thursday morning rifle range time!

[vash]

oh boy. i didnt realize my "excursion" is next week. i need to get my rifles dialed!! ASAP!

i snuck off to the range this morning. it sucks here..CA, Sonoma wine country. wide open spaces..kinda rural. we have one single gun range..ONE! it opens at 8:00 am. i loaded my car and raced over..got there at 7:45. there was a line of trucks at the locked gate. a parade! i was maybe 8th. they range dude opens the gate and it was a foot race. you needed to put something on a bench to secure it. i put my coffee!

i was sighting in two rifles. 30.06 Winchester M70. and my finicky as eff - .257 Weatherby Magnum. i will take the more accurate rifle..which i suspected will be the 30.06

i sighted my 30.06 for 2.5" high..and the 257, dead nuts at 100.
that 257, was so copper fouled! it took a true week to get a clean patch to come out. it strangly enough shoots damn accurate with a clean barrel. no fouling shot needed. it is being cleaned now. my '06 needed fouling shot. it is tucked away "as-is". i am taking the 257..both rifles shot a .75" group with my crappy ass skills. shooting is a PERISHABLE skill!!! i have not shot regularly since 2007 and it shows. i am choosing the 257 because i installed the new Leupold CDS system..so i can dial in the "clicks" with my dope card. (i'll probably miss in the field)

back to the range time. it was fully populated with retired guys. all of them wearing some ball cap covering some war involvement. these are the type of guys that automatically make me call them "SIR!" i was the youngest one there. they called me the youngster. these dudes clearly spend their pension money on building the baddestass rifles i have ever seen. guy next to me was shooting a target rifle into the same ragged hole. i hope to be as cool and collected when i reach their age. truly a cool bunch of old dudes...some were "get off my lawn" types..but they let me in..and we all talked.

i love range time.!!

[vash]

now back to work

[pwd72s]

As Jeff told ya earlier, if it's .257 caliber you like, shed yourself of that Weatherby and go .257 Roberts. Sorry, but my old Remington in that caliber isn't for sale.

Funny, your range, people wise, sounds much like the Albany Rifle & pistol club.
Even though my old Remington will bust poker chips at 100 yards, when I look at targets others tack to the back wall, I know there's no competing with these guys.
But their rifles aren't really hunting rifles, are they? If you group under 2" at 100, you're better sighted in than 90% of rifles in the field...

(edit) Some tears back I took a childhood buddy to the range. He was visiting, lives out of state. He a former USAF F-111 pilot. Another at the range was also USAF, retired..a Sgt. It was interesting to see them revert to officer and enlisted. Some things just never leave you...

[911boost]

I am doing this with my 338 Win Mag in a week, as we are gone the 7th-12th in the mountains to hike around.

I am not looking forward to it.

[vash]

i'm not married to the .25. my next rifle will be a lightweight 270

[vash]

Originally Posted by BSiple

I am doing this with my 338 Win Mag in a week, as we are gone the 7th-12th in the mountains to hike around.

I am not looking forward to it.

good luck!! keep me posted.

i'll be chasing Sandhill cranes in Lubbuck. and then to NM for a mule deer. (+quail, Eurasian doves and cottontail)

[tabs]

Sounds like you had quite the outing there eh Vash...?
Did you pack a sandwich and have your Thermos handy?

Were all of those old guys out there using walkers and in wheel chairs...?

[911boost]

I have a mule deer tag this time and cow elk. Last time I was up there deer where everywhere, of course I didn't have a tag. Now that I do, it will be all crickets.

Mmmmmm Sandhill, the steak of the sky.

[vash]

Originally Posted by BSiple

I have a mule deer tag this time and cow elk. Last time I was up there deer where everywhere, of course I didn't have a tag. Now that I do, it will be all crickets.

Mmmmmm Sandhill, the steak of the sky.

yea..need to figure out my Remington 11-87 since my brother poached the awesome Benelli from my stepdad's stash.

my Remmy wont take three 3"-shells. i can get one in the mag and only one in the tube..that third shell is just a schooch too long...i suspect with regular 2.75" shells, they would load up to the max. thinking of trimming a carbon arrow shaft to the correct length so i can get that third shot..i NEED that third shot

[911boost]

The arrow is a good idea...

[Jeff Higgins]

I'm envious as hell of you guys - I was just in a pretty serious car wreck last week wherein some daydreaming prick totaled my beloved 1970 Beetle and, unfortunately, wreaked a good bit of havoc on my left knee... hunting season is over for me this year...

I don't want to dwell on that and hijack your thread, vash, so on to more important things like shooting and hunting. I'd like to relate a short story about dope cards and twisting turrets in the field...

Years ago an enthusiastic budding young elk hunter showed up at our range to zero his nifty new custom elk rifle. It was chambered in the then still wildcat .338/.378 Weatherby, and mounted with some high powered variable scope with target turrets. He was kind of afraid of it, and was using one of those Caldwell "lead sleds" to shoot it from. There was a range table with elevation corrections clear laminated and taped to the stock. I was shooting my M70 in .375 H&H with its 1.5-4X Leupold. There were a bunch of other guys there, all shooting this year's elk rifles and loads.

So, of course, there was the usual range banter. Turns out this guy was heading to Colorado on a guided hunt. He wanted to be sure he could tag his elk at any range. His plan was to zap it with his range finder, consult the chart, dial the scope, and neatly kill the elk. The rest of us guessed he maybe hadn't done much elk hunting...

One of the older guys proposed a little game. He had us staple targets up at 50, 100, 200, and 300 yards (just me and the new guy). We then told him he had to get off the bench and assume the field position of his choice - he went prone, I went sitting. I was using my sling, he had not even brought one along...

The old guy then proceeded to randomly call out a range for an "elk". The rule was that when the first guy fired, the other was not allowed to shoot at that range. After half a dozen range calls that all had me firing first (and putting every shot well enough on target to stay in the vitals on an elk) while this guy was reading his chart and fiddling with his scope, he was well and truly befuddled. And we had made our point...

Sight the rifle for 200 or 300 yards (your choice) and leave it there. Forget the range card. Way, way less to dick around with and get distracted by. That .257 shoots flat enough for any ethical hunting shot without all the fun and games.

Oh, and BSiple, I don't envy you with that .338. I think they have quicker, "snappier" recoil than my beloved .375's. I've always found them to be more punishing than the slightly bigger, slower round.

Anyway, good luck on your hunts, guys.

[HardDrive]

Jeff, I'm sorry to hear you got hurt, and your beetle totaled. I recall we shot at Kenmore, and you had your beetle.

[911boost]

Damn Jeff, that sucks bad. I hope your knee gets better soon. As for the Beetle, that is definitely a shame.

I will be carrying my trusty Savage Weather Warrior with a basic Nikon Monarch scope on it. Nothing fancy, as it is usually snowing, cold and wet. I totally agree with sighting it in for 200 yards.

Bill

[911boost]

Having any luck Vash?

I got the range yesterday, and have pulling stuff today to pack.

5 days in the woods, no work, I’m getting excited!!

[vash]

Originally Posted by BSiple

Having any luck Vash?

I got the range yesterday, and have pulling stuff today to pack.

5 days in the woods, no work, I’m getting excited!!

Just got day 1 is sandhill crane done. Talk about 15 mins of pure excitement. Sucky part; it was 15 minutes of pure excitement. We are done for the day. Nappy-time!

Day 2 of sandhill crane tomorrow morning and we drive to visit mule deer country.

Hehe. I don’t even remember what I do for a living 😂

[911boost]

Awesome!

My campers loaded and it snowed pretty good where we are heading in the morning so the chains are ready.

Work? What work?