Range Time With The Savage .243 Win

I pulled the .243 out of storage today and went to the range with two boxes of ammo. I took Winchester 100 grain Power point Plus loads and HSM 75 grain V-Max loads.

I settled on the Win Power Point Plus loads for now. I got a 3/4 inch center to center group at 75 yards and a 1 inch group at 150 yards. I do not handload anymore and thought the 75 grain V-max would be a good buy, however I can't seem to get them to shoot well in my gun.

Anyone out there who owns a Savage and uses factory ammo that shoots real well, drop me a note on what you are using. There are no flys on the Power points, however they are a bit much for shooting woodchucks etc. They are fine for whitetails with lung shots, however I have never hunted deer with the .243 and would like to find an accurate pleasant to shoot lighter ballistic tip or V-Max type of load.

Dan

.270 Winchester Revisted / Ruger Model 77 Mark II

My son Jeremy is coming home this fall during our NY whitetail season, perhaps catching the last week of bow season and the beginning of gun season. Today I thought I would do a little range work with the Ruger .270 which I believe is his favorite rifle. He has taken two deer with that rifle two years ago including a 146 7/8 buck that made NYS's Big Buck club. During that hunt he used Federal's 150 grain Hi Shok round nose ammo. The Ruger likes Federal ammunition better than any other brand based on many range sessions. The gun also shoots 150 grain loads better than most 130 grain loads. The exception to that was the best group ever fired with this gun at 200 yards which was the now DISCONTINUED 130 grain Federal Hi Shok loads.

For preparation for the hunt two years ago, I shot groups at 100 yards as follows:


Federal 150 grain round nose Hi Shoks (NO longer made) 1.5 inch 3 shot group / 100 yards
Federal 130 grain Hi Shoks (NO longer made) 1.25" group / 100 yards
Federal 150 grain Power Shoks round nose 1.75" / 100 yards
Remington 150 grain round nose core lokts 1.00" / 100 yards

I repeated my procedure for checking stock screws in the same manner as my last range test with the Ruger .338 Federal hawkeye by removing the barreled action from the stock and tightening the FRONT screw very tight FIRST to pull the action down into the stock. I then tightened the rear screws a little at a time until they were both tight.

Today's range session consisted of 130 grain Remington core lokts which shot dismal groups at 100 yards and beyond. The Winchester 150 grain power point round nose load shot around 1 3/4 inches at 150 yards. The Winchester 150 grain Partition Gold loads shot a slightly smaller group than the power points.

Today's hands down winner was the Federal 150 grain Power Shok round nose loads. I fired two groups with this particular load at 75 yards and both groups were in a tight cluster . The first group was 1/2 inch center to center/BOTTOM picture and the second group (TOP photo) was AFTER 3 clicks LEFT and 1 click UP and measured 3/4 inch center to center. I will hunt deer with that type of performance any day of the week.

I then cleaned the gun and have put it away for this fall for my son. Jeremy IF you end up reading this make a note and put it in your wallet that IF you purchase any ammo for this fall's hunt, make sure  it is Federal 150 grain power shok round nose loads.

This gun is a tack driver with this load and previous tests have been out to 150 yards and beyond. I tend to sight my rifles in for the area being hunted and since the majority of shots are well under 150 yards, I do not go the usual recommended 3 inches high at 100 yards which would enable one to make 300 yards shots. We normally hunt a mixed terrain of crop fields and eastern farm wood lots.

Here are the photos of the rifle, ammo and targets from today's range session. Again if you own a Ruger and it doesn't shoot well for you be sure to check out my recent post on tightening stock screws and play the Ruger authorized assembly video and then try another range session with your Ruger bolt action rifle. Like any rifle your gun may like different loads than mine as most rifles are a "Law Unto Themselves In That Regard", however if you don't  tighten the Ruger stock screws correctly, you could burn a lot of ammo and never be happy with your groups.

Dan

"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

TIP For Accurizing A Ruger MDL77 Mark II or Hawkeye Rifle

I LOVE Ruger rifles. I have had trigger jobs done on every Ruger I ever owned, including the NEW Hawkeye series with the improved LC6 trigger. It was improved but not good enough. I also am a big fan of the integral Ruger rings and think personally they are the best set up in the business. One less thing to worry about on an out of state or wilderness hunt. There are NO tiny base screws to come loose or sheer off if the rifle is dropped.

One tip I find makes a BIG difference is properly tightening the stock screws for best performance and accuracy.

