sjvcon

David Van Horn 1302 E Rawhide Ave Gilbert, AZ 85296-2504 480-892-9630 dvhcustom@cox.net Don't know if he does weekend work or not. Did my son's Ruger Mod 77/Mark II. Great trigger now.

I have a barely used Kimber 8400 Classic in .300 Winchester Magnum (over $1100 new). This rifle has probably seen 3-4 boxes of shells, and was carefully broken in over the first 40 shells. It is a Controlled Round Feed with Winchester style wing safety. It has a Nikon Buckmaster Scope (sorry, but I can't remember if it is 4.5x14 or 6x18 ... I'm gettng senile and I'm not at home ... I'll post what it is later) with Tactical Turrets. I do remember that is over $350 new (not including the Leupold Rings). It has seen only one hunting trip and was babied. Would like $1100 for rifle with scope, but I am open to offers. Selling to fund custom modifications to .300 Ultramag ... otherwise I'd keep it. Shoots "lights out". Will post pictures as soon as possible so you can see the condition, but it's in near as new condition as it gets. I'll throw in the Mike Lucas Bore Guide that has always been used to clean it. You'll need a valid AZ drivers license (CCW preferred), be willing to sign a bill of sale and be of age to purchase. Trade offers will be considered for an AR-10 platform(Armalite, DPMS, Remington R-25), 10MM Semiauto Pistol (S&W 1006 or 1066), or .257 Weatherby.

Do you still have this? I have someone who might be interested.

Yeah ... it was their Youth Model, which comes with both youth and adult stocks. It was still heavier than the Ruger by quite a bit. My son is about average size for his age, and he couldn't shoulder it easily. The Ruger was no issue. Neither was the Remington. I'd have bought him the Winchester Classic Compact, but it was double the price, and Ruger makes a pretty decent little rig ... just had to get the trigger done right. We just went through the break in, and it is an absolute paper puncher at 100. Two half circles together and one about 3/8" away ... I'd say that will get the job done. Don't get me wrong ... I have nothing against a Weatherby ... they are just heavy in the Youth Model.

.22-250 is good for varmints of all types, and is a sweet little round to shoot, but I wouldn't use it for deer. Yeah ... I am sure some people have ... and maybe even with some success ... but it is really the exception. You want to put the animal down. PERIOD. You need a good wound channel for that. The .243 should really be the minimum for a deer rifle. You don't want to wound a trophy and never recover it. If you want to step up a bit to something that can handle a broader range of game, get a 7mm-08 or a .308 (even the .260 Remington, which has the same basic case). Don't give the recoil a second thought. Just put a removable break on the gun and get a thread protector for hunting with. The break will help immensely at the range ... and let's be honest, no one feels a kick while hunting when the adrenaline is pumping. Good luck with your decision. One note on the Weatherby ... my son found it to be very heavy. We ended up with a Ruger 77 Mark II Compact, which is a sweet (and light) little gun.

I used David Van Horn ... The Gun Shop ... in Gilbert. Did a great job on my son's factory Ruger M77 trigger and muzzle break. The trigger breaks light, clean and smooth ... that takes dang good work on a Ruger Trigger.

Uh ... I think maybe you should google "barrel break in". Not enough people really do that, and it is definitely of benefit. There is a good report on http://www.rifle-accuracy-reports.com/barrel-break-in.html And when it says 1 "Aw SH*T" wipes out all "At a Boy"s ... they ain't lyin'.

Good news for Larry, his family and the hunting community in general. Hopefully when Larry feels up to it, he'll share with all the members here what happened. I am sure there is a lesson to be learned that would benefit us all. It is sad that we live in a world where people will take what is not their's and what others have worked hard for ... Prayers for a speedy recovery Larry ... I don't know you, but I'm glad you're still with us.

If you are going to use it to do a custom, there are some other options so I wouldn't offer the farm for it. You can get a really decent commercial action from CZ for around $600 that is either .375 H&H or .416 Rigby based and can do a ton of calibers on. They need some refining, but other than that, they have a lot of great features from the 98 Mauser that the Winchester won't have (like a third lug, better gas handling, etc.). Not knocking Winchester ... I own more than a few. They are great ... there are just some other options out there. Now if that were a pristine gun ... that would be different.

Shooting a target is a lot different than shooting an animal ... Shooting out to 80 or even 100 when shooting at a foam core block is probably in the "Wheelhouse" for a lot of us. But when you shoot at an animal that far away, there are a lot more variables involved. Probably the least noted of those is the animal itself "jumping the string". Sure, bows are quieter today, and faster. That is a fact. But at a distance of 80 to 100 they definitely have time to react. Best case is a complete miss ... worst case is you hit an animal that you wound (possibly kill) and never recover. I'm of a mind that most guys (or gals), using some patience and stealth, can get close enough to take a pretty sure shot. One that the animal has no real time to react to ... taking that out of the list of variables that one of the posters listed. Remember, whether you get one or not, the success is not in the kill, but in the hunt experience itself. Me, I'll keep my shots to under 40, even though I can hit a foam block from a heck of a lot farther than that. I don't fault you if you want to stretch that, but make sure your conditions are right.

