by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
This report covers:
- What gives?
- Airguns
- How I like it
- Have I made my point?
- Whole bunch of stories
- The moral
Lots of ground to cover today, so let’s get started. Have you ever wanted one of those “systems” guns? You know the ones I mean — guns like the Thompson Center Contender. It’s a wonderful idea — you can own just one action, yet make it into many guns through the installation of different barrels, stocks and so on. Great idea. Fabulous concept! But it’s not practical.
Notice that I didn’t say it doesn’t work, because it really does. You can take off the .30 Herret barrel you used to take last year’s whitetail and install a .22 long rifle barrel for silhouette shooting next weekend. It really does work just that easily. But you won’t do it.
At least not for long. What will happen is you will win a silhouette match with that pistol one day and, when the time comes to hunt deer again, you’ll rationalize that you really need another action to go with that other barrel. Because you certainly don’t want to do anything to jinx your silhouette gun, now that it’s winning!
Same goes for those who buy a lever action 1894 Marlin chambered for the same 44/40 cartridge they shoot in their Colt Single Action Army revolver. Ain’t it great that you can grab both guns and head out to the field, and only have to grab one box of shells? Well, it is until you realize that the rifle is three times stronger than the Colt. If you wanted to, you could handload cartridges for the rifle that would be powerful enough to drop deer at 150 yards. But don’t ever use them in the handgun! They would blow it apart! That’s why you painted all the primers of the high-powered handloads with red nail polish — so you would never chamber one in the Colt by mistake.
While we are at it, you found that the Colt likes a certain load that drives a 225-grain lead bullet, but the rifle prefers a 180-grain jacketed hollowpoint. In fact, about the only thing that revolver and rifle have in common is they both chamber the same cartridge — not that you’d ever actually want to do it.
What gives?
Am I saying these dual-purpose and multi-purpose guns are a ripoff? Absolutely not! They perform exactly as advertised, and, under certain circumstances, they are well worth the investment. Let’s look at the rifle and revolver for a moment. If you were shooting black powder cartridges in both of them, that would be an excellent reason to use the same ammo in both guns. In fact it wouldn’t matter — as long as both guns were made for black powder. But the Marlin has a 18.5-inch barrel that doesn’t generate much power with black powder. It’s okay — just not everything it could be. You are better off using fast-burning smokeless powder behind lightweight jacketed hollowpoints in that gun. It’s not really suited for black powder.
And that Thompson Center Contender will work with almost any barrel you can put on it. But, once you lighten the trigger to 15 ounces for silhouette matches, it’s not really good for hunting deer when the temperature is below freezing.
And so on. You get the idea. Yes, multi-purpose guns are a dream come true, but when you wake up you discover that once you have them dialed-in the way you want, you really don’t want to go changing things around. So, you get a second multi-purpose gun for the next use. And so on.
Airguns
What does this have to do with airguns, you ask? I own an AirForce Talon SS. It comes with a 12-inch barrel in your caliber of choice, but AirForce designed it so I can install any of 4 different caliber barrels in that airgun — each in one of three standard lengths. Four calibers and three lengths per caliber — that’s 12 different barrel options for just one gun.
How I like it
What do I use? I use a .22-caliber 24-inch Lothar Walther AirForce barrel that I happen to love. That longer barrel nearly doubles the power of the rifle with the same air. I have a bloop tube frame extender attached to the front of the gun’s frame to quiet the report. While my gun does look strange because it’s too long and thin, I could care less. It does what I want it to do, and, as many readers know, it is one of my go-to air rifles.
I did remove the barrel several years ago to conduct an extensive test of the effects of rifling twist on airgun performance. That 13-part test lasted about 9 months and I was glad when it was over, so I could put my rifle back in its proper configuration!
I feel the same about my 4-barrel Whiscombe rifle. I bought it as a testbed, and that’s how it has been used every since I have owned it, but I prefer to have either the .177 or .22 caliber barrels mounted. Not that I use the rifle for anything beyond testing — I’m just not that big a fan of .20 and .25 caliber spring guns.
It only takes a few minutes to change a Whiscombe barrel, but once you do the rifle has to be sighted-in all over again. It is a completely different airgun.
