airedale

Another similar boner was the 244 Remington-6mm Remington marketing screwup, it is on paper better than the 243 Winchester in just about every way but because of the way it was marketed and guns it was chambered in it has come upon hard times and just about in the obsolete pile. Don't know how true it is but those boat paddle stainless steel Rugers are said to be extremely popular in Alaska. Al

A couple of things, I do not believe factory 30-06 ammo is loaded to quite the same pressures as the 270 Winchester factory loads, it is a bit lower. Also I may be wrong but I don't think the 740 Remington was chambered in 270. Your concerns and everything not making sense is exactly why the whole 7 mm Express fiasco was scrapped. Al

I was working in a gun shop at the time and being a 280 owner myself I was especially interested in the 280 7mm Express controversy but the info below was basically what we were told. The .280 was set at this lower pressure, it was 50,000 and introduced in Remington's semi-automatic and pump-action rifles of the 1950s, which were not designed for higher pressure. In 1979 Remington introduced the 7mm Express in bolt-action rifles only, and this round has a working pressure of 52,000 cup 2,000 cup more than the .280. A Remington reloading manual from 1980 and it lists both the 7mm Express and the .280 and shows the difference in max working pressure as listed above. Dimensionally they are the identical and if used in old autoloaders the lower pressure load of the .280 should be used, but in modern bolt action and semi-auto rifles 52,000 cup or so, the pressure design of the 7mm Express and could be used. The 7mm Express and new .280 are being condemned to the lower pressure of the 1950s .280 pressure loads which I see in most reloading manuals in the 48,000 cup range and this cheats the 7mm Express owners and .280 bolt action rifle owners out of the potential of this excellent cartridge. Factory ammo listed the 150 gr bullet at 2900 fps for the 280, the 7mm Express at 2970 fps The whole deal created a lot of confusion Al

The 280 is a very good all around big game cartridge especially suited for light weight sporters with faster handling 22 inch barrels. I will echo everything Pygmy has said about it, for me it's performance has been superb. Have had my rifle since the late 70s and have taken a bunch of Deer and several Moose with handloaded Nosler Partition 150 gr bullets moving just over 3000 FPS. The early 280 ammo was always slightly downloaded because it was chambered in the 740 and 742 autoloaders and 760 pumps so it was always thought to be a lesser cartridge than the 270 Winchester. The 7 mm Express was an attempt by Remington boost the rounds image powerwise as it was loaded to similar pressures as the 270, a big flop commercially to say the least. Those Rugers with that style stock are affectionately known as boat paddles, congratulations. Al

My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school reunion, and she kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table. I asked her, "Do you know him?" "Yes", she sighed, "He's my old boyfriend. I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear he hasn't been sober since." "My God!" I said, "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?" And then the fight started... When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the shed, the boat, making beer.. Always something more important to me. Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway." The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp. My wife sat down next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, "What's on TV?" I said, "Dust." And then the fight started... My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 200 in about 3 seconds." I bought her a bathroom scale. And then the fight started... My wife was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She was not happy with what she saw and said to me, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.' I replied, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect." And then the fight started... One year, I decided to buy my mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift... The next year, I didn't buy her a gift. When she asked me why, I replied, "Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!" And that's how the fight started.

Yes you can fire a 22 short out of your rifle, the bullet diameters on LRs, Longs and Shorts are the same .223. It is not recommended out of your rifle for several reasons. As has already been mentioned a short will not operate the action so they will have to be fed and ejected manually. Accuracy will be not as good as LRs because the rifling twist is suited to the 40 gr LR bullets usually a 1 in 16, shorts on the other hand will be more accurate in dedicated firearms chambered specifically for the short (Somewhere around 1 in 20) where it will not have to make a jump to engage the rifling and the rifling twist will be slower providing better accuracy. Also there will be smudging and residue in the LR chamber just ahead of the short's case mouth from powder burning so it is always advised to give your rifle a good cleaning after firing a bunch of shorts as the LR rounds might be sticking on that residue upon chambering. It has also been said firing shorts in excessive numbers can actually put a burn ring in the LR chamber. Personally I think it would have to be a huge number fired before that would happen. I do a lot of 22 rimfire shooting and as far as I am concerned the 22 short is pretty much obsolete, it's ballistics are duplicated in a good selection of LR loadings so a lot of the stuff listed above is avoided. So bottom line for me unless I had a rifle or handgun actually chambered in 22 Short I would pass on even messing around with them. A side note the Remington 552 is the one Auto loader that comes to mind that has been engineered to fire all three type of 22s and is pretty reliable.

