Return of the Green Machine!

Almost all of my loading and shooting in 2016 & 2017 was with my primary hunting rifles:

25-06 Rem 700 CDL
30-06 Rem 700 CDL
375 H&H Win 70

Knowing I had quite a few hunting opportunities coming up in the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017, it seemed appropriate to really concentrate on making sure I had good ammo, and got good practice with those rifles, particularly the 30-06 rifle.

But... Today I was somewhat surprised to see how much match-grade ammo I'd loaded and stored away for the .308 Green Machine. At my loading bench, I did put together 25 more new cartridges, but... I sure don't need to do so! Good grief, there's a lot of 308 Win ammo here, almost all of it loaded with 155 or 168 gr match bullets. Mostly Nosler, some Sierra.



I was heavily into shooting the 308 for a long time, in matches, and on SWAT. It felt good in my hands again today. Hefty, but good. Didn't shoot it today, just checked it over, loaded 25 rounds, inventoried a surprisingly large amount of ammo previously loaded for it...

Am looking forward to shooting it a lot more this year! That rifle and I have a lot of history, going back over 20+ years. Maybe I'll even shoot a 600 yard match or two with it.

Guy

Neat to see how the body reacts to an old friend. There are a couple of rifles that I haven't shot for a couple of years that just feel good when I take them out and handle them. That rifle appears to have treated you very well, Guy.

And in the original HS Precision stock, which is considerably lighter and handier than the McMillan, with the old 4.5-14x Leupold that was on it the entire time I was a police sniper. I actually like it a lot in the original stock. It sheds a little weight and some bulk.

Not sure that the big Vortex I've got on it now is better than the old Leupold. But the city owned that Leupold.

I won some matches with that rifle. Did well in others. Fell on my face in a few!

Shot some game with it too. That was nice. It was good to own my "duty" rifle as it followed me home upon retirement. I used to shoot it every two or three weeks, and now I realize that it's probably been two years since I've spent any time with it at the range!

That's about to change...

Guy

Guy, it funny how we all seem to become attached to a certain rifle. As you know I have 2 custom built rifles and they are such a treat to shoot and hunt with.
But last week I picked up my CDL in the 270win and it just fit like a old pair of gloves :wink:. I am now thinking of maybe getting it re-barrelled into a 280AI or maybe just a 280 Remington :mrgreen:.
I do believe the good Doctor on more than one occasion has mentioned the 280 is among his favourites to shoot

Blessings,
Dan

Dan, I think I first learned of the 280 from reading Finn Aagaard's articles in American Rifleman & American Hunter long ago. He was quite enamored of the cartridge from what I recall.

That and the then-new 2.5-8x Leupold, which he and I both consider one heck of a good general purpose hunting scope.

Guy