About

Some years ago the world of my employment began to chafe and confine and I began to look for liberating activities.  This eventually led to many happy days on a range equipped with good, solid shooting benches.  The more time I spent there, the more my activities focused on learning riflery.  I had been a gun enthusiast since the days of popping starlings out of our farm’s mulberry tree with my H&R .22, and now, in my maturity, I wanted experience with a variety of centerfire calibers and action types.  I eventually got it, with both shooting and handloading.  Now I want to share some of my experiences and results. 

My first centerfile rifle was a .222 Remington Model 700, but it didn’t take very long to get into the thirties, and I fell in love with the .30 WCF (now called .30-30).  The reasons will appear in various places on this site in the fulness of time.  This led to other mature thirties, namely, the .30-40 Krag, .30-06 Springfield, and .308 Winchester.  These thirties are soooo old one might think that everything that should have been done with them has been done and written up.  I don’t buy it, not one bit.  Learning riflery is a personal quest, and everyone who follows the path can find something new and interesting about rifles and about him-/herself, regardless of caliber.  It is the journey that is important.  Experience and safe, intelligent experimentation bring progress and enjoyment.

My goal has always been to put the most holes into the smallest possible group using rifles that anyone can find and afford.  This has to be pursued by shooting at the bench, and I have spent many days in such pursuit.  I am not a benchrest competitor;  I just want to try different things, see how they work, and report on them.  Give me a sporter that shoots two- or three-inch groups with factory ammo and I will have a good time trying to make it better. 

While rifles come first, my journey has not ignored handguns, shotguns, or rifles in calibers other than .30.  My blog posts will therefore cover a variety of shooting topics and opinions, of which I have many, some half-baked, some completely raw, and a few that you might even agree with.  I hope you enjoy it all.

One of John M. Browning's best, the '94 Winchester