Have I made my point?
I’m not even close to the point I want to make today. This report isn’t about multi-purpose guns. It’s about finding the one best pellet and the right power setting on those guns that have adjustable power, and then sticking with it.
Whole bunch of stories
I can sum up today’s point with several stories. Back when I was still in the Army I chanced to buy or trade for an antique muzzleloading rifle. It was unmarked except for the barrel that said Green River. The patina said the gun was at least 100 years old back in 1979. I happened to read an article about shooting vintage muzzleloaders and by sheer chance I lucked into a good load right away. A good load in that rifle put 5 .45-caliber balls into a little less than one inch at 50 yards. I was delighted until the day I decided to get something else and let that shooter get away from me. The point is — one load worked!
I had a custom .458 Winchester rifle that I traded for at a local gun show. It came with dies, cases, a bullet mold and loading instructions. The seller loved the rifle and was sorry to let it go, but the time had come. Using his load I could put 10 550-grain lead bullets through one inch at 100 yards. I shot that rifle until I got bored with the accuracy. Did I just say that? I let it go knowing there were other accurate rifles out there and I could always find another. I’m still looking. One load is all I used.
I had a .270 Weatherby Magnum that would put 5 rounds into 3/4-inch at 100 yards. I had just one load for that rifle. It never failed me. I sold it because I needed the money, or I would still have it today.
I now have a 250 Savage that I got from my buddy, Otho, a few years ago. That was the rifle I showed you putting 10 first shots into one inch at 100 yards. Well — 8 of 10, but I called both the first shot and one other. That’s an interesting 2-part report, by the way. And the last section is about an air rifle, which gets us back to the topic of today.
My TX200 Mark III is a rifle of known accuracy. People always ask me why I don’t tune this rifle or modify it is some other way. I hope today’s report explains the reason I don’t.
My .177 Tyrolean Beeman R8 is another good example. It shoots so well with just a single pellet — the Air Arms Falcon — that I can’t imagine using anything else.
The moral
I will end with a story that illustrates the moral of what I’m trying to say today. When I taught the government about Japanese Management many years ago, the message that was an organization could be transformed into an efficient entity by applying the principles of what we called Total Quality Management. Motorola did it and changed the order-to-ship time for a pocket pager from 6 months to 15 minutes. But you can only do this transformation once.
If you then try to transform the efficient organization that had been created a second time, you tear it apart. In short — if it works well, don’t fix it. That applies to airguns too. When you have a load that works well (a pellet and perhaps the right combination of factors like power adjustment, barrel length, pellet head size and so on) stop trying to improve it and use what you have. Instead of fiddling with things, buy as many of the right pellets as you can and shift your attention to a different airgun.
I am a reformed fiddler. I have either ruined or walked away from many ideal shooting combinations in my life — some of which I have shared with you today. I’m simply trying to save you the time and trouble of going through the mess I did to get to where I wanted to be.
I am a reformed fiddler.The Moral! Me too??? Thank you for not fiddling around with this report! Semper fi!
That .270 had to be one of those screamers we’ve heard about. After I found “the”pellet for my Airmaster I swore I’d never let it go but pumping it’s a chore anymore and the pellets are getting hard to come by now.
10 shots at 100 yards at the 1 inch mark.
Reminds me om my senior aged dad.
During the Korean war our government selected the 4 best marksman from the navy, army, airforce and SF.
From these 4 shooters he was the only one who could place 5 rounds of .303 British on a 10 cm (4 inch) target at 100 meters IN 10 SECONDS! Even at today’s standards thats an amazing feature.
He’s now at the “wrong” side of 70 and his body doesnt allow him to take accurate standing/off hand shots anymore. But when he gets in a prone or kneeling position, the marksman of old is back. If he is in the “zone”, he can give everyone a run for their money.
I owe him everything I know about shooting. I still have the national total point record on my name on the combined 5 position rimfire track (offhand, prone, kneeling, postshooting and running bore), but when Im ahead on points on the other competitors, I tend to get nervous…… and might drop a point cos of that.
Not my dad, seems like hes got no nerves at all.
