airedale

Hell my mind way made up a long time ago, I did not even bother to watch the circus of a couple of knuckleheads in a pissing match. The mud slinging debates are pretty much what I see right here every day and plenty for my stomach. What I pay attention to is the party conventions, that is where the cat comes out of the bag revealing the party platforms and policy, they give me all the information I need to know of who stands for my way of life, and confirm where my votes are going. Al

While I am not personally familiar with this particular rifle but I do know Tikkas are a quality firearm and usually very accurate with the right ammo. The rifle looks to be a fast handling lightweight sporter made to carry so for me I would stick with the theme of the rifle and go with lightweight mounts and a lightweight compact style scope. For my serious firearms I look for reliability and a company that has been around and has a track record, there are several reputable scope companies out there that make good stuff. For the moderate ranges I mostly have run into Deer hunting here in NY I favor a 2X7 and am especially fond the the Leupolds in that power. 2X7 power and field of view covers a wide range of hunting situations for big game from shorter range woods hunting to dealing with long shots in open country. Never owned one myself but I can see the 6,5 Creedmoor has attained a very good reputation in a relatively short time as both a target cartridge and a fine midsize game cartridge. Good luck to you for what ever route you decide to go and hopefully you will come out of the season with a successful hunting tale to tell. Al

There is nothing like small game to introduce and start a kid on hunting especially Squirrels as they require many of the same basic skills used for Deer hunting which will be useful if interest takes hold. The big difference is in a good Squirrel woods there will be action and less chance of getting bored. Al

Yes they are cheap Chinese items pricewise but they do look great for someone that just wants decoration. Al

I use packed hay bales for a backstop but I also have a heavy rubber cow mat hanging off the back, that will stop anything I have. Al

Now that is a great idea. Al

The kind of reply I expect when having to face the truth, nobody is forcing anyone to read what I post. I will continue to post on this board the way I always have, thank you! Al

Just making pertinent information available Al ============================================================== Anti-Hunting Politician Targets Lead Ammunition in New York Posted on May 6, 2019 New York Assembly Member Deborah J. Glick (D-Greenwich Village) has introduced Assembly Bill 703, which would ban the use of lead ammunition while hunting. The legislation will receive a hearing May 7 in the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. The hearing is to take place at 11 a.m. in room 623 of the Legislative Office Building in Albany. Take Action Today! New York sportsmen and women should contact their state assembly member and ask them to vote NO on AB 703. Members can contact their assembly member by using the Sportsmen’s Alliance’s Legislative Action Center. “The anti-hunting lobby uses many strategies to eliminate hunting,” said Luke Houghton associate director of state services for Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Sometimes they use an outright ban on hunting, as Assembly Member Glick has already proposed this year in New York. But other times, the anti’s use burdensome regulations that drive up the cost of participation. That’s clearly the case with AB 703 since the science doesn’t support a ban on traditional ammunition.” Shaky science that begins with a bias toward lead ammunition has pushed the narrative in headlines and among environmentalists and animal-rights activists that spent ammunition is to blame for the decline of scavengers, notably the California condor. The reality is, none of the science conclusively points to spent ammunition as the source of lead toxicosis. In fact, per the Washington Times, emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act in 2014, which were buried and delayed by the Obama administration, found little change in the levels of lead in condor blood tests, despite a 2007 ban on lead ammunition in California’s condor zone. Other studies extrapolate data of unrelated species and apply it to condors, which is actually noted in the study but is usually absent in news stories and propaganda disseminated by environmentalists and animal-rights organizations. Further, according to the 2017 Annual Population Status released by the Department of Interior, of the 17 wild condor that died, lead toxicosis was the cause for five mortalities. Six deaths included drowning, electrocution and anti-coagulant poisoning. Since 1992, of the 290 condor deaths, only 76 have been confirmed as lead mortalities. Meanwhile, 123 deaths are unknown, with predation and electrocution accounting for another 45 deaths. And, to despite fearmongering by anti-hunting groups about the use of traditional ammunition, multiple studies confirm there is no risk to human health from traditional ammunition. Hunters rely on traditional ammunition because of its affordability and reliability in the field. If sportsmen are forced to buy more expensive ammunition, it will result in fewer hunters in the field because alternative ammo is substantially more expensive. Ironically, a ban on ammunition containing lead components would actually harm wildlife because the resulting decrease in hunter and shooting participation would mean far less funds available for wildlife conservation programs. About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Thanks for the diagnosis! Have a good day. Al

