Recent content by HodgemanAK

I've used a bunch of gear over the years, but most of it has been Hornady. Most of the big hook and bullet stores in AK have a metric crap ton of Hornady equipment in stock.

I've been thinking about the 7PRC quite a bit. The only thing I think it really does better than the 7RM is that you can buy the whole enchilada over the counter and have a match chamber, match factory ammo loaded with high BC bullets, and a barrel twisted tight enough to stabilize them. You...

Congratulations! What a hunt!

I've done it and not done it... can't really see any difference. Of course, shooting them and cleaning them is using them and breaking them in simultaneously. Maybe a guy who can shoot in the .2s with a benchers gun might benefit...but I'm a "minute of moose" kind of guy. I think a "break in"...

I'm a huge fan of the .375 Ruger and played around with the 3 different factory loads when it came out. Fast forward a few years and I pretty much settled on the 270gr expanding load for everything I'd hunt with it and a few 300gr DGX in my pocket for the pack out. My rifle shot each load to a...

Maybe trying to compete with the 350 Legend?

Eastern Tennessee for the time being.

Nothing here really has much of a pelt- coyotes are pretty thin furred here and there's not a market for groundhogs. Most of the time shooting them is just nuisance control type work. Lots of farmers here will give you a lease or permission if you promise to shoot every coyote and groundhog you see.

When I was up on the north slope, I never saw anything that wasn't a Mini-14 in .223REM. Those guys shot everything with them firing 55gr FMJs, but it wasn't always pretty. Some of the S.E. guys use them for deer- small deer at close range sorta like here. My thought is a pretty nice bolt gun...

I'm contemplating a new deer rifle. Since I've mostly archery hunted deer in TN. Would there be substantial cons to using a .223 with an appropriate big game bullet for deer? Years ago, such bullets were hard to find and I gave up on the .223 for deer after one significant failure involving a...

I've made a couple that worked OK. The big problem is concentricity when running in the tap. If you've got a lathe- problem solved. I did have one that I needed to scrap and try again, but I got it second time around. There's nothing really magic happening- I'll roll my own if I can't find one...

I've got the handle three. A Mesa in 7-08 that shoots like a laser beam owned by a friend. A MPR in 6.5 I had for a while- shot pretty well, but I hated how it handled and hunted in the field. A Ridgeline in 300PRC owned by a buddy that won't shoot worth a darn- I'm sure it's fixable, but my...

Merry Christmas back at ya! For a hunting auto...I've had excellent results with a Benelli M2, even got an 18" barrel for it.

^^^ This. You can add a bird barrel to your 870 a lot easier than you can add one to a 590.

In theory, the laminate stock is sealed clear through during the laminating process as the bonding agent is forced into the wood under high pressure. It likely wouldn't hurt to hit the barrel channel and action inlet with some poly spray or wax, but it's likely a "belt and suspenders" sort of...