Im in my 40s, hes almost 80, but hes still my marksman hero.
That’s quite an achievement by your Dad with the Enfield. But the math says at that rate of fire, he would put out 30 rounds in one minute. The record for the Mad Minute is 38 hits in one minute on a 300 yard target that is a foot in diameter. Almost inconceivable although that story may be apocryphal. Anyway, having no nerves was a distinguishing trait of Annie Oakley. Apparently, she never got nervous or experienced doubt. She was like a machine.
Matt61
Matt,
Ive never heard of the term mad minute. Ill look it up tomorrow. I just made a soft touchdown in bed.
Ive seen him hit the black circle of a 10m Olympic card at 50 meters with my single shot bold action .22 anschutz match rifle. Before he started shooting, he placed 10 .22 bullits next to him, perfectly lined up next to each other. It took him less than 30 seconds to put all ten bullits in the black part of an official 10 card. No magazine in the rifle, siglehanded loaded each bullit. Ive seen him do it with my own eyes.
Roughly 3 inch, 50 meters, 10 shots, singleshot rifle, less than 30 seconds. The man is almost 80 years old.
We are talking koreanwar eara. The man was in his prime, trained 4 to 5 hours each day.
If I do the math 🙂 there is no doubt he could do it.
No offence taken btw.
Cheers
Couldnt help myself, I looked up the term mad minute.
I do cannot see the math problem regarding my dads shooting you mentioned.
I also noticed they also used the lee Enfield. If my memory serves me well, he used a common series production rifle that was slightly modified by the factory, so that it could serve as a sniper rifle. I tend to say it was a mk3, but that could be wrong cos I know verry little about old weapons. I even don’t know IF there was a MK3.
The math is that with your Dad firing 5 aimed shots in 10 seconds, he would have fired 30 shots in 60 seconds at that rate. That’s outstanding, but it does give one an appreciation for the record of 38 rounds in one minute which included magazine changes. The distances were different with the record being set at 300 yards but possibly the difference in target size meant that accuracy was different. In any case, this is not any criticism of your Dad who is clearly an outstanding shot. That’s way beyond anything I’ll ever do, and like I said the record is so unbelievable that one wonders if it is true.
If it is true, then environment may be an explanation. This record was supposed to have been set on the eve of WWI. At that time, the British army was at its height at the end of the Victorian era. They specifically trained with a rapid fire technique with their Lee-Enfields, and this was their top guy. No doubt being surrounded by competitors using the same equipment gave the record-setter an advantage. It’s like the way Shakespeare wrote in an age of great writers, the ancient Greek philosophers lived roughly at the same time and Beethoven composed in the midst of musical geniuses. Having that context is a huge advantage.
I’m almost more impressed with your Dad’s rate of fire with a single-shot rifle. I make no pretenses to any speed with my Anschutz. Did you use an Anschutz for your national record by the way?
Matt61
Matt,
For the 4 static events I used the Anschuetz. For the running bore part I used a borrowed older type Anschuetz that was easier to shoulder quickly. The static events were 50 meters, the running boar at 25m. No one has ever shot a 100% score (yet). I only dropped 4 points. 1 point at the pole event, this was the last event before the final event: dynamic running bore. Pole event was the easiest part (semi supported post offhand), but the nerves played parts on me….dropped one point. And I dropped 3 points on the running boar. Recorded still stands.
Dad had the right environment too. The defence administration wanted the best marksman from each division.
So that was army, airforce, marine and SF. Dad was regular army. So there was competition between the 4 different divisions. The regular army allowed him to shoot and train as much as he wanted. Cos there was competition between the different divisions.
The record you mentioned could very well be true. At one point of history my dad was probably our country’s best sniper. But we live in a small country (15 million people). So I you do the math 🙂 chances are that in the whole world there were much better marksmen. Better marksmen can pull off better shots.
En Chroma CX lens
Bringing color to the colorblind, shameless plug but I couldn’t figure out how to share the link on my phone so I tried to create one. It’s nice to see colors again!
Just took their online test and got a good result but I guessed at a couple and left one blank that never materialized so I guess I have most of it back but I still have a major problem with glaring lights, including natural.