If it is shallow of me to do everything I can to preserve the traditions of shooting, hunting, fishing and trapping in it's current state I gladly accept! Al

Thanks, that confirms to me I am doing my job! Have a good day. Al

Again I want to reiterate, all of this lead ammo ban business has already been taking place in Democratic run California. Anyone truly interested in what the effects have been need only do a simple search and go to the California versions of this hunting message board and get the information straight from the people that are dealing with these laws. Al

I understand your frustration, when the truth is exposed and you get caught and have no answer you resort to deflection and name calling! Al

From Europe where they are also trying to ban lead ammo. Where does lead intake in the human body really come from? Based on the available data, the EFSA concluded that the main lead intake contribution “is provided by products based on cereals (16.1%), milk and dairy products (10.4%), non-alcoholic beverages (10.2%), vegetables and their derivatives (8.4%), water (7.0%), alcoholic beverages (6.7%),” adding that “consumption of game meat with high lead concentration does not significantly change the total intake” . Is consumption of game meat with high lead concentration dangerous? According to scientific studies, drinking tap water for a week is just as “poisonous” as eating the most “lead contaminated” food in Europe. Moreover, two Swedish qualified researchers reveal that eating 3 kg of wild boar meat – one of the most “lead contaminated” food in Europe, with a content of 4,7 mg. per kg as a result of the use of lead in ammunition – is “equivalent to the exposure from one week consumption of tap water respecting the lead limits defined by EU Authorities” . Exactly: drinking tap water for a week is just as “poisonous” as eating the most “lead contaminated” food in Europe . We will allow you the pleasure of discovering many other studies and researches on that website telling the truth about lead in ammuniton. By this do we mean that lead is healthy and there's no problem at all? No. We simply affirm that science is one thing, and ideology is another. It's the same difference between a demonstrated risk and a crusade. As we already stated, alternative materials for ammunition look worse than better, while the attempt by the EU Commission and ECHA has the potential to completely stop the use of shotgun ammo in hunting and seriously affect all shooting disciplines as well. And above all, do you really think that after banning lead in ammo, they will stop there? In conclusion, we want to leave you with this quote from the website leadinammunition.com “Although the use of lead in ammunition is already highly regulated and its proper management in hunting and shooting sports minimize possible negative impacts on environment and health, it is very often subject to systematic requests for replacement with alternative materials, especially by non-governmental organizations, national and international political groups, as well as international conventions aimed at protecting the environment and animal species. 'LEAD-FREE' DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN 'PROBLEM-FREE'.”

