Observations from the rifle range.

I made my last pre-deer-season visit to the gun club yesterday. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to visit more, but things go CRAZY in the 2 weeks before deer season, so I now avoid the place until after Dec. 1. I had some load testing to do and then my father also called and said, “Hey, what am I going to shoot for deer season this year?” Parents these days! They just expect rifles to magically appear, all sighted in, cleaned, and ready to hunt…

I did some testing of some new rounds for my deer hunting handgun (7-30 Waters) and checked the zero on some deer rifles. Oh, and I couldn’t resist taking the MMR AR-15 out to play.

A couple of random observations.

1. The budget rifle has taken over the universe! You know the ones I’m talking about, the Ruger American, Savage Axis, etc. Similar offerings from Howa/Weatherby, Remington, even Winchester is in on the act. People on 4 benches were working on new rifles yesterday and there were 3 Ruger Americans and a Howa. All of them shot perfectly acceptable groups out of the box and by comparison, all of them shot better than the 40 year old rifle I was there to work on.

When it comes to rifles, the good old days are NOW! Seriously. For those of us who used to pine for the return of the pre-64 Winchesters, or first generation Weatherbys, or what have you, well pine no more. Never has it been possible to get such quality and accuracy at prices the average person can afford. It is amazing at how high the entry level rifle bar has been raised to now.

2. The 300 Blackout. I don’t get it. End of comment.

3. If you have a spotting scope, please do not get annoyed at others who do not and therefore have to have breaks ever 10 or so minutes to walk downrange to check progress. What is the point of being an a-hole about this and copping an attitude?

4. I’m still concerned by how few people I see doing anything but shooting from the bench. Yesterday, there were constantly 10-12 benches full and during 3 hours at the range, 0 shots (besides mine) were fired from any position other than sandbagged on the bench.

5. It’s nice to see the folks showing up with their kids and to hear the sound of rimfires again. I can only hope the ammo shortage has at least passed to the point where the kids are able to shoot when the opportunity is there.

6. ARs are just so dang much fun! I mean, seriously, I have my Mossberg MMR dialed in and now it has a decent trigger, so it’s an honest MOA rifle. I was shooting at a target with dime sized spots yesterday at 100 yards and I could have done that all day. Now if there were just a way to get rid of that annoying ka-poing of the recoil spring…

7. I’ve been having a terrible time with my father’s 1962 Remington 760 pump in (what else?) .30-06. I can’t seem to get it to shoot consistently with any ammo. I have a bad feeling that something has gone really bad, either with the rifle or with the 1963 Bausche & Lombe scope. It’s sad for me to think that the gun may be on its way out due to throat erosion, I will always associate this rifle with my father and his undisputed reign as the King of the Deer Drive. Hunting has changed, but back in the day when the goal was meat in the freezer as much as it was sport, there was only one place to put dad and the 760: Posting on the end. They could run, but they couldn’t hide, and if I heard the 760 bark, well, better bring a drag rope because there was 100% chance there’d be work to do. Nobody was better at it.

Grouse

I have to say, that Savage Axis is a heck of a performer for the price. I’m not much of a hardcore deer hunter any more, but am enjoying lugging the old 70s model savage 30-06 through steep thick brush covered hills less and less. I put down two does at about 250 last year like it was nothing, but man that barrel is long and gun is heavy.

With the accuracy that Savage has given over the years I have a hard time going with another brand. I’m eyeing up the Axis 270. I have a buddy with that gun and he loves it, and it just feels good.

On a side note, I switched to Hornady Whitetail rounds last year for the 30-06 in 150 grain. Both of the deer I shot looked like a tennis ball got blasted through them. I am not sure what I think about that yet. The Core-Loct 150s always put deer right down too, without looking like they got shot with a cannon.

I’m old, my initial intension was to buy one bolt rifle with priorities being corrosion resistant, light, accurate, 7mm mag…and not cost an arm and a leg. I ended up with a Tikka t3 with a plastic stock. After shooting it and getting her zeroed, and experiencing her long range accuracy I ordered a custom wood laminate stock from Boyd’s and replaces the plastic bolt hood. I just can not get used to plastic on a rifle.
Then after complaining about all the different chamberings I went out and bought a Marlin 1895 45-70 and installed ghost sites, what fun at up to 100 yards…but a little expensive to reload…so I bought a Marlin 1894 in 44 mag. That too was a blast to shoot. I watched some videos on metal silhouette shooting, but could only find a 22 LR max caliber range…so I bought a Henry 22lr and amazed myself with shooting offhand and hearing that addictive ring of the steel. Yeah, I know I went a little nuts, but I was still able to pay all my monthly bills after eating ramen noodles for the rest of the month.

