Ugh, Canoe Gun NOT Fixed, and Other Stuff

Last weekend I was upstate at my friend's cabin. We had a good trip and I got to shoot the canoe gun a little. Unfortunately it is not fixed. The hammer stopped holding at full cock so I’m looking at sending it out for repair before I completely screw it up. Today I reached out to Jim Chambers Flintlocks, who is the current maker of Siler locks, to see if they'll service it. It's an older lock that may have been built from a kit so I'm not expecting a freebie. <grrr>

While it was still working, I patterned a load of 1-1/8 oz. of #5 shot on top of 70 grains of Goex 2Fg. This is a square load. I used a 1/8” lubed over powder wad, the shot inside a paper shot cup made from a Post-It note, and a thin over shot card. The target was at 15 yards and POA was center hold.

The SR-1 target I shot at has an 8" bullseye. Here's a closer pic:

I’m happy with the pattern.

I also put 150 rounds thru my Ruger LCP .22.

• 50 rounds of CCI Mini Mag solids were flawless although the slide failed to lock back after the 50th shot.
• 50 rounds of Federal 550 bulk pack had a couple failures to fire. Both rounds fired when struck on another spot on the rim. This is par for the course with that ammo in other guns.
• 50 rounds of Federal Punch, which is a 29 grain nickel plated flat point in an extended, nickeled case. This had several failures to eject. I’m not writing this off yet because the gun was pretty dirty by the time I got to it.

I’m at the point where I’d be comfortable carrying it loaded with Mini Mag solids as long as it’s cleaned and lubed.

I also put 50 rounds of .38 full charge wadcutters through my S&W Model 15. I shot about half at the man-sized silhouette we have about 70 yards out. My hit ratio was probably around 50%, and except for 6 shots was all fired double action. I'm pretty sure that the Model 15 would be the absolute last gun I ever sell.

And here’s a doe that stood looking at me for a minute or two Friday afternoon, downrange near the silhouette.

The other major activity was a trip to Zett's Fish Farm to pick up some fish for my friend's quarter-acre pond. He bought some minnows, shiners, and large mouth bass. We're hoping that in a couple years he'll have a balanced ecosystem in the pond with not only those fish, but bluegills, catfish, and frogs (those last three are already in it).

We have our next trip planned for late October when the early antlerless deer season is open, along with small game and upland birds.