anyone else spend a lot of time at the range during the off season..

Try to make it once a week at least...

run thru 50 to 100 rounds...

thank Goodness for 223s, and 22.250s

bulk bullets....

downloaded cartridges...

stretches out the powder supply.... slows down wearing out the barrel...

allows one to experiment, with different ideas they might have... if they do that kind of stuff..

Main obstacle we have to deal with here is RAIN...and the byproduct.. MUD...

My plan is to spend at least one day per week at the range and focus on one rifle at a time. So far, the execution of my plan sucks...

What I may do.......have a Salvage target 6.5x55 set up....may run some rds out at LR steel.........

its been sleepin' in the safe for a while......then pull it down & switch barrels.....have a heavy 9T 223 AI

that needs to be put back into service.......my doggin' hardware has been covered by my 20 cals.......

they are hard to leave at home on dog days.....now during off season.....I find myself out plinking steel

with one of the Marlin 357...44 & 45 Colts.......cheap entertainment...4-6 grs of powder & cast boolits......

Rain ? whats that ? dry & mild here in Podunk....for the time being......pic is Salvage Swede & 6500 Bushy......

scanning for early morning 'yotes

What's Rain? Oregon Liquid Sunshine...

Seafire: John I have three Rifles waiting to be sighted in - none are mine though!
Once the wind calms down I will get them sighted in for the owners and out of my hair.
Calibers are:
270 WSM
243 Winchester
223 Remington
The 223 Remington I am really anxious to see how it shoots/groups (with 223 Hornady factory ammo) as I had a hand in suggesting the owner buy both the Rifle (Ruger 77 V/T stainless) and the scope (Leupold 4x12 with A/O).
Then I mounted the scope for the owner and bore sighted it.
Anyway I Hunt Deer on this Rifles owners ranch and I am praying that this rig I worked up for him will be accurate enough for his Varmint shooting on his ranch (he doesn't Hunt big game).
Gunshow coming up starting tomorrow so it may be Monday before I get another chance to shoot these Rifles.
I enjoy shooting in the winter as barrels don't heat up and the low in the south winter sun is at my back at the two ranges (one public and one private) where I shoot.
If you consider winter as the "off season" then yes I do MUCH range "work" (practice) in winter.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

We have WINTER here. Sometimes we'll get "almost a chinook" just below freezing (above, the hill to the range is darn slick) and I'll grab a handful of rifles. There's also a club here with a 100 yard tube, but I don't crave that too much, as the ventilation runs a bad mirage. It beats nothing at all, but that's about all.
So, my practice is with a little Izhmash 60 pellet rifle, very unforgiving but very accurate, in the shop at 10 meters. I'll shoot about 8 targets a session, it's good for breath and trigger control.

We practice on damn pigs







[IMG]http://a66.tinypic.com/hv5s3t.jpg[/IMG

Wow, lots of pork there.. Rosie O’ Donnel and her family!!!

watch what you say............or you may be in the news.............

yea man.......that is alot of pork.............

its illegal to shoot democRATS here....

sage RATs no problem... democRATS... NO can SHOOT...

both do nothing but destroy everything they are around..

but the bigger RAT is sacred evidently...

Seafire, I had a buddy pick up 2lbs of blue dot on his last trip through town. Been looking through your posted data and we are pumped. Gonna load for some .223, .243, 7-08, .308, and maybe a 300win mag or 7 rem mag.

Might be looking for some data if you are willing to share.

Bluedot is the boss in 223 reduced loads........thx Seafire.........

I run 12 grs in mine w/53 V max.......quiet & accurate.......

300 BLK ? 9 grs & 110 Nozler or Horny......

Bought a few jugs of AL-8 and IMR 7383 from Bartlett a while back. The AL-8 I run like Blue Dot in everything from the 222 up to the 30-06. I'm been comparing it to your BD data for the last 6 years and it is very similar. The IMR 7383 is another creature, I have some clean burning loads for a few calibers that are <1MOA and velocity is pretty good. Problem with that is the jugs I got are different lots so I'll have to work the data all over again when it runs out...but that's what makes it fun right?

Be happy to Hank....

Let me know what you need, as you need it...

Start with the smaller calibers and then work up to the bigger ones as you learn the parameters
of working with Blue Dot...it differs from regular powder patterns...

Key thing is to charge a case, and then seat the bullet, before going onto the next one..
OR, If you have to leave the bench...dump any powder within a case back into the container..

Practice to eliminate a double charge possibility..

That is hard to get use to, for a rifle handloader...

but is SOP for a pistol handloader...

Awesome, thank you!

One at a time is how I load anyways so no worries there.

Pm me on what you are interested in, when ever you are ready to go..

I spent time at the range with my deer rifles, all spring and summer developing loads for the .257 Roberts, .30-06 and .35 Whelen. I usually took two rifles per session and shot 40-50 rounds from each. I was in new territory loading for the .257 and .30-06, the Whelen was an old friend. Interesting thing was that after trying several new loads for the Whelen the load that I had developed for it more than 25yrs. ago still shot the best. IMR 4064 under a Sierra 225gr. was the accuracy champ and surprisingly a Speer 180gr. FP load shot to the same POI as the 225 Sierra.

I have a 300 yrd range next to the house, so can and do shoot most every day...cycle through all my rifles to keep the dust out of the barrels. Ofcourse I load for everything.

I shoot reduced loads more than anything else.

They are usually more accurate in my rifles and such.

That being said, I spend some time at the range behind a bolt action of some sort about every 2 weeks or so. If not rifle then a 9mm G17...always.


My 2 favorites are always with me..

hunting loads....

.243 Winchester--- loaded with a Hornady 100 grain BTSP on top of 37 grains of IMR 4350....loafs along at 2,700 fps... OR 20 grains of bluedot and the same bullet.

Now I will be working on a load for the 1,600.....95 grain tipped factory seconds I bought.....they are SST / ACCUTIPS... should be fun!!


.223 Rem.---- loaded with my favored bullet......midsouth varmint nightmare....55 grain cannuler softpoints.

or even better....... the 36 grain hollowpoints from midsouth also. Both .223 loads are filled with 25 grains of H335. OR.......12 grains of BLUEDOT or.....8 grains of Unique.


I am about to start my new adventure with the .22-250...never owned one before and I am looking forward to developing some loads for that hot rod.

The new to me (pawn shop find) .22-250 is a Savage model 12....26" barrel....... blah. blah. blah. blah......



AND we have at feral hogs all the time here too. I live in DEEP south Texas.
Pigs are fun.....the crop damage is not fun.


Best..

Heavy

I hope to Trap-kill some this weekend!!!

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.






P

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...