Shooters generally pick an area of interest and concentrate on that skill or type of fire arm. There are people like Tamara from the view from the porch who have a collectors eye, there are people like me who like to shoot about anything with a trigger.
Even though I am a pistol coach, I like long range work and play. I am not equipped to do bench rest shooting, nor do I have the time. I love to hunt, but paper is good too.
My favorite deer rifle is over a hundred years old, but has been "up dated" somewhat. The rifle is a Krag Jorgenson 6.5x55 1896 Mauser, manufactured in Sweden, under licence from Mauser Werk in Germany.
I bought it on sale at a local variety store for $55, and it went up from there. I located a local gunsmith who would remove the iron sights, drill and tap for scope mounts, mount the scope bore sight, spot blue, install a sporter safety and turn down the bolt handle, for $70. I provided him with a synthetic stock, and came home with a fair looking rifle, with a creepy trigger and a slightly patchy finish. I talked over the trigger and finish with the gunsmith and arranged a custom trigger and a black parkerized finish, for $105.
I had reached the point that I was done spending on a project gun, because the next change would put me into the bracket of a carry out custom weapon.
The ammo is readily available from Remington and Winchester, as well as some military and import suppliers. The original round fired a 140gr bullet at about 2700 fps, most factory loads stick fairly close to that figure for pressure reasons.
The scope is a Simmons 3 to 9, yes, I know that's an inexpensive scope, but it works. Most hunting shots come well under two hundred fifty yards, and I have other possibilities if the conditions require it. The 140gr bullet wouldn't have the retained energy I want at a longer range.
This combination is a great hunting weapon for several reasons. It is relatively inexpensive to shoot, the recoil is low, and the long projectile makes it stable and accurate. As I have stated else where, the only way to shoot good, is to shoot a lot. If your gun hurts when you pull the trigger, you won't subject your self to it as much.
I have killed one deer with this weapon, one shot at 125 yds, knocked a chunk of lung out on the ground about the size of my fist. Dinner didn't live fifteen seconds. As a point of interest, a lot of Scandinavians hunt Moose with a 6.5X55. I agree with Robert Rourke, however and believe in using enough gun. That's defined as slightly more than necessary in any case.
1 comment:
Nice old Swede. My primary hunting carbine is a 1916 vintage C-G model 94 I found in a foot locker full of old shoes which my grandmother acquired at an estate sale. It was in sad shape and the stock had been seriously Bubba'ed but all the metal was intact with the exception of semi-buckhorn sights cobbled onto it at some point. Today it wears a synthetic stock and has a Dayton-Traister trigger.
6.5x55 is as versatile a caliber as any, without being too harsh on the shoulder or ears and kills stuff dead while making holes exactly where you want them.
I've done some swapping and come into one of those KBI/Kimber abominations built off a Model 96 which I probably ought to do something with one of these days, too.
Regards,
Rabbit.
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