wildcat junkie

Yes that is probably true, but they are more likely to tumble & aren't liable to go nearly as far as a rifle bullet. Lethality range for medium bore high powered CF rifles are measured in miles. Shotguns, in hundreds of yards. Even a 22rf will travel farther than a shotgun slug. Granted, some of the modern sabot rounds will extend the lethal range. The mandated pressure limits on shotguns rounds will still limit lethality to far less than say a 30-06. After all, like it or not, laws are usually geared towards the lowest common denominator.

We're not talking a full swing W/a 16# sledge here, just a tap to see if the reticle is dislodged. Getting back to stories about "pushfeed" jams. Back in '99 I was driving home from work about 1/2 hour before sundown early in out NZ deer season. As I rounded a gentle curve a few hundred yds from my house, I looked across a mown hay field & spied a HUGE deer about 200yds distant walking past a staghorn sumac thicket. I couldn't see horns against the sumac bushes, but it was so larger, there was no doubt that it was a buck. I pulled into my driveway, rushed into my house, grabbed my .243 M700 ADL W/some cartridges & headed across the road. I trotted up the hill across my hayfield & crossed a fencerow into the adjoining property. I slipped up to the area where I had spotted the deer only to here the deep, slow thump-thump, thump-thump of a heavy deer escaping in the thick 2nd growth timber behind the sumac bushes. I reversed my direction & started to walk back towards the fence row. Somewhere along the way I had emptied the magazine. As I stepped into my hay field I looked to my right & saw a pair of yearling bucks about 20-25 yds distant W/their horns locked. They were pushing each other around just outside the edge of the woods. Since this was only my 2nd deer season hunting on my property, any buck was fair game. W/my eyes glued to the oblivious bucks, I fumbled in my pocket, retrieved several cartridges & started to stuff them into the magazine. I attempted to chamber a round while still keeping my eyes glued on the combatants. JAM! I now looked down into my weapon's magazine to see a cartridge that some how had become lodged crosswise in the magazine well. I frantically fished my rather full keyring out of my pocket & W/the numerous keys jingling rather loudly, I tried to pry the offending cartridge free. By now I had gotten the attention of the adolecent bucks & they were staring @ me, one of them W/his head cocked like a curious dog trying to figure out what all the commotion was about. They soon had their fill of the spectacle & jumped into the nearby cover. In a rather gloomy mindset, I walked the short distance to the house. I sat down in my Lazy Boy & tried to clear the jam. I ended up removing the stock in order to get the jam cleared. Don't ask me how I got it in such a bind, I haven't the foggiest idea. I traded that gun for a M700 Mtn Rfl DBM in 7mm-08 a few days later. Never again will I own a bolt action rifle W/a blind magazine! Even the crudest military Mausers have a floorplate that can be removed W/the use of a cartridge bullet point to depress a button. I have another strory about fumbling W/the M700 DBM (no fault of the rifle) that I will share later. I'm such a klutz @ times that I need the M98 features to eliminate as many stumbling (fumbling) blocks as possible.

Ever hear of ricochets? Maximum lethal range W/a 22rf is 1 mile or more yet maximum trajectory is about 100yds.

As a last ditch effort, maybe give the turret block a sharp rap with a plastic mallet & see if anything changes?

Buck suffering from "blue balls"?

If it were me, I would take the 4X Leupold to the range & swap it out if centering everthing didn't have the POI on the paper @ 25yds W/the Redfield. If it's on the paper, I would use the base windage to get it close @ 25yds before using the reticle adjustment.

You are going to use a different scope of known reliability right?.

As far as I know, New York hasn't repealed the laws of physics yet.

Unless she was laying down, a near vertical tree top shot with a 22 wouldn't hit her in the chest. Even then, it would probably not result in more than a slight bruise at worst. Rifle shot trajectories are parabolas. At a steep angle, the blunt shape of a 22lr slug will soon fall vertically & would have no more energy that if it was dropped from a tall building. More likely it was someone shooting at a squirrel on a low branch, on the side of a tree trunk or even the ground resulting in a richochet. Maximum range with a 22lr is achieved at about 35° muzzle angle. Maximum travel distance is achieved with shallow angle shots skipping along the ground.

A "loose trigger nut" perhaps?

Mausers are a bit trickier to bed properly for consistant pin point accuracy, but I think I have learned a few tricks that help. Still a PITA though. Round "tube" recievers like the M700 are so simple to get bedded properly. That's why they are favorites for those looking for accuracy. I too missed an opportunity at either of 2 bucks sparring a stones throw away due to a push feed cluster f@. Only in my case, it was a blind magazine ADL. I literaly had to walk the 150yds to the house W/a jammed up M700 & take the action out of the stock to clear the jam. It's bedtime so I'll have to reveal the whole comedy in the morning.

If you offered me my choice of any of those guns, I would take the Mauser W/O hesitation. The B&L optical set-up would be icing on the cake too. When my brother was facing his inevitible mortality he opened his gun case & told me to pick whatever I wanted. I had it narrowed down to a "Bubba" sporterized, numbers matching Oberndorf K98 with an outstanding barreled action & a Savage 99 in .300 Savage. I sometimes kick myself for not taking the Savage. I'm such a sucker for really nice Mausers!

