Gun Owning Smokers

[Eville]

I almost dropped $50 on some other riser before I saw the UTG. I can't say I see the advantage of getting a more expensive one than the UTG.

The heat yesterday could have had something to do with it. 102 degrees at the range.

[Mangyrat]

Just got back form the range the 300 AAC works great but I do have to step up on my load to 17.5 grains of H110.
I had 3 failure to ejects out of the first 50 rounds with 17.2 gains.
The last 50 rounds ran flawlessly they were a little hotter.

I didn't have a spotter scope with me so I could not see where I was hitting at 100 yard so had to sight in at 75 yards.

[CptnBlues63]

Crappy Cell phone pic I cant find the camera.
I came home form work and the upper was waiting on me along with a few round's to test fire it tomorrow.
SOTA arms 300AAC black out upper in black stainless steel lower is magpull and palmetto state armory parts.

I did get 100 rounds made over the weekend, cut down 223 brass that I want to test also. 125 grain jacketed hollow points with 17.2 grain's of H110.

Very nice!

Got a chance to shoot my SR556 and M1 over the past few days. Both are EXCELLENT firearms. I only have 3 complaints about the Ruger. The firing pin retaining pin that came with it was to big and protruded from the side of the bolt carrier. About 10 minutes with a vice, hammer, and some files fixed that issue. The second complaint is that the aluminum hand guard gets hot; FAST. 60 rounds in and it was almost too hot to hold. I'm going to have to get some rails and heat shields put on ASAP. Thirdly, the front site that came with it does not adjust in increments. On a milspec sight, there is a pin that allows you to adjust the elevation in "clicks". X number of clicks = Y inches at Z meters. The Ruger's is just a straight screw, so there was a lot of guesswork to figure out how much to turn it to get the desired result. Other than that, shot like a dream. The Burris Fast Fire 3 site was a bit of a pain to zero, but she works like a charm now.

Then there is the M-1. Semi-auto, .308, smooth as silk with an ever so satisfying "PING" to let you know you just sent 8 rounds down range. What more can I say about it?

Also very nice!


My new scope arrived at my step-son's place last Tues/Wed so should be on it's way here. I'll try to remember to take some pics once it arrives and I get it mounted/sighted in.

[Mangyrat]

Good luck sighting in the new scope CptnBlues63.

Eville that is strange them calling the front sight post mills spec and having it screw in not click adjustable.

That little QCB bug Buster was not to bad to sight in, I did have a little trouble with the turret's resetting them to zero. "I don't read directions"
I picked up my Ruger the other day and no new guns came home with me thankfully. "now its time to work on the trigger".

[SailorJoe]

I have had quite a few guns in the last couple years. But I currently own a G27 .40, a G30 .45, marlin .22, a Remington .22, a glenfield .22, and my favorite is my Ithaca 20 gauge that was stamped from the factory as a 12 gauge.

[Mangyrat]

Ops I forgot a gun did follow me home but not form the gun shop.

I traded that old heavy scope I had on my first AR build for a badly neglected Rossi 32 S&W long revolver.
It needed a new firing pin and a good clean up to remove the rust, its not pretty but it fires just fine now.

Reloading is taking a lot of my spare time but I do have a good supply of ammo now.

One more gun will follow me home soon that is lost in my mom's attic, some cheap 38 she wants to get rid of so the grandkids don't find it.
I cant wait to see how bad off it is after being in the attic for years.

[CptnBlues63]

Good luck sighting in the new scope CptnBlues63.

Eville that is strange them calling the front sight post mills spec and having it screw in not click adjustable.

That little QCB bug Buster was not to bad to sight in, I did have a little trouble with the turret's resetting them to zero. "I don't read directions"
I picked up my Ruger the other day and no new guns came home with me thankfully. "now its time to work on the trigger".

So the BSA scope was a bust!

