zekeskar

Thanks for all your help, especilly re: the hammer position and that drawing! (it alwayshelps to see the physical design that you're relying on for safety) I will use the half cock as a safety position and will empty the chamber as appropriate as I usually do.

I went and shot the gun for the first time today and all went well. I'm going to practice putting the thing in half cock so that it becomes second nature. No big deal, but it isn't a trivial thing and I can see how a person could accidently let the thing slip when moving to half cock. I could also see how you might make a mistake and put it in full down without thinking.Safety at all times!

I noticed the front sight is screwed in place so that should be easy to remove if necessary. If I need to remove the rear, I'll take it in to the gunsmith. In fact, I called him and he will take a look at the trigger for me and by then I should know if the rear sight has to be removed. I'd have to say, I would like the trigger lightened.

If I go with a scope, it will probably be a compact and/or small objective size so I'm thinking/hoping the iron sights won't have to be removed at all.

This is my first time sighting a target with iron sights andI don't know if I did very well. I have to shoot again (and again, and again). It seemed like the point of impact was moving in a linequite a bit as the barrel heated up. WIth my scope/bolt gun, the accuracy changes but it's more of a spread of the group - say going from approx. an inch to 2+ inches as the barrel warms. This gun seemed to walk straight downward, even on the center line. Any ideas about this? Also, I was kind of surprised because it seemed like the barrel wasn't nearly as warm after 4 or 5 shots as my Model 70, and thus I wouldn't expect the POI to travel so much. Then again, it could all be the way I was using the sights because, like I said, I can't remember the last time I shot a rifle without a scope.

Thanks again for your comments and assistance!