No wonder I’ve felt so bad since starting this course of antibiotics I finally have the rash to prove I’m allergic, spent the last two days on the couch so nauseated I couldn’t eat.
Didn’t take my dose tonight and still itching all over and ready to head for the heads anytime.
Sick of being sick!
If you stop a course early make sure you talk to your doctor to get a different type to finish it, I guess whatll happen is you’ll almost kill it all but if you dont finish the strongest germs still alive will bring back the infection fast and hard. At least thats what they say. Get well soon!
My prescription has been changed and Doc said to steer clear of sulphate drugs but this new one doesn’t allow for any pain meds for my back and has a laundry list of side effects and interactions including my vitamins and antacids for reflux which is one of its top side effects. They’re already talking about doing an upper GI to see what kinda shape my esophagus and stomach are in.
I swear this phone is gonna be my demise, I typed sulpha and it changed it to sulphate.
Grrr!
B.B.,
Good article with lot’s of food for thought. When done reading, the one thing that stuck in my mind was that there is another “trap” to be aware of……changing things around in the name of trying to improve one’s accuracy. (spring tunes, trigger mods., muzzle weights, scopes and ring height and so on).
As a new shooter, I have tried many things and my accuracy has improved. As a new shooter,..I suspect,…but am not sure,..that some of the changes have helped. The simple fact that I have simply shot more, refined my technique,…may play an equal, if not a larger part.
In the end,..for a new shooter,..be careful. Changing things up may help you, or may not. Keeping good records helps to judge progress, or lack of. Keep all changes reversible. Keep notes. And last,.. practice, practice, practice.
BB,
I too have seen many very fine firearms come and go in my past. Since I have discovered the world of airguns, I have been real slow to acquire very many unless they are real sweet deals and then I do so knowing that soon they will be in others’ hands after I have played with them a bit.
To satisfy my tinkering urges I buy airguns I know need rebuilding, although I do have one air rifle I bought for the express purpose of tinkering with it. I have been doing mods to my Edge for some time now, with the goal to see how far I can take it and still take it back to original. Lloyd has been working on a little mod for it that I think is going to be awesome.
Speaking of which, did you not too long ago buy a Discovery for the sole purpose of having Lloyd turn it into a Double Disco, or does that count?
I have two right now I need to make some time for so others can enjoy them.
RR,
Yes, I do have the Disco Double that Lloyd built for me. I covered it in this 7-part report.
/blog/2014/04/22-caliber-lightweight-disco-double-part-7/
B.B.
B.B.
Illuminating article! What you have described is called the “human condition” in the Greek Tragedies. The “grass is always greener” mentality. I see it effects gun owners the same as other humans….
-Y
As a Contender owner I found myself nodding in agreement while reading your post. After the novelty wears off the only real advantage over a “dedicated chambering” is the ability to try out new or unfamiliar calibers.
Curious about the new .398 SuperWhizBang? Slap on a barrel and give her a go.
Of course you’ve got to be willing to drop the coin on gear you may never use again, but that’s a whole ‘nother subject.
BB,
Another excellent blog full of thought-provoking ideas. While I think about your assertions and I try to apply them to another of my hobbies I realize a flaw in my application. You ask what that may be?
I roast and brew coffee. It’s very process-oriented. It’s very methodical. But unlike finding the right pellet and powe setting and then slwsys shooting nice, tight groups the product of coffee brewing (espresso in this case) is “taste.” People are trying to build a unified language but taste, if we accept the axiom, is subjective. Plain and simple.
So, while I apply similar principles to both hobbies I temper my expectations for the one and, somehow, it keeps me from going crazy.
🙂
Javagonzo,
Well, that explains your handle.
I guess the same thing could be said about art appreciation?
B.B.
In the eye of the beholder. Not quite like scoring within the ten ring. But perhaps more like calling some fliers…. there’s some subjectivity there.
B.B.
The AF rifles did it for me . Got expensive buying different barrels and tanks . Then all of the fooling around to get each configuration set up .
Then wanting a different configuration every time I turned around . Never seemed to be the right thing at the right time.