The ocular focus (at the eyepiece) didn't work so I couldn't dial out the parallax. I had it shooting decently at 100 yards and once I zeroed the turrets, I dialed it up for 200 (max length on our rifle range) and it was all over the paper. It's been sent in to the repair depot for replacement and the new one should be on it's way to my house as we speak. Being as how I'm leaving for my annual hunting trip on the 31'st, I couldn't wait for it to arrive.

Luckily my chiropractor is an avid hunter and as it turns out, also a Swarovski dealer. He had a Z5 3,5-18x44 with Ballistic Turret sitting in his office and offered to let me try it out to see if I like it. I told him, "If I put it on my rifle now, I'll pretty much have to leave it until after hunting season" He said, "No problem, I'm positive you'll buy it so go ahead"

So last weekend, after carefully mounting it on my Savage 99C (in .308), I sighted it in dead on at 250 yards (my personal preference). Swarovski has a ballistic calculator one can use to set the "presets" on the BT turret. It has 3 rings each with a different colored dot on it. Green, yellow and red. You use the ballistic calculator to tell you how many clicks from zero (your dead on sight in) for each color. With my .308 zeroed at 250 yards it's pretty much point and shoot at ranges from 50 to 300 yards (+/- 4") so I set the first preset (green) to 350 yd's, the second (yellow) to 400 and the last one (red) to 500.

Now it's worth noting, I had Federal send me a ballistic chart on the ammo I use to hunt with from 0 to 100 yards. The chart also includes wind drift calculated for a 10 mph wind, velocity, energy and a chart for zeroed at 100 yards as well as zeroed at 250 yards. The Swarovski ballistic calculator was within .1 (that's point 1) on all measurements which surprised and pleased me. The only thing left to do was get out into the country and check to see the presets were accurate and I did that yesterday.

First two bullets at 250 yards. The were dead on for elevation and about 1/2" right of the center line so I called that good and moved out to 350 and checked the first preset. Of the two rounds I shot, I had one that was a little high and right, and the second was a little low and left. The average of both was dead center. I then moved out to 400 but due to the land I was on, I had to setup on the hood of the truck and more or less freehand off the top of my ammo box. End result of the average of 3 shots (I fired 4 but "threw one away" lol) was again, dead on.

So, I considered that good enough and figured the 500 yard would be correct as well.

I'm simply amazed at this scope. The quality is excellent. The view is crystal clear and sharp and at 250 yards with the scope dialed up to 18, I could easily make out my bullet holes. At 350, I just couldn't quite if they were on the red. This scope has a parallax focus on the left side and a very easy to focus ocular (eyepiece) adjustment. This scope is pretty darn expensive and I've never spent this kind of money on a scope in my life but after shooting this well with a regular old hunting rifle, well, I gotta have it! LOL

I'm planning on building a nice long distance rifle under it over the next year or two. I have to save up my pennies first. But, if you're looking to buy a good quality scope and have the $$$, I highly recommend checking out the Swarovski line, they're impressive.

[Devil Doc]

Boy, are you screwed. Once you get used to quality optics, there's no going back. A Photographers Mate once explained that the best optic companies take their glass out of the middle of the tube, where it's most consistent. They sell the rest to companies like Weaver, BSA etc.


Doc

[Eville]

Just googled that scope. That costs about the same as my AR + 900 rounds. Must be one hell of a scope!

[CptnBlues63]

Boy, are you screwed. Once you get used to quality optics, there's no going back. A Photographers Mate once explained that the best optic companies take their glass out of the middle of the tube, where it's most consistent. They sell the rest to companies like Weaver, BSA etc.


Doc

You got that right! It all started with my brother the cop who's now a member of the tactical squad and has a kick ass sniper rifle. He brought it up early this spring and we shot 1" and smaller groups at 100 and 200 without half trying. The scope he has on his is a Nightforce 3,5-15x50 with MOAR reticle If you're interested, it's this one:

http://nightforceoptics.com/nxs/3-5-...xs-riflescope/


So that's what got me wanting a better scope. I've been wanting to have adjustable elevation turrets for some time and had been thoroughly checking through what Bushnell and Leupold have to offer but didn't see anything I really liked.

