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Deer rifle range day...
Took 3 rifles today. All w new scope mountings.

Rem 760 in .35 rem running Hornady 200gr Leverevolution.
Scope a VX1 last version 2-7X (previously had a 4x compact).

Ruger M77MKII "All Weather .308win, running Hornady American Whitetail 150 gr.
Scope is the Trijicon 3-9X that came w it, but moved back a little now.

Ruger #1 (pre B model) in .280 rem. Federal 150gr premium (partitions).
Scope is Freedom VX 3-9X (had it laying around)


Fired 10 rounds of .308 in the supposedly hard kicking Boat Paddle stock. It aint bad.
Fired 10 in the #1........for as heavy as it is, it kicks about like the M77.
The .35 rem has a buttplate, no pad........and it proly the more comfy of the three.

It also has the lighter trigger (stock).
The M77 and #1 need trigger jobs. Period.

The #1 did 2" for 3 shots w no cool down, at 100. Dang near straight horizontal dispersion.
Did that twice. Bullseye one shot, left or right an inch on the other. Could be an inch off on first shot.
Forend screw was set at 20 in lbs. Will try again at 15 in lbs.

The M77 did 1.25", for 3 with no cool down. Two close and the third opening. Supposed to have more front action screw torque than what I had.
50 in lbs what I set it for.
Really, w heavy trigger.........not worth worrying about 1.25" group size.
Also, the Trijicon scope is a triangle on post deal, orange.
Dunno how much aiming error due to orange triangle on orange target dot.
Think up close, using the whole triangle as an aiming point (like a red dot sight).........the scope would be pretty cool.

For 100 yards, eh, gimme crosshairs (duplex preferably).

The 760 was a champ. 1" 3 shot groups, no cool down, at 100. Was 1" low. And maybe .5" high at 50 yards.
Wonderful old rifle.

So the verdict?

Of the three, the 760 gets the nod. Its taken 2 bucks so far (only shot at two) and will be heading out for its 3rd season.
I have a Steyr Prohunter .30-06 already zeroed sitting in the back of the safe (1 " for 5 shots @ 100). It has the factory settings on the trigger (screws sealed).
Need to pop that crap off and adjust, is usable as is.

The M77 MKII is good to go, but really needs a lighter trigger. There is a spring for a couple bucks that drops it 30% they say.
Might be good enough. Not gonna drop a hundred for an adj trigger, this rifle proly get listed here.

The #1? Damn she's pretty. Shoots like crap. Worth investing some time. effort and reloading to see if it comes around.
Definitely change the scope to an older gloss Leupold. It is an old one, so does have an adjustable trigger. Will set it lighter.

So 40 rounds from the bench. I aint beat up, but can feel it.
Wore only a T shirt.

No big deal.

I like to take a handful of rifles with me to the range also. You're good to go with the M77 and the 760 for sure, especially with factory ammo. The No1 is a beauty.

You might roll up a hand towel next time for a bumper pad off the bench. I shoot better with something like that if I'm going through a fair bit of ammo.

I had a similar routine last Friday, as our opener was Saturday. The one shocker I had was the big POI difference with my AR10 when using different factory loads. It was as much as 5-6" at 200yds, even though individual groups were alright. Didn't expect that. Will be shooting Federal Blue Box 150's this year. 165gr American Whitetail was way low on target.

My dad kind of chuckled at my methods with the other three rifles, one of which was also a stainless M77 .308win. I went straight to steel at 400yds, using the 400yd aiming points. One scope got a 1/2 minute adjustment, and then I went home. I like rifle/scope combos that hold zero from year to year.

Id love to play with the #1

I have my Steyr Prohunter 3006 all zeroed.
Did not take out the 700 .243 since changing to HS stock.

Lugging a bunch of stuff sucks.
Tripping over women junk in the house.

Range is a club, 30 plus min drive so have to take a couple to make ot worth while

Ran over, ran back, now off to work. 2nd shift sucks.
I like a long leisurely day at the range

I miss my Prohunter especially on range days.

That #1 will kill any deer in the world at "woods distances". Why not use it as is?

Yeah the more I shoot the PH the more I like it
Might try for one in .308 win after the M77 sells.
Have not handled the CL II SX yet.

If i was ground hunting the #1 would go.
Treestand....i want something that wont give me a heart attack if dinged on a damn treestep

My buds dad sold a bunch of ground.
Could shoot deer out to 500 or so.
Would have liked to put the #1 on bipods for there, assuming it learns to behave down the road.

Bummer the "pool table" is gone ( open and flat, hide in the ditches ).

Ruger No1 can be heartbreakers when it comes to accuracy. But it could be it just doesn't like that load. I know factory 280 is scarce and not a lot of choices.
If you reload I would try a ballistic tip or a plain old Hornady 139 btsp.

Sportsmans had more variety in .280 AI than reg.
LGS has corelokts. Will run a box through w screw at 15 in lbs.

Had a B in .243 yrs ago that was a half incher. My RSI cloverleafed at 75 ( only had a 4x )....still.hoping to go 3 for 3 on decent shooting #1s.

But my luck sucks.

Havent handloaded for yrs. But am not against it.
Never set up a bench after I moved.

That #1 sure looks sweet. In my favorite chambering.

1967, made about 80 of em in pre B config.
Vert split rings couldnt get scope back far enough so went w new style extension

Picked up a new lb of 4350.
Was thinking Hornady reg stuff.

I'd love to come across a All Weather Boat Paddle in 308 that was in good shape. Great deer rifle.

This one was hunted. Has marks but aint horrible.
Hunting gun I reckon.
Seen way worse.

There is one on GB no scope w 2 days to go at 835.

I took four to the range today. My 6.5 CM just needed zero verification as no changes have been made since initial set up. The other three had to be zeroed due to scope changes in the past few months. All is good and I’m ready to go.

got the same scenario tomorrow morn. ive swapped scopes and gotten scopes back from warranty work so gotta sight in my tikka tx3 sl in 7mm rem mag with 150 bts and tikka t3x sl in 7mm-08 rem with 120 bts and last but not least my wby vanguard s2 back country in 257 bee with 115 bts. should be a fun mornin'.
Big Ed

I've zeroed 5 different deer rifles over the past couple of weeks. I don't really intend to hunt with all of them this year, but I did enjoy shooting them all. Oh, I've got my 54 caliber T/C Renegade ready for the first day of muzzleloader season tomorrow morning.

Been at it all year, just fired a few from each to double-check.

The backups for my backups have backups. I did touch up my new Knight on Woden’s Day after getting it close last week.

Doing a scope swap on my Grendel next week, then it’ll be practice with .22s until the season opens. My range is so close I can go outside and listen to see if they’re busy.