BL-22 Goodness

[sandog]

Last spring I sold my older Grade II. It was nice, but a bit fancy, what I really wanted was a Grade I. Finally got another one yesterday, this one was made in 1990.
A few dents in one side of the stock near the buttplate, and some of the finish peeling off the barrel band near the muzzle, but great shape otherwise.

I probably would have got another BL-22 sooner, but I bought several guns this summer. A Smith 686, Ruger MK IV Lite, Ruger Flattop .45, a Rossi Trapper carbine in .45, a Remington 552 and a Nylon 66, a Winchester 9422 and a restored Winchester 1906.

But I'm glad I have a BL again. I took it and the Nylon 66 out today to test some loads. I had a Skinner sight waiting for this BL-22 and put it on this morning.
I also had a .530" tall Firesight for the front, but didn't want to put it on until after the ammo testing.
Even though I knew the rig would shoot way high, I wanted to use the factory bead sight as it is smaller and I thought I'd do better on the targets.

Mini-Mags, Golden Bullets and RWS Subsonic all shot well under an inch at 25 yards, and Winchester Hyper ( 40 grain @ 1435 fps.), RWS High Velocity, Winchester M-22 and Remington CBee LR shot from 1 inch to 1 1/2".
I have a lot of the ones it did best with, so now I'll put the tall front sight on.
The Firesight bead is really fat though, I'll see how the .530" sight does elevation wise next time I go out, and then order the correct height front in a small brass bead.

[jstanfield103]

sandog
Yes you have been on a tear lately. Glad you love to shoot as much as I do. I have the Williams rear receiver peep sight on my 1980 just because it was drilled and tapped by the previous owner for that sight. It's ok because that sight does allow me to use the factory front sight.

That is a fine looking BL-22 you have. Being a 1990 model I bet the trigger is nicely broken in. My 1980 sure is. Congratulations on such a fine shooter. I had mine out today also. Love them.

[sandog]

Still chasing the correct front sight for my BL-22.
From my calculations, I needed a .570" high front to go with my Skinner peep.
I ordered one (Marbles) from Skinner and got it yesterday.

Today I took 3 of my .22 rifles out to shoot.
The Nylon 66 looks huge here, it's not, just the other two are so small.
All have 20" barrels ( well the 66 has a 19.5" barrel).

When I sold the first BL-22 I had in the 80's, I though it nice but a bit too small and light to hold steady. In 2012 I bought a FLD Octagon BL-22, but was pretty disappointed in the accuracy of it, so it went down the road.

Now that I'm older, this BL seems just right, not too small or overly light.
My 9422 feels big and heavy, and the Mountie feels like it weighs a ton !

Well, I zeroed the BL then shot a couple 50 yard targets with RWS HV HP.
First was a bit right so I adjust windage, and shot another group:


Groups are a bit high and the Skinner is all the way down, so it looks like I'm going to need a .580" sight.
I don't think marbles makes one taller than .570", so I might have to get that fat .600"Skinner brass blade. Oh well, I'll get it right eventually.
Putting the fastFire dot back on might happen. I like a peep but a front sight that's almost 3/4" tall looks pretty goofy.

[sandog]

I think I figured out a way to utilize the .570” sight I just got, and get my groups a bit lower.
In a previous attempt to lower my Skinner, I took out the aperture, spun the post in a half turn deeper, and reinserted the aperture.

This morning I turned the sight over and realized if I ground a bit off the bottom of the post, I could turn the post down another 180 degrees.
Now the aperture is nearly kissing the sight base, but I’ll probably be able to get zeroed at 50 yards, without having to go to an even taller front sight.