Long Ranger 308 Fixed and REALLY FINE!

[ESquared]

After a bit of a rocky start, my Long Ranger and I are officially reconciled and ready to move forward together. This was my first rifle of this caliber/magnitude, so there was lots to get used to, which was made even more complicated by some mechanical gremlins in this VERY early production sample, which had been sitting as my range/shop since Q4, 2016 (right after the LR was launched).

After a handful of balky range visits and cycling issues, I decided it was time for some work; as usual, Henry Customer Service was fantastic.

The trip to Rice Lake was quick, and they basically gutted and replaced the key pieces and parts (entire bolt assembly, gear wheel (that humonguous, toothed thing that drives the bolt assembly, new magazine, smoothed the bore) and I had it back within a week or so.

Prior to me shipping it back, however, I had to strip it down, including removing the Skinner sight mounts, so I knew I'd have to re-zero the scope a bit when I got it all put back together. I was wrong. I had to re-zero the scope A LOT, even summoning my trusty smith (thinking my scope was askew), who did a mega-tweak and then said "fine tune it," so that's what I did. I few more clicks up a few more to the left...

The attached is as good as it's going to get. The date on the target is wrong, so apologies for that, but the rest is 100%. Eleven rounds fired, so, with the mag holding only 4 rounds, it involved a few complete re-loads (point being, I wasn't just sitting there like a statue, blasting away).

Very happy camper.

[Cofisher]

Cool. Glad you are happy. Nice shooting.

[CT_Shooter]

...my Long Ranger and I are officially reconciled and ready to move forward together.
Very happy camper.

That's great news, ESquared. Thanks for the update. I look forward to reading more of your range reports.

[JEBar]

outstanding, truly outstanding

[ESquared]

Thanks, guys. It took a while, but it just turned into one of those outings where everything felt right. I'd figured out the scope/sight picture, I was happy with the bag rest set-up (after messing with it for the first couple of magazines) and, best of all, I finally figured out the sweet spot of the trigger. There's a bit of take-up, but once that's out of the way, getting a good, clean break is not difficult to duplicate.
I even remembered to breathe.
Just one of those sessions we've all had, where a certain karma settled in and all of the sudden I was aware of the feel of the checkering in the forend and I became really UNaware of the guy two lanes over, pumping 10 rounds at a time down his tacticool rifle at 30 yards.
One of those days where you can't wait to come home and clean it, just to show it some respect.

[Mags]

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Good I'm glad that worked out for you. Nice shooting too. About the cleaning part not so much. At the end of the day I want to relish in the afterglow of the outing and not spoil it by cleaning. I'd do that tomorrow.

Thanks, guys. It took a while, but it just turned into one of those outings where everything felt right. I'd figured out the scope/sight picture, I was happy with the bag rest set-up (after messing with it for the first couple of magazines) and, best of all, I finally figured out the sweet spot of the trigger. There's a bit of take-up, but once that's out of the way, getting a good, clean break is not difficult to duplicate.
I even remembered to breathe.
Just one of those sessions we've all had, where a certain karma settled in and all of the sudden I was aware of the feel of the checkering in the forend and I became really UNaware of the guy two lanes over, pumping 10 rounds at a time down his tacticool rifle at 30 yards.
One of those days where you can't wait to come home and clean it, just to show it some respect.

[ESquared]

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Good I'm glad that worked out for you. Nice shooting too. About the cleaning part not so much. At the end of the day I want to relish in the afterglow of the outing and not spoil it by cleaning. I'd do that tomorrow.

I was trained on the "Sundown Rule." Unless something really big gets in the way, clean 'em before sundown on the day you shoot 'em. No idea where that came from, but guessing the Army, as I was introduced early on (in my adult years) by an Army vet. Great guy, had been all over the world; tons of stories.

[PT7]

Good to hear everything ended up REALLY FINE, and that you're a beaming happy camper. And with that tight POI cluster, you had plenty of room on the target to write everything down ---- no fliers in the way of your black marker!
Great all around-recovery of your LR308 by Henry and you.

Lookin' forward to watching you do some really fine shooting later this month -- in person!
Glad we were able to get a range date set.
PT7

[BigAl52]

Nice job 308 is one of my favorite rounds. Im not surprised at all of the accuracy.

[ESquared]

And with that tight POI cluster, you had plenty of room on the target to write everything down ---- no fliers in the way of your black marker!

I just figured getting it all written down on the target saves the back and forth that always might otherwise ensue: "how far?" "What ammo?" "What scope", etc.

Not to mention that it helps me remember! Now, if I could just get the date right...