LEAD AMMO PETITIONS ANTI-HUNTERS PETITION TO BAN LEAD-BASED AMMUNITION Anti-hunting activists, cloaking themselves as conservationists, have been working at the state and federal levels to reduce sport hunting by seeking a ban on the use of lead-based ammunition. Leading the “Get the Lead Out” campaign is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a radical animal rights group that falsely portrays itself in television ads as a mainstream animal care organization.1 In early June 2014, HSUS, along with eleven other organizations and five alleged hunters, filed a fifty-page petition with the Department of Interior (DOI) requesting that the DOI promulgate a regulation stating: “The use of nontoxic ammunition shall be required when discharging any firearm on any land owned, managed, administered, or otherwise controlled by the National Park Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.” The petition is available at: http://www.fws.gov/cno/es/CalCondor/PDF_files/HSUS-Petition.pdf. HSUS incorrectly claims that the ban on lead-based ammunition will affect 160 million acres of public land managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Actually, the NPS manages 84.6 million acres while the FWS manages 96.2 million acres (mostly wildlife refuges) for a total of 180.8 million acres or about 7.5% of the national acreage. The other anti-hunting wildlife organizations that signed onto the petition were The Fund for Animals, Defenders of Wildlife, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council, the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association, the South Florida Wildlife Center, the Chocolay Raptor Center, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, the Northwood Alliance, and the National Wolfwatcher Coalition. The petition is crammed with pseudo-scientific statements, junk science, and citations to studies that showed higher lead levels in consumers of wild game killed by lead ammunition as well as raptors that supposedly feed on gut piles. Yet there is no documented case in this country of a hunter or anyone else dying or becoming ill from eating game killed with traditional ammunition. The Iowa Department of Health has tested blood lead levels of residents for fifteen years; if lead in venison was a serious risk, it would have surfaced by now in the 525,000 youths and adults that have been screened. Although studies by North Dakota and Minnesota found elevated levels of lead in the blood of persons who ate venison killed with traditional ammunition, the North Dakota study also found that “some individuals with substantial wild game consumption may have lower blood lead levels than some other individuals with little or no wild game consumption.” In short, the study was inconclusive for showing that game killed with lead ammunition constituted a public health danger if consumed. Other studies have found hardly any lead content in whole pieces of meat as compared to ground meat. When the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services released the results of its study in 2008 regarding human consumption of venison, it could only conclude that there was an “indeterminate” public health hazard from the harvest of 500,000 deer because elevated blood lead levels had not been confirmed among consumers and the measured lead content in venison varied greatly. But that did not stop the agency from recommending a transition to non-lead (often referred to as “green” or “non-toxic”) ammunition, despite the lack of strong evidence proving a threat to public health. In 2009, the Toxicology and Response Section of the Michigan Department of Community Health could not “conclude whether eating lead-contaminated venison in Michigan could harm people’s health because it is difficult to predict the impact of eating lead-contaminated venison on a child’s blood-lead level without knowing what other lead exposures a child may have.” (Emphasis added) In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated in 1989 that “ecause of industrialization, lead is ubiquitous in the human environment.” One study discovered that the average blood level of 14,000 tested Americans was 2.58 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, whereas 10 mcg/dl for children and 25 mcg/dl for adults is considered high. In the North Dakota study of persons who consumed game killed with lead-based ammunition, no one tested higher than 10 mcg/dl and the average was 1.27 mcg/dl, according to the CDC. It is not too much of a stretch to interpret the Michigan study as suggesting that elevated lead levels in condors and bald eagles might not be solely caused by ingesting bullet fragments or lead shot, if any. To support their emotional case, anti-hunting organizations invariably showcase a photo of a prostrate bald eagle, with rumpled feathers, allegedly dying of lead poisoning. Then they claim that the iconic birds’ survival is severely impacted by lead-based ammunition. Yet the FWS has stated that breeding pairs increased by 724% between 1981 and 2006. Moreover, bald eagles are no longer listed as an endangered species. Scientists who have argued for banning lead-based ammunition have merely assumed, not proved, that elevated lead levels in raptors were caused by ingesting bullet fragments and lead shot from dead game. After all, lead is a natural part of the environment. Thirty-three hunting, shooting, and conservation organizations subsequently addressed a letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell on July 23, 2014, that stated several points repeated in this paper. The letter concluded by calling the HSUS petition “quite simply an attempt to drive hunters, and subsequently recreational target shooters, off of Federal public lands. It is unnecessary, has no basis in sound science and should be rejected by the Department.” Make no mistake, HSUS’s main goal is not to protect wildlife but rather to end hunting. Twenty-four years ago, HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle, while director of the Fund for Animals (with which HSUS later merged), declared, “We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all hunting in the United States. We will take it species by species until all hunting is stopped in California. Then we will take it state by state.” (Full Cry Magazine, Oct. 10, 1990). The regulations sought by HSUS would actually reduce wildlife and their habitats through the loss of license fees, and 11% excise taxes on firearms and ammunition (which have so far raised over $7 billion in support of wildlife conservation since enactment of the “Pittman-Robertson Act in 1937) because many hunters cannot afford the non-toxic ammunition. According to HSUS’s playbook entitled “The HSUS