300RUM

When I mounted the new scope this rifle was finally finished. Well, never say finished, the rings and rail could possibly change when I remount a scope on the AR receiver I “stole” these rings from. Finding this rifle its own scope was an interesting experience. For the first few years I mounted a Leupold VX-II 2-7 x 33 I had already. At 10 ounces it was nice and light but I felt it would be better to upgrade the scope and pay the price in weight. Next I swapped scopes off my AR receivers to see how they worked out. They were a Vortex viper HS-T 4-16 x 44 and a Leupold VX-R 3-9 x 40. I preferred the VX-R but still felt I wanted a better scope for this rifle. One day I sat down and started seriously shopping. I found a Nightforce 8 – 32 x 56 that I thought would be nice for another rifle from a dealer offering $400 off to get it out of his inventory. I had to help the poor guy out. That put the scope search for the 7mm on hold. A little while ago I started shopping for a scope for the 7mm again. Based on a list of features I wanted in a scope I began a search for possible matches. I felt I was fairly thorough but only came up with one, the Nightforce NSX compact 2.5 – 10 x 42. I posted a thread asking for ideas. A number of people offered suggestions. Lance (lancetkenyon) was incredibly helpful. He would make a suggestion and I would whine about it being 5 ounces to heavy. He would come back with another suggestion and I would complain it was not good enough. After all of this I still had only 1 possibility, the Nightforce. I already owned two other NSX models and really liked them so I wasn’t complaining but I had thought it might be interesting to try another brand. I ordered the NSX compact. When Nightforce says NSX compact they mean it. The Front slot on the picatinny rail had to be milled off to clear the objective bell due to the scopes short length. The rifle itself has an interesting story. In the fall of 2011 I had a New Mexico antelope tag. The goats took me for a 7 mile walk carrying a 13 pound .300 RUM on a sling. Every time I tried to line up a shot either sitting or prone the contour of the landscape interfered. I was not going to attempt a 400 to 600 yard shot standing. As the chase continued I was thinking how nice a real light rifle would be. Finally, late in the afternoon, I got a clear 400 yard shot and dropped a goat. I went back to camp and got my pack frame. On the way out, just before sundown, my left foot stepped into the opening of a burrow hidden in the grass. When I pulled my leg out the foot was twisted about 45 degrees inward. I got to splint my own ankle and crawl a mile back to camp in the dark. Then I loaded up camp and drove myself out. Yes, this is a major risk when hunting alone. I drive a tractor trailer as my primary occupation so I was going to be out of work for a while. Rather than wasting my time watching TV I began researching light rifle options. At 5.7 lbs. the HS Precision PHL seemed ideal. At $ 3800 it wasn’t so ideal. I decided to build my own lightweight rifle. I purchased a Remington 700 LH youth model and went to work. I used A High Tech Specialties stock and pillar bedded the action. The receiver was milled to accept a Wyatt’s extended magazine with a 2.975 COAL capability. A Shilen #1 contour 20 inch barrel was installed and chambered for 7mm-08 Ackley improved. A Timmney 511 trigger and a Callahan striker assembly were also used. I did all the work on this rifle myself including threading and chambering the barrel, blueprinting the action, lightening the action, opening up the ejection port for the longer COAL and fluting the bolt. Brownels spray grit was uses to give the stock texture where the hands are placed. Aluma-hyde dark grey Parkerizing was applied to the barrel and action, O.D. green was used on the stock. The current rail, I almost hate to admit, is a weaver tactical model. It has held up well to much firing and many scope changes. It has earned some respect and might get to stay. The rings are Valdada, borrowed from one of my AR receivers, another lower priced part that has performed well. A Flatline ops ACI mount and ACI along with a Blackhawk sling finish things up. The gun can launch a 140 Nosler Ballistic Tip at 3000 FPS. The rifle came in at 5.8 lbs. With all accessories mounted and 3 rounds in the mag it is 7.6 pounds. For me there is a lot of personal satisfaction when I carry this gun knowing that I built it on my own. However, I do not recommend breaking an ankle so you have time to build a rifle.

Road hunters are a necessary part of the ecosystem, somebody has to shoot the Game and Fish decoys.