The one statistic they are way off on is the cost per pound, there is a lot more money spent on hunting equipment than $76.00 Not complaining but for what I have spent on hunting stuff I could be eating prime rib, lobster and filet mignon every day! Al

You are right to go with the best scope you can afford, the low end scopes work out well on rimfire rifles where they are not subjected to heavy recoil and are not used in the rain for the most part. Al

If I could only have one gun it would be some sort of combination gun that would have to be able to handle all types of small and big game hunting. Might just as well go whole hog seeing the limit is one, something like the Browning over and under pictured would be a good candidate, a set of rifle barrels and a set of shotgun barrels should take care of most hunting. As mentioned previously the Thompson Center Encore with a rifle, shotgun and muzzleloading barrel would do the trick also. Al

Moog is right the collector would be looking at one in original condition, but there are plenty of shooters and hunters that have done exactly what has been done to yours and that is sporterize it. A bare 03 Springfield action is worth some money on it's own because like Mauser 98 actions they are old time quality not seen much today and folks like using them for the basis of custom rifles. Yours looks to have been rebarreled with a sporter contour barrel with a sporter front sight installed, I can not identify the rear sight from the picture but it appears to be some sort of receiver sight. The stock is walnut and although not fancy it appears to been finished well. Don't know if the trigger has been replaced, the original would have been two stage I think so if you have a single stage trigger (one without a lot of take up and just breaks when pulled) it would not be original. Hard to put an exact price on it's value but you could not buy anything new close to it's quality for several hundred dollars. Personally I think you have a fine rifle there. Al

If those two dogs are running around and roaming the neighborhood constantly they will have been seen by plenty of other people in the area and there will be someone who knows who the owners are and it is a good bet they do not live far from you, it should not be too difficult to find out who they belong to especially with the photos you have.

You have yourself a military 03 Springfield that has been sporterized, the stock has been shaped to a sporter style and the military sights have been changed or it has possibly been rebarreled with a sporter barrel and sporting style sights. The 03 is a proven good quality action and many a custom rifle has been made using them. Congratulations. Below is a photo of what your rifle pretty much would have looked like when she was born. Al

I have been using layered polypropylene underwear for cold weather activities with real good results. I got turned on to it years ago from the NFL of all places. The players wore it playing football games in extreme cold conditions keeping them on the field in bitter temperatures by allowing sweat to wick off of the skin which is the main contributor to being cold when under heavy activity. The military picked up on it for the same reasons. I wear a light long sleeve poly tee against my skin with a heavier weight military type poly top on over it. The military stuff comes in three different weights and I will wear the weight I feel best suits the weather I will be in. The rest of my outerwear will be determined by the type of hunting I will be doing such as sitting in a stand for long periods or doing a lot of walking such a Hare hunting on snowshoes. It will usually be some sort of wool if it is real cold as it will keep you warm even when wet. Al

Hey Chefhunter86 congrats on your new AR10 6.5 Creedmoor, I will be interested in hearing your evaluation of the cartridge after you wring it out and get some experience with it. The 6.5 caliber long in the shadows for many years has come to the forefront because of the long range target shooting crowd (mainly in 6.5-284 Norma) , a darling of long range target shooting competitors because of mild recoil, super accurate bullets with high sectional density and coefficients that consistently keep it in the winner's circle. The Creedmoor case developed by Hornady was specifically designed as a long target application using all the tricks of the trade to be the the most efficient and accurate as possible. It has been proven under fire in competition and it's record speaks for itself as the top contender in long range shooting and today almost every major manufacturer and custom gun makers chamber long range target rifles. Such a performance record did not go unnoticed by hunters and the manufacturers soon started producing sporting rifles chambered in the Creedmoor along with a full line of ammo loaded with top notch hunting bullets. For the short time it has been around it has a lot of backers and I see it is constantly referred to as possibly the finest and balanced all around Deer cartridge ever developed which is certainly open for debate. Even though it is a pretty good bet that the Creedmoor is going to end up as being maybe the most winning long range cartridge ever developed do those same accolades transfer over as a hunting cartridge? Personally I think for hunting Deer that accuracy edge the Creedmoor may have would be of little bearing in the field on an actual hunt. To say with similarly constructed bullets of equal quality that it would kill better than a 260 remington, a 7mm 08 Remington or a 308 would be a stretch. All things being equal I do not think one could go wrong with any of these short case cartridges for Deer hunting, that being said I have to say on paper that 6.5 Creedmoor looks awful good. Al

Dear Santa, I have been good and this is what I would like to have for Christmas, "A Big Blonde" I always wanted a Winchester Model 70 "Super Grade" I always wanted one rifle with a blonde stock, preferably tiger tail maple. I always wanted to have a rifle chambered in 264 Winchester magnum Pictured below is the rifle that will kill three birds with one stone, a maple stocked Winchester model 70 Super Grade in 264 Winchester magnum. Just so you know I would not be killing any Reindeer with this rifle. Merry Christmas Al