In a nut shell, loosen all the stock screws, then TIGHTEN the front screw first, which pulls the barreled action down snugly into the stock. IF you have a torque wrench or screw driver the front screw should be tightened to 7.92 ft lbs of torque. THEN tighten the rear screws equally by alternating tension equally on each screw until both are also TIGHT. This simple procedure will normally turn your Ruger into a minute of angle or better rifle. Combined with a tuned up or replacement trigger and a decent scope most Ruger's will shoot better than you and I can.

Here is a link to a Ruger approved video on reassembling your action into the stock or simply to loosen all the screws and then start with the front screw tightening it first, then alternating turn on the rear screws to keep them even while tightening. You do NOT necessarily need a torque screw driver or wrench to accomplish this. It works.

Case in point: I took the Ruger Hawkeye .338 Federal to the range twice this week. The first time, I shot a 1 3/4 inch 2 shot group with both the 200 grain fusion and the 210 grain Nosler partition load at a measured 100 yards. BOTH the Nosler partition and Federal Fusion shoot almost identical size groups although the Partitions seem to shoot about 1.5 inches left of the Fusions for some reason at 100 yards. I knew from last summer that the gun had shot much better than 1 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards.. It was windy but I didn't think that was the problem. I took my own advice and disassembled the Ruger rifle's action from the synthetic stock and then  RE-assembled it per my own instructions and guess what:

Today I RE-zeroed the gun and shot a two shot 3/8 inch group at 25 yards and  a 3 shot 7/8 inch group at 150 yards with the 200 grain Federal Fusion load. This was a dramatic difference from a week ago. I remembered taking the barreled action out of the stock last fall after hunting season and didn't pay much attention to tightening the front stock screw first. It DOES make a difference.

The KEY to getting the best accuracy is tightening the front stock screw FIRST which pulls the barreled action down snugly into the stock s opposed to tightening the rear screws first or all three together.



Dan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KGAYS91BDk

Hope this shooting tip helps you with your Ruger rifle.

Sighting In Tips

It is that time of year again and if you have not already sighted in your choosen weapon be it shotgun, rifle or muzzle loader, now is the time to do it. If you keep your gun sighted in and practice year round, then you can probably skip this article anyway.

Checklist:

•  check stock screws to make sure nothing has come loose
•  check your scope mount screws for same purpose / also check your scope to make sure it is NOT canted left or right of center of the bore and that your eye relief is set correctly for you.
•  KNOW if your scope has 1/4 min clicks (most common), 1/2 min clicks (on a lot of 1.5X4, 1.5X5X32 type shotgun scopes) or 1/8 min clicks
•  When is the last time you thouroughly cleaned your gun?

First what do I mean by 1/4 minute clicks on your elevation and windage adjustments? GOOD question and over the years, I am absolutely amazed the number of people I meet at the local gun range who do not have a clue what I am talking about.

Definition: What does the term minute of angle mean in regards to sighting in your rifle?

ans: A circle contains 360 degrees and each degree has 60 minutes in it. At 100 yards, one minute then = exactly 1.047 inches. Growing up as a kid, we had an old saying around the farm when working on equipment and other chores that when finished with a job, "It is close enough for government work".

If one fires 3 shots into one inch or less at 100 yards, the rifle is commonly called a "Minute of angle rifle" (AT LEAST with that particular load. In other words it may put 3 shots of 150 grain fodder into 3/4 of an inch and put the same brand of 180 grain bullets into 2.5 inches.

OK then, how does that relate to the 1/4 min, 1/2 min and 1/8 min clicks on my scope adjustments? BRAVO, another GOOD question.

Let's suppose for a min that you are getting a 1 inch group at 100 yards, the center of which is 4 inches to the RIGHT of your point of aim, and 2 inches higher than your point of aim. Let's futher imagine that you are shooting a quality .308 Win rifle with a decent scope on board.

What changes would I make with a 1/4 min click scope? The 1/4 min scope by definition means that every click on that scope whether windage or elevation would move the point of impact 1/4 inch at 100 yards. If it were my rifle, I would then TURN the windage 1/4 min dial exactly (16 clicks to the LEFT) or 4 clicks per inch, moving the point of impact DEAD center on the target for (left to right/windage) puposes. I would leave the elevation adjustment alone as is, since 2 inches high at 100 yards with let's say a 150 grain Federal Power Shok (WHICH is what I am using for deer hunting this fall) is about perfect to allow me to hold dead on a deer's chest out to around 250 yards which accounts for 99.9% of all deer hunting almost everywhere.

