airedale

The heart lung shot is the best if one is looking to limit edible meat damage, the above quote applies to all high powered rifle cartridges with a similarly constructed bullet as the 243's. Your neighbor's buck would have sustained some pretty bad damage no matter what conventional Deer rifle cartridge he used shooting it through the shoulders and the rear quarters and especially so if using a frangible constructed bullet. Al

I assume he is referring to bullet recovery, I have had the same results when using Partitions in various calibers, I have never recovered one. Al

The 243 Winchester was the very first cartridge I handloaded for, I had a Remington 660 carbine with a 20 inch barrel and later I purchased a Ruger Number 1 light sporter with a 22 inch barrel. My brother had a Browning BLR in 243 that I handloaded for also. I am talking 50 years ago and a lot of water has passed under the bridge for loading data and components since then. Load data today is much more conservative than what was published in the early loading manuals back in those days. Still I never had a problem with that early loading data as I always followed the rule of starting a few grains under and working my way up watching for any signs of excessive pressure. My Woodchuck load was the 75 gr Sierra HP over 43 grs of IMR 4895 from an old Lyman manual that was supposed to be going along at 3500 FPS. The current Lyman manual lists 39 grs as their top load with IMR 4895 at around 3400 fps. Bottom line the old original load was very accurate in my rifle and showed no signs of being too hot and I killed a lot of Chucks and Crows. In Ken Water's "Pet Loads" bible he liked 47 grs of IMR 4831, it is extremely accurate with the 75 gr HP. As for Deer I shot a few with the 243, a couple with the Speer 105 gr semi spitzer and a couple with the 95 gr Nosler Partition, my Brother has killed at least 20 Deer with the Nosler 95 gr Partition and loves that load. 45 grs of IMR 4831 was the powder I used for the Nosler 95 gr. An online search will probably produce many good loads with the newer powders that are available today. Al

Those look to be some well crafted arrows, very nice! Port Orford cedar arrows are what I broke in with when I started out with archery many years ago. Went on to Fiberglass then to Aluminum and finally the Carbons, settled on Aluminum in the end. Al

The tailgate opens both ways, stepping up into the bed or when using the trunk the swing out option works best for easy access, for regular truck bed duties like lumber, feed and hay bales I just use the pull down option.

One of the best features of my Honda Ridgeline is the huge weather proof lockable trunk in the bed. An average size person can fit in it.

The 22 Winchester Mag and I go back a whole lot of years and I have a special fondness for that cartridge, my Dad purchased a new Winchester model 61 pump when the cartridge was introduced and I put a big dent in the local chuck population with that rifle. I later purchased a new Mossberg bolt action "Chuckster" rifle for my own and continued a Chuck hunting rampage with it. The premium ammo produced today has made the Maggie very versatile with a wide variety of bullet weights of super quality and capable of gilt edged accuracy, it will perform well on varmints from Coyote on down within it's range. These days I have a super accurate Remington 597 autoloader and a Ruger 77/22 Mag varmint bolt action which is a pretty good shooter also. The Remington is used for varmint calling in the woods for short to moderate ranges, it wears a 2X7 Nikon shotgun scope. The Ruger is used mostly for Chucks walking open fields and it wears a straight 8X Leupold with some potentially long shots, so what I am trying to get across is I scoped each rifle to the way it is used. Don't have any experience with the Ruger American myself but from all the reports I have read about them they are real shooters, there are many good quality scopes to be had so purchase the best scope you can afford to take advantage of the Ruger American's potential. Congrats and have fun with your new 22 mag. Al

Some of the comments and arguing in these crossbow debates reminds me of Dr Evil and his son Scotty arguing, just substitute the term chocolate with crossbow and there you have it.

About handloading, once you have your brass there will be a decent savings, depending on how one shops for components the savings can be quite substantial as there are very good deals to be had even on high end stuff. As far as reloading equipment it is all made to be able to work and integrate regardless of what manufacturer's items that catches your favor. I have presses, powder measures, dies, and scales among other stuff collected through the years from all the major equipment players out of the past and present and it all works well together to produce top notch ammo. Equipment price is not always an indicator of it's ability to produce quality ammo. Some look down their nose at Lee equipment because of it's price and construction but I can not find any fault the ammo quality it produces or in it's durability, it is a best buy and it works great. The best part about handloading is the personal "satisfaction"!, that one hole group target, or knocking off a crow at near 500 yards or droping a bull moose with ammo you yourself worked up and created, it is "the icing on the cake" of a hunt! Al

