Hello everyone

[NavyChief]

Hope all is well with everyone and hope that the weather is better where you are at than where I am right now. Just looking for a new home to learn all I can and I love to read "gun talk". Kind of had a bad experience on a Winchester lover forum as well as another from the same guy. I posted some info about a disaster purchase of a Jack O'Connor Custom Tribute and the flaws I found when it arrived after an internet purchase and one fellow took exception that I was posting about a negative experience without allowing Winchester an opportunity to fix it. Told him they had that chance when they put the gun in the box for delivery and now that the stock is back with them they tell me it looks like 2 months minimum wait and then all should be good. I just expected a little more I guess. Been fortunate with almost all my guns regardless of price. Did just buy a new Kimber Custom S/S in 300WSM with Super America Wood and it is coming to me for a lot less than the JOC Custom did, that's for sure. Well I hope to hear some great gun talk and although I don't post a lot, I do love to read. I hope I posted pictures of the new Kimber. By the way, I am not a Winchester basher by any means. I have several other Model 70's as well as an old M94 and a Model 37A .410 from a misfit youth that I cherish in my safes. Just had a bad experience with one purchase and wondered if anyone else had one with the same gun but was told to keep quiet by a couple of guys that owned JOC's themselves. I think they took my dissatisfaction personal or maybe they had some serious brand loyalty issues that they need to work out. For now however, I'll just stick with the Kimber purchases until this saga reaches its conclusion. The CRF is awesome and I have 3 others that I wouldn't trade anything for so I have faith in Kimber as well. I just wanted a real nice gun like all those rich fellas had in my youth in Oklahoma with the fancy stocks, shiny barrels, cool scopes, and the stories that went along with those guns. I got the great stories but most of them include an old Browning A-Bolt II in SS with BOSS in 7MM Rem and a Weatherby Mark V Ultra Lightweight almost as old in 270 Win. Nothing wrong with those guns at all but they show the wear of more than a few years hunting in several states and just plain old shoot but they aint real pretty. By the way, I am a bonafide Tested, Selected, and Initiated, US Navy Chief, retired. I know most forums are anonymous but I don't have a problem putting my name to anything I ever post and I do strive to be a gentleman in my discussions with all other men of the same character. Sincerely, James C. Beel Jr, CTTC(SW), USN, Ret.

 

[Horns&heels]

Welcome to the forum!! Hope the JOC custom works out for you.

Jerry

 

[NavyChief]

Thanks for the well wishes and I am sure that Winchester can and will make it right but in the mean time this new Kimber should make some of the pain go away, except maybe on the shoulder. Never shot a 300 WSM so I have no idea what to expect in recoil. Had a 338 Win Mag in a light mountain rifle (bad idea) and it kicked like a beast. Had a 300 RUM in a laminated stock with 26" bbl and it was fine. My Weatherby Mark V Ultra-Lightweight in 270 Win kicks about as hard as anything I own but I have a few other 270 Wins and they are all very pleasant to shoot. I'm not really recoil sensitive but nobody wants to get beat to death by a stock either so we'll see. Funny thing is I just got a trio Kimbers in 270 and 300 WSM and a 22-250 in December after I sold a bunch of old Winchester Model 70's. Wanted to downsize the collection a bit and upgrade to some nicer wood. This new gun duplicates another but I seem to have a lot of duplicates anyway. Makes my reloading safe a lot easier because now all I have are 22, 270, 7mm, and 30 cal bullets. Should help with the powder too and I should be able to get down to some Varget, H4350, H4831, H1000, and some Superformance and leave it there. Of course the pistol stuff is a whole different deal but I got different safes for all that stuff anyway. Too bad we can get that perfect all around cartridge but even if we did I can't ever see me without a 22-250 and a 270 Win. Just cause.....Here's a pic of the new Kimbers before this one:

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

WOW a ct with a SW pin that's so ODD Just kidding welcome to the forum. You have a lot of great looking rifles.

