RoostRider
Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2008
- Messages
- 670
So, I was out deer hunting with my friends, one of which I know to be an avid shooter, accomplished marksman and generally knowledgeable about firearms, Sean.
I brought along my Remington 600 chambered in .308 Win. with a breakaway 2.75 power Bushnell scope, which I have always liked as a gun.... it was my fathers, and he got a lot of deer with it, I have gotten a bear with it.... but I never really got a chance to pattern the gun until this year (sight in, yes, but not really see how close it patterns)....
I am a decent shot (no miracle man, but I can get the job done well enough that several of my friends trust my shots more than their own).... I got the chance to really put some rounds in this gun this year sighting it in (the first year I have owned the gun) but I could not get a nice tight pattern with this gun out at 150 yds +.... I was having problems that day with several guns, the wind was blowing pretty good from across the field, and I thought it was just me.... I was still getting inside the kill zone easily, so I called it good.... just not the nice tight pattern I expected this gun to have...
Anyways, this brings me to the current hunt.... I decide I am going to ho and sit in a stand over a couple of open fields (150-250 yd shots likely... I won't shoot at much beyond that) and my buddy Sean and I are sitting down yammering about guns and whatnot and he tells me that I should shoot his .270 that he has extra lying around instead of my 600 (a really nice gun that I have shot and know to be a great patterning gun)... which I naturally say "nah, I'll stick with my gun".... and then he says "you should really consider replacing that old .308", and I naturally ask "why?", and he says that it's just not that good of a gun, nothing like the guns that are available today... mentioning guns like his composite stock .270 and his .270 short mag. ... both with stainless barrels, no iron sights, straight up nice real life shooters guns with ample knock down for anything but the largest of game around here (Moose, and after seeing what it did to deer I would even consider these guns good for bear)...
At this point, I fiigure he doesn't like my gun because of the short barrel (~18.5") and the inherent inaccuracy of shorter barrels (to a point)... to which I reply "but it's a great brush gun".... to which he says "thats what they say about every crappy gun.... it's a great brush gun... any gun can shoot straight for 50 yards".... which took me by suprise, hearing someone whos opinion I respect dissing what I thought was a pretty nice gun.... sure, it has some cosmetic issues, but it has been a used hunting rifle for 40 years now... and he wasn't commenting on how it looked, just on how he figures it would shoot (he hasn't shot it, but may have shot others and found them to pattern poorly)....
I like this gun because of its history, and my desire to use a .308 because I know it to have plenty of knockdown even when it gets out there a ways, and the good pattern the round is known to do, the scope or open sight option and it's size (it really is a great brush gun because of this, and there is more brush than anything else where I hunt).... the scope might be underpowered for the really long shots, but it is nice when you are in closer, and that is the bulk of shots around here....
So I have a few questions for you rifle aficionados here....
Is this a good gun, or just a good "Brush Gun"... lol...?
Should I expect this gun to pattern tight even out at range?
What can I do to improve it's accuracy and patterning?
I have taken the gun apart now, and it is obvious that the barrel is not free floating as the stock has worn the finish off where it meets the barrel at the front....
Should I file or sand down the areas where it is touching?
Will this improve its patterning when it heats up and cools down?
Would modifying it like this change its point of impact and require re-sighting? (I don't have time to get back to the range before next weekend... closing weekend)
Are there any other mod's you might recommend?
I brought along my Remington 600 chambered in .308 Win. with a breakaway 2.75 power Bushnell scope, which I have always liked as a gun.... it was my fathers, and he got a lot of deer with it, I have gotten a bear with it.... but I never really got a chance to pattern the gun until this year (sight in, yes, but not really see how close it patterns)....
I am a decent shot (no miracle man, but I can get the job done well enough that several of my friends trust my shots more than their own).... I got the chance to really put some rounds in this gun this year sighting it in (the first year I have owned the gun) but I could not get a nice tight pattern with this gun out at 150 yds +.... I was having problems that day with several guns, the wind was blowing pretty good from across the field, and I thought it was just me.... I was still getting inside the kill zone easily, so I called it good.... just not the nice tight pattern I expected this gun to have...
Anyways, this brings me to the current hunt.... I decide I am going to ho and sit in a stand over a couple of open fields (150-250 yd shots likely... I won't shoot at much beyond that) and my buddy Sean and I are sitting down yammering about guns and whatnot and he tells me that I should shoot his .270 that he has extra lying around instead of my 600 (a really nice gun that I have shot and know to be a great patterning gun)... which I naturally say "nah, I'll stick with my gun".... and then he says "you should really consider replacing that old .308", and I naturally ask "why?", and he says that it's just not that good of a gun, nothing like the guns that are available today... mentioning guns like his composite stock .270 and his .270 short mag. ... both with stainless barrels, no iron sights, straight up nice real life shooters guns with ample knock down for anything but the largest of game around here (Moose, and after seeing what it did to deer I would even consider these guns good for bear)...
At this point, I fiigure he doesn't like my gun because of the short barrel (~18.5") and the inherent inaccuracy of shorter barrels (to a point)... to which I reply "but it's a great brush gun".... to which he says "thats what they say about every crappy gun.... it's a great brush gun... any gun can shoot straight for 50 yards".... which took me by suprise, hearing someone whos opinion I respect dissing what I thought was a pretty nice gun.... sure, it has some cosmetic issues, but it has been a used hunting rifle for 40 years now... and he wasn't commenting on how it looked, just on how he figures it would shoot (he hasn't shot it, but may have shot others and found them to pattern poorly)....
I like this gun because of its history, and my desire to use a .308 because I know it to have plenty of knockdown even when it gets out there a ways, and the good pattern the round is known to do, the scope or open sight option and it's size (it really is a great brush gun because of this, and there is more brush than anything else where I hunt).... the scope might be underpowered for the really long shots, but it is nice when you are in closer, and that is the bulk of shots around here....
So I have a few questions for you rifle aficionados here....
Is this a good gun, or just a good "Brush Gun"... lol...?
Should I expect this gun to pattern tight even out at range?
What can I do to improve it's accuracy and patterning?
I have taken the gun apart now, and it is obvious that the barrel is not free floating as the stock has worn the finish off where it meets the barrel at the front....
Should I file or sand down the areas where it is touching?
Will this improve its patterning when it heats up and cools down?
Would modifying it like this change its point of impact and require re-sighting? (I don't have time to get back to the range before next weekend... closing weekend)
Are there any other mod's you might recommend?