Sadly the video is right on the money, derelict buildings-infrastructure everywhere. When I was a kid Utica had a population of well over 100,000, 3 large General Electric factories along with Kelsey Hayes, Bossert, Sperry Rand, Chicago Pneumatic, Utica Duxback to name a few. All good paying manufacturing jobs that are all gone now. Ethan Allen furniture to the north in Boonville gone, Harden Furniture in McConnellsville gone, Remington in Ilion almost gone, can't even sell what they make here and Rome down the road a few miles basically suffered the same fate losing Pettibone, General Cable, Rome Manufacturing and Rome Cable. The weather does stink, I think I can count on my fingers the number of days it has not snowed or rained at least some since the first of the year. And lets not forget the Taxes and fees that are on "EVERYTHING", reputed to be the highest in the land. Al

A single shot Savage 22 similar to the one pictured below, the bolt was used to push the cartridge into the chamber and to extract. To cock the gun the little knob on the back of the bolt had to be pulled out. It was pretty accurate with the open sights and I killed my first Woodchuck with it, an event I still remember vividly to this day. One thing I took away from that rifle was I am not handicapped or under gunned with a single shot firearm, it is all about making your first shot count, I have acquired and still love to hunt with and use various single shot firearms today. Al

I finally got a scope mounted on this 250 Sav 99A, it was a bit challenging for several reasons. To stay with the 99A's light weight fast handling theme I wanted to use a compact light weight scope. The 250 Savage is a true dual purpose cartridge so I may take a shot at a varmint once in awhile but the reality is it will be used mostly for Deer hunting and with that in mind not a lot of scope power is needed for the terrain-habitat I hunt. I decided on a low power variable namely an old new stock Thompson Center 1X5 compact I found on ebay, these scopes were high quality Japanese made and imported by T/C. Back when I worked my Buddy's sport shop we stocked the T/Cs scopes. I mounted a bunch of them on slug guns back in the day and they made a good name for themselves with reliability and crisp optics. I have some personal experience with the old T/C scopes, been using and abusing a compact4X model with a lighted reticle for 40 years on my Coon hunting rifles with zero problems. I always thought highly of the 1X5 compact so it was an easy choice because it fit the bill I was seeking perfectly. While the T/C compact has good eye relief it's short dimensions made it hard to get it mounted back far enough to have a full field of view because of scope mount availability that is out there these days for a rifle that has not been made since the eighties. Tried the Leupold one piece bridge mount and the scope was way to far forward even with extension rings. Finally found a vendor that stocked the old Weaver two piece bases and found another vendor that had some B-Square extension rings of medium height that solved the eye relief problem and had the scope high enough for good eye alignment and ease and access of use for the tang safety that is directly under the scope. Whewww! She is all bore sighted and ready for some range time and we shall see how this classic lays them in there. Al

There are hunters that like challenging themselves by making their hunts tougher. Hunting black powder season with a patched ball fired from a primitive sidelock, archery season with a recurve bow, an open sighted handgun and handicapping using small gauge shotguns. Personally I have no problem with it as long as you know your limitations and are proficient with your chosen weapon inside of those parameters. Judging from the patterns shooting the heavy shot out of a properly choked 410 it would certainly be able to take a Turkey in the hands of a Turkey hunter that knows their stuff. As for me personally I am far from the greatest when it comes to hunting Turkeys and need all the help I can get so I will continue to hunt with my 870 12 gauge throwing large loads of shot. Al

I watched a fellow hunt a Bison a couple of weeks ago on one of those outdoor-hunting channels, I can not remember where his hunt was but the country was open and the Bison were wild and spooky. He had a hard time getting within a couple of hundred yards of the herd as there was too many eyes and they were always spotted and the herd moved off and kept it's distance. From what was shown on that hunt he would not have had a successful kill with a crossbow, he would not have been able to get in range. He finally got a shot at a trophy Bull at about 250 yards with a scoped rifle and made it good. If I had the luck of drawing a hunt for wild Bison it would give me the excuse to buy a Sharps single shot Buffalo rifle in 45-70 and that is what I would be using. Al

Had the whole poem scenario play out pretty much one time when sitting on a Deer hunt, the difference was the Porky was not in the tree I was under but a big Balsam a few yards away. Heard some scratching and looked up to see a big Porky shimming down this Balsam, when he gets to the ground he backs up to the tree and takes a big crap and then climbs back up the tree to his perch. Al

While the loaded ammo is easy to find I was kind of surprised that my go to sources for reloading supplies do not have the 250 Savage brass in stock, and could not find any at the gun show either. In fact I had a heck of a time finding anyone that stocks it. Had to work at it and finally found Cabelas had some of the Remington brass in stock with free shipping so I am set there and all set with dies as I found a good used set on ebay. Knew the day would come some day so I have been saving this old box of vintage Winchester Silvertips I picked up many years ago for a song at a yard sale and put away so I at least of something to make a bang with.