Lead-Free Campaign: A Strategic Offensive to End Suffering and Destruction Caused by Lead Ammunition,” the organization has “intentionally chosen to concentrate first on banning the use of all lead ammunition for hunting in California and pursuing a ban on federal lands owned by the Department of Interior in order to build momentum for the campaign and to spur change within the various ammunition manufacturers and state wildlife agencies.” The HSUS petition did not arise from concerns about public health safety or wildlife health. Its genesis resides deeply in the HSUS goal to eliminate hunting. In 2007, with the use of flimsy studies, HSUS persuaded the California Legislature to pass the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act that requires use of non-lead rifle and pistol ammunition when hunting big game in areas used by the California condor in southern and central parts of the state. In 2013, the legislature amended the Act to phase out all lead ammunition by 2019 for hunting any wildlife in California. The draconian ban has never been supported by any scientific evidence showing that the levels of lead found in condors or dead bald eagles resulted from ingesting lead bullet fragments or shot contained in gut piles. Gun rights and hunting groups have attacked the California law as an effort to ban hunting. They have been vindicated by the revelation that FWS’s California condor recovery coordinator, John McCamman, withheld release of the agency’s 18-page report, “California Condor Recovery Program, Project Update and 2011 and 2012 Lead Exposure Report” until after the legislature passed the final version of the bill on September 10, 2013. The report showed that there had been little change in the condors’ blood levels despite the 2007 ban on use of lead ammunition in condor areas. Trying to salvage the Obama administration’s lack of transparency, an FWS spokesman, Scott Flaherty, said, “It’s a scientific fact that lead poisoning is a leading cause of death in condors.” While that may be true, a plethora of California condor studies have not established as a scientific fact that the source of the birds’ lead poisoning is traditional ammunition. As shown below, the HSUS petition is not the first attempt of anti-hunting groups to severely restrict hunting by making common types of ammunition unavailable and requiring hunters to buy expensive alternatives, a situation that would force many hunters to forego hunting altogether. Indeed, surveys by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that 36% of California hunters stated that a ban on traditional ammunition would cause them to stop hunting or hunt less because of the increased cost of alternative ammunition, thereby causing a loss of jobs and state and local tax revenue. There is also no alternative ammunition available for about half of the calibers used by hunters. In March 2012, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and other groups filed a 107-page petition with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate lead bullets and shot used in hunting and shooting sports (target, trap, and skeet shooting) as well as fishing sinkers under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, which, the CBD well knew, exempts ammunition. A few weeks later, without bothering to print its response in the Federal Register, the EPA rejected the petition because it was substantially similar to another CBD petition filed in August 2010 that the EPA had quickly denied for lack of jurisdiction. When the CBD challenged the EPA in court, the judge mainly dismissed the appeal because the U.S. Supreme Court, in City of Arlington, Texas v. Federal Communications Commission, had held in May 2013 that courts should give an agency broad deference to determine its jurisdictional authority. Although the EPA has not decided whether to deny the 2012 petition’s request to ban lead fishing sinkers, it denied a similar petition in November 2010. Less than a month ago, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission rejected, by a 5-1 vote, a petition by an anti-hunting activist and part-time raptor rehabilitator to ban use of non-toxic ammunition by hunters. The petition based its arguments on the raptors admitted in the past year to a facility run by the Birds of Prey Foundation. It offered no evidence of collateral damage to the state’s wildlife populations caused by using traditional ammunition and, of course, underestimated the effect of such a ban on access to affordable ammunition. The majority of the petition signers were non-residents. The HSUS petition, relying on emotional arguments and sketchy studies, is a backdoor attempt to persuade the Department of Interior to indirectly curtail hunting on public lands. While various state agency studies have found elevated levels of lead in persons who consume game killed with traditional ammunition, no state or federal agency, including the CDC, has documented a single case of illness or death linked to lead poisoning caused by eating such meat. If the petition is granted, it is only a matter of time before the HSUS petitions for the same restriction on all 500,000,000 acres of land (one-fifth of U.S. surface land) managed by the DOI. It would heavily impact Nevada because the BLM manages almost 48 million acres in this state, or about 68% of the total acreage. HSUS is in this fight for the long term. So should be hunters and the real conservationists. * * * * * * * * * * The DOI was scheduled to take action on the HSUS petition by November 1 but, as yet, no decision has been reached. If you want to protect your hunting heritage and rights: (1) call the Department of Interior at (202) 208-3100; (2) e-mail the DOI at [email protected]; or (3) mail Secretary Sally Jewell, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240, and ask the DOI to deny the HSUS petition. 1 HSUS staff and state directors attend state wildlife agency meetings and, HSUS claims, serve on state boards and commissions. It is an effective organization, having won 30 of its 42 ballot initiative campaigns. HSUS has enormous, mostly liquid, financial resources of over $200 million. Yet less than one percent of its budget is donated to local pet shelters, far less than it funnels into its pension plan. Still, a majority of Americans believe that HSUS is a pet shelter umbrella group that contributes most of its money to local organizations that care for dogs and cats. With so much money available, HSUS cannot be outspent but it can be defeated, as shown most recently in its unsuccessful campaign to effectively end bear hunts in Maine by bankrolling (with $2,500,000) a ballot initiative that, if passed, would have outlawed the use of dogs, traps, or bait.

