Monday at the range

[bandit1250]

Got another day in at the range yesterday and had to deal with a shower moving through occasionally. Took 5 rifles that were all bolt actions. CZ 452 Ultra Lux 22, Remington 700 ADL 22-250, Rem. 700 Varmint 223, Tikka 595 Continental Varmint 223 and Tikka T3 Lite 223. Spent a little over 4 hours there with just me and the gnats and mosquitoes and a deer walking between me and the target now and then. Didn't see the bear and her cubs that frequent the range area. The deer pay no attention to the shooting only just look up from feeding on the grass along the edges and then right back to feeding. I have had them walk right into view through my scope while shooting. The star today was my Remington 700 Varmint 223. This rifle was originally in a factory synthetic stock with the aluminum bedding block in it. Didn't shoot worthy of being called a varmint rifle. I had a stock I made for a former varmint 700 I shot the barrel out of shooting prairie dogs and sold the action to a friend to build off of and put that stock on it. On the very first trip to the range it shot groups that none of them went over a 1/2" at a 100 yds. It is still in that stock and has been converted to single shot just like the rifle that was in this stock first. I don't like metal to metal mating of rifle actions and stocks and won't ever have another one. This rifle stayed between 1/2" -5/8" with all loads but one odd ball load I had never tried before with a Speer HPT bullet that went 3/4" or slightly more. The Tikka Continental is more finicky than the Rem. but shoots well with what it likes. Both of those rifles are 1-12 twist. The T-3 Tikka is whole other deal than the other two 223's. 1-10 twist that is very sensitive to bullet changes. It does shoot light bullets well even with the 10" twist as long as they are not to fragile and blow up on the way to the target. Interesting to see a big cloud of smoke 20' from the muzzle when using fragile bullets that won't withstand the spin force from faster twist barrels in varmint caliber rifles. The T-3 is more like a solid 3/4" gun being light and harder to hold still and strapped with the 3-9 Leupold scope set up for hunting and walking. It shot the 50 V-Max and the 60 GR. Hornady Spire point as usual. This rifle is a very hard action to single load with the small port. I found one day while cleaning seeds from the magazine that got into my pocket where I had the magazine that by popping the follower up out in the front there is two tabs that let it sit on top of the mag and makes a perfect single shot feeding ramp. Now I actually like shooting this rifle more and can slide the follower back down in to use when hunting. The 700 ADL 22-250 has some pitting in the barrel from not being cleaned after use from the previous owner. It is a 1" shooter at the best and is going to be sold for a build rifle for some one that needs an action. The CZ 452 UL is just plain fun like any other accurate rim fire. It likes the new Geco ammo I bought and is very accurate at 50 yds. The Tikka Continental with the 6-24 Tasco scope(Japan made) and the Rem. 700 Varmint with leupold 6-18 scope pennies don't have a chance at a 100 yds.

[North Country Gal]

Love hearing about your bolt guns, bandit. I can tell you enjoy them as much as I enjoy my Contenders and bolt guns.

I usually shoot our magazine bolt guns as single shots, too. Being a fan of single shots like I am, it's why I also love bolt guns. Our CZ 22 LR bolt guns get the CZ single shot adapter treatment. Our CZ 527 in 223 also gets used a lot as a single shot. It's a 1 in 9 twist, so I can go a bit over 55 grain bullets and get it to shoot. Still does a nice job on the 50-55 grain stuff, though. Our TC 223s are all 1 in 12, so I stay with 50-55s with them, nothing heavier.

[Sir Henry]

I’m enjoying bolt firearms more than ever now that I can also shoot right handed. Being a lefty was what first drew me to Henry rimfires.

I had a bear in my backyard last week. I didn’t see it but knew what the claw marks on the trees were and the scat on the ground was.