All Sevens Today

[Darkhorse]

You keep getting frisky Doc and those knees will remind you they are injured. The problem with a Meniscus tear is the loose cartilage keeps moving around inside the knee. One minute your fine, the next minute the knee is locking up and throbbing.
I had a total knee replacement in May and the knee is doing great. Trouble is as soon as I got off the cane the hip started bothering me and it just got worse. Seems I also have osteoarthritis in the hip. I am again becoming friends with the cane.

I have had a couple of wood stocks warp over the years. My old M700 BDL waited years before it started moving. When I took it out of the safe last year the warp had actually wore blueing off the barrel where it was pressing so hard. This was in the gun safe too. Just sitting there.
When I bedded the stock I removed enough wood from the forend that I could float the barrel and still have a good layer of glass. The intent is to keep it from moving anymore. So far it's worked.

 

[sask boy]

DrMike, I am glad to hear you are becoming more mobile. Have you made a decision on what rifle you are going to shoot for late Elk?
That 7wsm is a very interesting calibre it would be a laser using 140gr pills :wink:!
Thank you for the post my friend.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

Dan,

The 140 grain E-Tip would be a killer for certain. I use the 130 grain E-Tip in my 270 WSM, and it drops elk and moose with authority. There is no reason why the 140 grain will not be just as effective, if not more so. I'm likely carrying my 9.3X64 Brenneke for elk. A 250 grain AccuBond at 2750 fps will be sufficient for most elk.

 

[SJB358]

Dan,

The 140 grain E-Tip would be a killer for certain. I use the 130 grain E-Tip in my 270 WSM, and it drops elk and moose with authority. There is no reason why the 140 grain will not be just as effective, if not more so. I'm likely carrying my 9.3X64 Brenneke for elk. A 250 grain AccuBond at 2750 fps will be sufficient for most elk.

Phew, that was close. As much as I love that little 7 WSM, your 9.3 is a sweetheart. Very much looking forward to hearing about your late elk hunt.

 

[DrMike]

Lousy timing as Christmas intervenes. However, I should manage to squeeze out some time. Gerry and his good wife are coming over the last of this month to see if they can tag out on an elk or two. If I have to wait 'til then, I will. However, I am eager. I do have to co-ordinate with someone so I don't reinjure these knees.

 

[gerry]

Of course I'll gladly help you, we are heading out in two weeks now........

 

[Vince]

I wish I was nearby as I'd gladly be a pack mule for you.
I'm slow but I just keep plugging along.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[Vince]

I wish you and your party well on this, and every, hunt.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[DrMike]

Appreciate the kind wishes, Vince. Gerry, I'm seeing quite a few cows every time I venture forth. I just haven't taken time to drop one. The mild weather this past week has not hurt the population at all.

 

[gerry]

I know I am getting anxious as well hoping everything works out well.......

 

[6mm Remington]

Nice shooting Mike and glad you are doing better. The question on your wood stocks was a good one. All of my rifles that have had wood stocks have been glass bedded and I'm surprised that yours are not. I also started having them pillar bedded which is what will take place with that .280AI I am building on the Winchester Model 70 classic rifle. The wood on that one is beautiful and I want to keep it on the rifle. Maybe later if I get a tag like a sheep or something where the hunting might be really brutal I'll get a good stock like a Bell & Carlson with the aluminum bedding block to use just so I don't scratch and ding up the pretty wood!!

In my 280 Remington Model 700 MTN rifle it split the stock behind the rear action screw. Glass bedding takes care of that and pillar bedding in addition to that even more so. I believe it makes them more consistent from year to year so they hold zero better too, and maybe they shoot a little better. I think giving them the best fit that is possible with the stock helps take out any stresses on the barrel or the action. Just my thoughts anyway.

Good luck to you and Gerry on the elk hunting. Wish I was not so far, I would be packer and water boy for you too gentlemen!

 

[DrMike]

David,

Thank you for the reminder. Yes, most of my rifles are pillar bedded. I guess I had not considered that an address of the problem of warpage, but it really is. Those that are not pillar bedded are almost always glass bedded. In fact, I can't think of a single rifle in my collection that is not bedded. What I do not have is a single stock that is not either wood or laminate; and I only have two laminate stocks!

 

[Elkman]

I do have the opportunity occasionally to hunt in a very wet environment, (we surpassed the 80 inch precip mark for the year, earlier this week), so most all of my rifles have either a composite, or laminated stock. My serious hunting rifles, are either glass or aluminum bedded. Just a few years ago, near here in a slightly "wetter" environment, I participated in a late season cow hunt. The average precip over the 5 day hunt was 1.79 inches of rain a day. At the end of each day, I literally was able to pour the water out of the rifle, from under the barrel channel and when I opened the magazine box. The rifle was first wiped dry and then oiled every night. I was confident that my Chet Brown composite would not bind nor inhibit my accuracy in any way. After the hunt I totally disassembled every part of that rifle, cleaned dried and reassembled. I just really doubt that a wood stock would have given me that confidence. It was my one and only hunt so far with my Whelen.

 

[DrMike]

I agree with you, Bill. I don't hunt in the rain all that much, though I do hunt in snow. However, it is not unusual that the temperatures are so low that the snow can be dusted off. Hence, I can get away with wood.

 

[NYDAN]

Dr. Mike,

I am glad that your knees are improving and that you were able to get out and do some shooting. You have some great looking rifles there. And, those are some fine targets you shot. Good work on load development and shooting.

Wishing you the best on your elk hunts.

Dan

 

[DrMike]

Thank you very much, Dan. I'm at home today with grandchildren. Their mother is spending the day away in Grande Prairie while grandma and I have duties on the home front. Noah, my shooter, is spending the weekend with a shooting friend. The long and the short of this situation is that I'm not hunting today.

 

[truck driver]

I've only had trouble with one wood stock warp on me and it was a brand new Ruger 77 with tang safety. I was deer hunting and it was unusually warm and got caught in a thunderstorm a mile from my truck. Heck it rained so hard even my brand new weaver scope got water in it. I missed a deer the next day because the barrel channel had warped. I had to beat the barreled action out of the stock with a no bounce 2lb hammer. I hogged the barrel channel out with a rasp and went back out hunting after checking the zero which returned but the scope still had water in it. After the season I glass beded the action and took a piece of stainless steel 1/4" square stock and glassed it into the fore arm and floated the barrel. That rifle hasn't changed poi since, Oh and I replaced the Weaver with a VXIII 1.5-5. This is my go to rifle and I've used it since back in the 1980's. :mrgreen:

 

[Oldtrader3]

I have seen and had Ruger Model 77's warp in the rain, especially here in Washington. The early issue M-77's did not have much finish on the stock and the stock would turn white in a couple days of Washington weather.

 

[nvbroncrider]

Has anyone had a laminate stock warp?

 

[Palouser]

Glad to hear you are doing better! Awesome range report! I love the featherweights, especially the 7 Mauser. Thanks for posting!