So FAR, So Good, but I am getting the cart ahead of the horse. Let's further suppose you haven't shot your rifle since last season, or that perhaps it is a NEW rifle to you and has not yet had a round through it. Your sporting goods store sold you the rifle and mounted your scope and bore sighted it for you before you left. Let's keep it simple and imagine it is a Savage Weather Warrior .308 Win with the accu-trigger and your purchased two boxes of ammo. One was 150 grain Win Power Points and the other was 150 grain Remington core Lokts. (WE do not know what your rifle likes to eat yet, so we will try both rounds to see which shoot best).

So where do you take your FIRST shot? The range is set up with markers at 25, 50, 75, 100, 150 and 200 yards. You have a 1 in 6 chance of being right. IF you guessed 25 yards you are correct. Beflore you load up and take that first shot, make sure you go through steps 1-4 listed above. Make sure the eye relief is set so that when you throw the rifle to your shoulder with the scope set at its lowest power, you have a FULL FIELD of view through the scope. IF not, then it is probably too close to your eye, so gently loosen the rings until with just a little pressure you can slide your scope forward till your have a full field of view when quickly mounting the gun. While your at it, make sure your scope is level and NOT canted to the left or the right. Snug those ring screws back down, Don't put a 4 foot length of pipe on the end of your allen wrench. Snug them down.................don't try to twist them off or crush the scope.

Okay, having done all that, make sure your rifle is set up on sand bags, or a quality range bag, or aCaldwell lead sled, or a bipod etc. so you have a steady rest. By the way, do NOT rest your rifle on the barrel/ rest the forearm of the stock on the bags. Do not grip the gun like it is going to fly backwards over the bench. Give it a firm grip, but not too firm. In our imaginery gun with the accutrigger, I suggest getting a sight picture and DRY FIRING it a few times to get used to the trigger.

Moving forward, you have fired 2 shots at 25 yards. The good news is the shots cut one ragged hole, The bad news is that point of impact is 3 inches to the left and 2 inches low of the center of the target. This is where the MATH comes into play. A 1/4 min scope moves the point of impact 1/4 inch at 100 yards, and therefore 4 clicks move point of impact 1 inch either up and down or left and right. At 25 yards (it is a multiple of 4X)................in other words it takes 16 (SIXTEEN CLICKS) to move the point of impact (1) inch at 25 yards. In this case we are 3 full inches to the left of our point of aim so we need to move the windage adjustment to the RIGHT a full FORTY EIGHT CLICKS  to center our target.
 I have found over the years, that if you put your point of impact dead center left to right (windage adjustment) at 25 yards, and approximately 1/2 inch LOW at the range, you will end up being right where you want to be at 100 yards and beyond. That being the case, I would then move the elevation adjustment UP 24 CLICKS. That should put your group 1/2 inch low and dead center of the target at 25 yards. You will find that you ill be in good shape when you get to 100, 150 and 200 yards with this setting. Different rifles, scopes and bullet weights can cause that equation to vary somewhat, however you will be darn close to where you want to be. Part of the reason I say that is unfortunately all scopes with 1/4 min clicks do not move point of impact exactly 1/4 inch at 100 yards. This is primarily due to manufacturing tolerences and often the PRICE of the scope itself.

UPDATE 10/20/2011: Took my .308 Savage Weather Warrior to the gun club yesterday to check it out before hunting season. My first shot at 25 yards was dead center in the bullseye. My  next two shots at 100 yards were 1.25 inches center to center and 2.25 inches high. Lastly I fired a three shot group at 200 yards and results were a 1.5 inch group dead center on the bullseye. Different guns and loads will print slightly different at extended ranges, however you can't go wrong by getting dead center on the bull or depending on rilfe and load up to 1/4" or 1/2" low at 25 yards and then do your find tuning out at 100 yards. Again this was with Federal's 150 grain power shok load. This rifle wears a 3X10X40 Bushnell Elite 3200 scope with rainguard and duplex reticle. I am very confident with a decent makeshift rest and 8 seconds or more to get into position to take a whitetail out to 200 yards and beyond.