Best way would have been to buy several guns and set each one up for a particular purpose .
twotalon
B.B.,
Guns are like a lot of other things, I guess: a jack of all trades, a master of none.
Besides, if just one would do all that you need, how much fun would THAT be? ;^)
Michael
Tryed alot of of air guns over several years. Did alot of mods. Did alot of shooting experiments.
The best I can say is if you got a good shooter do not get rid of it. You’ll probably never get it back.
I bought a 1903-a3 action in 1958, and put it in a cut down type C stock , I glassed the bedding ( my 2nd glass job). It was very accurate with target and hunting loads. I traded it off in 1962. For 37 years it was on the top of my guns that I wished that I had kept list. Then I saw it at a gun show, and bought it . It looked like it had spent 37 years in a closet. Some times they do come home, if you are lucky. Ed
B.B.,
Are you familiar with or remember the old Bausch and Lomb rifle scopes that were manufactured in Rochester, New York back in the early sixties and seventies which had no external adjustments on the scope itself?
Bugbuster
BB,
I have a Weaver V8 scope like that on my desk right now.
B.B.
I have a B&L Balvar scope, I used Beuhler mounts with it. Nice scope , but there are better today.
B.B.,
What do you plan to mount it on? I would imagine that the tube on the Weaver is steel whereas the vintage B&L’s of that era were a one piece aluminum tube with hard anodizing. I had a Balvar 8B 2.5X 8 which had tapered crosshairs which even on 8 power, you could quarter a 1″ dot at a hundred yards.
Bugbuster
My .264 Winchester Magnum (Westerner) came with the Weaver V8 back in the mid-60s. In the ’90s I took a close look at the scope and was surprised to find it had no internal adjustments. My dad bought the rifle/scope for me so we could go deer hunting together but it never happened and I sold it after he died. Especially after I learned that the 100 gr bullets were exploding on the outside of the deer and the barrel throats were eroding so quickly from the hotness of the loads.
BB,
Hear, hear. After fiddling with my .177 Marauder, trying to convert it to .22, and then converting it back and fiddling to get it shooting again…I’m done with fiddling.
B.B.
I know this feeling – being bored with a perfect rifle. I believe that’s human nature – first you’re amazed by 1 inch c-t-c, then you feel rather satisfied when you can do “10-hole”, then it becomes boring when it’s “nine more through the hole made by the first” and infuriating when it’s not. That’s the perfect time to put both one’s hands in rear pockets, sit and meditate.
Sometimes “improvement itch” when one tries to squeeze “perfect” out of “almost perfect” ruins the latter. Just because perfection for us slowly becomes a norm, not exception, there’s nothing wrong with steel, it’s our own grey matter that needs fixing. So I believe knowing where to stop chasing perfection is one of the greatest gifts available for us. Sadly, not many bright people posess it. Bikers here have a good saying – “Don’t fiddle with a working engine, or else you’ll be left with no engine at all”.
Another quite fruitless thing in my opinion is an attempt to create a silver bullet that can solve every problem. Combined tools alway have less strengths – but every weakness of their “parent” tools. And then there’s time and effort to re-tune it for optimal performance. That’s why I love to have many guns – and it’s better know each one really good.
It’s like famous swordsman Myamoto Musashi said – “You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you”.
I think it’s better to find a best working combo for each case – and have lots of such combos in store for every occasion. Some call it professionalism, I call it just a well-stuffed workshop 🙂 One or two combos for each task, ability to see the whole and split any complex thing into “cases I’ve met”, short tasks for each combo that you have – and everyone raises hands in awe and calls you a wizard (or a dark sorcerer, hehehe). Airguns are nothing different from that approach.
duskwight
duskwight,
Yep, that’s how I do it now. A special setup for each thing. Fortunately I don’t have that many things.
B.B.
GUILTY – I admit that I am a compulsive fiddler/tweaker.
That’s probably why I am interested in getting a Marauder – so many things to fiddle with. 🙂
The ultimate in having one gun that does it all has to be a drilling ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combination_gun ) – seen one that was a side-by-side 12 gauge with a rifle and a rimfire barrels. One gun, loaded for bear to squirrel and everything in-between.