Going into high school I believed I wanted to be an engineer. Half way through my junior year physics completely changed my mind. I dropped it and coasted through the rest of high school. I felt my options were get a job as skilled labor or enlist in the Marines. I took the easy road and hired on with a freight company driving semi-tractors. Congratulations to your daughter for taking the hard road and succeeding.

Two years ago I took a disabled vet into javelina tank and got him set up in a blind. On the way in we passed an elk carcass. The backstraps had been removed and everything else left to rot. Yes, I called it in. I find it interesting that javelina tank is showing up again related to a poaching incident. Coincidence?

I've used a Wells Fargo Advisors Visa for years and never had a problem. The offer for the card came because I run a brokerage account with Wells Fargo advisors. I'm not sure but it is possible that card might be managed a little differently because it's from a different department of Wells Fargo.

Any bullet can have a bad batch or a bad day. Some humans will drop on the spot and wait to die if struck in the torso with a .22 LR, others will take repeated hits to the torso from a .45 ACP and get back up each time. I expect animals have the same variance in tolerance to pain and the will to keep going. Your bull was clearly the later. I once had to put 3 Nosler Partitions from a .270 into a mule deer. The first was a quartering shot from the rear that passed through the chest and destroyed the front shoulder on the far side. Shot through the chest and on 3 legs the deer got up and started running again. I don't consider the Partition to be a bad bullet because of this, it worked very well on other occasions. Plenty of other bullets out there to try and it can be fun to experiment. However, the next magic bullet may also fail one day. Congratulations on the nice bull.

Two steel rims, one laying flat and the other standing inside of it, recycle into a decent jack stand.

Years back I decided i wanted a lightweight compact rifle. Being a shade tree machinist I decided to make it a DIY project. I got a Rem 700 short action to start. The selection of custom actions at the time was no where as good as today and wanting a left hand one only made it worse. I blueprinted the action & bolt, enlarged the ejection port and shaved the back of the action slightly on the sides. The bolt was fluted and handle skeletonized. A 20 inch Shilen #1 barrel in 7mm-08 Ackley was installed along with a Wyatts extended mag. The action pillar bedded in a High Tech Specialties stock. Recoil pad thickness was 0.6 inches, thick pads are comfy but heavy. Almost every opportunity to cut weight was taken. Add a Timney trigger and Callahan striker and I had a nice little gun. It spent it's first years sharing a Leupold VX-R with an AR upper. It finally got it's own scope, a NSX 2.5 - 10 x 42 Compact. The rifle weighs 7.2 pounds. I consider it to be a 500yard rifle max. As Lance stated the ultra light rifles are much harder to hold steady and accuracy suffers. With the light weight stocks if you like to tighten up a sling in a sitting position they flex easily and may contact the barrel. As cjl2010 mentioned sharp shouldered cases with little taper are a SOB to get feeding in a mag. I hate to have to admit to spending over 8 hours on that one. The solution, in part, is that you have to remove taper from the magazine to keep the relationship between the stacked rounds the same or the head of the case will drop below the bolt causing a jam. I recall having to narrow the rear of my mag about 0.120 for the Ackley. Good luck with your build.

Some mines that use Narrow Gauge rail used to have a piece of equipment that was sometimes called a mucker. Kind of like a little Bobcat with no driver's seat. It could go to the end of the rail, scoop up debris from the last blast and lift it up and over itself into an ore cart that was behind it. I've seen a few with buckets that kind of resemble that one.

Now there's a memory. That is the event that got me involved with CWT. Edge's 22 bull recovery was great also. I got to play pack mule on that one. I've written a few myself and read those written by others. I can't say that I have a favorite. However, as a group, the posts involving the disabled veterans are my favorites. They really show that the hunting community as a whole can join together and do something that really makes a difference.

Isn't that super raffle tag good for almost any unit? What other units might they be interested in?

This is an argument for the letter grading system. You failed to turn in an acceptable quantity and or quality of work. You have received an F because you are a failure. Look at the bright side, we're not giving you a zero.

