Range report, Martini, additional

I'm adding some to this, tacked on at the bottom

Being too tired today to do anything really constructive, like clean the house, I loaded up after lunch and hit the outdoor range nearest. I wanted to do two things in particular; test the Martini model 12 at 50 yards with different ammo, and check the zero on my Remington 512. So with half a dozen different brands of ammo in the box(Federal Lightning, Federal Gold Medal Match, Eley Sport, PMC Pistol Match, CCI Green Tag, and Aguila SSS just to try out) off I went.

It's hot and humid today, but the wind wasn't trying to blow the target stands down, and was coming almost directly uprange at you. I shot a 5-shot group at 50 yards with each brand first. I've mentioned having had a chance to shoot four various models of Martini, and this one gave no surprise; it shot at least as accurately with the Lightning as it did with the match stuff, and better with it than any but the Eley Sport. The largest group out of any was about 1.5"; with these two a little under 1". I'm not counting the Aguila; out of three shots, two would string vertically and one would tumble. Oddly, the tumble was always vertical, and it hit horizontally right in line with the other two and lower.

Having an almost empty range and the time, I set up targets at 100 yards. If you read the original report on this rifle, you may have gone to this site and read up on Martinis. In the old ad was this:

"B.S.A. rifles are consistently capable, in the hands of a good shot, of
grouping within a 2-inch circle at 100 yards, or a 4-inch circle at 200 yards.
B.S.A. .22 Target Rifles are not allowed to leave the factory unless they
conform to a very high standard based on these performances."

and this:
 "'PARKERIFLED' BARRELS SET THE PRESENT DAY STANDARD OF
  ACCURACY, a 2in CIRCLE AT 100 YARDS."

and they weren't kidding.  With both the Fed Lightning and
Eley Sport it consistently shot sub-2" groups at 100.  The
best with the Fed was 1 3/16", the best with the Eley 1.5". 
And it wasn't one-time luck, with this rifle I could shoot
groups like this consistently.  A somewhat abused .22 at
least seventy years old with a relined barrel...
Damn, they made these good!

No, it's NOT for sale, Kim.

Two things I thought I'd mention.  This rifle(almost all of them)
have peep sights.  The rear has an adjustable aperture with six
different size holes, and the front is a 'tunnel' sight.  It's a
tube with inside threads at the back, a male portion that screws
in, and a vertical slot about halfway down its length.  You back
off the male section to open the slot,then drop in whatever
insert you choose.  They come in a variety of shapes, most being
either different diameter rings or different thickness  posts.
One thing you can run into is that new inserts like the Shaver
inserts from Brownells are very precisely cut; change from one
to another, your point of impact should be the same.  A lot of
the older ones are bent a little off- center, either from when
made or from being dropped or bent, so if you change one of them,
you may well have to re-zero.

Also, of the half-dozen of these I've seen, two of the front
sights were not very tight in the dovetail; so you'll want to
check that and tighten it up if necessary.  And I think that
about covers it.