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"Get a Good Grip on It",,,,Your Hunting Rifle

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Salmonchaser said:
I’ll bet Ive fired a thousand rounds at a tire rolled down the hill, it was one of my dads favorites during the winter doldrums to keep us kids from driving mom to drink. Packing those tires up the hill is a lot of work generally pretty wore out when we got home. We also used to go over to Ft. Rock/Christmas valley area after a good snow storm to hunt jack rabbits on a friends alfalfa farms. We packed our deer rifles and our 22s. Rolling jacks with an 06 is a lot of fun. Ive killed a lot of deer and elk that were moving not flat out running, but they were are all relatively close, probably why they were moving. Of course I would rather shoot one standing still and most of them have been.
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This is exactly the type of shooting skill I am talking about. I used to create a shooting course for myself. Adding another twist was walking fast, maybe a slow jog to the top of steep hill then having a target set up on the other side. A short shot, 40-50 yards offhand, but huffing and puffing made it a real challenge.

Too many shooters have gotten addicted to the bench at the range and shooting too few expense bullets. Loading cheap cast bullets it the key to practice. 22's are kinda ok, but nothing compares to using your real hunting rifle
 
I love hunting ethics. Running shot at big game, bad. Ground swatting a grouse, bad. Shooting a flying turkey, bad. shooting a duck on water, bad.
 
You know, there is an edition of Green Hills of Africa which contains the diary of Mary Hemingway. While we certainly remember the shot Hemingway describes on a running lion, and we hear about some misses, the diary reveals many, many wounded or lost animals.
So yes, there are folks who have the eye-hand coordination to shoot marbles out of the air with .22s. But they can practice. With tags and animals being what they are, you just can't practice enough on game animals. Maybe you can hit a running deer. What I don't buy is that you're never going to gut shoot or otherwise waste meat with a running shot.
 
Mustangs: This is actually a worthwhile thread. Try to ignore the peanut gallery.

This is the first I've heard of rolling a tire down a hill to practice shooting running targets. But I never was much interested in reading Jack O' Connor or any other gun literature. I have always been drawn more to nonfiction (biology and history). The rolling tire target is probably a good exercise ... for gun and waistline. However, I think I would prefer skeet/trap/clays to establish the basics. No need to check for a hit or drag the targets back up a hill. Shotgun target ammo is also relatively cheap (compared to rifle ammo) and reloading can cut the cost further.

From time to time some whiz-bang experts from the local rifle club will show up at the trap club to give it a try. Usually they first appear on the clays side after having read the usual BS claiming it's the best practice for field hunting. They shoot single digit scores (for fifty targets) a couple of outings with a fancy new gun and never are seen again. If I can get them to the trap range, I can usually get them sorted out. The problem is shooting a rifle on the bench is about aiming it at the target: looking at both the gun and target. Shooting at moving targets like clays or birds or running deer is entirely different. No aiming! The shooter must stay focused on the target and NOT look at the gun. For a rifle I think this is easier with a low power scope. With open sights the shooter must line up the front and back sights then get them on the target. This provides a greater opportunity to lose focus on the moving target by looking "back" to the gun. No doubt halo/red dot sights are the best for moving targets. My PH's buffalo backup gun provided my first acquaintance with those gizmos. Definitely the cat's meow for punching a charging buff at close range.
 
Back to the OP's premise, love the sako grip. Also like the McMillen Hunter's swell.
 
Jorgy said:
I love hunting ethics. Running shot at big game, bad. Ground swatting a grouse, bad. Shooting a flying turkey, bad. shooting a duck on water, bad.
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Yeah, much more potential for wounding a bird shooting it in the air instead of sitting. But ground pounding them is so much more unethical! And we all know shooting a ruff grouse in the head on the road with a .22 totally ruins the taste. Those tiny lead shotgun pellets add so much to texture and flavour. Downright deadly cuisine.
 
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noharleyyet said:
Back to the OP's premise, love the sako grip. Also like the McMillen Hunter's swell.
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I changed my old A5 to synthetic several years ago after the second wood fore end came apart shooting clays (interesting experience having the gun split in half in my hands during cycling). The aftermarket stock and fore end is thinner than original equipment. My scores improved noticeably right away but I always attributed it to lighter weight. Fast forward to last year when I picked up a great deal on a used Citori. Nice gun that feels great in my hands but I couldn't shoot it as well as the A5. Not low gun anyway. Both guns have essentially the same weight, LOP, and drop, but the A5's plastic is thinner, especially the fore end. And it's clearly the A5's thinner stock that makes the difference. It allows my cheek to roll over the comb automatically into proper alignment with the barrel sight plane for quick shooting (I shoot skeet and clays low gun). Moral of the story is beware the gun with a better "feel" - it may not be the best fit, especially for quick shooting at moving targets. Personally, I think perfect LOP is the most important attribute.
 
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OntarioHunter said:
I changed my old A5 to synthetic several years ago after the second wood fore end came apart shooting clays (interesting experience having the gun split in half in my hands during cycling). The aftermarket stock and fore end is noticeably thinner than original equipment. My scores improved noticeably right away but I always attributed it to lighter weight. Fast forward to last year when I picked up a great deal on a used Citori. Nice gun that feels great in my hands but I couldn't shoot it as well as the A5. Not low gun anyway. Essentially the same weight, LOP, and drop on both guns, but the A5's plastic is thinner, especially the fore end. And it's clearly the A5's thinner stock that makes the difference. It allows my cheek to roll over the comb automatically into proper alignment with the barrel sight plane for quick shooting (I shoot skeet and clays low gun). Moral of the story is beware the gun with a better "feel" - it may not be the best fit, especially for quick shooting at moving targets. Personally, I think perfect LOP is the most important attribute.
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Absolutely, the entire attitude of the trigger arm is better...
 
Back to Hail Marries and Gut Shots a book by Mr O'Connor .......

trickshot20x1.jpg
 
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