Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Off Season Practice?

Same here John, as if I needed to tell you...but we substitute snow and cold for mud and rain...

One of my favorite off season targets are water filled plastic bottles or jugs.. Small ones pistol, larger long range targets.. Have to get shooting they are stacking up..

Picked up a pound of Hunter, so am going to try and see if I can gain anything on H4350 with 180's in the '06.

Also want to find a good 150 grain load for my 270.

Need to Chrono a bunch of pistol loads.

Need to zero a Pre-64

Want to add a little juice to my 50 cal flintlock, currently using 70 gr of FFg with a 385 gr Horn slug, want to bump it to 80 which will probably require regulating the front sight.

For practice...well mostly use my 222 from the sit position. Havent burned up 22LR in a while, will do some of that as well. Im also a once a week-er, this ought to keep me busy until the spring. Also have to work sone time in for squirrel hunting and fishing.

Lotsa 223...

Tom, is it easy to find a spot to shoot in Fla. ??? The only time I was there, things seemed pretty restricted.. I am kind of looking for an area with warm weather to visit some winter.. Az is fun, but have been there many times..

I live in Nassau county and there is one indoor range for pistols and a skeet range, so not the easiest. I drive about 45 min to Gateway rifle/pistol club, just west of Jacksonville. Some campfire members turned me onto it and its a nice range. You can only shoot out to 200 yds for rifle, but I make it work. In the process of planning either a Wy antelope hunt or NE Mule deer hunt for next fall so would like to find a spot to get out to 300 atleast. Gateway also stocks reloading components for members which is nice.

My Pa buddies come down in the Spring for hog hunts and the beach, in turn they let me be a stander on the good drives when I head north for deer😀. The thing I miss most about Northern hunting is the birds. I miss the hell out of grouse and pheasant hunting, I cant even look at your 2017 upland thread or I get depressed. They have quail and pheasant preserves, but havent gotten that desperate yet. Maybe a dedicated upland hunt up north for next fall.

You get down this way, shoot me a PM.

I use 59 gr Hunter under 180 Partitions with great success. WLRM primers.






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Tom, thanks for the info.. Will do that.. Hope you have luck in the draws...

More practice today. 6.5 Creedmoor

Nasty!!! Maybe I need a 6.5!!!!!

Going Friday, hope to catch-shoot some more pigs!

Yes! I enjoy the heck out of shooting, so I'm at my gun club pretty much once a week, all year long. Lots of handgun shooting, and I do a fair bit of rifle shooting as well. Was just out with my 30-30, 25-06 & 30-06 a couple of days ago:




You're right, the little .223 is great for keeping up those marksmanship skills without burning a lot of powder.

Actually though, I shoot my .22 rimfires more than anything.

As fall approaches, I'll be out more with the bigger hunting rifles.

Regards, Guy

I'm like GuyM..I shoot year round, but generally shoot the guns I'll be hunting with. Dont remember last time I shot a rimfire.

Except, perhaps, the .17 HMR?

I find myself shooting the Hummer a lot more than .22 rimfires anymore, but then Montana is a target-rich state for .17's.

No Juan..I sold my HMR a couple years ago....

Been shooting reduced .223 loads in its place...


but I was just up at the range in zero degree temp. shooting the .30-06!


Barrel cools quickly today!

I like the rimfires, reduced loads are fine, but one has to reload.. I have a tough time loading the stuff I need.. So it is great to have rifles that don't require reloading.. Truthfully I don't enjoy sitting and reloading like I used to.. So the rimfires are a real blessing for me.. Killed lots of my prairie dogs with the .22 magnum and .17 HMR.. Also kill lots of gophers with the std. .22's Good accurate .22's are a real blast..

Not a dang thing wrong with RF.There's lots of practices that can be worked on,dialed in so to speak.My 541S is a jewel.

Cpl things for me;150 yd range,covered shooting station,out the shop door.Indoor vented handgun range(have had a cpl of these over the last 40+ years).First is dry fire practice....I LOVE it!!Even bought a cheap battery metronome off eBay.I offhand practice with it and my EDC SPS 7-08,Leupold 1-4X20...I can hold beer cans @50-75yds at a "pace" that is approaching what guys do with Lee Enfields back in the day.So much fun.

Next is learning through practice to "live" with a rifle as EDC.Like women,big difference dating and being married.We're at 35+ years.Was cutting firewood yesterday,7-08 was on the truck seat.Get to near exhaustion on the wood,pick up rifle and send a mag full at a beer can.Off the hood,side of a tree,woodpile....that's practice for me.

Take up silhouette shooting ,( off hand as per rules ) it will do way more for your rifle skills than any bench ,bipod supported position .

It is hard for me to get to a range so I have been spending my time cleaning and prepping brass getting ready to load a bunch of stuff. My practice will come when the sage rats come out. Found a spot where they will let me shoot all I want.

Sage RATS or DemocRATS...

if the latter, give me a call...

good to see ya around Scott...Pm me your phone number... I'm up in Potland all the time and going right by your
exit on 205 there... we need to get together for a visit.. its been too long...