Failed to take a nappy today, and as a result am a run-down wind-up toy. I've got at least another week of working catching up with everything from SHOT…lotta letters; lotta deals in the work. I'm pretty much terrified of March…I could use a couple of clones.
I noticed that .458 SOCOM brass popped up at Starline...I picked up a box of 250 so I can spend a happy summer tinkering around. Now I need a bunch of Reloader 7. Bullets, I got. I want a heavy bullet load for hogs on the May hunt that'll still give me a decent group, maybe those Barnes' 400-grainers. I'm be totting the Redhawk .44 Magnum with Garrett dino-thumpers as back-up.
I'm hoping I can convince Billy Wilson to let me come down to the ranch in Texas and shake all the remaining bugs out of the rifle (which is a Wilson Combat, after all). I've almost finished the Wilson Combat book, btw…I gotta bug Joyce out of about 1000 words on IDPA. I'd like to have the little carbine and ammo 100% when I take it into the mountains later in the summer. If you recall, it was a bit of a problem child until I learned to tune the magazines.
Right now it's got my go-to Leupold 1.5-4x illuminated on it, but I'm probably going to go with an Aimpoint T1 fitted with a ratchet-on mount for the 3x or 6x magnifier. Keep the weight down and give me some options on sighting.
I note that North American Arms who make funky little .22 revolvers, is doing little top-break version. I saw and handled a prototype a couple of years ago and thought it was just adorable, but they only did a limited run of a few guns, then decided it was too expensive to produce.
Apparently, according to TTAG, it'll be back mid-year. I will jump, jump I tell you, to get my hands on one!
Count me in on one of those NAA top break revolvers too! I really like my mini but loading and unloading is an ordeal.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to drop them a note today with a CC#…c'min…it's just tooooooo cute and made like a Swiss watch…
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I want a heavy bullet load for hogs on the May hunt that'll still give me a decent group, maybe those Barnes' 400-grainers.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, other folks are quite happy dropping hogs with a 223 loaded with proper bullets. What people 'want' and what people 'need' in hunting is often very different.
Wants I couldn't care less about. If you have the $$, go for it. Their real NEED is skill in shooting and bullet placement.
That skill is easier with a gun that recoils less.
How aggressive and dangerous are feral pigs/boars/hogs? That is, dangerous to you, not to crops and such.
ReplyDeleteIkmitvh, I hope on this blog that it goes without saying.If you can't do the basic stuff ON DEMAND, stop, then go back to #1. Competence here is assumed. If you were to ask me, I'd say .223 was lite for hogs. It.ll work, sure, but not as well as a 6.8 spec or .300 black. I've been in awe of the 6.8 's ability to "punch up.
ReplyDeleteI built the .458 as an elk gun. For it to function as such, it will put greater demands on me...closer stalking; more precise shot placement, OTOH I have a West Wind Rem 700 in .300 RUM that can easily stop a coal train in another county. Hunting is in your head as well as the rifle in your hand. My red stag in NZ last year wasn't the biggest red stag in NZ, But it came at the end of a brutal stalk that put my knees in I eps ks for days. And it was my favorite rifle -- the Ruger Scout .308; my favorite ammunition, Hornady GMX: mt favorite scope, a Swaro 3-9x.in fact, there was a dozen places and times I could have knocked the old bull off the mountain with the .300 RUM, but that wasn't what I wanted,
The 458 was a labor of love. I love the boomers. Yes it recoils, but I've shot heavy recoiling guns before ( and it's nothing compared to my .450/400 3- inch Nitro. Challenge is everything.I agonized over that .458. It drove me crazy. But now it's a short, light, blaster. Only accurate rifles are interesting, to be sure, and shot placement is everything.,I was working with a private student in preparation for her first hunting trip. She remarked that the targets were so BIG ( we were shooting 2/3 scale hog target. I dissuaded her of that notion VERY quickly! The smallest point you vp can see on the target is the target, on my first zebras I wasps hugely disappoints that my shot was 3/4 inch left of where I was aiming, the Zebra didn't nyice the difference since I put the 168-gr through the the heart and lungs.
So I think er're saying the same thing.
Overload, depends on the hog. The wilderness boars are aggressive and will come at you. The .458 with a heavy bullet is Thor's hammer in a small package.
The elk will test all of my skills, and that's a good thing.
Mb
From a mechanical point of view, the NAA top-break revolver DOES look like a prototype. The top latch doesn't appear to have any geometry that would allow for loosening of lock-up due to wear. The pin holes that hold the top block that the latch engages appear to have been drilled "by eye", as they're out of line. Last, The bottom of the frame looks too thin aesthetically, even though functionally, it may be up to task. Over all, I do like it and would be interested in it AFTER the bugs are worked out.
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I suspect it's the same gun they showed me a couple of yeas ago. This is a "float" to see if the market bites…
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Read today's Lawdog blog about his encounter with a hog.
ReplyDeleteNorth American, if you're listening, count me in, too.
ReplyDeleteMy wife has carried one of their Mini Magnums with the holster grip in those prohibitive places, and like Bill Rushmore said, they're fun but reloading is a PITA. A "pop-top" would be a big improvement.
Michael, as you're wont to say, 22 Magnum may not be a really good self defense round, but it's got to be better than harsh language.
I've seen a recent prototype and am convinced it's the cat's meow. It has been a years long process to figure out how they're going to make it. The original ones they did several years ago have been highly collectible. I think they call it "The Ranger". The new one looks awesome, and a fitting replacement for the original.
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