I would be a rich man if I had a dollar for everyone I have watched try to sight in a brand new rifle by starting out at 100, 150 and even 200 yards while having no clue of where that particular rifle hits at 25 yards.Trust me you will save a LOT of ammo by starting at 25 yards and getting it right than watching the dust fly at 100 yards and beyond the try guessing how much to adjust your scope. I also normally fire two shots at each range, to verify group center.

HOPE THIS HELPS. Good hunting., Dan

1953 7.62X25 Romanian Tokarev

I recently took a trip to Atlanta, GA to drop off one of my son's personal belongings as he took a job in that area. While there I got a chance to see some long overdue relatives and friend's on their own turf. I enjoyed the trip very much and look forward to not waiting so long to do that again.

While there we spent a couple of nights with one of my best friend's who moved his family down to Chapin, S.C. area a few years ago. During one of the day's we spent there, my friend and I went to the local firing range to wring out a 1953 Romanian Tokarev, an AR15Bushmaster in .223, along with a newer Mossberg lever action 30-30.

I have been a gunny all my life and have never owned an AR15. I have thought about it several times over the years, however the money and circumstance never crossed paths close enough for me to actually own one. I also had never fired the 7.62X25 Tokarev of which there are apparently several variations out there.

I was also amazed at the overall military perspective degree of accuracy the Tokarev was capable of off hand with crude sights and inexpensive ammo, even out to around 125 yards.

LINK to history and use of the Tokarev 7.62X25 Pistol

EXCERPTS:

The 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridge is a bottle-necked pistol cartridge widely used in former Soviet and Soviet satellite states, China and Pakistan among other countries. The cartridge has since been replaced in Russian service by overpressure versions of the 9x19mm Parabellum.[

The cartridge is in principle an enhanced Soviet version of the 7.63×25mm Mauser. The Soviets produced a wide array of loadings for this cartridge for use in submachine guns. These include armor-piercing, tracer, and incendiary rounds. This cartridge has excellent penetration and can easily defeat lighter ballistic vests (class I, IIA and II) as well as some kevlar helmets, such as the American PASGT helmet. Although most firearms chambered in this caliber were declared obsolete and removed from military inventories, some Police and Special Forces units in Russia, Pakistan and (mainly) in China still use it because of the large quantity of stored ammunition still available.
There is a common misconception that 7.62 Tokarev surplus ammunition in the United States uses copper-coated mild steel bullets, and that this increases the chance of dangerous ricochets when fired at hard targets and can damage bullet-traps often used on shooting ranges. While steel-core ammunition in 7.62×25 is available internationally, in the United States the importation of 7.62×25 cartridges loaded with copper-coated steel bullets is illegal; federal law defines these as armor-piercing pistol ammunition. The so-called steel bullets sold in the United States are generally lead-core bullets with copper-washed steel jackets, and these do not present a significantly greater risk of ricochet than a standard copper-jacketed projectile.

SERVICE USE:

The most notable use of this cartridge was in the Tokarev TT-33 pistol, which was the Soviet Union's standard service pistol from the early 1930s until the mid-1960s. It was also used in the Czech ČZ vz. 52, which was the standard Czech service pistol from 1952 until 1982. The cartridge was also used in several sub machine guns, including the Soviet PPD-40, PPSh-41, and PPS-43, the Russian PP-19 Bizon, and the Czech vz. 24 and vz. 26

MY INPUT:

My friend and I had a great range session working with all three  guns and a chance to talk about old times etc. All in all we had a great time. God willing and the creek don't rise and money permits, I would like to pick up an AR15 some day and have it tricked out and put a scope on it. GOD BLESS South Carolina.

I was also impressed with the handling qualities of the Mossberg 30-30. The trigger is better out of the box than the Marlin's I have handled and or owned, however with the installation of the Wild West Happy Trigger conversion kit, the Marlin is a better gun and feels better in my hands. The Mossberg is an affordable hunting rifle out of the box for those not likely to be as concerned about triggers as I am. Specs are 6.7 lbs, 20 inch bbl, 6 round tubular magazine, 1 in 10 twist on barrel and wood stock with blued steel bbl and receiver.

.35 Remington LeverEvolution ammo test

Previously in this BLOG, I was going to test .35 Remington Lever evolution ammo, and after reading about some problems with this ammo, decided against it. That was then, and this is NOW, as my kids were always fond of telling me when they were growing up.

