Buckstix:
That's one of the neatest DRs I've ever seen. I've been a Martini fan for years (mostly the small frames - Cadets and BSA .22s, but I own a Swinburn's Patent Martini that's off being restored) and I'd never seen the action used on a DR before.
Quite the clever concept.
I hope you'll take it out and use it to take a deer or an elk.
Rem
Hello Remington40x,
Thanks for the reply.
As it turns out, This year will be the first year we have elk hunting in Wisconsin. May 1st there will be a lottery for 5 tags. If my name gets drawn, I'll take this rifle.
I have this neat rifle up and running. Below is my latest shooting results. It only took about 45 rounds with testing 6 different loads to find its sweet spot. I might do a little more tweaking because the barrels are still crossing. But even so, with the way its grouping, I'm more than pleased. Groups slightly over an inch at 50 yards should result in about 4" groups at 150 yards. Its relatively flat shooting out that range. At 150 yards it still has over 800 ft/lbs of energy. That's plenty enough for anything here in Wisconsin. Also, the pressures with this load are mild. The fired cases drop easily back into the chambers. This allows for neck sizing only which will result in long case life.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And ...... Here's an update 4/28/18
I tried some Hornady 45 cal Flex-Tip bullets today. They weigh 325 grains, which is very close to the weight of one of the original bullets for the 11.6x65R. Back in the 1890's, the original bullet weighed 20.9 grams. ( = 323 grains )
And what a welcome surprise! Not only did they "un-cross" but they grouped better than any other load / bullet combination tested. Also, because these bullets have a "point" as opposed to a flat nose, these bullet have a higher ballistic coefficient. This, with the slight increase in weight, results in the ft/lbs energy increasing by about 150 ft/lbs over the entire 150 yard range.
I'm done! This will be my "best load" for this rifle from now on. It took only 92 shots to come to this final grouping.
.
.
.
.
I just had a friend email me to say I should have quit after the first 2 shots, or at least I should have taken a picture of that first pair. They were 1/2" apart. Well, OK, I did take a picture.
.
.
