good news/M14ruger/MOA @ 500 yards/box stock
Perhaps the one best way to get interestingly close to what you shoot @ 500 yards at 9X for pennies is the Ruger ranch rifle in 223 remington. The equally over looked Bushnell sportview 3X9, used and ebayed at < 25$ will hold the 'zero'. The key is reloading, for accuracy and shooting within the envelope of designed in mechanical compromise s by Bill Ruger and Company. I learned this after the 'black rifle'/AR 15 cost 2X a mini 14 in 2000/California...Beginning, I sight in the rifle with reduced reloads consistinng of 6 gr Unique @ say 35 yards with a mil surplus Winchester 55 gr FMJBT. Also good for greviously pissing off Grey squirrels and their smaller cousins, if your shot is poor. Details follow. FMJ Grey Squirrels/Weaverville Basin Bloody red pancaked once across the autumn forested slope. Seconds before the stainless Ruger held the Grey Squirrel fatally suspended 40 feet up on the digger pine branch facing my position, the Bushnell’s (Ebay, 20$, sighted in with boiled linseed oil on all mounting surfaces/absolute necessity/dries gummy) 6x sportview centered on the crouching center of mass across the steep gully between us. His sporadic barking outbursts silenced as the left hand pulled the loop of the leather military slinged 223’s rifle butt into my shoulder while the right hand perceptibly tightened on the pistol griped stock. Momentarily concious of my trigger finger nearly pulling the full weight of the 7 1/2 lb rifle, our eyes now locked in mortal ernest for what could have been eternity, I am abruptly stunned with the arrival of the semi autos recoil and muzzle blast of the 55 gr. projectile’s launch (win 680 surplus 18 gr.) at 2800 feet per second, with only one unbeleavably swift after image retaining the instantanious explosion some 45 yards distant, or is it just my imagination... Head up, I Immediately glimpse the vacant limbed perch and pine tree and then frantically capture the questionable win of the dramatically crimsoned forms' midair tumble just above ground. No finishing shot here, game over. The continuing midmorning sun warmes all and forested quiet moved only by acorns and leaves falling resumed its progression as I recovered the final seen. Absolutely lethal. I had read that the bullet breaks into 2 pieces up to 200 yards distant. Pulled the safety back into the trigger guard and rose up to recover the Lake City brass case resting brightly several feet down slope, habitually examining the CCI primer for pressure. The 12$ 10 round clip had not jammed. Good. Alert and listening around I collected the Alice pack I had removed sitting down, slung the ranch rifle over left shoulder, butt at lower right just missing the holster Redhawk 44 and the 18 shell 12ga leather bandoleer. M 14's sling diagonally across my chest and over a sweat stained and whole pocked leather jacket, gifted Sears sportsman’s vest, 10X50 binoculars and game calls, green Alice packed and savage 311 at the ready, with 4 and 6 shot, left and right barrel, I gather my footing. An educated face framed with shoulder length brown hair and salt and pepper beard while peering threw sun darkened aviator glasses topped with a Pacific Avenue thrift store’s cream colored ski mask I am a squirrels worst nightmare, or maybe anyone’s worst nightmare. I lethally advance forwards towards my game, scanning for a deer trails’ zigzag easy descent over the steeply sloped pine needles covered ravine. I found none immediately, my Cabelas Ebay go devils finding fair purchase as I side stepped my way to the bottom of the ravine and arrived at the down squirrel 20 yards higher and back up hill. Initial frantic squirrel chatter to my left across the shady Californian stand of Doug fir and oak, sagebrush and digger pine beyond had silenced itself to my searching downhill intrusion minutes before. The closer male Grey got first vote as later stew meat surrounded by lentils, lima beans, carrots potatoes and onions and seasoned with bell pepper, olive oil and vinegar and pepper. An in season participant to the ferocious terminal ballistics of the FMJ .223 cartridge. Since 1981 I have taken at 400 Grey’s, wounded 5 (add lemond slices), with all caliber’s including 37 with a 410 Stevens Hercules shotgun during one winter in the Weaverville basin. There s more but returning to how accurate is the rifle, Mini 14, properly loaded and fired for accuracy? Believe my M 14 trigger is 7 lns plus/so what. Yep, all my firearms are box stock. Any way, last Sunday, Sept 07, using my improvised 20 inch high X 36 inch long X 10 wide [carpenter/sometimes] saw horse and 8 inch rolled up carpet I go 2 shots spaced 5 inches apart/55 gr and say 9 inches lower and 2 inches right ditto for 62 gr. The cases were mixed military lake city winchester mfg 85 thru 90,s mfg. The big deal here was the rest used [I have used over the backpack prone type shooting/similar results] pull rifle into shoulder/bedding down [firmly] into the pack and fire at will... Oh, your 17 gr W680 power scoop [lee says shake level once for theirs] is 38 super case, unsized and trimmed to say .845 " . Figure 2800 fps for 55 gr, good case extraction [not if your rifle is brand new, drops em at your feet or fails to eject first round cold barrel], rounded primer edges and say 2650 fps plus for 62 gr [don t go outa your way to get these 'better ballistics' morebetter/more expensive mil surplus bullets unless your felling really mean], flattented primer/significatly high pressure loading. Reason is in a later 10 to gusting 15 mph cross wind both bullets got blown astoundingly right 15 to 22 inches of the 30 gallon metal trash can with the blaze orange 1 fot square duct tapped across the front. I confess I did hold level with the top of the can with the trusty ebayed 3X9 Bushnel sportview/23$/Mini 14 ranch rifle [stainless steel] and the bullets landed 20 inches below the bottom and 4 inches right of center/Ah thats looking back at the ridge from the center of can and cutting down with knife to bullet impacts in the slope I was on.
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