Congratulations, I have spent a lifetime around Hounds and they hold a special place for me. I have owned and hunted several Coonhound breeds and never had the pleasure owning a Redbone but had the next best thing as one of my hunting partners ran Redbones. I also have on DVD one of my favorite movies "Where The Red Fern Grows" a movie that features Redbones. I have believe female Coonhounds have one of the most loving and sweetest personalities of and breed of dog and I am sure your pup will bring you many years of happiness. I recommend getting some good obedience training and a secure area when she runs loose as the one thing there is about Hounds is they like to follow their nose and it can take them to parts unknown. Al

I have shot quite a few snake shot cartridges in both 357 and 44 mag out of my revolvers, I used them mainly to kill rats and chipmunks in my barn. I buy the empty capsules and load my own with number 9 shot. At reasonable range they are very effective. I hope to get some loaded up for my 44 spl soon. Al

Picked up one of these HME practice hangers from Amazon earlier in the summer, it has worked out well, it is solid and light weight so it is easy to move around and sells for $35. Slung a few out of the Oneida Eagle this afternoon and have to say this bow is really growing on me, likes the old Easton XX75s and lays them in there pretty well. Al

There's no suggestion that you should change what you use at the range. only in the woods. Sorry but I know what is going on here and have been in the fight for years, the ultimate goal is not only to ban traditional lead ammo period which will put a big hurt on firearms owners but also hunting period these people are in bed with the Animal rights organizations. There is plenty of documentation they in fact brag about it. They have already started this trend in California and take a look at what has happened to gun ownership, ammo and hunting, The numbers do not lie! Al

