airedale

The gospel at my place is "Thee has to shoot all firearms and shoot them often, practice makes perfect." Once you get your equipment and learn a routine not a whole lot of time is consumed. The benefits and satisfaction you will get outweigh and negatives in my opinion, shooting small groups and taking game with ammo you put together yourself is tough to beat. It is a relaxing way to spend time on a crappy winter day, I am looking forward to pulling the handle on my press in the near future. Al

I am a coffee drinker, I am not talking cups, I am talking pots. For years I brewed coffee with Bunn coffee makers, they have always worked great for me and I have worn a couple of them out. A few years ago after my last Bunn died I decided to get fancy and purchased one of those Ninja Coffee Bars that will do just about anything one can do with coffee. No complaints with the Ninja other than it's price, the coffee was good and brewed fast. Well the other day the Ninja craps out, sooo on top of my Heartland cookstove for decoration purposes sat a vintage Revere Ware 8 cup percolator coffee pot and I decide I am going to make a pot of coffee with it. I am not a stranger to the old style percolator, I grew up watching one made by Revere on the stovetop at home make coffee for my parents. My Dad worked at and retired from Rome Manufacturing home of Revere Cook ware, I worked there myself for a short time after getting out of school and I have down through the years collected a complete set of Revere Ware copper bottom cookware made in Rome NY including that 8 cup percolator. So back to the coffee, I make a pot with the old copper bottom and have to say that it is some of the best coffee I have ever tasted, I have been using it every day since. The only downside it is a little slower to brew a pot. Some old school vintage stuff like walnut and steel firearms, Woolrich hunting clothes Bean Maine hunting boots and Revere Ware cookware just can not be beat. Al

Have seen the Roosevelt Luckey buck several times on display at the DEC conservation exhibit on the NY State fairgrounds, an impressive rack for sure. Al

One of the pitfalls of owning a non mainstream chambering and especially so these days as the sellers are asking and getting wicked high prices for hard to get ammo and components. I have three that have caused me grief, 284 Winchester, 222 Rem Mag and the recently acquired 256 Win Mag. Being a handloader is a savior when owning these type cartridges as they all can be made from other existing cartridges based on the same case. I would say the best source for hard to find Brass these days is Gunbroker.com, a lot of the stuff is overpriced but patience is a virtue and sometimes you can get a decent buy especially on good once fired cases. Al

Deer sure can be nosey at times, I have had them come in to me when Varmint calling on multiple occasions. Al

Midway has got in some powder for reloading, I have been looking for Varget for a couple of years now and they finally got some, there are others in stock also and it still can be shipped, but not cheap. Al

The Winchester model 88 284 was my late father's rifle that he left to me. He was a fan of the 284 and purchased his first one in the early 60s in Winchester's autoloading version the model 100 but ended preferring and switching to the lever action model 88. Dad took a lot of deer with the 284 and brought it on an outfitted hunt out west and killed Antelope, Mule deer and a Shiras Moose. The rifle itself is very well made piece, I have put up some handloads that shoot respectable groups but I have not done a lot of load development to wring out it's best performance. There are a couple of things about this rifle that prevent me from falling in love with it. First of all the trigger pull is heavier than I like and from everything I have read because of it's design there is not a thing I can do to safely make it lighter. It is magazine fed which is OK but feeding cartridges is not smooth, I have three different magazines and they all feed and feel the same. Again reading up on it everyone who owns an 88 says you have to operate the lever like you are angry. All and all stuff that can be lived with but certainly could be better for such a nice rifle. As for the 284 cartridge itself I have yet to kill any game with it personally, that being said my favorite big game hunting rifle is a bolt action 280 Remington which for all intents is virtually a ballistic twin to the 284 Win. Lots of deer and 4 Moose have fell to the 280 so I have zero doubt had I been using a 284 with the same bullets my success would have been the same. I do hope to take at least one deer with Dad's 88 before I croak. My Brother has a Browning BLR in 243 and has killed a pile of Deer with it, I agree it is one finely made rifle and I think if I was in the market for a new good all around rifle with a lever action the BLR would be near the top of my list. Al