Just googled that scope. That costs about the same as my AR + 900 rounds. Must be one hell of a scope!

It is!

At 250 yards and I see where my bullets are hitting the paper easier than I can with my spotting scope! It has a very large, clear, sharp image and has adjustable objective (parallax) which makes it very easy to adjust for the best image possible over various ranges. Also, these Swarovski's are supposed to be excellent in low light situations and I'm frequently shooting in those conditions. Legal hunting starts 30 min's before sunrise and ends 30 min's after sunset. That first and last hour can be very tricky lighting, especially if it's cloudy. So a scope that works well in those conditions will make my life easier out in the field. And of course, it makes those longer shots a whole lot easier to make too. I no longer have to calculate hold over at the longer ranges as I have the ballistic turret already configured for 350, 400, 500 and even 600 yards if I want to try that.

While this scope is a lot more than I ever thought I'd spend on optics, I figure I'm going to have it for years and years so I should get my money's worth out of it. But it IS a lot of $$$ considering all my other scopes are more in the $100 range.

Now I'm looking at building a Remington 700 based rifle to put under it...........LOL I'll stick with .308 and am looking at either the SPS Tactical or the new VTR

http://www.remington.com/en/products...-tactical.aspx

http://www.remington.com/en/products...l-700-vtr.aspx

Both are in the $700 to $800 range (brand new) and can easily be dropped into premade bedded chassis like the one my brother's is sitting in. His is made by ACIS:

http://www.accuracyinternational.com/aics_kits.php

Those are pretty expensive though at around $800 each. I found another company that makes Remington 700 chassis that are a lot less expensive but should not only perform as well, but also offer the removable 4 round magazine as well.

http://mdttac.com/

So if I buy the less expensive chassis from MDT (the LSS) and one of the two aforementioned rifles to put in it. My scope will still cost more. No surprise though, quality optics of any kind (binocs, spotting scope, camera's and their lenses) are never cheap. That Nightforce on my brother's sniper rifle is a $2,500.00 scope. Lucky for him he didn't have to pay for it himself..........LOL

[Sailor71]

I've been using a Bausch & Lomb elite 4200 on my Remington 700BDL in 300winMag for over 10yrs now and still love it. Amazing optics for the price.

[CptnBlues63]

I've been using a Bausch & Lomb elite 4200 on my Remington 700BDL in 300winMag for over 10yrs now and still love it. Amazing optics for the price.

Considering B&L makes lenses and such, I'm not surprised their optics are good.

A fellow shooting/hunting enthusiast I met online recently uses Nikon scopes and he is very happy with them too. I know if things work out and I build myself a nice Remington 700 based rifle to put my Swarovski on, I'm going to need to put a new scope one on my Savage 99 lever action so I'll be in the market for a good quality, but not nearly as expensive scope for it.

So Sailor, are you a hunter?

[Eville]

My Marlin 30-30 lever has a Bushnell 3-9x that has served me very well for the past almost 15 years...damn that makes me feel old. Anyways, I'm not sure what model it is, but I remember it cost $99 new. As for Nikon, my Dad has a Nikon on his AR, I think it's a P-223. We were both pretty impressed by it.

[cigarsarge]

Just picked up an Arsenal SL 106 FR...Got it and 10 mags for a steal. Gonna leave it pretty much stock. Ordering a rail to mount an Aim Point Pro. Next stop 5.45x39 pistol to sbr. Really gotten into AKs recently.

[Sailor71]

Considering B&L makes lenses and such, I'm not surprised their optics are good.

A fellow shooting/hunting enthusiast I met online recently uses Nikon scopes and he is very happy with them too. I know if things work out and I build myself a nice Remington 700 based rifle to put my Swarovski on, I'm going to need to put a new scope one on my Savage 99 lever action so I'll be in the market for a good quality, but not nearly as expensive scope for it.

So Sailor, are you a hunter?

