Ballard #3F

[marlinman93]

Pretty much completed now. After some cure time on the forearm finish I'll rub it out and then polish with paste wax for the final step.



Put an old Lyman scope on it, but for testing I'll put a spare 20x Super Targetspot on it.

[Bill in Oregon]

A worthy addition to an impressive collection!

[black river smith]

Very nice work.

[Bronco]

Beautiful !!!!

[marlinman93]

Thanks guys!
I'm very pleased with the end result, and the extra heavy barrel. Hope it shoots great now!

[4t5]

Marlinman , is that gun meant to be shot off the bicep ?

[marlinman93]

Marlinman , is that gun meant to be shot off the bicep ?

Most Swiss buttplate offhand scheutzen rifles were actually shot off a bit higher than the bicep. They were close to the shoulder, but off just enough the bottom hook sat in your armpit, and top hook was above the bicep. Old pictures and drawings show shooters with their elbow raised almost parallel to the ground to keep the prongs high, and tucked in close to the shoulder.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Chambered in?

[Ysabel Kid]

Darn, that is one good-looking rifle!

[marlinman93]

Chambered in?

Guess I forgot since I'd mentioned it in a previous post. These were in .22 Long, and it's still a .22, but .22LR now. Old .22 Longs often chamber a .22LR and the original barrel also did.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Chambered in?

Guess I forgot since I'd mentioned it in a previous post. These were in .22 Long, and it's still a .22, but .22LR now. Old .22 Longs often chamber a .22LR and the original barrel also did.

Oh man, what a beautiful 22 rimfire. I still see the CCI 22 Longs occasionally and have been buying a few at a time to build up inventory.

[marlinman93]

Chambered in?

Guess I forgot since I'd mentioned it in a previous post. These were in .22 Long, and it's still a .22, but .22LR now. Old .22 Longs often chamber a .22LR and the original barrel also did.

Oh man, what a beautiful 22 rimfire. I still see the CCI 22 Longs occasionally and have been buying a few at a time to build up inventory.

I have old boxes of .22 Longs in my collection of old ammo, but wouldn't ever shoot them. I do shoot mostly standard velocity or target .22 ammo simply because it usually groups better. But the Ballard #3 action is the same size as all Ballard actions, just made from cast steel instead of forged steel. So they can handle even the high velocity .22LR ammo well. I've used some hotter ammo playing around shooting out to 300 yds. with my .22 Ballards just to see if it grouped better at longer distance. Didn't really see any noticeable change in group sizes.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I've also got a bunch of CCI Standard Velocity that I need for a Marlin 1897 (first year) that doesn't have the Hi-Speed capable bolt. I'm glad they still make that stuff.

[marlinman93]

The Green Mountain barrel shoots excellent! Kept the 20 shot group under .5" both width and height, even with the one shot pulled left. It measured .440" tall and .465" wide at 25 yds. I should have taken my Schoyen Ballard .22 with Badger barrel along to compare the two, but had another .22 rifle, and four 9mm pistols I also wanted to shoot also.
Very happy with the $91 Green Mountain barrel!

[GunnyMack]

Looks like you have a winner there Val!!

[marlinman93]

Looks like you have a winner there Val!!

Thanks!
Started out saying I'd shoot a 5 shot group. Then it looked so good I went for 10 shots. It soon became one ragged hole, and I figured I'd look for flyers. None appeared until I felt the shooting table move. The 100 yd. range was busy, so I went to the silhouette range that has freestanding target frames. But it has wooden tables, not the concrete tables the 100 yd. range has. Not exactly perfect, so I had one foot against a leg to keep it steady and unconsciously let off on my foot pressure. No big deal, it had already shown what it could do. Next trip I'll take my Caldwell Rock BR and setup at the 100 yd. range to see how well it shoots at that distance.
The ammo was inexpensive Aguila Extra Standard velocity. The rifle seemed to like it, and it was consistent.

[GunnyMack]

Cheap ammo, definitely a keeper!

[marlinman93]

Cheap ammo, definitely a keeper!

Almost afraid to try some various target ammo as if it's even better I might get hooked on expensive ammo!
When the weather improves I will return and do some 100 yd. tests using my Caldwell Rock BR and various ammos. The benches at the 100 yd. range are also concrete, and much nicer to hold off.
I took my fairly new to me Model 37 Remington also to compare, and the two rifles shot almost exactly the same, which pleased me even more to have the Ballard keep up with a target rifle.

[GunnyMack]

Back when I did my first 10/22 I put a heavy barrel Shilen on it. It shot CCI Green Tag the best. Then it liked a couple different Ely loads. I even tried the new fangled Federal Olympic stuff at $13-15 per 50! That stuff shot more like a shotgun. I had 3 different lots and none shot good. Even tried it from a buddy's Remington 40x which didn't like it either. I went so far as contacting Federal and they sent me a brick ( of different lots) and none of it shot well. I was completely happy with Green Tag, half the cost and twice as many percent box.

[marlinman93]

Back when I did my first 10/22 I put a heavy barrel Shilen on it. It shot CCI Green Tag the best. Then it liked a couple different Ely loads. I even tried the new fangled Federal Olympic stuff at $13-15 per 50! That stuff shot more like a shotgun. I had 3 different lots and none shot good. Even tried it from a buddy's Remington 40x which didn't like it either. I went so far as contacting Federal and they sent me a brick ( of different lots) and none of it shot well. I was completely happy with Green Tag, half the cost and twice as many percent box.

I have some leftover PMC target I used to use when shooting adult smallbore. Also some Federal Gold Match, and a few other standard velocity .22's to try. Hope the PMC doesn't do better as I only have maybe 500 rds. and they quit offering it.