Jon

 

[NavyChief]

I was actually an EW for 18 years before the rate changed names and we fell under the CTT rating. Not much changed other than the name except that the CT community now had a rate that had a sea shore rotation of 5 at sea and two on shore and a bunch of new black shoe sailors with warfare pins and real sea stories. Never really liked working with the CT community. The CT community always seemed opposed to sea duty which I never really understood. Why join the Navy if you don't want to go to sea? The army, air-force, and marine recruiters are usually in the same strip mall so I never could figure out why they went in the Navy and spent their entire careers trying to avoid duty aboard a ship. Go figure? I did know a few CT's that were standout shipmates but they were very few and very far between. You must have a little sea time yourself if you see the oxymoron in a CT with an SW pin.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I was actually an EW for 18 years before the rate changed names and we fell under the CTT rating. Not much changed other than the name except that the CT community now had a rate that had a sea shore rotation of 5 at sea and two on shore and a bunch of new black shoe sailors with warfare pins and real sea stories. Never really liked working with the CT community. The CT community always seemed opposed to sea duty which I never really understood. Why join the Navy if you don't want to go to sea? The army, air-force, and marine recruiters are usually in the same strip mall so I never could figure out why they went in the Navy and spent their entire careers trying to avoid duty aboard a ship. Go figure? I did know a few CT's that were standout shipmates but they were very few and very far between. You must have a little sea time yourself if you see the oxymoron in a CT with an SW pin.

4 years of sea duty, I HATED IT! Switched to the army. I did not know they got rid of EW rating, I knew they got rid of mine SM. Its funny all of my old buds from my first ship are all CPOs or above now. USS Estocin, USS Samuel Eliot Morision, and USS Ingerham. Pretty good run for 4 years at sea. I was going to reenlist but my detailer wanted me to stay on the Ingerham another year, I was not having it! I dont know how I managed the most underway ships on the east and the west coast, I just don't know how it happened.

 

[NavyChief]

The Navy just isn't for everyone and I can see men in your situation getting into something they don't care much for and getting out, what I hated were the CT's and shore duty weenies who cried about going to sea after they spent a dozen years in the Navy. If they didn't like it they should get out but if they want to continue to serve then every branch would be happy to have them. I know sea duty sucked on some days but the day you pull in from that deployment is a feeling you never get to have anywhere else on earth. Having Lee Greenwood on the pier singing God Bless the USA when you pull in from the Persian Gulf War is something you never get out of your system. And holding that new baby for the first time when you get home is something you never forget. Someone asked me once my best day in the Navy and I told them it was pulling in after a long deployment in the Adriatic for the Kosovo conflict and then down in the Gulf for a few Tomahawk launches into Iraq and then heading home after we fired everything we had. We felt like real sailors because we took on the bad guys, sank their ships, downed their aircraft, and blew everything else to bits and then we pulled up to that pier in Mayport, Florida and I saw my wife and children. That is as good a feeling as I have ever had but the only way to get that feeling is to go through months of hell to get it. I commend your service in the Navy and your service thereafter.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Ya I here ya, sounds like you were on a Cruiser when you got to fire all the missiles. Strangle enough I tell all the dumb *** officers who ask if my SW pin is a trident, NO SIR THAT A CRUSE MISSILE BADGE, you get it when your cruse missile kills 100 bad guys. OH those dumb ***'s will believe anything. I also told a boot LT that I spoke fluent Ebonics, when he asked about my language training, oh good times.

The Navy just isn't for everyone and I can see men in your situation getting into something they don't care much for and getting out, what I hated were the CT's and shore duty weenies who cried about going to sea after they spent a dozen years in the Navy. If they didn't like it they should get out but if they want to continue to serve then every branch would be happy to have them. I know sea duty sucked on some days but the day you pull in from that deployment is a feeling you never get to have anywhere else on earth. Having Lee Greenwood on the pier singing God Bless the USA when you pull in from the Persian Gulf War is something you never get out of your system. And holding that new baby for the first time when you get home is something you never forget. Someone asked me once my best day in the Navy and I told them it was pulling in after a long deployment in the Adriatic for the Kosovo conflict and then down in the Gulf for a few Tomahawk launches into Iraq and then heading home after we fired everything we had. We felt like real sailors because we took on the bad guys, sank their ships, downed their aircraft, and blew everything else to bits and then we pulled up to that pier in Mayport, Florida and I saw my wife and children. That is as good a feeling as I have ever had but the only way to get that feeling is to go through months of hell to get it. I commend your service in the Navy and your service thereafter.

 

[1989bowhunter]

Welcome to the site and nice rifles

 

[NavyChief]

Thank you. I think I am going to enjoy it here.

