Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidI
Jeff, that is a beautiful rifle...tried and true.
dlockhart, I went through Sniper School with an AR-10 (Sig 716G2, Sig Tango 6, and Sig Suppressor). It did very well and the weakest link was me. I outshot a few of my teammates who were using Tac Ops Delta 51 rifles. I was very surprised at the utility of that rifle. The only thing that I did not care for was the trigger. It was a 2-stage, but felt like an M-4 trigger. If that were "worked" that would be my choice because of the follow-up shot opportunities.
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I think if I ever do pursue this aspect of shooting, I might have to attend one of the civilian "sniper schools" (I'm sure you attended yours while in the service). There are a number of them available these days. I kinda sorta understand all of the lingo and the concepts and technology involved, and I have to think I could figure it out in time, even if left to my own devices. Or I could simply waste a lot of ammo and develop some bad habits...
One of the reasons I got into the long range black powder match game was to fast-track that learning curve. Nothing like shooting with and against experienced competitors to gain a great deal of knowledge very quickly. And one of the beauties of this game (actually any sort of match shooting) is that everyone is more than happy to tell you what you need to do to beat them next time. No "secrets" - everyone shares their hard-earned wisdom very freely with one another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Rogers
This is a 45 caliber muzzle loader I shoot 110 grains of Goex FFG under a 540 grain paper patch bullet and last fall shot it at the 600, 700 and 800 yard ranges over in AZ. I had to add one of those super recoil pads as it only weighs 12 pounds. I was using tang sights.
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I wear a "strap on" (no, not that kind...
). My match rifles all have steel "shotgun" style butts. My "mid-range" rifles are both NRA legal silhouette weight - under 12.4 pounds, or something like that. Both are .45-70's (one a C. Sharps 1875, the other an original Ballard Pacific), and their loads feature either the 540 grain Paul Jones Creedmoor or the 550 grain Hoch over 60-65 grains of Swiss 1.5 Fg. The "long-range" rifle, the Sharps 1874 shown above, uses the same bullets, but over 80-85 grains of the same powder. It weighs about 13.5 pounds.
Recoil over long strings get very tiring from any one of these rifles. I had no trouble dealing with it in my 30's, 40's, and early 50's, but I just turned 60. And I have arthritis/bursitis in my "shooting" shoulder (I think I know where that came from...
).
So, yeah, a "long-range" rifle in something like .308, one of the trendy 6.5's, or whatever - weighing 12 pounds or more - is starting to sound better and better. Oh, don't worry - I'll never give up the black powder stuff - but an option that's a bit easier on these old bones sounds pretty darn appealing.