- Joined
- Jan 28, 2003
- Messages
- 13,341
I can not take credit for “preoccupation with inconsequential increments”. That truism belongs to the late great Jeff Cooper. And I am seeing a rash of it in today’s hunters. We are becoming gadget geeks and in the field techno nerds. What we lack in skill we attempt to make up for with purchasing power.
Shootability Is far more important than just about anything else in a hunting rifle. That extra 200 FPS, that extra .059 of BC are never going to make up for a rifle that you don’t shoot well. A lack of rifle craft can’t be cured with longer barrels, slippery bullets, carbon wraps or gigantic scopes. Pick an adequate caliber, shoot a decent bullet and learn your rifle inside and out. Spend most of your time shooting from field positions, learn to throw the bolt reflexively, learn to reload without looking. Practice off hand, practice snap shooting, shooting seated, finding and utilizing in the field rests and odd shooting positions. One day out in the wild shooting rocks at various distances from field positions is worth a year of shooting off of a solid bench rest at the range.
A hot rod 7MM or a super slippery 6.5 is totally wasted on the hunter who hasn’t put in the quality trigger time. Quit worrying about whether one round carries a couple of hundred more Ft Lbs of energy or has 3” less drop at 400 yards. Pick an adequate caliber and bullet combo and rifle that fits and carries well, then hunt to within the limitations of your abilities. There are very few hunters who can effectively and consistently shoot to the limits and capabilities of most modern centerfire rifle rounds. Modern being from about 1892 with the advent of the 7x57. It is extremely rare to find a hunter who is limited by the capability of his chosen round rather than his ability as a marksmen.
Shootability Is far more important than just about anything else in a hunting rifle. That extra 200 FPS, that extra .059 of BC are never going to make up for a rifle that you don’t shoot well. A lack of rifle craft can’t be cured with longer barrels, slippery bullets, carbon wraps or gigantic scopes. Pick an adequate caliber, shoot a decent bullet and learn your rifle inside and out. Spend most of your time shooting from field positions, learn to throw the bolt reflexively, learn to reload without looking. Practice off hand, practice snap shooting, shooting seated, finding and utilizing in the field rests and odd shooting positions. One day out in the wild shooting rocks at various distances from field positions is worth a year of shooting off of a solid bench rest at the range.
A hot rod 7MM or a super slippery 6.5 is totally wasted on the hunter who hasn’t put in the quality trigger time. Quit worrying about whether one round carries a couple of hundred more Ft Lbs of energy or has 3” less drop at 400 yards. Pick an adequate caliber and bullet combo and rifle that fits and carries well, then hunt to within the limitations of your abilities. There are very few hunters who can effectively and consistently shoot to the limits and capabilities of most modern centerfire rifle rounds. Modern being from about 1892 with the advent of the 7x57. It is extremely rare to find a hunter who is limited by the capability of his chosen round rather than his ability as a marksmen.
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