I'd just get to my spot early and hunt. If the guy (or gal ... have to be fair ... it could be a gal) is courteous, they'll move on to another spot. If not, just chock it up to the fact that there are some idiots out there and every once in a while we all run across them. AAA is right ... even a monster Coues isn't worth getting into a ruckus over. I always figure what comes around goes around and just try to do my part to do the right things.

You'll have company ... that is where my son and I are headed with our buddys as well. Good luck to you.

Looking to have some work done on a couple of rifles. Can anyone recommend a top quality gunsmith in the southeast valley (Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek, etc.)?

You will still need to do some fitting and bedding to get it totally right. B&C is a lower quality stock than McMillan or H-S Precision ... the old saying of you get what you pay for isn't wrong, and even those need some fitting and bedding to be right. That said, the B&C is a much better stock than what comes on the Model 70 from the plant (injection molded plastic).

Not sure about transmissions ... I think he does just about everything. Mike at Mile Auto Repair on 48th and Southern in Phoenix. 602-454-1055. He does great work and is very reasonable. Also EXTREMELY HONEST. There have been several instances where he could have sold my company more, but elected to treat us with honesty. He's a good mechanic with integrity ... that is RARE.

Thanks all. I appreciate it.

C'mon folks ... somebody has to know a good gunsmith in AZ ... I'll even go Phoenix Metro ...

I'll throw another in fo the Zeiss Conquest. 4.5x14x50 mildot on my .300 and it is AWESOME. Not the most expensive offering from Zeiss, but from the dealer "its a better scope for the money spent". I've had Leupold's too, and liked them just fine, but I really like this one.

Anyone hear of someone doing this kind of wildcat round for a little higher velocity Quarter Round?

I spoke to a guy at the Mesa Store the other day. Nice guy ... worked the gun counter. Basically, as fast as they get anything in, it is gone. Everyone is freaked about the new Presidential Administration's stance on guns. They can only keep long guns on the shelves, and even those are down ... they even pulled a few high end guns out to keep the shelves full. Notice that this is NOT isolated. Bass Pro is out of most everything, and one of the guys there said they had over $500,000 worth of inventory on backorder through suppliers ... mostly ammunition and firearms. I went to Cabelas today, and they are low on stock for ammunition (though not the reloading stuff). Guys were putting out a new shipment and people were grabbing it right as they put it on the shelf. I would have been doing the same, but they didn't have what I wanted. What the guy at Sportsman's told me is that smaller shops are actually at an advatage right now, because they can go to any vendor they want. Sportsman's is not being allowed to go outside of their regular vendor list. It is killing them. They are probably all tired of getting asked what the heck is going on. It has been about 6 months now that they've had inventory issues ... ever since this country made the mistake of voting Obama in. It'll settle down if the scare goes away. Problem is that it looks like they are going to try to get a bunch of laws passed that violate the Second Amendment. I don't see how they can after the Supreme Court Ruling that made it legal to own a handgun again in DC ... but with the current rash of shootings, who knows. Half of me thinks that these recent shootings might have been orchestrated by the left to support their push for a total gun ban ... but that would be too much of a Conspiracy Theory ... wouldn't it???

No, they aren't. Good luck finding those. I have the same ones and I love them. Great value for the money.

I am new to the site and not sure where to post this, so here goes. My son found a pair of binoculars at Mile Post 119 and the 79 south of Florence. He felt (and I agreed ... boy was I proud of this little guy) that the right thing to do was post the find somewhere to see if anyone would claim these. If you lost them, email me at sjvcon@cox.net the brand and type, and give me a phone number. We will return them.

For personal defense, and as a sidearm for hunting in areas where bear and lion are common, I wouldn't trust a .380. I'm not surprised by the post about a guy getting shot by one 4 times and running off. It is a pretty low powered load. In fact, I just watched a program on the Walther PPK and one thing they said about it was that in some situations, it would be hard pressed to penetrate a heavy overcoat. That's not good. I'd look to a 9mm at minimum, and more probably a .40 S&W or .357 SIG. As to what to buy, there are too many options and opinions you can get. I am a H&K guy myself, and a buddy I have swears by Kimber. These are both high dollar pistols ... but very reliable and accurate. Remember that you get what you pay for. Stay with a tried and true name. Research the models that you are considering carefully. You can't be too careful with a decision like this that involves your personal safety ... be it in the home or in the field. Good luck.