.45-70 & Muzzleloader same day = Owwee

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Man, those 325 gr Leverevolution .45-70s are pretty stout! Shoot a few of those and then sight in the ML as I did Sunday and danged if I didn't have a reminder in my shoulder the whole rest of the day that I'd been at the range! Fun stuff.



Quick range report: All hunting (or varmint) rifles (no rimfires or handguns, which is odd for me on a range trip).
--Marlin 1895, with Bushnell Elite 3200 2-7x32mm: Very accurate, hurts a bit, and scope banged my eyebrow with the leverevolutions; happy - love this rifle.
--Traditions Muzzleloader .50 cal, with Nikon Prostaff 2-7x32mm: No, not good at all - poor accuracy (5"+ at 80 yards), what to do? Was using 250 gr saboted Harvester bullets, and 100 gr Triple Seven. Will try 80 grains next time. Last year this gun shot 3-3.5" groups at that same distance, IIRC.
--Weatherby Vanguard SUB-MOA Varmint .223 rem, with Bushnell Banner 6-18x50mm w/AO. Very very accurate with Win white box 45 gr (0.75 MOA), but bad, bad trigger (light but it creeps 6-8 times in stages before firing ); scary to think how accurate this gun will be when trigger is fixed and good ammo used; happy overall.
--LSI/Rossi Puma 92 .45 colt, factory iron sights. Fun fun rifle with cowboy loads - love it. Seems pretty accurate, but I was shooting offhand/standing.
--Sporterized 94 Mauser 6.5x55, with Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x40mm: So-so but acceptable accuracy for deer - about 2.5-2.75 MOA, but ergo and nice; keeper/happy.
--Sporterized US 1917 .30-06, with Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40 with BDC reticle (previously had had a Sightron S2 3-9x42mm). Nice rifle; pretty accurate - Right about 2 MOA with USGI surplus ball. Recoil not that bad with the TruGlo pad I put on. The trigger is cool because it's light and has NO break whatsoever - it just suprises the crap out of you - great tool for un-learning flinch.
--Rossi single shot .243 win, with Simmons Master Series Aetec 2.8-10x44mm: Decent accuracy with cheap Win powerpoint 100s - about 2.25-2.5 MOA. Nice light little gun. Outstanding trigger, BTW.

Ready for rifle season, but not ready for ML season yet...

 

[gvnwst]

nice list of hunting guns there. the 45-70 leverevolution stuff kicks like heck for me too.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Yeah, the 405 gr Remingtons weren't half bad, but then the Hornadys were eye-openers. Thanks; it's a sampling of some hunters I've got.

P.S. Last week I had money burning a hole in my pocket and decided I was going to buy (finally) the Savage 10 ML B SS II with thumbhole stock that I had wanted. So I went to store after store after store in the city here, and NO ONE carries any of the Savages any more - what's up with that? Are they discontinued? I checked Bass Pro, Sportsman's Warehouse, two different Academy Sports, and two large popular mom & pop local gun shops - nada, and we're in the height of muzzle-loader sale season. Usually Bass Pro has oodles of MLs for sale - lots of extra racks in the aisle, but for some reason, this year, there's only like 2 racks of MLs in the aisles - did ML season hunting suddenly lose popularity or what?

 

[gvnwst]

sampiling... hmmmm.... how many guns do you hunt with every year???

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Well last year I got no deer, so I could have been hunting with spitballs and it wouldn't have mattered. I passed up two small bucks though - one with a recurve and one with that sporterized swede mauser in hand. I'd say though, that I use two or three rifles usually in a given year for deer - try to hunt with them. Usually two. Then a couple others for predators or rimfires for small game. I like a large selection. And - AND, I'm ready for "the call".**

**You know, the one from a long-lost uncle that calls up and says "Drop everything -we're going to Canada and then Africa and then Australia & NZ and then Siberia to hunt 40 species, and I'm paying for everything, taxidermy included!"

 

[gvnwst]

I like a large selection. And - AND, I'm ready for "the call".**

**You know, the one from a long-lost uncle that calls up and says "Drop everything -we're going to Canada and then Africa and then Australia & NZ and then Siberia to hunt 40 species, and I'm paying for everything, taxidermy included!"

i wish. unfortunatly, my uncles are either dead, or don't like guns

 

[Mike U.]

Well last year I got no deer, so I could have been hunting with spitballs and it wouldn't have mattered. I passed up two small bucks though - one with a recurve and one with that sporterized swede mauser in hand. I'd say though, that I use two or three rifles usually in a given year for deer - try to hunt with them. Usually two. Then a couple others for predators or rimfires for small game. I like a large selection. And - AND, I'm ready for "the call".**

**You know, the one from a long-lost uncle that calls up and says "Drop everything -we're going to Canada and then Africa and then Australia & NZ and then Siberia to hunt 40 species, and I'm paying for everything, taxidermy included!"

Envy meter is now officially pegged.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Usually I'm the one envious of others - but no, actually I fibbed a bit - I'm not *totally* ready for "the call" because I don't have a large DG caliber like a .416 or .458 - yet. Biggest I have is a 9.3x62 and .45-70. So I guess I'm ready for plains game, but I'd have to borrow rifle for DG.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Wow, that's quite a list!
Wish me luck with my "piddly little" .243!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I'm editing the original post to reveal the optics on each (my po' man's glass).

Oh, one other thing about the Rossi single shot's manual safety. There is a Green "S" for safe, and a Red "F" for fire and a toggle switch. I *thought* that if the toggle switch was "covering up" the "F", revealing the "S" as open to easily see, that that meant it was on safe. Actually, as it turns out, you point to (and partially cover) the letter of the state you want it to be in - point to F for fire; point to S for safe. Yes, I decided to "test" the safety and almost had a heart attack when the gun fired. But, I guess that's why we keep everything pointed downrange.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Paint that rossi with a red dot showing for "ready to fire".
Remember "Red you're dead".

 

[Cosmoline]

--Traditions Muzzleloader .50 cal, with Nikon Prostaff 2-7x32mm: No, not good at all - poor accuracy (5"+ at 80 yards), what to do? Was using 250 gr saboted Harvester bullets, and 100 gr Triple Seven. Will try 80 grains next time. Last year this gun shot 3-3.5" groups at that same distance, IIRC.

What's the twist on that fifty?

 

[Shawnee]

Now Sauce....

You aren't done with the centerfires yet !

Nobody's gonna let you off the hook until you have that 6.5x55 shooting at least 1.25" or smaller.