300RUM

Heading up to 4A in the morning. I didn't get drawn so I volunteered to help a veteran who received a tag through Hunts For Heroes. I think I am more excited about hopefully seeing him get a bird than I would be about getting a bird myself.

Back to the .22 Short again? That thing is proving very useful this week. The old .22 bolt gun I have has a .27 inch barrel. If you put a short in it you don't hear much. However, you half expect the bullet to fall to the ground not to far from the muzzle, kind of like a cork gun.

.22 Short?

Do you have to squeeze both hoochies at the same time or do you alternate them?

Can you think of a real bad day in your life? For me it was an antelope hunt in New Mexico. I had my goat on a pack frame and was heading for Camp as the sun was going down. My left foot stepped on the opening of a burrow hidden in the grass, my leg fel in up to the knee and the impact shattered the ankle. I was hunting alone and there was no cell phone coverage. I splinted my ankle, butchered the antelope the best I could, reloaded my pack and started crawling. I was still over a mile from camp with several deep ravines in my path. When I got to camp and started loading the ATV would not start and I had to unhook the truck from the trailer to drag it on. Finally had drove myself out. A surgery that had only about a 3% chance of success and months of therapy got me walking again. Once I was able to walk with a cane a friend took me duck hunting. I limped down to the side of Roosevelt Lake with my shotgun and sat under a tree. I didn't get any ducks but it was one of the best days I had in a long time. These veterans have been through far worse than what I experienced. Let's do what we can to give them the same opportunity my friend gave me.

You might hurt yourself just trying to carry it.

Another thing that might help, in addition to the brake, would be to shoot lighter bullets. They generally produce less recoil than heavier ones.

Thank you for the suggestion. It is always nice to have options.

I have a .308 rifle that needs a new barrel. I tried to avoid the task by sending the money to NM for elk and antelope tags. No luck they are sending it back. Back to barrel shopping. I have decided to re-chamber to 7mm-08 AI and run a 1-9 twist with 168 gr bullets. I will probably go with a Lilja and will have a choice of 3, 4 or 6 groove. I would be interested in hearing some arguments, pro and con, for each groove count.

I was looking around trying to educate myself and found this on Accurate Shooter, authored by Frank Green of Bartelin Barrels. Thought others here may find it interesting. O.K. Tightneck this one is for you. It's a long one!!! I might bounce around a bit so bear with me. I will be talking about barrel life and accuracy both because they go hand in hand. That's why I will probably be bouncing around or have things in no particular order. I'm not a english major! The number of grooves? To me the number of grooves has no real bearing on accuracy or barrel life! Some say if you want hard core accuracy go with conventional rifling vs. 5R type rifled barrel. Some say the 5R's copper foul less. I say B.S. I've seen 5R's copper foul with the best of them. Some say the 5R barrels will seal the bullet better in the bore and you get more velocity out of them. Again I haven't seen this either. Some say the 5R barrels don't leave a burr on the bullet and the bullet will drift less in the wind. I haven't seen this either. 99% of the barrels we make for short range bench shooters are 4 groove conventional rifling. Across the course high powers shooters seems to be a 50/50 split. Long range prone shooters seem to prefer the 5R. Long range bench shooters I would say the preference is towards conventional rifling. I've got a conventional 5 groove,not 5R) on my short range bench gun. Wanted to try it! The gun hammers! I've shot 5R and a 4 groove in prone matches out to a 1000 and even compared both in the same match,two man team) and saw no difference. Our team came in 3rd for points. Same chambers, same loads! Both guns we're chambered in 6mm Rem. with a custom throat. In that match we shot 107 Sierra's,I've shot mostly Berger 105's after that). Both are 1-8 twist barrels. Velocity difference between the two was 30fps. The loads average 3155fps. between the two. We didn't use anymore or any less windage on one gun vs. the other! Some will say the odd number of grooves will help with jacket failure? This is because the odd number of grooves vs. an even groove barrel will distort or upset the bullet jacket less. This is because the lands don't directly oppose one another. I believe this has some merit but it is hard to prove. Read the next paragraph though. I compared a 5R and a 4 groove in the match at a 1000yds. the match I mentioned earlier. The 4 groove was the second barrel in a row that I had when I was at Krieger that would blow up one manufacturers bullets but not another. I stopped shooting them for awhile because I was to scared to use them.,Who the bullet makers are is not important. I still shoot they're bullets!) So I wanted to see what would happen. Bought some more of those one makers bullets and guess what. No failures in either one. So in away that kinda blows the theory!? Both barrels we're made to the same bore and groove size and same twist. Same chamber and the same loads shot thru them. Why didn't the one barrel blow up anymore of the one makers bullets anymore? I chalk it up to a different lot. Maybe the lot of bullets I got had problems with the cores or jackets? Hard to say! Barrel life? Again I don't see a difference in the number of grooves effecting barrel life etc...One barrel maker who is making 3 groove barrels the last I heard was claiming they last longer. This might be true in a button rifled barrel because of the wider lands. On average I don't see a button rifled barrel lasting as long as a cut rifled barrel. Why? Because the button rifling operation work hardens the bore. I'm not saying a button barrel will not go a long time or a cut barrel will not burn out early as I've seen both. It's just what we see as an average. Can I put a number on it. Not really but if I had to I would say about 20% longer on cut barrels but this all depends on the accuracy level each individual shooter wants/needs, how good they are not to mention a whole ton of other variables that effect barrel life. One guy shoots a powder that is more abrasive than another is an example. Not to mention the steel from one lot to another even if you are getting the steel from the same supplier can be a variable. The list doesn't stop almost. When we we're at Krieger back around 2000 Tracy made the tooling for a 3 groove .30cal. palma barrels and we made a couple for Mid Tompkins. Mid told me that accuracy wise out to 800 yards they shot just fine compared to the 4 grooves. The only problem was both barrels we're a flat 100-150fps. slower than the 4 grooves so they wouldn't cut it at 900 and a 1000 yards. due to the velocity loss. Why? Maybe because of the wider lands? Different lot of steel? Hard to say sometimes but that is my guess the wider lands. Also at Krieger right before we we're gone from they're we made a cut rifled barrel and a button rifled barrel in .224 cal. for John. He chambered them up in .22-250 and put them on some prairie dog guns that he took out west. They we're made out of the same lot of steel and got the same loads thru them. Accruacy wise both shot great but the button barrel was exhibiting more wear with the same round count on both. Both barrels we're being shot in the same conditions and the same loads we're being put thru them. I've seen 2 groove, 3's, 4's, 5's,5R's) and 6 groove barrels all shoot excellent. So again I say there is no difference in in accuracy or barrel life but when you compare one or the other you should be comparing/testing the barrels made out of the same lot of steel and being made from the same maker and being shot in the same conditions. This is the only way to get good results but who has the time, money etc...to do this? This is the hard part. Check out the thread records fall at Sacramento. Craig St.Clair shot a 1-8 twist, 4 groove, .237 bore at 600 yards chambered in 6BR. He won 7 out of 8 awards and has 2 pending records. It was smithed by Stu Harvey. In the end to me it is more of the quality of the barrel blank. The straighter the barrel, the more uniform the bore and groove dimensions, and the more uniform the twist the more forgiving the barrel is going to be. The nicer the finish inside the less fouling it will have etc.... Keep in mind there are alot of variables beyond the barrel maker and gunsmiths control and even the shooters control. What chamber reamer was used. Different lot of bullets from one to the next, different lot of powders, primers, cases etc...all effect different things. Why is one barrel faster than one vs. another. Why does one barrel that looks glassy smooth foul bad and it shouldn't etc................ Talk to you all later, Frank @ Bartlein Barrels frankgreen, Jan 10, 2008

