Small game rifle,freefloat modification.

Heres my only firearm,at the moment,its Zastava 99 precision,from year 2008.
In caliber 22 WMR (no,its NOT just any 22. sr,nor .22 lr). Its about the smallest possible caliber,that is legally approved for hunting atleast finnish edible game,from rabbits to most birds,and im not interested to hunt for other than edible creatures so this modest,cheap rifle suits me just fine.

Finnish regulations are pretty tight on hunting weapons,telling whats the needed power of bullet impact at certain distances,to hunt specific species,and any kind of pistol based gun is prohibited from any hunting,but for trappers its allowed sometimes to carry a single shot pistol/revolver,sometimes even a double action models but you have to have good explanations to get a one-hand gun even for putting down the game in the trap-cages etc,since you can do it with rifles too,and i dont argue at all.

Well my rifle covers the areas by the law too,and this aint as dangerous as some 308 's etc,as this small ammunition doesnt have that huge speed and distances,but still you better be careful about the backgounds where you hunt,since even a 22 wmr is dangerous up to 3 kilometers,compared to basic "moose" rifles 5 to 7 kilometers. So you cant shoot rabbits from the backyards willow bushes just like that :).

With the rifle i have Tasco's Varmint 6-24 x 42mm MIL-DOT scope,it also has parallax adjustment. Its attached to rifle with British  Sports Match-branded see-thru legs,that allow me to shoot also with the rifles own factory equipped sights in case of scope breaking up or if i want to adjust those for closer  distances. Also i have attached Shooters Ridge  bipods adjustable from 6" to 9",these are pretty solid and well made Harris copies.

At first when i got this,i snapped a 50 box of Sellier & Bellots JHP ( jacketed hollow point ) bullets,that have copper jacket,and its cut in half,and the rest of the bullets tip is made out of lead,and ending into blunt hollow  tip. And then i drove to my my buddy whos in this old huning club,they own a large cabin in the local woods,and in their premises they have a simple shooting range reaching up to bit over 100 meters. So,in goes the first 5 shots in to the 5 shot clip this rifle has and im trying to get the scope dialed for 50 meters distance and after some 13 shots its in,im getting tiny 5 shot patterns in,varying from 12 to 32 millimeter diameter,not bad for coarse rifle lile this and as the time goes on and im getting used to its shotgun-like trigger,they keep getting smaller,so its time to set the aims for 100 meters and after six 5-shot series,im again getting some 30-35mm diameter patterns,and with Mil-Dot crosshair its easy to aim into the right spots. Then i run out of ammo and its getting dark plus all day it was raining,and the rain gets just worse so we pack our range gear and head back home. I was happy with the firs results but i want better accuracy as back in the day i really shot well.

Now,yesterday i had some hours to play with the rifle,at home,and i kept staring at the joint of barrel and the stock,and i had to put the gun in parts to see did i see it right...and yes,the barrel was tightly yanking against the barrel and this i know is not good if you want the rifle to shoot better,smaller patterns especially if youre firing at faster speed. The barrel Has to "float" in my opinion,meaning that when the bullet is in its chamber,the amount of barrel left free,will be free from touching the wooden stock,its only held against the stock from areas between the (in this particular rifle) two bolts that keep the bolt-system and the barrel attached in to the stock.

So i went thru my toolbox and and as it was pretty late,i couldnt start using any powertools,instead i used different sanding papers,file and a rasp,and after just an hour or so,i had a good,3 millimeter clearance with out Any touch between barrel and the stock, so i was satisfied and just sanded the surfaces to smooth,and oiled the whole stock,and left it to suck the oil in for a while.

While the stock was drying i started to look in to the trigger system and the bolt.
The bolt wasnt acting like it should,to my experience,so i put it in parts and i sanded with fine papers and polished the parts alo a bit with my cheap mini-drill and metal polishing wax,and after i was done i washed the parts,oiled and assembled the bolt,and it was acting clearly better,not like 1000 euro costing rifles bolt but better :) . There wasnt much to to to the actual trigger mechanism but a little smoothing here, and polishing there and i got it better too. The one clear thing,making the trigger to act so poorly,was the eastern way to pour in this sticky,almost hard,glue-like oil that sure makes the parts jam and stick...but also,its good stuff for storage,preventing steel from moist and rust. Im sure if you only wipe and wash away the parts,the rifle would gain from it positively.

Now i have 50pc box of CCI 's " 22 Mag Gamepoint " ammo,theyre jacketed soft points,having just a tiny visible lead-tip,running  1875 FPS,and 40 Grain,intended for small game hunting,and if i can ill be visiting the hunting clubs range today to see how these bullets act with the free-floating barrel.

Next modifications will include - i think - replacing the scope mounts with lower ones,removing the original sights, cutting the barrel shorter and adding a recoil removing silencer and making the butt of stock adjustable so its fits better to my cheek. More than these i wont be doing as im chasing now a russian Baikal IJ-18 single shot,folding,take-a-part rifle in bigger caliber,to have a legal weapon for bigger game,like deer.