I love the classic rifles. I will always have a Win. M-70, a Rem. 700 or a Ruger M-77 in walnut with blued steel. I will not accept any substitutes. But it is sure nice not to have to put out $1000 to get a youngster started in the sport with those low cost entry level rifles mentioned. One of my most liked features of my 6 acre homestead is having my own shooting range.

#2 300 black out. Shoot it suppressed you’ll understand. That’s what it was made for from my understanding.

#6 Spring Recoil noise. Get rid of the gas block and switch to piston operated. The sound goes away.

Fisherpaul wrote:

#2 300 black out. Shoot it suppressed you’ll understand. That’s what it was made for from my understanding.

Yes, I know, but the ballistics are so miserable that I would think throwing rocks at the target would be quieter and probably nearly as effective. Given the highly specialized and limited uses for the .300 Blackout, I’m surprised that I’ve even seen one of them.

Fisherpaul wrote:

#6 Spring Recoil noise. Get rid of the gas block and switch to piston operated. The sound goes away.

The sound goes away, but so does a couple of hundred bucks. As Mrs. Grouse often says, I’m nothing if not cheap.

I just look at that system and think there must be some way to vibration dampen that spring a little bit?

Grouse

wimwuen wrote:

With the accuracy that Savage has given over the years I have a hard time going with another brand. I’m eyeing up the Axis 270.

I just bought my son one of these this Fall and it is a sweet gun. I actually want to get one for myself. It shoots so nice.
At 100 yards HE (14) shot a 4 shot group that I could cover up with my thumbnail. 3 of the shots were touching with one splitting the difference of the other two hits. I was impressed.
I didn’t try anything longer than that for a distance because 100 is really pushing it for us to begin with.

Any day of sending copper down the tube is a blast. We set up the 1000yrds range at my brother in laws out here in Colorado. Shooting the tikka 270wsm and 7mm rum has been fun, and a little frustrating. My tikka 250 yrds is about 1″ groups on the bench aND the sAmerican on bopod. At 400yrds is about 3″ bench and 4″ on the bipod. 800 yrds is about 8″ on the bench 12″ with the pod. At 1000, it really opens up. 20″ on the bench. Tried a half dozen on the pod, and it was discouraging. I thought I was having a good trigger day, but was getting uptight when I could watch my heart beat when I touched the trigger.

Question for guys doing long range. What is your favorite for trigger pull. I’m right at 3#. Thinking about taking it down into the 2-1/2# range. Thoughts?

On the budget rifles, I had a Remington 710 in .270, the gun shot very good, never a problem. When I was offered a trade for the 710 + a little cash for a 1982 Winchester model 70 featherweight with a gorgeous wood stock in .270 I jumped.

I only deer hunt a few days a year and shoot occasionally, and I take very good care of my guns, so durability is not an issue. I hated the looks of that 710 before i even brought it home, I just cheaped out. I just do not like the synthetic stocks, I know many people do, but there is just something about a real wood stock that trips my trigger.

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On my Tikka I have the trigger pull adjustment screw backed all the way out to the stop screw, they say it’s about 2 lb.

At that range your rounds might be coming out of supersonic range and the result is bullet instability when it encounters that bridge point. Faster and heavier, or matching a bullet that optimises the barrel twist might get you out to 1000 yds.

Randy

Mine float in that 2 lb area.

As far as stability, my 260 with the 139 gr. bullets runs at 1456 fps at a 1000 and accuracy is good yet.
MV is 2845

JH

@ MNice

I hear ya! I’m a chump for “pretty” guns.

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When adjusting triggers on hunting rifles, everyone please be very, very careful! You guys are giving those rifles a thorough “bump testing” after making these adjustments to make sure the sear won’t accidentally release, right?

Also, everyone understands that adjustable triggers DO NOT have a “safety stop” on the adjustment screw that will prevent you from adjusting them below the safe point and into territory where they can (and WILL) accidentally release? I’m hoping everyone knows that there isn’t any foolproofing on this system, the foolproofing is you knowing what you’re doing and knowing how to test if the trigger will accidentally release.

People talking about adjusting to sub-3 pound pulls on a hunting rifle concerns me a LOT. This is hunting, not benchrest shooting. Add in heavy gloves, cold finger, a few extra bumps, etc and this sets up the potential for very bad things to happen for a questionable gain. Look, I like a good trigger as much as anyone, but there’s some common sense that needs to be applied here. If you can’t make a decent shot on deer sized game with a 4 pound trigger, well, IMO it isn’t the rifle that needs to be tuned up.

