My new .44-75 Ballard

[Don McDowell]

Just a curious deal. Might be the torque from that big 50 doing it. Micheal Jackson runs 28 inch MVA scopes on his guns, using the DZ mounts he hasn't said anything about having trouble with the crosshairs turning over on him.

[Kurt]

It's not just the .50. It's also in the .45-90 or the heavy .44-100 and the .44-90bn's.
I dropped Dan Zimmerman a line asking some questions on his scope. Pretty much made up my mind on it.

[Don McDowell]

Looking forward to your report on that DZ scope.

[Sarge]

Kurt,
Can I ask why the 44/75 Ballard?
Sarge

[Kurt]

Sarge.
The .44-75 Ballard is a rare caliber from the mid 1870's. It was used for the matches and modern day brass can duplicate this cartridge to the exact dimensions. The 2.6 brass can be cut down to 2.5" and sized down to .44.
I favor the .44 calibers anyway and this falls between the .45-2.4 and the .45-2.6 with lighter recoil and so far very good accuracy with the test loads I have shot these last few days. So far I shot close to 130 ladder loads using the 505 gr elliptical bullet cast form a KAL mould using the Olde Eynsford 2F Powder and KIK 2f and 1.5 and I have not shot a group over 4" at 200 yards with loads from 78 gr to 86 gr. The best load so far is 2-1/8" with 84 gr and the of the 2F OE powder with the 505 gr KAL bullet and the scope mounted on the rifle.

Kurt

[Nuclearcricket]

Kurt, like Don, I will also be very interested in your review of the new DZ scope. I can fully understand Don's and others frustration with the rotating reticule. In looking at the DZ scope pictures in their website I can see how they have solved that problem by eliminating the rotating ring and using a rail that is not permanently attached to the scope body. I can definitely see an advantage of making the scope they way they do.
I will also be interested in finding out what diameter front and rear lens's they use, as well as the outside diameter's of the objective and ocular lens bells. I am pretty sure, but not positive that the NRA rules limit those diameters to 1".
I have been playing around for a while making my own scope and just by using easily available lens, I was limited to using 20mm front and rear lens's. This allows me bell diameters of 7/8". One of these years I will get the thing finished and mounted up on something and see if and how it actually works. Last time I was up to Ridgway to see friends, I did take it along just to look at the animals with it and it didn't look too bad. One could easily see the ram and it looked like it would give a nice sight picture. It appears to be approx. 6X but would be nice to put it side by side with an MVA of known power just to check.
With the length of the DZ scope at 20", do they feel that this is long enough to prevent the front sight showing up in the sight picture when raised to 600 yards or beyond?
Also will be interested in finding out how the DZ scope is set up to adjust for paralex.
So many questions, and so few resources.
Sam

[Kurt]

Sam.

Their add says that it is NRA approved. The parallax adjustment's was one of my questions I asked in their Ask Dan a question section but I still have not gotten a response from them. I guess I will have to call them.
My MVA 28" scope I see the front sight shadow and at the 1K I look right through the front sight hood using the higher Creedmoor mounts. It does not seem to bother.
Yesterday before leaving for the range I put a drop of fingernail polish in the screw slot under the ring and snugged up the screws. I will probably regret doing this in the future but it's no good the way it was.

[Nuclearcricket]

I understand your feelings on the reticule moving. Fingernail polish isn't such a bad thing to use to help lock things down. The up side is that a little acetone or fingernail polish remover (the same stuff) will remove it and allow you to remove and/or move things at some point in the future.
Yes it would have to be NRA legal to appeal to the most shooters. I was just curious as to what sizes they use. Guess I will wait till you get yours and then you can fill me in.
The scope that I have been working on when everything is set right is around 19" or a little more. I was thinking of making the next one longer, maybe 23 to 25. However a lot of that will depend on what and how the lens's are set up and what I can purchase that will work. Making the scope and the parts is not hard, its getting the lens's figured out and set up thats a pain in the behind.
Sam

[Sarge]

Kurt- many thanks for the response. Can I ask the diameter of your bullet?
Sarge

[Kurt]

Well It's finally done. The Oil is dry and everything is put together.
Now I have to put it to use.

Kurt