Anytime you take apart a gun for the first time there will be some apprehension because all is unknown, the Remington 742s may seem complicated but are not that hard to break down as long as you have the tools to do it in my opinion especially if one follows some of the well produced you tube videos that should be available online. I have a bunch of gunsmithing books that have been pretty much relegated to the back burner since I discovered how much better these you tube videos are for gun repair or just about anything else one wants to do one their own. As the old saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words but in my opinion a good video is so much better. My computer is in my gun room-man cave, I just bring up the best video I can find and follow their instructions step by step stopping the video for each step that I have to do, get that done and then moving forward to the next step. For me and the guns I have messed around with using this method everything has worked out perfectly and so much better than trying to do the same from a book. Even though I am now 69 years old and spent a lot of time in my life tinkering with firearms I am not too proud to say the last three firearms I took down and did some custom work and parts replacement on were done watching videos produced by two little girls from Texas, "The Collier Gun Girls" they are not even teenagers yet but their own videos and the ones they did for custom parts supplier "Tandemkross" are so well done that takedowns and installation of parts was a breeze! Look up some 742 takedown videos and watch them and you should be able to figure out if you are comfortable tackling the job. Good luck to you on what ever you decide. Al

To replace the dust cover you have to take the bolt out after removing the barrel, while it sounds like a daunting task it is really is not as long as you have some basic gunsmithing tools and it appears that you do. I have done a couple of complete takedowns back when I worked in a gun shop to do a thorough cleaning on them. You tube has videos for step by step disassembly that will make things easy for you if you want to do it yourself, just have a uncluttered work area and take your time. Al

Good for you young lady, sounds like you are a natural born predator, like most things in life if you work hard at it success will usually follow and hunting is no different. I wish you the best of luck. Al

THE SILENCE TO THIS PROPOSAL IS DEAFENING! As for me I would be all for it win lose or draw. Al

I put this idea forward in another thread and will throw it out again as a way to settle this unending argument. Been watching this "FULL INCLUSION" banter-rancor for years with all factions entrenched in their positions on the matter with no positions being changed. I say before making any laws the DEC should put forth something like a trial judged by a large panel of actual hunters, "our peers" not politicians who do not have a clue or any experience and whom we know will pass laws just to increase revenues. This panel or group (The larger the number the better) would be comprised actual hunters that do not hunt with archery equipment or have any connection to archery so there will be no bias toward any one weapon. Let each faction (Traditional Bow, Compound Bow, Crossbow) present their position to that panel on what they believe the essence of hunting with archery equipment is and their give opinion on how fair for all archery seasons should be implemented for all. Each faction should lay it all out on the table giving a live in depth demonstration on how their equipment operates including firing arrows and bolts at target of various distances. Also I think it would be good for each member of the panel of hunters to give each weapon a try for themselves, nothing like first hand experience as it is always the best teacher. After all factions make their best case for fairness let that large panel of hunters decide on resolving all this as to when each weapon's season should be allowed with fairness to all who participate with such weapons and let the chips fall where they may and abide by whatever their decision is and move on. SO WHAT SAY YOU? Al

The reliability of monitor screens is probably the least of one's worries when buying a computer, tablets, laptops and even phones are all basically the same concept as all in ones in a compact size, screen wise they have proven themselves pretty much bullet proof, that includes those on all in one computers and stand alones. Al

I have spent a good part of my life following my Coon Dogs all night in the woods by myself many times getting home at daybreak, Yes I have heard a lot of snapping branches, creepy owl hoots, Coyotes yipping-howling and Foxes talking back to my dogs. Never have run into any Sasquatches or Werewolves like they commonly seem to find on the Mountain Monster TV show. I will tell you the wildest sound I ever heard is that of a Porcupine screaming, there is nothing else like it and it will make the hair on your neck stand up. The first time I heard one was in a downpour, I sneaked in to the tree the screaming was coming from with my caplight off, the only thing I could think of at the time was maybe it could be a Bobcat. When I shined the tree there sat perched on a limb a big old Porcupine wailing his ass off. I later learned they make those screams during their mating season and it is how they locate each other. Al

Get an all in one, plenty to choose from, price ranges for almost any budget and gone are all the tangled wires. Computers have come a long way in reliability but I would look to a name brand with a longer track record. Amazon is a good place to get an idea or two and they have reviews by actual customers. Good luck to you Dom. Al

There are several makers of single shot rifles that paired up with the right case would make a big game pack rifle. CVA and Thompson Center make good quality and accurate single shot rifles that can be taken down. I have several single shots I have hunted a lot with, some like Ruger 1 or the Browning Low Wall are not take downs, but have never felt them to be much of a disadvantage to hunt with. The first shot is the one that counts so make sure it is a good one. Al

As a traditional bowhunter myself it has been pretty easy for me to figure out. Twenty five yards give or take a couple is where I have confidence putting an arrow into the kill zone. I have been shooting bows since the sixties and even with all the arrows shot down through the years twenty five yards is where my comfort level shooting at a deer is. Now last fall I had the opportunity to fire a friend of mine's crossbow, he has the best of everything and it was all set to go sighted in with a scope that had something like a mil dot reticle for various ranges. I took three shots off hand at 30, 35 and 40 yards and hit the bullseye every time with zero practice. Just put the dot on target for the corresponding range and press the trigger Bingo! Bottom line even with all of my years experience shooting a traditional bow, and by the way I do have and shoot compound bows but they are still shot with a glove and instinctive, there is no way I personally could ever shoot ranges that can be shot with a high end crossbow, the difference in accuracy for me is huge! Al