The 2 rifle build

[Don A Parsons]

I hear yha,,,.I miss my 223 and 243,,, they were sure easy on the pellets. A bit more stretching to fill in the missing gaps that disappear on contact...

My uncle showed us kids a few tricks to stretching the hides,,, it would be nice to own a few of the small bores I had back then,,, but I handed them down to the next of kin... Wasn't really thinking at the time when the """Less is More""" got underway,,, but I did manage to keep my 22 rimfire. Ha...

What I lost in pelt control I gained in time in the field now that I only have 2 main cartridges to choose from when I hit the cut-lines... The all over all game plan is to turn all 3 irons into M-40's when I jump into PRS in the next few years...

No plan to push the limits in that category since its all about having a good time missing the targets. Ha.

My eye sight and weathered hands won't be that steady when I get going at this.
I've been doing lots of free hand 22 rimfire this winter,,, rapped fire on the mid size targets,,, then slow things down to pin point the smaller ones,,, darn lucky to have a small bore plinking range at out farm...

Our long range stuff is 45 minutes drive to the Eastern Slopes along the Rocky Mountains... Endless miles of good times. Lots of mountain top shooting stuff out there.

 

[Mustang72]

Guess I am lucky when it comes to having a place to shoot. I can do my load testing out the back door when I want to but I usually just drive 5 minutes to where I can shoot up to a mile. Guess I could stretch it to 2 miles but I don't a mile down yet.
I bet you could load some low velocity cast or 110 v-max for your 308 that would be pretty fur friendly and still good to an easy 200 yards.

 

[Don A Parsons]

Yes I could do that M72,,, we had a provincial gun range on our farm 20+ years ago,,, but the club running it were struggling to keep it kleened up,,, so we shut it down...

We're running a beef & grain operation up here,,, so medium to big bore shooting on the farm is out, """unless""" it is for predator control only...

We don't mind going to the new gun range since its well organized,,, the shooting shed along with the targets are top notch,,, no fuss with no hassle...

Well l'm on the """Less is More""" band wagon once again,,, I really wanted to do the 1 rifle for everything 5 years ago,,, now I'm stuck between the 308 Winny and the 30/06... Only problem is that I have 20 lbs of 4831/ 4350,,, and 40 lbs of Varget,,, dam life gets confusing. Ha.

The small 308 is winning out since its a pleasure to shoot,,, easy on powder,,, Frugal on Lapua brass,,, not that I don't like my 30/06 Remmy LR,,, its that I don't use it that much... Both cartridges are so close its like splitting hairs...

My F Class rig is ready to rock,,, so the rest of the irons will sit idle till late summer,,, a quick wipe down as they fill the needs for hunting...

More planning and thinking on how to scale back,,, but this shooting sport thing is darn addicting it's hard to make the final move.

I should talk to my banker,,, maybe she has a plan. LOL

Yo Yo Yo

 

[Mustang72]

I keep wanting to cut back but someone I always seem to add another one instead! I have so many 7and 30 caliber bullets sitting around that my son will probably have plenty left over when I am gone.
Guess I have enough other things I can start cutting back on before my guns since I can't think of about 3 or 4 that I am willing to part with even though I have a couple of dozen that I don't ever shoot.

 

[Don A Parsons]

I hear yha,,, a few things that stand out now days is changing things up when I visit the mountains,,, slowing down every thing,,, and keeping my shooting sports in check the best I can...

I've been known to go extrem with hobbies,,, Ha... That's not good for my wallet.

 

[Don A Parsons]

Hopefully this year I get my """Less is More""" sorted out,,, I have a sneaking suspicion that my rifle plan will be 2 units of the same caliber,,, of course the plan changed a bit today...

A older friend of mine retired from hunting,,, he handed over his Remmy 700 left-hand BDL to me and told me to shoot it first then make him an offer...

Its in fair condition with a few bumps and bruises,,, but over all its super clean in the pipe,,, a 30/06 with less than 400 rounds.

I like this idea since I can finish off the barrel then switch it to a long throat 308 and still utilizes the bottom feed,,, plus it will give me time to wear out the last of my Ought-6 brass and supplies...

My gun builder was the fellow that suggested this idea since the 308 Win in a long action can be seated long to the lands,,, I wouldn't go this route if my short action 308's could sit long in the bottom feed,,, but it is what it is...

Of course I can hand feed the 308's with long seated boolitz at 20 thou off the lands,,, but thats not going to work in the hunting grounds. LOL...