See my first post on the .35 Rem back on 8/11/2008. The difficulties surrounding the .35 Remington version of Hornady's Lever evolution ammo primarily consisted of, some guys having feeding problems with that round. Later I realized that replacing the magazine follower seems to rectify that situation. There was also an issue with repeated trips afield where one would load the magazine chamber a round and then after the hunt, unload the rifle. Apparently this caused further feeding ramp problems after the rounds had been worked through  the action a few times. The second situation involved a point of impact difference between the Lever evolution ammo and the traditional 200 grain slugs from Federal, Remington etc. One report I read, showed an 11 inch difference in point of impact between the 200 grain Remington Corelokt and the Hornady 200 grain FTX load.

ORIGINAL magazine follower:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=428949

Wild West Guns magazine follower:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=749248

I will address both of these situations through my own Marlin Model 336 rifle. The rifle is currently sighted in with Federal 200 grain Power Shoks.

As mentioned in a more recent post for the .35 Rem, I had pretty much settled on this load for its accuracy. Unfortunately, after trying at least 7 different outlets, I realized this ammo is in very short supply. It was back ordered with a late October date for being able to ship any Federal rounds.

To settle the first issue of feeding problems, I decided to run a magazine load through my gun (4) consecutive times with the same rounds to see if it was a problem. Forum's on the subject seemed to indicate mixed results and it might be a hit and miss problem as a lot of guys reported absolutely NO problems and others, warned against purchasing the Hornady ammo. I have had NO  problems at all with the Lever evolution ammo in my Model 1895 45-70.

I ran one single round through the .35 Rem action (5) consecutive times in a row. Feeding was as smooth as glass and ejection was flawless. I then ran (4) rounds through the gun consecutively several times and again function was smooth and flawless. I have to conclude that for my particular rifle, the feeding problem situation does not exist.

I plan on going to the local rifle range tomorrow and try some live fire and sight the rifle in at 25 yards, and then test point of impact at 75 yards and 150 yards, and if time and weather permit, perhaps a couple of rounds at the 200 mark.

FIRST a little information on the two rounds:

BOTH the federal and the Hornady Lever evolution rounds are 200 grains

Federal 200 grain power shok muzzle velocity 2080 fps/  ME 1921/  BC .195

Hornady 200 grain FTX muzzle velocity 2225 fps/ ME 2198 / BC .300

Sectional density for both rounds is rated .223

The Hornady round then leaves the gate about 145 fps faster than the Federal round, with a better ballistic coefficient.

Let's look at the range testing:

I sighted the gun in first at 25 yards. I only had to move the windage 4 clicks to the left. My scope is a Simmons Master series 1.5X5X32 Pro Diamond with an illuminated reticle. The scope has 1/2 min clicks.

I ended up with the point of impact at 25 yards close to dead center and perhaps 1/2 inch low. I then took one shot at 75 yards and realized I over adjusted at 25. My elevation was okay, however I was 1 3/4 inches left of center. I adjusted for windage back to the right and raised the elevation (4) clicks or 2 inches at 100 yards.

The top left target is at 100 yards with the final shot being dead center and exactly 2 inches high. The top right target is at 150 yards with no further adjustment. Both shots are exactly 1/2 inch high. I did not end up trying any shots at 200 yards as there was a fairly stiff breeze right to left on the range flags.

My observations:

Feeding and ejection was smooth and flawless

Trajectory is certainly flatter than the run of the mill 200 grain Corelokts, Power Shoks, etc. I am not sure what rifle was being tested when I read the article concerning an 11 inch difference in point of impact at 100 yards between 200 grain Remington Corelokts and the 200 grain Hornady FTX load.

My point of impact change at 100 yards between the Federal power Shocks and the Hornady Lever Evolution loads was on the order of 2 1/2 inches.

In closing this is NOT a critisicm of the Federal loads, as they were more accurate than the Hornady FTX loads in my gun. The Federal's produced a 3 shot group at 100 yards that basically cut one ragged hole. The Hornady rounds shoot flatter,  hits a little harder and certainly passed the "palm of the hand test" out to 150 yards. They were also a buck or two cheaper per box of 20 than the Federal loads. They are also IN STOCK at most outlets and the Federals are NOT.

Overall I am very pleased with the performance of the Lever Evolution ammo out of my Marlin model 336 lever action rifle.

As soon as I have a $100 bill that doesn't have a particular place to go, I plan on having a Wild West Happy Trigger insalled on the .35 Rem. It will probably shave an inch or so off the groups show here.