Fire forming can be lots of fun. Head out to the range, put out at target, then fire your blanks at it. Sooner or later someone will ask you what you are doing. With your best poker face you politely explain you are target shooting but you want to save money on targets so you're not using bullets. Some people have a lot of difficulty processing that one.

Don't over think it. Just sit down and watch "Quigley Down Under".

I was watching a herd of deer this morning. One deer was running around with its head down chasing the others and sniffing them. I was ready to grab my pack and rifle. But wait, let's get out the spotting scope first. What do we have here, a dominate lesbian doe? Hey, I'm all for equal rights. If she identifies as a buck should I be allowed to tag her?

That had to be an incredibly hard video for him to make. Watching someone who's been through that tell their story really drives the point home much more than having someone read a list of firearm safety tips.

Tandem or single axle? Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Tandems are less prone to sway when towing and have an increased load capacity. They have a better approach and departure angle when crossing a wash. The single axle is obviously easier to roll by hand. It is lighter and only has three tires sitting around dry rotting instead of five. My father and I own quite a few trailers. One is a Big Tex. When the wooden deck rotted out I decided to replace it with diamond plate. The guy who built the frame didn't know how to use a square, the cross members were incredibly crooked. He apparently wasn't very skilled with a tape measure either because one frame rail was theee inches longer than the other. I can't say they build all their trailers like that but I know they did at least one.

New Mexico did print-at-home. home tags for a while. You were able to print multiple copies of your tag. I'm sure there are those who did this and took multiple animals copies of the same tag. Any idea on how azgfd will prevent that from happening?

On the same day in Phoenix, or any other location, your zero can shift due to temperature and possibly barometric pressure changes during that same day. On a cool 40-degree morning your powder charge will produce less velocity than it will later in the day when the temperature is 80 degrees. Closer in at 200 yards it won't be a huge difference. At longer ranges that can make a big difference.

You could try checking the Verizon website and look for a map that shows the location of their repeaters. I would expect them to be by the dam and by the town of Roosevelt near the 288 intersection. Your phone is basically just a UHF radio so to make a connection you'll need to have close to line of sight from your location to the repeater. It's a little easier to accomplish that if you know where the repeater is. You can expect around a 15-mile signal range. 20 miles is probably pushing it.

On my archery elk hunt in 5B S, in the north end of the unit, I came across the remains of two structures. One was clearly a bunk house with a 8 by 10 base and the roof flashing for a timber stove still present. The second, about 400 yards away, was something industrial. My best guess is it related to logging as there are no shafts or tailings. I have encountered old rail grades a ways to the west that were once used for logging, but nothing close to this structure. The pictures came up out of order, 2, 3 & 4 are the bunk house site.

Congrats on the upcoming family. That will obviously take more of your spare time. I used to work a 4-10 shift and spend most Fridays at the range and tinkering with my guns and loads. Then came a shortage of qualified employees and I found myself working 5-12's. So much for Fridays at the range. I had been a rather skilled shooter and 0.5 MOA or less was the norm. Now 3 custom 700's with NSX scopes have sat in the safe all year untouched. I had an archery bull elk hunt so the practice time got dedicated there. My parents moved, a major chore because my father and I maintain a fairly complete fabrication shop. A very good friend had a serious run-in with cancer and needed quite a bit of help with chores around the house. When I do get back to the range It will probably be more along the line of 5.0 MOA. I'll work it back down to something respectable when time becomes available. In the mean time I know I still have my toys and will get to play with them again in the future. They are expensive to replace. If you like what you have keep it. You will find time to use them just like I will. Right now it is still a good feeling knowing they are sitting in the safe just waiting on me.

Awesome start for a new big game hunter.

I run a Bluetooth capable Kestrel, don't know the model number off the top of my head. I have Applied Ballistics on my phone and I'm very pleased with the results the combination is capable of producing. Let me know if you want me to check the model number for you.

For about 25 years prior to the wallow fire I spent a week in one or both of those units for archery deer and turkey. I never had a favorite out of the two. If I were in your position one thing I would do would be to check the most current Google Earth images of both units to see which would have the bigger problem regarding large areas of criss cross deadfall timber. Packing an elk a long-distance distance through that stuff would really suck