Awesome advice on loading the 7mm-08 AI with a long COAL. I have a 7.4 lb scoped lightweight 7-mm-08 AI rifle with a Wyatt's extended mag and the ejection port milled longer and the throat cut longer. 140 NBT at 2950 from a 20" barrel. My experience with this rifle made me choose to re-chamber the .308 to 7mm-08 AI as well. It is an entirely different gun, a Remington 700 LTR from the Tactical / LE side of Remington. Basically a baby PSS. The gun has a HS stock and 20 inch barrel. I intend to go to a 24 inch. I am looking for a quality stainless barrel that can be ordered from the manufacture with spiral fluting. Previously I have always used 6 groove but I am thinking of trying something new. The two options I came up with were Bartlein and Lilja. I am leaning toward Lilja because of a shorter delivery time. I am open to suggestions.

My experience with the Remington brass is similar. It will go over 10 firings with no sign of head separation. I eventually start loosing them to loose primer pockets.

It will be interesting to see if the deal actually goes through this time. As a consumer I hope it does not. I'm happy with 20% gain at 57.25. If the deal falls apart again there's a good chance to price will drop rapidly.

Yes, you can. After leaving so much money at Cabela's there is something rather satisfying about it. On 2-28 I bought Cabela's stock at 46.93 per share. On 4-21 I sold it for 57.25 per share. Basically, in 2 months I made a 20% profit from Cabela's. I only wish I could do it more often.

Congratulations to Hunter on his first tom. Was that 23? How was the gobbling? I'm taking a veteran up to 4B next weekend with Hunts For Heroes.

I ran into one in the same area about 10 years ago.

My hunting partner has a Ruger M77 that broke the same way. It was the result of tumbling down Picketpost Mtn. after trying to climb up and get a shot at a ram. We still have not checked if the barrel is bent.

At one time USMC snipers carried pre 64 model 70s in 30-06. Carlos Hathcock carried one. When Winchester made changes to the model 70 after 64 the Marines switch to the Remington 700.

I think you are talking about getting a replacement tag from game & fish if you lost one? I believe you have to sign an affidavit that your previous tag was lost. In NM your tag is a computer printed piece of paper. There is nothing to stop you from printing as many as you want to without G&F knowing about it.

I thought that was a little odd the first time I saw it. What was the stop me from printing out 3 tags? If unethical Hunters create a need to go to a mailed tag system it should not be that big of a deal. The NM draw system is very efficient, AZ needs a lot of help in that department.

Donate your tag to Hunts For Heroes. You will get your points back and a disabled vet will get the tag.

.300 RUM brass is more common. Run it through your 7 RUM sizing die and you have 7 RUM brass.

From Nosler's point of view not all the pros of designing a new round relate to ballistics. Think marketing. If the cartridge is SAAMI standardized any manufacture can load it or chamber it. It will, however, always carry the name given by it's designer. 28 NOSLER, they are getting brand recognition.

Some of the more remote areas can be found on the western boundary, along Chevelon Canyon. If you shoot something and it manages to go tumbling down into that canyon you are going to have a real bad day. I had a friend who shot a bear that managed to go over the edge and we had a very difficult time getting it out of there. Ropes, pulleys and lots of bad words, fortunately no injuries. As I was sliding down a rope, in the dark, to look for a shot bear in that canyon I believe I heard Bill Engvall say "here's your sign".

I'll add another vote for the minority opinion of 6 always.