Dan

I John 1:9  NIV  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness"

Shooting Tips

Recently my oldest son and I went through a series of range sessions using several different rifles, a shotgun and a TC Omega muzzleloader attempting to make him feel comfortable for the upcoming hunting season.

Jeremy is not exactly new to the shooting game and has taken 4 deer with a 12 gauge previously in the state of New York.  He has been shooting off and on since he was a kid and over the years has gotten to play with almost every rifle or shotgun I've ever owned along with most of the pistols as well.  As far as rifles and shotguns go, for some reason unknown to me, we would always shoot them differently.  Something sighted in for me would group very different for him, and vise versa.  So once something was sighted in for him I would tend to leave it alone.

Well...The last several years, he has been out of the shooting / hunting arena because of school, traveling and work.  Over this time the closest he got to hunting was 2 weeks of archery a year ago, and as for shooting, only pistol at a range in Fl, that he stopped going to for a number of reasons.  However, having been away from it for a while, we both learned a few things along the road back.

We actually started out shooting my Ruger model 77 Mark II .270 off the bench. We started there as our upcoming rifle season here in NY is open in a couple of weeks. I knew the rifle was sighted in and picked the proper load and fired a two or three shot test group to confirm that indeed the rifle was sighted in and striking the 100 yard target in a tight cluster about 1.5 inches high and well centered.

When Jeremy sat down at the bench, it was a different story. His group was not just bigger, but all over the map. It did not take me long watching him from behind to realize he was flinching pretty badly. The easiest way to determine that is to close the bolt on an empty chamber and then coach him to align the scope and squeeze one off. Of course, you don't tell him the chamber is empty, so he thinks he is snapping the cap on a live round.

The standard protocol for this is to remove the centerfire rifle from the bench and replace it with a .22 of some sort or a .22 mag. We did not have one with us that day, so instead I had Jeremy dry fire 4 or 5 times between each shot until he settled down. Within a short period of time dry firing the identical rifle 5 times for every live round fired. the groups began to shrink, however we still had distinctly different points of impact for the center of our groups.I next observed that he was not letting the range bag do the work. The purpose of shooting off the bench in my opinion is to test the rifle and not the shooter. If set up properly on a solid range bag filled with sand or bird seed, or shotgun shot bags etc., one should have a forgiving but solid rest. The shooter should let the bag do the work and minimize any interference into the process other than holding the butt stock against his shoulder and squeezing the trigger. If you are pulling down hard on the front sling swivel, that is going to impact the shot placement. Ditto for the position of the forearm on the bags, undue pressure by placing your left hand (if right handed) over the top front of the scope while shooting etc.

Consistency is the key to accuracy and repeatability from one group to the next. First you need to understand that rifles in the .243 Win .270, .308. 30:06, .35 Rem Marlin lever action etc. are not going to hurt you. Then you need to condition yourself mentally by dry firing each gun several times at the bench and finding a position that you can repeat from rifle to rifle and be consistent at it. Dry firing helps your subconscious understand what your conscious mind keeps telling it.........................That is, this doesn't hurt. It also allows you to feel the trigger break, and begin to understand in your subconscious when the trigger breaks.

In about a three week time period, Jeremy learned how to and how not to operate a rifle bolt, (First 2 photos above are the incorrect way, and the 2 photos (Open hand) to the right are the correct way) how to shoot accurately offhand at least to 25 yards or so, (occasionally 50 yards),  proper use of shooting with a sling. how to shoot kneeling, prone  how to use a bipod, and how to adapt from a .243 Win to a 30:06 to a .35 Rem and back to a .308 and then on to his Ithaca Deerslayer II 12 ga with 1 ounce Barnes expander slugs. One of the most important aspects is mentally telling your subconscious that it's OKAY, I put the .243 Savage away, and I am now shooting the Ruger .270 Win etc. He dry fires the replacement rifle a few times, works the safety, shoulders it, looks through the scope etc. and his mind quickly begins to adapt to the new rifle.

Did we burn some ammo and pop some caps? YES, we did. We probably went through a couple of bricks of .22 rimfire, perhaps 300 rounds of .22 mag out of a Marlin Bolt Action, and maybe another 300 rounds of various centerfire ammo off the bench and offhand at 25 yards. In addition, a refresher course on the finer points of cleaning each gun, from swabbing between shots with the muzzle loader at the bench to taking each one apart for a thourough cleaning at the house, to the basic safety precautions of each type of firearm.