In regards to the 98 Mauser action that the FN Brownings are built on. It is one of the finest, most depenable bolt actions ever developed. While the Weatherby is a fine action & has it's merits, the 98 action has never been surpassed for feeding reliability when the precise, original magazine dimension formula is adhered to. It aligns every cartridge in a perfect 60° triangular stack with complete continuous base to shoulder contact between the cases, follower & sides of the magazine box. Many "gunsmiths" aren't aware of this when converting to 30-06 or .308 based cartridges which would each require unique magazine dimentions differing from each other as well as the original 8X57 case taper.. The "controlled round feed" design also makes it impossible to double feed. A second round won't strip from the magazine W/O the round controlled by the claw extracter being ejected first. All of this was dreamed up & perfected during the latter part of the 19th century. Many PHs that persue "dangerous game" will only use 98 Mauser type actions or double rifles when their necks are on the line. The '03 Springfield was built under license from Mauser & the original "pre-'64" M70 Winchester action is a very close copy. As far as the B&L windage/elevation adjusment mounts? I remember their magazine adds depicting their competitor's scopes with off center reticles. I'm not sure if the ads were 100% true as far as their competitor's shortcomings, but it made an impression on my young mind @ the time.

Back in mid '90s the farm burueaus in Indiana were nearly successful in getting Whitetail deer classified the samestatus as coyotes. That would have allowed farmers & anyone they designated, nearly unlimited methods of taking deer. Any time of day & the use of light would have been allowed. No limits on the kill. Sportman's groups caught wind of it & were successful in getting it stopped. Grain farmers run many midwestern states. "Gasahol" (10% etanol) was pushed by the farm lobby way back then also.

FN Mausers are JUNK. Send it to me to assure proper disposal. No charge!

I seriously doubt a "Belgian made Safari Grade" FN Mauser has the holes drilled off kilter.

30/40 KRAG is neither a straight wall cartridge nor is it limited to 300-400 yds lethality. It is the ballistic equivelant to the .300 savage. I load a low pressure (38K) load that propels a 160 gr Hornady STX bullet @ 2500 fps out of a 22" barrel & could easily get 2650 fps W/O exceeding SAMMI pressure specs'.. That Mv is measured W/a chronograph, not estimated. That 2500 fps load would have a maximum 3" + or - range of 250 yds with sights 1" above bore axis. It would still hit vitals with a top of the spine hold on a deer out to 300 yds. The sights on the 1898 version have calibration to 2000 yds for "beaten zone" fire.

OP has rings & bases that would already allow plenty of adjustment to change POI 12" @ 25 yds. If the base screws were that far out of alignment it would be obvious with a straight edge check.. Either the scope is whacked or the barrel is bent. My money is on the scope.

Lay a metal yard stick or other true 3' or longer straight edge over the centerline of the base screws & along the barrel. That will tell you if there is an alignment issue w/the holes. The images I came up with for the Beuller rings/bases look like the old Redfield Sr & current Leupold std bases. They should have ample windage to correct any slight misalignmenet in the base screws. To be 12" off @ 25yds would require just about 5/16" misalignment in a 24" barrel length, about 1/16" between the front & rear base. That should be easy to adjust out W/the bases. If there is no obvious misalignment in the bases, (or barrel) I would suspect the scope. Trying another scope would probably be the easiest aproach.

You know, after thinking about your post a while I want to point out that I am also feel fortunate. Until my son & Curtis started helping me I was fast losing interest in hunting. Since 2010 I have had no hunting partners & now I have 2 eager young men in their mid-20s fired up, willing & able to do some of the hard work. It is also more fun to have some comeraderie (sp?) that comes with a small group. We are already talking of doing some exploration of a promising piece of county & state forest near here. It has a lot of mast trees & all 3 of us are planning on squirrel hunting it in the late summer/early fall to scout out the deer & get to know the lay of the land better. There is also talk about hauling my camper down to Yates county for the opening weekend of the SZ deer season. So, you see, it's a 2-way street for me. Not saying that I am doing it for my benefit, but helping youngsters get a good start has many rewards.

Other than that, it was a good review, but that's one of my pet peeves!

Curtis came out year before last to help clear shooting lanes that had grow up over the last 4 or 5 years. He did it voluntarily since he didn't even hunt. My son coaxed him to shoot the 30/40 Krag & go out intomthe woods W/O a gun a few times so he's ready to get his hunter ed certificate & hunt next year. His Dad (who gave nim the $$ for a rifle for Chrismas) wanted him to buy a "Henry" lever gun & was willing to front the $1000 price. Since Curtis listened to me he wanted a bolt gun, he was only willing to front $500. His Dad then recommended a .270 since the 7mm ought 8 was magnum because it had more power than an ought 6. He didn't even go into the store W/his son to buy his 1st CF rifle. In hindsight it was proably a good thing. Now, don't get me wrong, there aint no flys on a .270, but for a 1st gun & considering that it would have a 22" barrel, I think the 7mm-08 was a better choice. Curtis made the purchase all by himself & listened to reason instead of emotion & myth. He's now surfing the Boyds site drooling over the Classic laminated stocks.

What I have an issue with is the ludacrous idea that one can take a "bore sighted" weapon out of the box & hunt with it. This review will probably cause countless wounded animals & disappointed novice hunters that didn't know any better. Bore sighted is in no way whatsoever to be considered "sighted in"!

Loading bench & range reports here. http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/26173-axis-ii-7mm-08-loading-benchrange-reports/?p=355771

Yeah I have some Leupy rings, but fortunately, the scope came out just right.