The 2 rifle plan is Sloooooowly taking shape...

My new factory 308 SPS is on its way to a new home,,, I'll run the 308 F Class rig till the end of the season before deciding what will become of it...

Finally I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Ha.

So much for buying 2000 bullets as planned today. LOL

 

[Don A Parsons]

Looks like I'm going to start this Remmy off simple, Ha. I looked at optics with range finding reticles,,, the price is threw the roof... Ain't no way I'm paying $3000 +++ Cnd funds on another scope since I already have one...

So its back to the old 6.5-20x50 Leopold that I bought new in 1987 for $800 bucks,,, about $550 Usd funds back then...

This is to find out how the old BDL shoots and a chance to work up load for the old girl,,, find the best 2 nodes with in the water line. LOL.

Good times fore sure with the new to me used pipe,,, hopefully I find a tame load with the 178 gr ELD-X's,,, if I see a sweet spot in the 2630 zone I'll call it good.

Nothing like saving the brass less the hot flash that burns out barrels fast.

 

[Don A Parsons]

The old school is ready to rock,,, the 6.5 by 20 fits like a glove. The tip of the barrel is missing some blue-ing,,, but once it sits out side for a few weeks it will turn into nice rust brown. Ha...

The only thing that gets gear oiled is the bolt and trigger,,, nothing fancy for this hunting rig since us bush dudes live simple lives...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JZLRXhqSnKXh6RZk9

Good times ahead no matter the outcome.

 

[Don A Parsons]

Yuppers,,, its been a long road to go from simple plain-jane to some pretty nice irons over the years,,, Ha. And now I find my self right back to where it all started.

No matter how much it cost over the long hual I can guarantee it was well worth it...

None of us """really""" know what path we're going to follow till we get to the trail-head,,, that's a good thing since life would be boring if there were signs and arrows pointing us to follow the path they want us to... Of course this might work for some people,,, not so much for others...

I'll admit there were times that I followed,,, sometimes I just wondering around in the dark,,, big Grin when I don't have a real plan to find out if things work out. Ha,,, much like my hunting days.

One thing l'm suprized about is the wood stock being in as good of shape its in,,, I'm really taking the rifle for the smoooooth silky action,,, but after scoping it out I realize that the whole unit is a keeper...

This weekend is load development time,,, more to follow in the days ahead...

Enjoy your outings folks, hopefully you get good weather in your areas were ever you live ,,, forecast for 4" of snow up our way... At least it's easy to spot the miss shots in the snow covered hills. LOL

 

[Don A Parsons]

Well,,, it looks like I have some old school rifle work and load development ahead of me,,, some of the test loads did ok,,, not so much in others ways...

There's waaaaay to much trigger creep in the old pipe,,, I'm thinking that this BDL is one of those 1980 models... Ha... """it's like looking for Mountain Sheep then they pop out from behind you unexpected...""""

The 9 lb rig stayswell planted,,, of course we had sporadic snow squalls rolling in & out through out the day that made shooting pretty Intresting I'd say... About 20 hard core shooters joined in for the good time...

I dialed in the optic for a 200 meter zero,,, then jumped onto the 16" gong at 600,,, a couple of shots later I was onto the 7"...

Pretty easy to tag it with the medium heavy weight,,, I know why I like the heavy barrel rifles for target work,,, the gel shoulder pad was deffinatly a plus...

The load development thing takes place at the range,,, the extra large heated club house is toasty warm,,, good thing on cold days like this... Yesterday just happend to be one of them... LOL...

I'll give this unit one more test run before coming up with the final game plan,,, I can see that maxed out 30/06 178 gr ELD-X's won't be the load... LOL... My cup-cake life style does not like it at all...

Good thing that I have a brand new 308 Winny heavy barrel sitting on the rack ready for replacement """IF""" this is the case... The Ought-6 will be launching reduced loads in the 2630+ ft-per seconds,,, that's good enough for hammering the thick skins and critters up here in the North...

A bit more boolit drop between the distances,,, but thats the way it goes... Either that,,, or take a beating at the back end of the rifle which is no fun...

Not for this Cow Girl. Ha.

Now if this snow would just melt !!!

PS: I hope everyone got a chance to take on the out-doors,,, looks like I get the dig out the mountain bike rifle pack sling since the trails will be opened up here pretty soon.

