Hunting rifle range trip this morning!

Guy Miner

Master Loader
Apr 6, 2006
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Sorry 6mm - I forgot all about your shooting contest until we were back home. My apologies... I think my son's target is around here somewhere, perhaps I can dig it up for a photo. He shot real well today. All I shot was the 300 yard gong, no paper. We were slinging Nolser bullets almost exclusively!

Young John and I were both real excited about getting his great-grandfather's Mauser/.257 Weatherby out to the range today! I got it all back together after bedding it and everything looked good. Had some 115 gr Nosler Partitions loaded over a middling charge of H4831SC, and man were we looking forward to shooting it...
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Click. Click. Click. Click. Four misfires in a row. No rounds downrange. Phooey. John was sad, I was angry. I've done much of the work on bringing this rifle back myself, but farmed out the trigger and bolt work to a smith - and now it doesn't shoot. Grrrrr.... I'll get over it, but I really need this thing to at least go bang when the trigger is pulled. Sigh... Back to work on it. Again.

Things however brightened right up when young John pulled his trusty 6mm Remington from the gun case, set it up on the bipod and started sending 100 gr Nosler Paritions downrange - with RL-22 to shove 'em forward. Wow... Two shots almost touching, right where they belong at 12 o'clock in the 100 yard target. Silly me, I stopped him from shooting a third and directed his attention to the hanging steel gong at 300 yards. He whacked it with his first shot at that distance and kept whacking it until we about ran out of 6mm ammo. Sheesh... :grin: That young man and his rifle really do go together!
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I grabbed a succession of hunting rifles to check myself:
.25-06 Rem 700 with 115 Nosler Partitions & Retumbo - Three shots at 300, whacked the gong three times. I think that will do.

.30-06 M1917 with 165 Nosler Partitions - Three shots at 300, whacked the gong twice and pulled one to the left a tad. Dad gum it! Not bad for a 90+ year old rifle:
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.300 WSM Model 70 with 200 gr Nosler Accubonds - two shots at 300, whacked the gong both times.

.375 H&H Ruger Number One - had only sighted this one in at 50 yards, held a couple of inches high at 300 and blasted the gong with the 235 gr Speer. Hit it a few more times, then switched to 260 gr Nosler Accubonds and whacked it a couple of times, then missed left a couple of times. I need to dial this one in just a bit better, but any of my shots would have brought down game according to my son the shot spotter.
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So... back home to cool off, stopped and bought another pound of RL-22 on the way home. Now we've got a bunch of gun cleaning to do. Then I'll turn my attention to that recalcitrant Mauser/Weatherby.

It was a terrific morning. My son commented that he really liked the .22 rimfire range trip a couple of days ago, followed by the center fire range trip today. Most of our shooting today was at that 300 yard gong, which is my favorite practice target with the hunting rifles.

Yes, I was "owed" another day off from work - so took it today, giving myself a four-day weekend. Nice... Put in a little work around the house but also got two range sessions, a couple of motorcycle rides, a couple of barbecue sessions, and a scouting trip for deer & bear. Nice weekend! :grin:

Regards, Guy
 
Sounds like a good time, Guy! I'm really looking forward to Nolan getting a little older so we can shoot together. Looks like you have a pretty neat range setup. Is it an official range, or just an area out in the boonies where you go?
 
Guy,

Sounds like on heck of a nice weekend.

Sorry to hear about the 257 Bee. Do you think a new trigger is in order?

JD338
 
BK - it's at the North Central Washington gun club. http://www.ncwgunclub.com

Great facility. 200, 300 and 600 yard lines for the NRA highpower competitors.

Informal shooting from 25 - 600 yards always, and sometimes to 800 & 1200 yards with the cooperation of our neighboring farmer.

Cowboy town for the cowboy action shooters.

Trap & skeet range for the shotgunners.

Indoor & outdoor archery ranges. Indoor & outdoor .22 ranges.

Pistol bays to 100 yards.

The club has been around for a long time. We share the land with a quarter-mile race track - between the two we've got a pretty solid financial base, and a large membership.

You'll also see range photos I take at the local police range, which I run one week every month, year round. Four different agencies share that range equally, but I can't get 300 - 600 yards there.

JD 338 - the rifle had a miserable trigger and a safety that was almost impossible to work. I had the smith replace both with a Timney unit - that's when the misfires started... Trigger pull is real nice now, but it doesn't go bang. I'm not calling that a win... Phooey. So, back to the smith, to get it figured out. Light primer strikes, just not quite hard enough.

Regards, Guy
 
Yeah, I'd have to say that a crisp, light misfire is not exactly what I'm looking for either!
 
Very nice shooting Guy. You can always count on your '25, and John can count on the '6'. Looks like nice day over there too.
 
Welcome aboard Too Tall. This is a great place to "meet" good folks from all over, hunters mostly, shooters all.

Guys - let me introduce Too Tall, a buddy from another forum. Heck, we don't even really know each other, but it's been a pleasure trading shooting & hunting info with him for several years.

Guy
 
Guy, that 257 does look good buddy. Seems like it is coming along. Kinda like fixing up an old car. Sometimes little things are overlooked and don't come out until the test drive. I know you'll have it figured out shortly.

That boy of yours is killing it with that 6mm. I have a feeling you have seen the last of that rifle!

Your other rifles are shooting well too. Can't beat smashing the gong with the 375! I felt much the same when I was dinging Brian's 300 yard steel with the Whelen. Just something about those medium bores smacking steel that far off. Can't beat that feeling, and that CDL of mine almost points itself!

Looks like one heckuva awesome day on the range. Hope to have a good range day coming up the next couple of days after I get home. Need some time to smell the gun powder!

Welcome aboard Too Tall! Great to have you here. Great bunch of shooters/hunters here. Scotty
 
Guy,

That was a great day for you and your son. It is a bummer when you get a rifle back and it doesn't go "Bang!" I've always contended there are two things we don't what to hear: "Click," when we're expecting "Bang!"; and "Bang!" when we're expecting "Click." However, it sure seems as the rest of the shooting came together in solid fashion.
 
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