I am a big fan of the Savage 99 lever action rifles, I have an older Utica model in 30-30 that was my Dads and special to me because he worked there before going into the Navy during the War. Personally I have always wanted straight stocked 99A model in 250-3000 and I keep kicking myself for not buying one when they were being manufactured. Anyhow I hit the Syracuse gun both in the Spring and in the Fall always keeping an eye out for a 99A in good condition at a decent price and today I hit pay dirt. I found one in great condition barely used for a price I could live with so I took the plunge. Been a long time since I have been this pumped over a firearm, scanning the internet vendors for dies, brass, scope bases and bullets. Al

I love Spring, Summer and most of the Fall's days especially when it is warm, I can take the heat. Keep the snow and cold along with the shoveling and plowing, I will take the warm and hit the road. Both photos are taken in the same place, I will take the weather in the bottom one any day!

Some probably remember an infomercial on TV of a wacko named Klee selling a colon cleanse. I got an email from a friend of mine that saw and sent me a first hand review going around on the internet of some guy that tried it. While not funny for the victim taking that crap (PUN INTENDED) his description of it's effects was too funny, I about pissed my pants reading it LOL!!! Al ========================================================================================

I am assuming the fellow who went through this expense wanted to remember that day taking that nice buck right down to the finest detail, pretty neat if you have the place to put it. Al

Knowing what the gun is and how much it would cost to manufacture one today I think those prices are light. The main thing is what you think and how much you like and want the gun, that is the determining factor of what the gun is worth to you. Al

My two latest collector books place the value in excellent condition at $350 with a plain barrel and $450 with a rib, and $375 with a 25% premium if it has a rib. Al

Remember When? As a youngster I thought it would be great to catch something that would make it in the Genny record book. From The Utica OD's John Pitarresi Louis A. Wehle was, among other things, a brewer. He brewed Genesee Beer. He also was a very dedicated outdoorsman. One day, he put those things together, and the Genesee New York State Fishing Contest was born. I admit that Genesee wasn’t my favorite beer, but I still have a vivid and startlingly wonderful memory of the two ice cold bottles of Jenny that I received in partial payment for several hours of cleaning the gigantic Hobart dishwasher at the Hamilton College commons on a hot spring day more than 40 years ago. No champagne ever tasted better than that, but the good feelings I have about Genesee beer have more to do with the fishing contest the brewery ran from 1946 into the 1990s. Each spring, in grocery stores, bait shops, and taverns across the state, you could findthe pamphlets for the contest. There would be a list of the previous season’s winning fish and anglers in 13 categories. The lures and baits they were caught on were included, along with some fishing tips, a list of state records, a fish identification chart, an entry blank and rules, and, best of all, a map detailing where all the top catches were made. I’d grab that thing, hope that some of the big fish had caught somewhere near my home, and then dream of fishing that spot. Which is something I rarely got a chance to do unless one of those red fish-shaped indicators nosed up to the midpoint of the Niagara River, which was about a half-mile from my house. There were these fish all over the place. The Finger Lakes. Lake Ontario. Oneida Lake. Wiscoy Creek. Chautauqua Lake. Lake Champlain. The Hudson River. I had only a dim awareness of most of those places, and had little hope of ever seeing them. Which maybe made it all the more exciting. The contest was the brainchild of Wehle, who had reorganized the brewery after prohibition. It was a big deal for many years, certainly were I grew up. I recently found one of the old contest brochures, from 1987. The grand prize cash awards were $75, $50 and $25 for the top three fish of each species. Strangely, in the listings for the 1986 winners, there were very few fish from Central New York. There was a northern pike of 15 pounds from the Mohawk River, taken by William Schultz, and a rock bass, also from the river, taken by Joseph Kiuber. Mike Stolarczyk caught a 5-pound, 9-ounce pickerel from the Black River that missed being the grand prize winner by five ounces, and Tami Stolarczyk placed third in rock bass with a 1-pound, 12½-ounce fish, also from the Black River. There might be other local anglers in there – hometowns aren’t listed – and there might have been other fish caught locally, because the indicators don’t always match up with the lists. I must have wished, as a little kid, that I might someday find my way into that list of winners. I know for sure, each year when I first saw that brochure, I got really fired up to fish. That was the real power of the Genesee New York State Fishing Contest, I guess. Getting people excited about getting out and fishing. The contest has been gone a long time, and Louis A. Wehle even longer, but they both did a great job for a long time.

I am a dyed in the wool Leupold fan and user but would like to give some credit and a little more input on the Burris Timberline scope which has become a favorite with me. I have been using them exactly in the way the manufacturer advertises. So far they have been performing terrific on a couple of high end Rimfire rifles as they can be parallax adjusted down to very close ranges normally shot with 22 LR, I have one also mounted on a Ruger Number 1 222 mag, and now on this 25-06 Encore. The combination of features they possess has them pretty much standing alone, a very small physical size in relation to their high variable power, extreme eye relief along with a moderate price and a Burris "Forever" warranty. The question now is how will they hold up? Been using them for just a few years so the jury is still out but so far so good. Al