Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,747
- 5,829
Have been messing with my ancient 1917 .30-06 again. Great old rifle that I've been shooting since I was a kid. Decided a few months ago to put it back into the stock Dad whittled for it in the 1950's. Problem is, Dad made the stock for him, not me. It just didn't fit me real well. I've been working away at it, and have the cheekpiece pretty well flattened out. It's fitting me much better, and as always is a pleasure to shoot.
These old actions are well known for their strength. They were one of the few actions that Roy Weatherby would build his monster magnums on before the advent of his Mark V action. Originally used in WWI, These have been used to build .375 H&H mags, .458 Lotts, and I understand even some of the .50 cal elephant/dangerous game rounds. Mine happens to be a Winchester, but they were built by several different makers - eventually becoming the basis for the Remington Model 30 bolt action rifles, long ago.
This one has been treated to a Timney trigger, a cock-on-opening conversion, a stronger firing pin spring, and of course the Weaver bases & rings. I also have a fiberglass Bell & Carlson stock for it that works well, but is pug-ugly compared to the walnut stock. Took me a few rounds to get my zero, then I expended the rest of the 40 rounds I brought to the range, hammering the 300 yard gongs! It only missed when I didn't hold steady enough. I'm using the 165 Nosler Solid Base bullet over a less than max charge of H4350, for 2750 fps, and good accuracy. I think the first time I shot this rifle I was only 10 years old or so. Knocked the snot out of me! That was over 40 years ago, and it's an old friend now. Aging better than me.
The rifle is now set up with the 6x Leupold, with the "Leupold dot" reticle. That dot measures 1.9 MOA and sits in gently tapered crosshairs. Once sighted in, it's simplicity in itself - put the dot on what you want to shoot and squeeze. Very fast, and pretty accurate. Here's a look at the reticle, not a very good photo, my apologies:
Finished with the good old 1917, I moved on to my .308 Win/Rem 700. Warmed up at 300 yards, just to make sure I was on. The rifle is always on. Todays load consisted of the 155 gr Nosler Competition bullet, a HPBT design I often use for match shooting, and 46.5 grains of Varget in a Lapua case. After I warmed up, I moved off to tackle the newest gong on our range. It's at something like 817 or 823 yards... I've ranged it before, but can't remember the exact distance. No matter, I remembered the scope setting. Dialed in 23 MOA of elevation (that's about a turn and a half of the elevation knob) and 2 MOA of left windage, wrapped the sling around my arm, bellied down in the weeds and let 'er rip. It takes a long time to hear the "clang" of the bullet from nearly a half mile away! I went through about 30 rounds of ammo, and had a fine time smacking that long-range gong!
My shooting position:
Camera zoomed in on the hanging gong at 800+ yards:
The Green Machine:
All in all it was a great morning. Did some long range shooting with the Green Machine. Some mid-range shooting with the old rifle.
Semper Fi, Guy
These old actions are well known for their strength. They were one of the few actions that Roy Weatherby would build his monster magnums on before the advent of his Mark V action. Originally used in WWI, These have been used to build .375 H&H mags, .458 Lotts, and I understand even some of the .50 cal elephant/dangerous game rounds. Mine happens to be a Winchester, but they were built by several different makers - eventually becoming the basis for the Remington Model 30 bolt action rifles, long ago.
This one has been treated to a Timney trigger, a cock-on-opening conversion, a stronger firing pin spring, and of course the Weaver bases & rings. I also have a fiberglass Bell & Carlson stock for it that works well, but is pug-ugly compared to the walnut stock. Took me a few rounds to get my zero, then I expended the rest of the 40 rounds I brought to the range, hammering the 300 yard gongs! It only missed when I didn't hold steady enough. I'm using the 165 Nosler Solid Base bullet over a less than max charge of H4350, for 2750 fps, and good accuracy. I think the first time I shot this rifle I was only 10 years old or so. Knocked the snot out of me! That was over 40 years ago, and it's an old friend now. Aging better than me.
The rifle is now set up with the 6x Leupold, with the "Leupold dot" reticle. That dot measures 1.9 MOA and sits in gently tapered crosshairs. Once sighted in, it's simplicity in itself - put the dot on what you want to shoot and squeeze. Very fast, and pretty accurate. Here's a look at the reticle, not a very good photo, my apologies:
Finished with the good old 1917, I moved on to my .308 Win/Rem 700. Warmed up at 300 yards, just to make sure I was on. The rifle is always on. Todays load consisted of the 155 gr Nosler Competition bullet, a HPBT design I often use for match shooting, and 46.5 grains of Varget in a Lapua case. After I warmed up, I moved off to tackle the newest gong on our range. It's at something like 817 or 823 yards... I've ranged it before, but can't remember the exact distance. No matter, I remembered the scope setting. Dialed in 23 MOA of elevation (that's about a turn and a half of the elevation knob) and 2 MOA of left windage, wrapped the sling around my arm, bellied down in the weeds and let 'er rip. It takes a long time to hear the "clang" of the bullet from nearly a half mile away! I went through about 30 rounds of ammo, and had a fine time smacking that long-range gong!
My shooting position:
Camera zoomed in on the hanging gong at 800+ yards:
The Green Machine:
All in all it was a great morning. Did some long range shooting with the Green Machine. Some mid-range shooting with the old rifle.
Semper Fi, Guy
