Lever gun and a story

[TradeGun.62]

Great story Hunting Wife! I can't wait to see how your fall plays out.

A Winchester 94 was my first deer rifle and holds a special place for me. And I'm pretty sure I watched too many westerns!

Thanks for taking me along.

 

[p_ham]

I generally do better with open sights at range if I'm shooting at a silhouette rather than a traditional target. I know of a lot of 30-30s that like the 170s better than the 150s also.

Glad to see it's shooting better!

 

[BrentD]

HW, if you know all of this, my apologies in advance. But maybe some others will have some things to add that could be helpful.

There are lots of way to use barrel sights and lots of different barrel sights exist out there for different purposes. The common V and bead are probably what's on your rifle, but there are buckhorns, semi-buckhorns, Patridge, ghost ring, and others to play with. Assuming the first is what you have, you can use these three or four ways for different ranges.

When I was a kid and no one was around to help me, I though the bead should be buried in the bottom of the "V". With really elastic young eyes, this was not undoable. However, it wasn't really the best way to go.

So, I doodled up a few possible sight pictures that might be a fair representation of what you will be looking at this fall

In the photos below, there are three different sightings you could use for different ranges on your bull. The grey dot is your bead, of course, and the V is your rear sight. The orange lines represent where you would be aiming if you had a scope with crosswires, just for reference. On my lever guns, I would sight in at 100 or maybe 150 yds. Depending on circumstances. I like my bullet to land right at the top of the bead. Some folks like their bullets to land 4-6" above the bead, so they are always holding blow the point of impact. The logic to that is you see more animal.

I don't really shoot short and long ranges like this anymore. My eyes make it a bit tough. I hold a normal sight picture but at the top of the back or whatever if I need to go longer range. Not that this "normal" sight picture puts the top of the bead level with the top of the rear sight, not the bottom of the V, like the halitosis shot will do. This is easier than it sounds but gets harder with aging eyeballs (thus I prefer tang sights now). Obviously, one needs to know distances and drops of your cartridge. With the laser-like trajectory of the .30-30, what I show as "long range" is probably going to be way out there at 300 or even 400 yds, so you may need to adjust with a slightly different hold.

A long range hold for your .30-30 might be with the bottom of the bead level with the top of the rear sight.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Halitosis range

 

[Hunting Wife]

Figured I would put the final chapter on this thread. I spent quite a few days taking the old gun out. Last known time it went hunting was estimated to be sometime in the early 1950’s, so by my math it’s been nearly 70 years since anyone hunted with it.



I do struggle a little bit with the V and bead sight. My eyes aren’t what they used to be I guess. But I figured out to 100, maybe 150 I should be able to get the job done.

Getting inside that range though proved to be a challenge for me this year. There was lots of competition messing up stalks, and the terrain where I was finding animals was very open. Had a couple of close calls where I needed a deer to just take a step or get clear of another, but never seemed to work out. There were also mistakes made. At one point, I finally had a doe at 70 yards in some tall sage brush, and managed to shoot right over her. All I can think is that I was aiming too high for fear of hitting sage bushes, but man, it’s been a long time since I missed. Especially at “gimme” range.

Eventually I found some unmolested does in some steep country more conducive to sneaking. I found a spot where I was able to sneak to about 200 yds, then used my hidden vocal talent to call one doe the rest of the way into range when I ran out of cover. When it was all said and done, I had a broadside shot at 86 yards. She didn’t go far.



I think an old gun hunt will be an annual event. Definitely more challenging than the usual gun. Two years in the making, but I finally got it done.

 

[p_ham]

Figured I would put the final chapter on this thread. I spent quite a few days taking the old gun out. Last known time it went hunting was estimated to be sometime in the early 1950’s, so by my math it’s been nearly 70 years since anyone hunted with it.

View attachment 303098

I do struggle a little bit with the V and bead sight. My eyes aren’t what they used to be I guess. But I figured out to 100, maybe 150 I should be able to get the job done.

Getting inside that range though proved to be a challenge for me this year. There was lots of competition messing up stalks, and the terrain where I was finding animals was very open. Had a couple of close calls where I needed a deer to just take a step or get clear of another, but never seemed to work out. There were also mistakes made. At one point, I finally had a doe at 70 yards in some tall sage brush, and managed to shoot right over her. All I can think is that I was aiming too high for fear of hitting sage bushes, but man, it’s been a long time since I missed. Especially at “gimme” range.

Eventually I found some unmolested does in some steep country more conducive to sneaking. I found a spot where I was able to sneak to about 200 yds, then used my hidden vocal talent to call one doe the rest of the way into range when I ran out of cover. When it was all said and done, I had a broadside shot at 86 yards. She didn’t go far.

View attachment 303100

I think an old gun hunt will be an annual event. Definitely more challenging than the usual gun. Two years in the making, but I finally got it done.

Great journey. Love the photo!

 

[NDGuy]

 

[noharleyyet]

Way to persevere HW.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Well done, great story for this year.

 

[Big Slick]

Love the levers and the people that keep tradition alive. Great work HW!

 

[Hunting Wife]

And to top it all off, Hunting Husband was able to take this velvet buck a week or so ago with the lever gun he inherited last year as well.

 

[Dave N]

Well done! You have me thinking about taking my grandfather's Model 12 for a walk looking for bunny tracks in the snow that's coming later.

 

[Southern Elk]

And to top it all off, Hunting Husband was able to take this velvet buck a week or so ago with the lever gun he inherited last year as well.

View attachment 303114

Any idea why it was still in velvet?

 

[Hunting Wife]

Any idea why it was still in velvet?

One like this is typically reproductive/hormonal abnormalities, but honestly we forgot to inspect the goods.

 

[BrentD]

And to top it all off, Hunting Husband was able to take this velvet buck a week or so ago with the lever gun he inherited last year as well.

View attachment 303114

I'm looking for the next installment already. What's next for these guns? Elk? Bears? Jackrabbits?

Got any vintage shotguns in the family?

 

[wytex]

Well done, both of you !!!
Thanks for sharing the outcome.

 

[Hunting Wife]

I'm looking for the next installment already. What's next for these guns? Elk? Bears? Jackrabbits?

Got any vintage shotguns in the family?

I think he’s got some old shotguns, but I’m not sure what vintage we’re actually talking.

I would love to take mine after antelope, but I need a lot more practice for that I think.

 

[BrentD]

I think he’s got some old shotguns, but I’m not sure what vintage we’re actually talking.

I would love to take mine after antelope, but I need a lot more practice for that I think.

Depending on what your eye issues are, there might be a pretty easy fix. If it's cataracts. They are a big problem. Get them fixed! I have to take my own advice on that or give up competitive shooting and iron sights. But if it's a focusing issue, then there are options that are especially adaptable to antelope hunting. You should get to 200 yds easily.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Depending on what your eye issues are, there might be a pretty easy fix. If it's cataracts. They are a big problem. Get them fixed! I have to take my own advice on that or give up competitive shooting and iron sights. But if it's a focusing issue, then there are options that are especially adaptable to antelope hunting. You should get to 200 yds easily.

Might have to pick your brain on these. It’s the focusing for sure.

 

[howl]

Good shooting! A rear aperture makes it all much faster and easier.