I can still shoot fairly well with open sights in the right conditions, I had Williams receiver sights mounted on both of those Marlin 94s. Off the bench in good light both of those rifles print cloverleaf groups at 50 yards with handloads. I can hit reactive targets easily with them. Hunting conditions do not always offer ideal shots where one can take as much time as needed. A few years ago I had the little 44 Marlin on a hunt and had a Deer appear about fifty yards away just before dark, it was a doe and nothing I wanted to kill but I still took aim at her just for the heck of it. In the dim lighting conditions I could not see the sights well enough for a shot, had it been a buck I would have been screwed. There have also been times when I have spotted a Deer meandering through cover, a scope makes it easy to thread the needle through an opening, a shot I have taken and made several times with scoped rifles but with open sights I would have probably passed. Al

I have some experience with the 25-06 cartridge but not a whole lot killing Deer. Had a custom rifle made up back when Remington legitimized what was once a popular wildcat and started producing factory rifles and ammo. I used that rifle more for long range Woodchuck and Crow hunting than anything else, made some unbelievable long shots with that gun. I killed one Deer with that rifle. Recently I purchased a 28 inch Pro Hunter barrel for my Thompson Center Encore and have killed one Deer with it. The 25-06 will kill deer with no problem, with a good bullet you can really reach out with a 25-06, recoil is negligible with plenty of power. Al

The main reason why I have not yet got around to owning an old style top eject Winchester lever rifle My old eyes have made scopes almost a necessity on my rifles for precision shooting and that is pretty much the way I have gone on my Marlin 94s and 95, the 94 357 mag has a 4x, the 94 44 mag has 2.5x, and the 95 45-70 has a 1x4x. I use all three of those rifles in the woods where my ranges may hit 100 yards, I am wanting a large field of view in close cover and that is what those lower powered scopes provide. I can still shoot these rifles with lower powered scopes accurately at longer range if need be. I too like American made scopes, the problem is Leupold is about your only choice these days for new, both the 2.5 compact and the 1x4 have worked well for me and are in the $300 range. Another option is good old ebay, good used American made Burris, Redfield and Leupolds can be purchased at decent prices, although these days even used are going for big bucks. I am constantly scanning ebay's inventory for a buy on American made scopes. Al

Still do not have a traditional old style Winchester lever action, 94, 92, 55, 73 etc. almost sacrilege. Been looking for something in a handgun cal maybe 357mag, 44mag so I can shoot it a lot for reasonable money, favor the model 92, If the right one comes along I may buy it. Al

The Bean Maine hunting boot is a favorite of mine for certain conditions, they are old school but tough to beat. I have two pair one with the thinsulate liner for wet cold days and a regular 8 inch pair for all around. Al

When I was a kid I lived on a country road that was family farmed from one end to the other. None of the land was posted, the farmers back then viewed wildlife like Deer Fox, Woodchucks, Rabbits etc, as vermin, every bite of food the wildlife took off the farm lands was looked at as a loss of revenue. They welcomed sport hunting as long as the hunters were respectful of the land. As far as Deer were concerned they would have liked to see every one shot and killed. Al

Just think about it that is just the tip of the iceberg, seems like they want to ban or curtail every freaking thing we do or use. Al

Man it was not that long ago I had that same kind of enthusiasm, this was the time of the year Snowshoe Hare hunting got into full swing and I could not wait. Snow, cold temps did not stop me, I was out there every chance I could get trudging on snowshoes and wearing the Woolrich PA Tux throughout the winter, it was a blast. It sucks getting old. Good luck to you Wolc, the Deer are out there and to kill one you at times have to be out there in crap weather to do it. Al

Have a good one Wolc Al

Merry Christmas everybody!! Al

The weather is not too bad as of now, the wind is my main concern. Power went out just before midnight, still has not come on. I have my generator humming along, it powers all the house essentials, the cookstove stoked with coal, she heats the house for the most part and may have to roast my Christmas eve get together Turkey. Al

I could see this cart being useful for Prairie Dog hunting. Open grasslands, a couple of rifles and a lot of ammo, moving around a lot to different spots. Al

I hear you, not my cup of tea either, pretty much agree with everything said above. I have been happily married to my Hot Seat for many years and do not intend to go through any divorce. As for dragging them out I still use a simple shoulder harness and rope. Al

When I get down to the last few bales of hay in the barn there are always a few Rats living under them, I use one of my 44 revolvers for that action with the cases loaded with rat shot using the Speer shot capsules. They cause zero damage to the concrete floor and are pretty darn deadly at 15 or 16 feet. Al