As a target shooter and hunter I use what shoots best out of my rifles-handguns and priced within reason. For someone that shoots a couple of bullets a year at a Deer price would not be a factor, with the amount of shooting I do I would go broke. If someone likes non lead good for them, I even have some myself but please do not tell me that a copper bullet kills better than and good traditional lead core bullet. I have used both and the bottom line is dead is dead! Some day there may be across the board availability of non lead projectiles that perform and are priced competitively with traditional bullets, only then would I consider switching. But that is only half the reason, all one has to do is take a look at California and the huge decline in hunting and shooting sports to see that there is a stealthy anti gun and anti hunting agenda behind the pro non lead movement. Both the Humane Society of the United States, Peta and other anti gun-hunting groups see this as an opportunity to whittle down our numbers and like I said take a good look at California for yourself to see this is not some made up fake news. More below Al ==================================================================================== The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is at it again. Well, truthfully, they never really stopped. They are just attempting to re-energize their base by attacking hunters and gun owners. The largest animal rights anti-hunting organization in the U.S., and possibly the world, has filed a petition with the Department of the Interior demanding legislation to stop the use of lead-based ammunition on public land. This will impact both hunters and target shooters. Joining the HSUS are other anti-hunting groups including The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Natural Resources Defense Council and The Sierra Club. The press release states that five individual sportsmen are included as petitioners. HSUS clearly views hunters and gun owners as barbarians who should perhaps be using stone age tools of rocks or spears against animals. Never mind that hunters desire is to have the most effective tools and ammunition possible to make a quick clean and humane kill. It's really not about the suffering of animals - it is only about the HSUS and their liberal agenda. It's not about saving anything or stopping suffering. It's all about raising money for HSUS. And they do know how to raise money. The fifty-page petition spells out the HSUS position and makes many claims against the use of lead. It is clearly part of their overall goal to shut down hunting in the United States. Target shooting on public lands and ranges, is also in their sights. It is clearly an effort to deceive an unsuspecting public which many polls show supports legal sport hunting. The HSUS conveniently ignores that hunters (along with fishermen and trappers) fund wildlife conservation across the United States. It is a user pay funding system that does not rely upon general tax revenue funding while providing wildlife conservation benefits for the general public. The National Shooting Sports Foundation points out that no conclusive evidence exists that shows hunters and target shooters using traditional ammunition have caused a decline in the population of raptors. Rather, raptor populations, including the population of bald eagles, continue a steady rise. That's a welcome and positive trend that coincides with the longstanding, widespread use of traditional ammunition by sportsmen. Advocates of banning traditional ammunition also attempt to cite human health risks, but studies have shown that those who consume game taken with traditional ammunition do not have higher blood lead levels than the national average. In addition to hunting and target shooting, I am an avid trap shooter. I have reloaded shot shells, rifle and handgun ammunition for over forty-years. I consume dove, rabbit, pheasant and venison our family harvests each year using traditional lead ammunition. My annual physical includes a liver scan and lead tests. They remain normal and show no impact. Based on this personal experience, I see no significant human health risk from lead ammunition. The new attacks on lead ammunition may be something of a ploy by the HSUS to deflect attention from the recent rulings in the case against Ringling Brothers Circus. Feld Entertainment, Inc., operator of the Ringling Brothers Circus, recovered $15.75 million in attorney fees from HSUS and their co-defendants who include Born Free USA/Animal Protection Institute, Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, and the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The US Sportsmen Alliance (USSA) reported that during the course of the lawsuit, evidence was uncovered that some of the groups, were secretly paying a plaintiff's living expenses and had submitted false information regarding those payments. In response, Feld Entertainment sued HSUS and the other groups under federal anti-racketeering laws known as the RICO Act. “Sportsmen, farmers, ranchers, and other animal owners have long understood just how far these groups will go to pursue their extremist agenda,” said Nick Pinizzotto, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance president and CEO. “Hopefully this settlement will help to rein in their underhanded ways. We’re happy to see the court dismiss this case and send a message that these sorts of tactics are not acceptable.” Of course this is a temporary reversal for the HSUS. Their tactics of misrepresenting facts continues to be reflected in both their petition filing and press releases. For me, their worst claim is that the petition is supported by sportsmen across the United States. I just can't imagine knowledgeable sportsmen getting in bed, so to speak, with the HSUS. The HSUS is anti-hunting and anti-gun through and through. Their only interest in sportsmen is to eliminate our activities and way of life. Believing anything else is would require some kind of fancy rose-colored glasses and a serious case of denial. Ammunition manufacturers will need to make bullets that have ballistics equivalent to lead ammunition. Stopping power is a prime consideration both for hunting and self-defense use. Finally, ammunition needs to be competitively priced and reasonably affordable. Conventional ammunition is both scarce and costly enough. The transition to non-toxic shot shells for waterfowl hunters took several years for technology in both the ammunition and shotguns to effectively catch up. There may be factors in rifle performance, such as barrel lengths and rate of twist, that may complicate the challenge. Pursuit of lead-free ammunition should come from within the sportsmen community in partnership with firearms and ammunition manufacturers. It most certainly should not be an arbitrary decision by government bureaucrats or influenced by those who oppose all hunting. There is plenty more for anyone interested. https://www.nvfac.org/lead-ammo-petitions/

Yes you can, I have a couple of open sight equipped rifles set up similar to what you are wanting to do. "Warne or Leupold quick detach" rings are the answer, they hold well, I messed around detaching the scope and putting it back on checking for reliability, everything stayed zeroed in. Al

RIP Gale, I got to meet Gale Sayers at the Shotshow in Atlanta the mid 80s, he was representing a company (Sawyer) marketing an insect-snake bite extractor, those things work great, I have used it several times for bee stings and still have it in my medicine cabinet. As for Gale Sayers you could not meet a nicer guy and I was awestruck to say the least, talk about nifty moves! Al

Check out Ebay, there will be many choices available. Al

FAKE HUNTER!!!!