 

[dogdinger]

welcome chief, and thanks for your service. I don't savvy all that sw and ct chit.....but one of my pet peeves on the forum here is people not putting their location on the personal page.......where ya from??? you ashamed of it? AJ

 

[NavyChief]

I was actually born in the great state of Oklahoma where I spent the majority of my life hunting and fishing in the most rural areas usually dwelling in a farm shack far down a county dirt road with the exception of a brief 3 years spent in central and south Alabama spent fishing and hunting while dwelling in a shack far down a sandy dirt road. I enjoyed a Navy career of more than 23 years that took me to Washington, California, Virginia, Florida, and Tennessee. Some of those states had multiple tours of duty in different locations. My final tour was in West Tennessee at Navy Personnel Command in Millington, TN. I currently reside about a half hour north of Memphis and hunt and fish as much as possible but now reside down a long county paved road outside the city of Munford in a rural area. I was public school educated, college in Oklahoma, Graduate school at the University of Oklahoma, and post Grad work at the University of Memphis in education disciplines. I still have a small 50 acre farm/ranch I purchased years ago in Oklahoma and go home every now and then to see my Dad and Brother and hunt with them during deer or turkey season or go after the crappie in the early spring with my Dad. We still sponsor youth hunts for Turkey and Deer and you can find us on Facebook (James Beel youth hunts) or you can google me with youth hunts and find our website. The site hasn't been updated in a while but the hunts are never hard to fill with eager youth applying each year. That's about it, Retired US Navy Chief, now part time educator. A little work at the university, and some at a school for "at risk" students with disciplinary issues. I teach a little math, science, and history. I am a self admitted gun crank with way too many guns collected over the years. I sold off some of my rifle collection just to free up some room in hopes of getting rid of 1 safe. I sold about 15 long guns and replaced them 5. 2 Kimber 8400 WSM Classic Selects, 1 Kimber 84M Varmint, 1 Custom Kimber 8400 WSM with AAA wood and S/S barrel/action, and 1 Winchester Jack O'Connor Custom Tribute that has been a nightmare since its arrival at the shop for the FFL transfer. Also got a new Browning A-5 shotgun cause I just couldn't help it and then got a new X-Bolt S/S Stalker in 270 cause I need something to match the new A-5, right? So, the safe may not be going away just yet. Going to get rid of a bunch of older shotguns next and maybe a few more rifles. A man should be able to get by with a couple of shotguns and 5 rifles right? My grandpa had one shotgun for all the time I can remember and finally sold it in his late 70's when he said he didn't feel like bird hunting anymore. My Uncle owned a gun shop but I never saw him deer hunt with anything other than an old Winchester Featherweight XTR in 30-06 and the only shotgun he ever used was a Browning A-5 12 gauge magnum for everything from upland to dove. Don't get me wrong, my Uncle had a gun collection that would make Roy Weatherby jealous but he only hunted with those 2 guns the majority of the time. He did varmint hunt and got a new varmint rifle every year because he would pretty much burn up a barrel in a year, believe it or not. Not sure if he ever shot any varmint round below 3800 fps but before he passed he was fixated on the new Ruger 204 and had a beauty. Well that should about cover it for me. If you need to know more you probably won't get it. I don't talk politics or religion because I have my own views and its doubtful any opinion is ever going to change them and I don't really care about anybody else's opinions on either matter. It has been my experience that most people who complain about religion never go to church and most people who complain about politics never go to the polls. No need to hear from those folks, or any others, on those matters. I love my God, my Family, and my Country. In that order.

 

[dogdinger]

very interesting reading...... we think alike in a lot of ways. I to subscribe to the notion that if you take your kids hunting, you wont be hunting for them.

little different on the politics and religion thing.....

I don't want anyone spouting their religion at me, that can best be kept between you and your god....... but as for politics, I feel that I have an investment in that. Since they are spending my tax dollars, I feel there should be accountability at every level, and that we the people should be the ones with the final say.

again, welcome to the forum and I look forward to your input.

AJ

 

[NavyChief]

I certainly agree with your post and I have no problem with anyone taking issue with any elected official because they do represent them, whether they voted for them or not. My issue is that people should take it up with the politician, I can't help them in any way if they are unhappy but the elected official can, not that he/she will, but they have the capacity (most do I think). My Grandfather was my hero in life and he gave me a little advice because he said I probably wouldn't listen and I would have to find out some things for myself but he always said it is best to believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see and there's no use in discussing religion and politics with anyone else unless you just want to argue. He gave me some other advice along the way that really should have helped me but he as right, I didn't listen and had to learn some things for myself.