All in all we had a LOT OF FUN, and Jeremy's confidence level is light years ahead of where it was a month ago. The only problem is that he is now showing up the "Old Man" with some of his groups. Actually it really isn't a problem, as he is a good student and since he has 36 years on me, I would expect his vision, reflexes etc. to exceed my own.

He is as ready to go deer hunting as anyone I know right now. I could hand him any one of 5 or 6 different rifles, shotguns and muzzleloaders and both Jeremy and I would be confident in his ability to place the first shot where it is supposed to go.

Dan

Luke 12:40 KJV  "Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour that ye think not"

Ruger Mdl 77/MKII .350 Rem Mag First Impressions

I took the Ruger stainless bbl/synthetic stock modl 77 MKII .350 Remington Mag to the range on Sunday. I had mounted a Weaver Grand Slam 1.5X5x32 scope on the gun. The only ammunition I had on hand were new Remington 200 grain Express Corelokt factory loads. I had some reservations after reading on some shooter forums about poor accuracy with the 200 grain corelokts out of the Ruger. I know the barrel twist rate is different for the Ruger and the Remington in .350 Mag. My fears were definitely unfounded as the accompanying photos demonstrate. After an initial sighting in process at 50 yards, I moved the target out to 100 yards and fired two separate two shot groups. The first one measured 1/2 inch center to center and the second one 3/4 inch center to center. I could not be happier with this rifle and scope combination and the 200 grain corelokts. This combination should handle most of what I would use a .350 Remington magnum for. See my article on "Bigger Critter Rifles I & II" on my website at www.gunsandoptics.com.

The rifle as set up and sighted in is putting the corelokts out the muzzle at around 2775 fps and exhibiting 3419 ME. This should handle all chores asked of the .350 mag until we get to the big bears. If I work up a handload with 250 grain or perhaps 225 grain loads, this rifle should be adequate for all North American Game including the big bears.
A little history on the .350 mag. Remington came out with the .350 Magnum in its model 600 rifle in 1965. There were some inherent design problems and this model only stayed in the Remington line up until 1974. Two of the biggest complaints were the laminated beech and walnut stock and the short 18.5 inch bbl. The shooting world apparently was not ready for laminated stocks in those days. The 18.5 inch bbl and light weight at 6.5 lbs, gave the rifle a reputation for having vicious recoil. There was also the issue with the dog leg shaped bolt, and ventilated rib and shark fin front sight, that was too much of a radical departure for 1965. In any event I guess you either loved it or hated it and the rifle and the caliber developed a cult like following that still exists today. Remington brought out other models from time to time including the model 660 from 1968-1971. They also built some in the model 700 from 1969 to 1975. In 2003 it was ressurected again in the new model 673. The guns redeeming virtues are that is was accurate and it hit hard.

My gun is the Ruger Model 77 MKII in stainless with a synthetic stock and it was introduced in 1989. In my opinion it solved many of the problems of the early Remington 600 series guns. It has a 22 inch bbl in stainless, a synthetic stock, no ventilated rib or shark fin front sight, no dog leg bolt, and weighs apprx 7 lbs. With the Weaver 1.5X5X32 Grand Slam series scope, it tops out right around 7 3/4 lbs. The Ruger gun has controlled round feeding, a hinged floorplate, a darn decent trigger, and the ergonomics are excellent. In other words it handles like a dream. It also has the advantage of the intregal Ruger stainless rings, which is one less thing to go wrong on an out of state remote hunt.

Most folks think of this as a brush gun for hunting black bears over bait, hog hunting etc. It is actually more versatile than that. One can handload this rifle with bullets weighing from 150 grains on up to 250 grains. Let's look at trajectory of the 200 grain Remington core lokt load compared to a 180 grain bullet out of a 30:06.

If you sight the .350 mag in to be 2 inches high at 100 yards, it will be dead on at 200 and only 9.3 inches low at 300 yards. A 30:06 loaded with Remington's 180 grain PSP core lokt bullet if set 2.1 inches high at 100 yards, will also be dead on at 200 yards and 9 inches low at 300 yards. Out to 300 yards the trajectories are almost identical. Something to think about.

The Weaver Grand Slam scope series is a great buy in today's optical market. The scope has 3.25 inches of eye relief, 71 feet field of view at 100 yards when set at 1.5X , and 120 degrees of windage and elevation adjustment. It is 10.25 inches long and weighs just 11.5 ounces.