My friend had a Savage “combination gun” that was .22 rimfire and .410 shotgun. I thought it would be the best thing for small game – turned out that it didn’t point well for me.
I have kept most of my recent fiddling activities to making and refinishing gunstocks – that hasn’t totally suppressed the fiddling urge – had to make a muzzle-break for my FWB300. Think it is under control now… maybe. 🙂
Hank
Hank,
I used to own a drilling. I bought it new in Germany. It was 12 by 12 by 30-06. And I bought a .22 Magnum insert barrel to go in one of the shotgun barrels.
Didn’t shoot it that much, though. Shot a Winchester SuperX Model 1 and a Sako 46 Mannlicher in .222 Rem.
B.B.
B.B.
I was really impressed with that drilling that I saw – German made and really well finished. I would love to have one but I don’t think it would see much use. I thought it would to be too heavy to carry around in the bush. It would be more of a novelty.
If I had to chose one gun for everything it would be my single-shot break-action Cooey 12 Gauge. Light to carry, quick to load/unload, points perfectly and can knock down anything on this continent. You can find shells for it in any hardware store.
Still have my original that I paid $27.95 for it (new!). Have got more game with that gun than all of the others combined! Sits in the rack beside my Saliva 618.
Hank
The Savage combination guns are very popular around here and now bring silly prices on the used gun racks of dealers. The new plastic and alloy offering from Savage goes over $500 bucks for the new reiteration of the old model 24, .22/.410. I have a couple of the old shopsmith combination lathe /power tools from the fifties I picked up at garage sales and restored. Like the combination guns being discussed here they are really only good for one thing and mine stay set up for that. One as a lathe and one as a horizontal boring machine.
Robert,
The Shopsmith — good analogy!
B.B.
I had a hunting buddy that had a 16ga with a .22 mag barrel on top and just thought that was the perfect foraging weapon but 16ga shells were twice as expensive and shooting long rifle would split the case, still wanted one.
Just got my Blue Book and it’s huge. Had a SNAFU AT the doctors office.and the only opening will be right when the postman usually comes around so I was waiting out front when he ran early today, got lucky there.
This post rings true for me. My original plan was to buy just a couple of scopes and then remount them on different rifles, dialing in the appropriate corrections. I didn’t realize what an effort it was to mount a scope and sight in. So, I have a dedicated scope for almost every rifle.
The same idea applies to system guns. I bought the Walther Nighthawk for all the accessories but I only shoot it as a basic gun. All of the assembly is not worth it.
Matt61
Bugbuster, BB and etc–I had a Winchester m 70 in .243. (1960- 1991). I had Bauch and Lomb scopes for it. I had trouble getting a proper zero. The scope mount ping-ponged. The poi was never in the center of the target, always slightly to the right or left. in the field I had to use hold off, because I never would know how much the poi would change if I moved the windage dial. After 2 years, I switched almost all my hunting rifles to Pachmayr pivot mounts. they are also qd mounts, with the windage and elevation in the mount. Now I could carry pre zeroed scopes ( backup and alternate loads) and be able to make minor windage changes in the field. This system worked on my 3 trips to Africa . My son dropped his rifle (long story) and we replaced it in minutes, with the backup scope without having to re sight the rifle. These mounts are no longer made. I have 33 sets of rings ( 17 different types) They were designed to accommodate many different fixed power scopes. When variable scopes became available, the cost of making yet another 10 or so style of rings, and the high labor cost of making the mounts, made it impossible for Pachmayr to continue making these mounts and rings. Ed
Zimbabweed,
Which brand of base and rings did you have on yours? Both my father and I had the ones made by Kuharsky. Both were mounted on model 70 Winchesters chambered in 30-06, his was a pre 64 featherweight mine was a post 64 which I bought new in 68 or 69. I believe that the Bausch and Lomb ring assemblies were more positive but were too damn ugly.
I killed a lot of woodchucks with mine over the years and so did my father and the scopes were usually removed when cleaning the rifle with no zero shift. In retrospect, I could see the coil spring on the rear plunger of the Kuharsky ring assembly getting weak if the scope were left mounted indefinitely which most are. There was also a tension screw on the front of the ring assembly which had to be adjusted with just enough tension to prevent the scope from rocking in the mounts.