Oh Yha

 

[Don A Parsons]

The test run on the new / used to me Remmy BDL Ought-6 was so -so,,, game plan going forward is to incress the lead punch-junk... Basically the ability to luanch heavier boolitz...

The rifling cone is quite worn down,,, it was challanging getting the 178gr'ers seated long in the case and keeping the boolitz as close to the lands as possible,,, its ELD-X 200 grain'ers time...

A bit more meat for the cases to hold the boolitz,,, and better odds of reaching deeeeep into the worn out section...

My lead has played with this for years,,, I like what he said...

"""The wise reloader learns what it takes to find that tight water line on every barrel they encounter... Hopefully they get things squared away,,, or they find out that the old pipe is just to worn out to hold its own,,, best bang for the buck is pushing the limits of this. If we get 1 minute of Moose for our hunting rifles,,, then we end up with a shooter... Ha..."""

I said change the barrel,,, but I'm sure he knows what he's talking about since he has 20+ years on this stuff over me...

At least the ELD-X allows for expansion in the 1900 ft-per seconds range,,, Hornady says on their website that they will still perform as low as 1600,,, but I'm not going there on the thick skins...

Wait a minute,,, that's the oppest of my less is more... LOL ... More is more in this case study.

 

[Don A Parsons]

Well,,, a small door-nob move on my part. Ha... I guess my used BDL will shoot after all.

I must remember to make sure my brass is trimmed and to make sure the optic rain cap is not wedged between the optic and the barrel... LOL

I'm thinking my CDO is catching up to me,,, what's that you say,,, CDO,,, I must mean OCD... Nope'er,,, its CDO...

The guy that first had OCD was fake-ing it since O is never before C,,, those of us that are packing a bag full of it know that everything needs to line up,,, including the alphabet. LOL.

Ok,,, I don't really have OCD or CDO,,, not that I know of that is...

Game plan is a go... Now it's time to find a better trigger since the factory rubber-metal unit is garbage... Funny thing is that they were ok in my younger days,,, after shooting Trigger Techs and Jewels there ain't no going back...

Ye Ha,,, bring on the good times. Ha

 

[Don A Parsons]

Looks like spring time Snow Storm number 7 or 10 is onto us again,,, nothing out of the norm since we normally have this happen every year... We call it the May 24th thing before the real part of warmer temps roll in...

Both of my rifles for this stint as my good friend brings out all 3 of his custom built units,,, I can't wait to shoot his new 6mm Dash'er... I'd go that route,,, but my less is more program won't allow for it... Ha

I'm shooting 2 different Lat ideas,,, that way I will get a better reading on how the new to me rifle works out... Then a box test after that,,, I could do it the other way around I guess,,, kind of a plan since there really is one,,, way more fun wing-ing it you know...

A massive chunk of ply-wood clamped to the target board,,, then paint and horizontal line across it with no aiming dots,,, 400 metres ,,, then the various distances after that... That way I get a chance to burn up some powder and wear the barrels out...

There won't be any barrel cleaning going on since we're only shooting close range stuff on this outing,,, LOL,,, our old time leg of shooters don't waist their time in that department either since there's time for it on a later date this summer... Then we fowl up the barrels before fall to get into the hunting crap...

They call it the 2 part system... Early in the spring,,, mid summer,,, then the rap up clean at the end of the year,,, predator control gives us a chance to plug up the rifling for the spring wipe... Ha.

Artic Winter gear is ready to rock,,, good thing for the heated club house as its 20 feet to the shooting line of glory...the good old county tunes will be rocking from the old Jupe box... Nothing like drinking coffee,,, telling true BS stories,,, and doing ammo prep threw out the day...

Of course we get a chance to do some walking to stay in shape... Good times fore sure.

 

[RevJim]

I went a different way on two rifles...a matching pair of Remington 700 Classics ( a 1980 .270 and a 1987 .338WM) I have Trigger Tech triggers in both. Both are pillar bedded/floated, the .270 has a Burris Timberline 4.5x12x40AO and the .338 has a Bushnell 3200 3x9 on it. The Timberline is no bigger/heavier than the Bushnell either! It also has the Ballistic Reticle dashes. I'm just now starting load work up for each. My average shots on game here in Utah is right at 200yds. I practice out to 500, but I end up slipping around the edges of aspen/black timber. Now, in the desert & prairie, its 300 easy, but even on antelope I've never killed one past 347yds. Most were about 150yds. Good luck to you Pard!