All in all, a great package providing excellent handling capabilities, great accuracy, tolerable recoil and with the Weaver scope on board, a wide field of view for close in and/or running shots.

Dan
www.deer-hunting-information.com

Matthew 8:27 "What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

30:06 (vs.) the 7mm Rem Mag

Proverbs 13:7&8 KJV "Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD; and depart from evil.(8) It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."

I have been reading 30:06 (vs.) 7mm Rem Mag debates about as long as I can remember. Lots of fun, however probably not really much to argue about. The 7mm fans argue their choice shoots flatter and hits harder at long range. The ought six fans will argue a larger diameter bullet, more choices in bullets whether you use the factory stuff or roll your own.

Both sides of the debate have merit, and yet how much real world difference is there between the two? Let's take a look:

7mm Rem Mag
160grain flat based spitzer
2900 FPS at muzzle
2987 ME (in favor of the 7mm by 115 ft lbs of energy)

30:06
165 grain flat base spitzer
2800 fps muzzle
2872 ME


300 yards
2212 FPS
1739Ft lbs energy (advantage still belongs to the 7mm by 205 ft lbs of energy)

300 yards
2047 fps
1534 ft lbs energy

The 7mm does have an edge with the 160 grain load by starting off 100fps faster than the 30:06's 165 grain load and holding that edge right out to the 300 yard mark.

If you switch to the 180 grain the 30:06 (vs.) the 175 grain load in the 7mm, the tables are almost reversed. At the muzzle the 30:06 musters 3315 ME to the 7mm's 3178 ME. At 100 yards, the 30:06 is still ahead of the 7mm in terms of energy. At 300 yards the 7mm surpasses the 30:06 by showing 1739 ft lbs energy (vs.) 1666 ft lbs energy for the 30:06.

Advantage to the 30:06 by 137 ft lbs energy at the muzzle
At the 300 yard mark the 7mm bests the 30:06 by 73 ft lbs of energy
My take is that these are ballistic charts and indivdual rifles will show greater discrepancies than that. For all practical purposes it is a wash. What one can do with the 7mm mag out to 300 yards, one can do with the 30:06 assuming you are using approximately the same bullet weights. Keep in mind also that if you do not handload, you can purchase light MAG loads for the 30:06 which puts it into the .300 H&H realm of performance. You cannot buy factory loads for the 7mm Mag to duplicate that.

My common sense tells me that no game animal inside of 300 yards is going to be able to tell the difference. The difference in trajectory of the two heavier loads shows favor to the 7mm by a margin of 1.4 inches. The ballistics chart I am looking at shows that the 30:06 drops 9 inches even with a 200 yard zero and the 7mm drops 7.6 inches. The charts only show energy as a means of comparison. This does not take into account the merit of the larger diameter bullet.

How many of us can hold that close under field conditions to tell the difference? How many of us have any business shooting an unwounded animal at 300 yards? Most deer are still taken under 150 yards regardless of where you hunt. Remember I live in the East and for the most part, 300 yard shots on big game are the same realm of probability of Dirty Harry Callahan switching from the S&W mdl 29 .44 mag to a pocket carry .380 semi auto. I realize there are clear cuts, farm fields etc. where this is possible. It just doesn't manifest itself that often. I live and hunt primarily in shotgun/ML country right now also, although that is subject to change in NY.

I actually had a Ruger mdl 77 in 7mm mag on lay-a-way at Dick's Sporting Goods a few years ago in anticipation of a moose hunt. I paid a restocking fee of $10 and came home with a Ruger mdl 77 .300 Win mag instead. The funny thing is I always wanted a 7mm Mag and have entertained thoughts of late of buying one or perhaps a .270 WSM if I could find a deal on one.

I think I will probably get some feed back on which caliber is best, however in the real world under 300 yards, I could be very happy with either one. I own (2) 30:06's and one .270 and no 7mm mags at the moment. If it fires a projectile, I am interested in it. Perhaps some day I will find a deal on a 7mm mag. Truth of the matter is however, since I let the Ruger mdl 77 .300 Mag go a couple of years ago, IF I purchase another rifle, it would likely be a Savage weather warrior series in .300 WSM. With that gun I can basically duplicate my old .300 mag performance in a shorter, lighter, more manueverable gun with a shorter bolt throw. I have not shot a .300WSM yet, but reports I have read indicate they are exceptionally accurate and I now own (3) Savage rifles that are all tack drivers.

Until then I will be content with what I have.

Dan
www.deer-hunting-information.com