Bugbuster
I would have thought that I would have read it by now, but one of the tenets that I taught my kids ( well, tried to teach),, ” If it ain’t broke,, don’t fix it”. That and ” if you’re gonna be stupid,, you better be tough” are at the top of the list.
Ed
Hello guys… I have been off for a while but I’m back now! I have been looking a for job, which now I found after a lot of searching. Things are not going very well around here economically speaking, but I see a change in the tide coming soon!
On the subject of dual caliber guns (or systems), I have never been too attracted to them, but the concept of rifle/handgun in the same chambering has been with me all my life. And I ended up buying a S&W model 28 Highway Patrolman to be partner to my Rossi Puma so I could develop hot .357 Magnum loads for the rifle and still be perfectly comfortable shooting them in the revolver. It has worked for me so far.
Good to be back.
Yeah, it’s been a while Fred.
What’s your new job?
Gotta keep that money coming in especially if you want!
BB:
I have a 270 Weatherby Mag that I purchased in the early 1980s. I still use the same scope that I purchased originally with the rifle. Back when I had time to stay in practice, a sub 2″ group at 200 yards was routine. I hope that I never have to part with this rifle. I have taken deer at around 500 yards with it and coyotes even further (back when I had it sited in for 400 yards and had much better eyes.) Now, it’s sited in for 200 yards. Now my hunting is usually under a 100 yards, which is no challenge for the Weatherby as long as I do my part.
It is the only powder burner center fire rifle that I own because it so accurate and will take any game that I am likely to hunt. Up until 2013, I used the same load for the gun around 30 years. I too believe if ain’t broke don’t fix it.
The gentleman that reloaded for me for many years passed away. When I ran out of his reloads, I purchased a box of Weatherby factory ammo. To my surprise, the factory ammo shot to the same point of aim (at 200 yards) and was just as accurate. Considering the price of Weatherby factory ammo, I am glad that I only shoot two or three rounds a year now (one to make sure the scope is still zeroed in plus one or two meat shots).
Jim
A very informative, and thought provoking blog for today’s offering. This is one I will put in front of my wife every time she inquires about my sanity for owning so many guns. Especially airguns of the same model, but different calibre. Scopes are another thing I own a lot of. Of my 12 air rifles, I have 10 permanently scoped. I have even tried to demonstrate to my wife how time consuming it is to be changing scopes each time I want to shoot a different airgun. She tersely quips that although she sews many types of material, she still uses just one machine. To my way of thinking, that is an un-fare statement also akin to hitting below the belt.
I have thought of selling an airgun or two I don’t shoot as much as some others. However, when I take one out of the cabinet I haven’t used in a while, such as my Weihrauch HW85 in .177cal, I realize how smooth it cocks, and how nice the Rekord trigger breaks. But mostly, how consistently accurate it is with JSB Exact 8.44 grain pellets of 4.51 size. I shoot it for a few hours, and slip it back in it’s place of honour in the cabinet.
The truth be known, I enjoy all my airguns, and to my knowledge, I have bought just one on what I would classify as impulse. That was my Weihrauch HW45 Black Star in.177cal. I bought it merely to go with my HW45 Silver Star I have in .20cal. Since then, I have taken at least a dozen starlings at 15-20 meters with the 2×20 scoped Black Star, and .177 Predator Polymags. It is a wonderfully smooth air pistol to shoot, and aside from my HW50 rifle in.177, it is also my Daughter’s favourite tool for blasting 2 inch plastic vitamin bottles mounted at distances from 15-25 meters. Her eyes are better then mine, so the scopes come off both airguns when we have our informal shooting (bonding) sessions. I also notice my wife has no objections to our informal plinking sessions. In fact, she gets a kick out of watching Shelby thrash me in total bottles hit. Hours of great fun for the whole family. I highly recommend it when your family has a spare hour or two. Even those anxious around guns can’t help but ask for a chance to shoot too. Who would have guessed airguns would have such a positive effect on family life style?
Ciao
Titus
Titus
Well said.