Yes CptBlues63 I'm a hunter. My home is Alberta where if there was a season for it, I hunted it. I unfortunately don't find myself with those opportunities anymore. I am now living in Southern Ontario. The hunting opportunities are just not the same. The fishing though is impressive:)

[CptnBlues63]

Yes CptBlues63 I'm a hunter. My home is Alberta where if there was a season for it, I hunted it. I unfortunately don't find myself with those opportunities anymore. I am now living in Southern Ontario. The hunting opportunities are just not the same. The fishing though is impressive:)

Dude!

I moved here from SK here to AB in 2005. In SK I only ever hunted deer, waterfowl and upland game. No moose or elk. Since moving here, I've stopped hunting birds (am considering getting back into it) but now hunt elk, moose as well as both types of deer. I'm up in Athabasca, about 2 hr's north of Edmonton. Whereabouts in AB are you from?

On our annual hunting trip we hunt on the Peace River valley, almost at the BC border near Silver Valley, AB.

I'm lead to understand there's lots of excellent hunting in northern Ontario. I wouldn't know, I've only ever hunted in SK and AB. But it might be worth checking around, you might meet someone who does hunt in Northern ON. I'm betting you're already signed up on canadiangunnutz.com ? If not, you should and maybe ask around on there. Lot's of members from ON. Barring that, if you own a travel trailer, you could go hunt crown land.

I hear the walleye fishing out Ontario way almost compares to the walleye in SK and MN.

Went out to Tobin Lake, SK this past June with my long time friend and fishing partner. We tied into lots of fish, just none of the real huge ones. My bro and I have both been avid fisherman since around age 5 and have logged many hours together in a boat. His family and mine both had cabins at lakes (different ones of course) and we've fished pretty much every species there is in SK at one time or another and have fished many, many different lakes all over the province. The limits here in AB suck totally (most cases it's zero and the rest are either one fish, or at best, two. Sk it's still 4 or 5 in most lakes) and there aren't near as many lakes as SK or MN. Oh well, I gained in the hunting department but lost in the fishing. Just goes to show, you can't have everything. Luckily I like hunting almost as much as fishing............

[ggiese]

Now I'm looking at building a Remington 700 based rifle to put under it...........LOL I'll stick with .308 and am looking at either the SPS Tactical or the new VTR

Food for thought... I good friend of mine had McGowen rebarrel his Mauser 98 bolt action. What a magnificent gun when they were finished. I see the company has been sold to a new owner in Montana, but it appears they're maintaining (and perhaps even improving) the quality

http://www.mcgowenbarrel.com/rebarreling.htm

[Sailor71]

Dude!

I moved here from SK here to AB in 2005. In SK I only ever hunted deer, waterfowl and upland game. No moose or elk. Since moving here, I've stopped hunting birds (am considering getting back into it) but now hunt elk, moose as well as both types of deer. I'm up in Athabasca, about 2 hr's north of Edmonton. Whereabouts in AB are you from?

On our annual hunting trip we hunt on the Peace River valley, almost at the BC border near Silver Valley, AB.

I'm lead to understand there's lots of excellent hunting in northern Ontario. I wouldn't know, I've only ever hunted in SK and AB. But it might be worth checking around, you might meet someone who does hunt in Northern ON. I'm betting you're already signed up on canadiangunnutz.com ? If not, you should and maybe ask around on there. Lot's of members from ON. Barring that, if you own a travel trailer, you could go hunt crown land.

I hear the walleye fishing out Ontario way almost compares to the walleye in SK and MN.

Went out to Tobin Lake, SK this past June with my long time friend and fishing partner. We tied into lots of fish, just none of the real huge ones. My bro and I have both been avid fisherman since around age 5 and have logged many hours together in a boat. His family and mine both had cabins at lakes (different ones of course) and we've fished pretty much every species there is in SK at one time or another and have fished many, many different lakes all over the province. The limits here in AB suck totally (most cases it's zero and the rest are either one fish, or at best, two. Sk it's still 4 or 5 in most lakes) and there aren't near as many lakes as SK or MN. Oh well, I gained in the hunting department but lost in the fishing. Just goes to show, you can't have everything. Luckily I like hunting almost as much as fishing............