Grouse

This is a great consideration Grouse! I wasn’t thinking so much in terms of creating a danger but at the same time, I know that I DON’T know what I’m doing so I’ve been reluctant to experiment with the adjustable triggers at all. I “settle for” whatever setting comes from the factory. The only exception to this rule is I replaced the trigger springs in my Axis models and watched a video explaining how to do this. Granted, the Axis’ I own do not have adjustable triggers.

I have a Raging Bull in 41 mag that I purchased used and someone must have tinkered with that trigger because I had to do a lot of practice with the practice ring in the cylinder to get used to that gun not going off accidently. I will not wear gloves with it! Once cocked, it’s SCARY light in it’s trigger pull! I, myself, have acclimated to it but my every sensory is on “Ultra” when shooting it because it’s clearly accident prone. I’m actually retraining myself to shoot it well in double action instead of single. It’s just safer in my opinion.

I stated this trigger adjustment on my Tikka, and there is an Allen head bolt that prevents adjustment below 2 lbs. This is pointed out in the owners manual.

Grouse,

When my Grandpa passed away a few years ago, I got his 742 woodsmaster semi-auto .30-06. Love hunting with it as it just reminds me of him and I feel like when I go out he’s still there with me. Funny how we ascribe such sentiments to pieces of wood and metal. I wasn’t born until about 20 years after the rifle was made, but seeing old photos of my Grandpa and his dad in red plaid and deer on the tailgate of an old (60’s?) harvest gold Ford…ya just can’t help but be nostalgic…or at least I can’t, anyway.

Cheers!
Nate

Nate Northup wrote:

Grouse,

When my Grandpa passed away a few years ago, I got his 742 woodsmaster semi-auto .30-06. Love hunting with it as it just reminds me of him and I feel like when I go out he’s still there with me. Funny how we ascribe such sentiments to pieces of wood and metal. I wasn’t born until about 20 years after the rifle was made, but seeing old photos of my Grandpa and his dad in red plaid and deer on the tailgate of an old (60’s?) harvest gold Ford…ya just can’t help but be nostalgic…or at least I can’t, anyway.

Cheers!
Nate

Nate, I’m with you 100%. As chance would have it, I have a 742 autoloader that was MY first deer rifle. My father bought it used from a gent in town and it was, for some reason, practically unused. It’s a 1960s vintage rifle as well. Dad gave it to me for Christmas in 1985 when I was 14.

I was absolutely baffled as to what that package was under the tree as I had no inkling that a deer rifle was even in the cards. We weren’t the kind of family that had big present expectations at Christmas, so I was totally baffled as to what that big box could hold and if I’m being honest, I was more than a little suspicious that it was some kind of gag gift.

I’ve always been grateful for this gift and I like to think I’ve made good use of it. The 742 and I have accounted for dozens of deer including one memorable instance known to us as “The Tommy Gun Incident” in 1990 when my father unknowingly pushed 8 deer including multiple bucks right on top of me as I stood waiting for him on a fence line.

It was almost self-defense as bucks ran within spitting distance as they emerged from thick popple trees. They couldn’t see me until they came out right on top of me and then all hell broke loose as they tried to get out of Dodge in any way possible.

It had long been drilled into me by my father, uncles, and everybody else that once you shoot at a deer, you keep shooting until it falls over. A sure way to get on the Sh!t List in our deer camp was to send the guys on a long chase and tracking mission for a deer that you “thought you hit solidly”.

So shoot I did. I cut loose with the ol’ 742 and made her do what autoloaders do best. Dad, unbeknownst to me, was only 50 feet away, completely hidden in the thick re-growth. He hit the ground “just in case” and he stood up as the firestorm briefly subsided, only to hear my bolt slam shut on the second magazine. He hit the deck again as the firing resumed!

When the dust finally settled, dad emerged with his frontside covered in swamp grass and mud. There I was, leaning against the fence with brass everywhere, and not a deer in sight! Dead or otherwise.

In one of the strangest situations I’ve seen, I hit one buck 4 times in the ribcage, and then drilled him a new one going away besides. The shots spaced inches apart in the boiler room and the deer still went a quarter of mile and gave us a horrific drag back to where we could drive to. How that deer ever got that far is beyond me, the blood trail was huge and it just kept going and going and going.

Grouse

Heh heh that’s a good story, man. Always good to re-live those experiences – keeps those who’ve went on before us alive in a way, ya know.

Man, I’ve never experienced anything like that! What a good memory to have.

Now that my grandpa has walked on, I hunt solo…not quite as fun as going out with family or a group of guys, but it’s a bit more serene I guess. I’m a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to hunting and fishing. Once in a while I can drag my dad out on the boat if it’s only for a few hours and the weather is fair. But even then it’s nice to have that time.