed to the bright light gave it a Spa Day with a full body massage as well as detailed cleansing (no cucumber wrap though), I have some limits. The action simply didn't action at all at first and the old lube was more like cosmoline but gradually everything began moving freely and true significant dents began appearing on the snap cap rims.
Saturday morning I got to my local range bright and early, early enough to see the lights come on in the store front and the owner was gracious enough to say I could even turn the lane lights on. The brass from the previous day littered the floor but I knew where the brush was so I cleared around about three lanes and started function tests. As always, initially one round only, then two, then five and finally the full ten rounds of 22LR.
The old gun was flawless; no failure to feed, no failure to fire, no failure to eject, no hot casings on various body parts. Then I tried three different cartridges brands, two Remington and one Federal. All were from Bulk Pack yet every round fired; it was just as I remembered it to be. Frankly it was far more reliable and accurate and just plain fun than the 10/22.
Once I was sure that everything was working I shut the lanes and lights down and went back out to the store front. The owner wanted to see what I had been shooting. He was amazed by how well everything fit together and considering the fact that it was older than his dad I think he was impressed.