BTW - about the rifle. It was pretty funny. He hadn't been shooting that rifle much this year. We headed to the range for a little pre-bear season practice. I put up simple 8" paper plates at 100, 200 and 300 yards.
He put the rifle on the tall bipod, and shot from sitting, as he often does afield.
100 yds, one shot, center
200 yds, one shot, a little off center so I fiddled with his scope windage a little and he shot again, centered in the plate
300 yds, one shot, centered in the plate.
He grinned at me and I knew he was confident in the rifle/scope/load combo again. It hasn't changed in a long time.
We spotted the bear a ways off and scrambled to close, then set up on a rocky outcropping. The laser read 320 to the bear. I told young John that, and looked over. He had the rifle on the tall bipod, was sitting, and looked just like he did at the range a few days earlier. Calm, confident. I turned my eye back to the scope and watched the hit. Pretty cool.
The young man can shoot, there's no doubt about it.
The old rifle means a lot to us. My father and grandfather used it, and I remember shooting it a lot when I was in high school. Each of us has changed it in some way, to suit our individual tastes. Someday I'll likely have Pac Nor replace the barrel, and probably go with a 24" tube.
I think my son would like a newer, brighter scope, but that 6x Leupold isn't bad, not bad at all. He can do that when he wants.
Guy
