I arrived at the hunting lease Friday afternoon with a light rain falling.

Rain?? We don't care about no stinking rain. I want to shoot the new .58 Green Mountain Renegade!

Well our shooting bench has a cover. So as long as the wind isn't blowing too hard I can shoot in the rain.



So I hauled all of the gear out the the bench, quick stepping through the rain, and set up to shoot.

After setting a target out at 25 yards, I dumped 95 grains of FFg GOEX down the bore followed by a .575 cast ball in a .016 patch lubed with olive oil.

I took the very first shot with the sights set the way they came on the barrel and - HooRah! - plunked it into the bull.

The gun is real comfortable shooting with that load. Recoil is such that I could shoot all day without discomfort. I took two more shots at 25 yards. Here's the target with the first three shots out of the new barrel.





That ball and patch combination loaded comfortably. I could start the ball with either a very light bump on the short starter or a hard push with the ball of my thumb.

After adjusting the sights a little, I put a fresh target out at 50 yards and reloaded. Took two shots and adjusted the sight again. Here's that target.



I was really pumped after shots #3, 4 & 5 - you bet`cha! Especially because I was having a real problem with the sight picture at that range. These TC style sights with the "blade & bead" up front and "U-notch in a shallow V" at the rear are the type that give me the most trouble.

At about this point I'm getting "a little damp" from walking out to the target in the rain, and my nylon running shoes are getting squishy. (Yeah, I wear running shoes - but that doesn't mean I can run. ) When I remove a target from the frame it's so wet that I have to handle it gingerly and lay it out on the bench to dry.

With a fresh target out at 75 yards, I loaded up again and took five shots. I shouted a big Oh Yeah after shot #1 and a whispered a much quieter Uh-Oh after shot #3.



That's not a good 75 yard group. Is it the gun, the load, or the shooter? Almost certainly the shooter.

I went out looking for patches and found these.



Almost every one had tears or burn throughs around the ball - most likely from the very sharp edges of the lands and at the crown of the new barrel. I'm not going to worry about that yet. First priority will be to get a peep sight on this baby (new sight is on the way thanks to a forum member. )

OK, I won't expect much until the new sight is on, but let's try 100 yards anyway.




What with the rain, those sights and my eyes, I was not all that disappointed in that target. Was pretty much surprised I hit it at all at 100 yards.

Well the rain is getting harder, the wind is picking up, and I'm mighty damp. But lets try one more round anyway. I put a target out at 50 yards, dropped the charge to 85 grains, and tried a thick .024 denim patch. I had to use a foot long length of 2x2 to hammer the short starter to get the ball started. After starting I could seat it with the range rod without any difficulty.

Here are the patches from that round.



And here's the target.



Well, that STINKS! It's time to put this gun away until the new sight is installed - and time to put on some dry clothes and break out the Scotch.