TrapperReady
November 21, 2004, 10:27 PM
I got out this weekend for the opener of gun deer season, and brought along my "new" 1936 Remington Model 81 in .30 Rem. I thought I'd post a little AAR and some thoughts on it.
First of all... in the dense woods, the iron sights are fine. Most of the cover I was hunting in wouldn't allow any more than a 75 yard shot. When I practiced with it at the range, I was able to keep my groups just a hair over 2" at 100 yards, off a rest. That's plenty accurate for Bambi.
The gun itself handles very nicely. Since it's got a fair amount of weight out front, it swings very much like a shotgun (which is a good thing for me). I did notice that it also hits me in the cheek like some shotguns can, which isn't great, but that will vary by user. I found that after 20 shots, I was getting little bump under my right cheek.
Loading and unloading the integral five shot magazine is easy, but slightly cumbersome. I noticed this most when I was freezing on a stand and was getting ready to climb down. It would have been a lot nicer to pop the mag and eject one round, instead of hand cycling the action and catching five shells.
BTW, mine ejects forcefully, but almost straight up and slightly back. From my range session, I noticed that most of the shells would land right on top of my head. This is a little annoying, but the consistency and proximity makes it easy to find your brass (a good thing with an obsolete cartridge).
I wish I could post a picture of the deer I shot with it... but I didn't see squat all weekend. I can say this, though... after a weekend spent either on a stand or driving/posting, the gun handles nicely. The enormous safety is easy to operate even with frozen, fumbling digits and the gun's balance is very nice. While a little heavy for extended carrying, it's quite tolerablel.
In summary, despite it's little quirks, this has taken over (from a Winchester 94) as my "woods" gun. Now I've just got to get a big bag full of brass, so that when I actually do shoot a deer with it, I don't spend more time tracking the casing than I do the animal. ;)
http://www.fototime.com/%7B8775F648-9402-4BB4-9F9B-C03ACF501615%7D/picture.JPG
First of all... in the dense woods, the iron sights are fine. Most of the cover I was hunting in wouldn't allow any more than a 75 yard shot. When I practiced with it at the range, I was able to keep my groups just a hair over 2" at 100 yards, off a rest. That's plenty accurate for Bambi.
The gun itself handles very nicely. Since it's got a fair amount of weight out front, it swings very much like a shotgun (which is a good thing for me). I did notice that it also hits me in the cheek like some shotguns can, which isn't great, but that will vary by user. I found that after 20 shots, I was getting little bump under my right cheek.
Loading and unloading the integral five shot magazine is easy, but slightly cumbersome. I noticed this most when I was freezing on a stand and was getting ready to climb down. It would have been a lot nicer to pop the mag and eject one round, instead of hand cycling the action and catching five shells.
BTW, mine ejects forcefully, but almost straight up and slightly back. From my range session, I noticed that most of the shells would land right on top of my head. This is a little annoying, but the consistency and proximity makes it easy to find your brass (a good thing with an obsolete cartridge).
I wish I could post a picture of the deer I shot with it... but I didn't see squat all weekend. I can say this, though... after a weekend spent either on a stand or driving/posting, the gun handles nicely. The enormous safety is easy to operate even with frozen, fumbling digits and the gun's balance is very nice. While a little heavy for extended carrying, it's quite tolerablel.
In summary, despite it's little quirks, this has taken over (from a Winchester 94) as my "woods" gun. Now I've just got to get a big bag full of brass, so that when I actually do shoot a deer with it, I don't spend more time tracking the casing than I do the animal. ;)
http://www.fototime.com/%7B8775F648-9402-4BB4-9F9B-C03ACF501615%7D/picture.JPG
