As most know, I was at my wit's end with this piece. It simply had me stumped as far as getting it to shoot consistantly and such with a multitude of loads. Nothing was working for me. Well, Rangers have a few habits that are hard to break. One is never accepting failure. We just really don't give up and quit unless shot to pieces, and even then....well you get the picture. I wasn't ready to quit on this weapon in spite of how poorly it peformed. And how mad I was at it......
Over the weekend I fire lapped the bore with a series of 12 rounds. Then last night I broke it down and hand lapped it to where I was satisied with the results. This was, in effect, my last attempt to get it right. If the lapping failed to produce results, then the weapon really was a poor one indeed.
This afternoon, in a light rain even, I set up at 50 yds with this weapon and some loads that are tack drivers in my 629. I wish I could get the pic to work here to show the target, but I'm no computer tech whiz! But the results were remarkable! I fired a full mag of 11 rounds into a single ragged hole that measured just over 1.5" centered above the bull! I about fell out of my chair when I looked at the target with the glass. It was like I was shooting another weapon...
Most of my career as a gunsmith was spent with revolvers, a few antique ML's, and in the end, 1911 platform, building weapons primarily for the police trade. After all, I was a cop for decades too. That was normal I suppose huh? Although trained on long guns in my apprenticeship, I had little to do with leverguns later, as they were not a gun that cops used. I was thinking in only "one box" with the Browning...duhhh!!!!! Hand me a box of loose parts and scraps 'o stuff and I'll build you a pistol. Hand me a bunch of longer stuff and I'll still try to build a pistol!
So now I have a Browning that is well capable of producing tight accuracy and with consistency that was not possible before the loud popping sound occurred! That was my head popping from my posterior!! I learned much from this. I'm one heck of a pistolsmith....but a marginal gunsmith with a levergun! I know this now....
So in closing, I'm a happy camper once again. The Browning is shooting like it was ment to, and is no longer looked upon as an evil curse.....Griff, if you won't throw rocks at me, I think I'll keep this one in the rack now
Thanks all for letting me eat my roadkill crow here with all watching so to speak. I learned a valuable leason this weekend. That is; to stop thinking like a pistolsmith with a levergun!!
Oh, and please pass the salt. This crow needs a little something to make it go down better! 
Wade
The old master gunsmith that taught me would be beating me over the head with an old rusty barrel if he know how I had acted!! 