I was born and raised in Drayton Valley (1 1/2hr west of Edmonton). Served my time in the oil patch The majority of my hunting was in the Nordegg area as well as chasing the elusive Trophy Elk in the Ya Ha Tinda ranch area. I have been giving some thought to going up north hunting and will check out canadiangunnutz.

We are getting close to ice fishing season and I live on a lake where Walleye is in season in the winter. Our little community basically moves out on the ice come Jan/Feb. Looks like a scene off Grumpy old men

[CptnBlues63]

I was born and raised in Drayton Valley (1 1/2hr west of Edmonton). Served my time in the oil patch The majority of my hunting was in the Nordegg area as well as chasing the elusive Trophy Elk in the Ya Ha Tinda ranch area. I have been giving some thought to going up north hunting and will check out canadiangunnutz.

We are getting close to ice fishing season and I live on a lake where Walleye is in season in the winter. Our little community basically moves out on the ice come Jan/Feb. Looks like a scene off Grumpy old men

LOL

I've never been a huge fan of ice fishing. Probably because I don't own a good hut,heater and power auger.........LOL My old bones can't take laying on the ice. But I have gone a few times and it's not hard to imagine sitting in a nice warm hut sipping something tasty while smoking a good cigar!

I'm off to the range in a couple hours with my one hunting partner in order to sight his gun in. It's my old Savage 99 lever action that I sold him. I picked it up so I'd have a spare just in case but it doesn't have the removable magazine but instead the built in 5 round rotary the Savage 99 is famous for. I prefer a removable as it's quicker and safer to both load and unload. I picked up another 99C last year just before hunting season and managed to bag an elk and a nice 5x5 whitetail with it. So anyhow, I put new scope mounts on it for him and mounted his scope and bore sighted it. Now to get it set........we leave Thursday! I'm bringing the 1911, the Rugers (Mark III Hunter and Super Single Six convertible .22lr/.22magnum) and my main hunting rifle as well so he can do a couple shots with it and check out the new scope. Once he's properly zeroed in, we're going to burn up some pistol ammo!

[CptnBlues63]

We had a pretty good day at the range. My hunting partner's rifle is now zeroed at 250 yards and he's ready to rock. I ran a quick group of 3 at 100 yds with my Savage 99C with the Swarovski on it and you could have covered the group with a dime. All three rounds overlapped. Yep, I'm ready!

I forgot to bring all the .45 acp and only had about 50 rounds so we burnt those off. Terry brought a brick of some Winchester .22 LR and I had a brick of some Winchester .22 I hadn't opened yet. I will never buy that ammo again. First, the lead was fractionally longer than any other .22 shell I've bought in the last couple years so they didn't feed through my Ultimate Clip Loader
http://www.mcfaden.com/cliploader.html
So I was reduced to loading the magazines for my Mark III Hunter by hand. That gets tiring and annoying fairly quickly (say about 300 rounds) so we didn't blow off all that ammo.

Second, they weren't ejecting properly and I've never had a shell that didn't before in my Mark III hunter and it's had at least 5000+ put through it in the time I've owned it. I'd like to blame it on the cool weather (it was a few degrees below freezing) but I've shot that gun under those temps many times without issue. Oh well, it's cleaned, oiled against rust and put away now for the winter.

Third, the same ammo was sticking in my Single Six. There were a couple empty brass I almost couldn't get to come back out of the cylinder. I'm not sure wtf is up with that, but like I said, I'll never buy Winchester .22 LR's again! I'm going to have to give these to somebody else as I'm not at all interested in shooting them through anything else.

Well, I'm almost 100% ready to go for my annual hunting trip. I have a couple "preload" items to put in the trailer and then it's just load what has to be loaded the morning I leave. I'm out of here Thursday morning and very much ready to go!