IA Born

My daughter has a Savage Axis youth in 7mm-08 and I had a muzzle brake put on. Right now, it loves 140 gr TTSX over 95% RL-15. She absolutely loves shooting it and says my AR has more recoil (I smile and say ok). I agree with Rossi that its perfect for elk and deer within her range and then some as she practices more. Fit is always the biggest thing with kids. If shot placement is right on, a .243 will do the job on an elk. Seen a few drop from a good vitals shot. Definitely have him hang on to grandpa's rifle as those will be great memories with his harvests!

Very nice! Having grown up in Iowa and knowing who owns that much land in that area, I bet I know who you were hunting with. Lips sealed, though. Congrats!

I agree with both a youth stock and/or a different base if you have time. My 9-year old daughter has a youth model Savage Axis with a Vortex Diamondback 3.5-10x50 that fits her perfectly. She's drilling all rounds in a 2" circle at 100 yards. Its all about the fit of the rifle and scope with kids! Good luck!!

There's plenty of good public land hunting if you're willing to get back in there a bit. Great job! Near what town were you hunting? I've had several buddies up there take some slobs these past few days!

Bring them up for the JAKES turkey camp south of Happy Jack. I know some areas in 6A and either I or one of the other mentors there get them on some birds or at least teach them how to hunt them! We might just have to do that, I was looking at that camp prior to putting them in for the hunt. I'll keep you posted, thanks. Keep in touch with me on that. Its Easter weekend, but I'm hoping to be there mentoring again. Its a great camp. Its free and all food is provided, plus you get set up with knowledgeable mentors that are committed to giving you and your kids the best they can! As soon as info is available about the camp, I'll post it up in this forum!

Bring them up for the JAKES turkey camp south of Happy Jack. I know some areas in 6A and either I or one of the other mentors there get them on some birds or at least teach them how to hunt them!

Last year, I had the local sheep herder in 6B mess with a camera of mine (opened the box and turned it off). I locked it to the tree and locked the case and he ended up leaving it alone. He's notorious for messing with cameras. Sorry it was stolen!

That's a beauty, Bryce! When I just sent you my PM, I didn't see your entire post and that it has a completely aftermarket stock. That's a beauty! Chopshop, here's another bump for you, but I kind of agree with Bryce.

I've got 13 points and no Gould's tag. But, my daughter drew her first big-game tag: 12A early turkey so she can hunt on her 10th birthday! If I'm not going to get my Gould's tag, this is the one I don't mind losing out to!! Can't wait to take her!!

My heart goes out to this hunter and his family. I completely respect his decision and would make the same one. I have a couple of friends and one family member fall because of no harness. My family member laid under his stand for about 2 hours before someone realized he was missing. Busted his elbow up completely plus a few other dings. Every year, someone becomes this statistic and its completely avoidable by using a quality harness. In addition to the shock absorber mentioned above, you need to carry a suspension relief strap that you can clip to your harness and step into with one foot. If you leave yourself just hanging by the harness, you can die from blood pooling in your legs and no circulation. The suspension relief strap takes the tension away caused by the harness leg straps and gives you a chance to get to your climbing sticks/ladder.

Chopshop, based on the SN you provided me, you have a Remington Arms Springfield 1903A3 manufactured in 1942, specifically late 1942. You would obviously have to verify, but it suggests that it is a 2-groove barrel, which would go along with the Dec 1943 barrel stamp. As I said earlier, the 2-groove barrels were supposed to have no difference in accuracy from the 4-groove barrels. In its original configuration, it would have had a receiver mounted aperture sight just like on an M1-Garand. Being a late-1942 manufacture suggests that this rifle was made from stamped parts, not milled parts. If it was milled, there would be an "R" stamped on all of the metal parts. This was a way to speed up production, but the quality of stamped parts was not any less than those from milled parts. There was a real good reason that soldiers came back from WWI and WWII and grabbed surplus 1903s to be sporterized for hunting. Civilians caught on as they borrowed rifles from their veteran friends. I seriously doubt my wife will say yes, but I will ask her about this rifle. I want a sporterized 1903 in my collection to go with my 1918-manufacture 1903 (original condition). If not, I truly hope someone grabs it up. Its a great deal on one of the best rifles ever made!! GOOD LUCK!

If I send you the numbers on my 03A3 can you tell me more about it? Glad to! I brought my book in with me to look up the year of manufacture for Chopshop.

No worries! All my buddies love ARs abd AKs, but I love the classics. The original 1000-yard, open sight rifles! The .30-06 history has been an infatuation of mine for a long time! And to correct myself, Smith Corona didn't start production until 1943, so Remington started with the 2-groove rifles in 1942. Either way, somebody buy this awesome rifle!!

According to Savage's website, they have the Axis youth 7mm-08 in a lefty! Good luck and get her out there!!

Two-groove rifling was common in the WWII rifles. In 1942, Smith Corona went to 2-groove rifling to speed up production. I believe Remington followed suit shortly after. Accuracy was not supposed to be affected, which would be obvious in the 1903A4 sniper variation (all/most 2-groove). Just send the first half of the SN (X,XXX,000). Not that I'll do anything with your info, but I just don't like seeing whole SNs flying around the web. Never know who is watching for what and I can tell you what year it is based on those first 5 numbers. I'll look for your PM and get you the year of manufacture as soon as I get a chance. I hope someone jumps on this deal!

My daughter is in the same boat. Last spring after she turned 9, we got her a Savage Axis youth in 7mm-08. Those run in the $300-$350 range. Hers came with a Bushnell 3-9x40 scope for about $370, I think. Cheaper without the scope package, obviously. We already had a Vortex scope so I threw that scope on a Marlin model 60. I had a muzzle brake put on it for her to dampen the recoil even more. That rifle is scary accurate for no more than we paid for it. She says my AR kicks harder than her 7mm-08 and she loves shooting it! My only gripe is that the trigger is something like 5 lbs. A Timney trigger is in the near future, but even with the factory trigger, I got hand loads to print sub 1-inch! Not sure if they come in lefty, but its worth a look! For that price, its worth the investment!

Actually, its a Remington Arms 1903A3. Remington didn't start making 1903s until WWII (Sept 1941) and they were all the A3 line by 1942. The 12-43 stamp on the barrel means the barrel was manufactured in December 1943. The only way to really know what year the receiver was made (and by who) is to look at the SN and manufacturing stamp (I wouldn't post a pic of it). Remington SNs start at 3,000,000. If you PM me the SN, I can tell you what year the receiver is (I have a book for 1903s). Based on the receiver's lack of holes tapped for a peep sight (common on WWI-era through 1930s), it appears to be a WWII-era A3, which would have had the M1-Garand style sights. All the 1903A3s had the Garand-style sights to make the sight alignment switch easier for those GIs using Garands. Sorry for the history lesson hijack. That's a great gun and I wish I had the cash laying around. I want a WWII 1903A3 to go with my Springfield Arms 1918 1903! By far, one of the best rifles ever made! Does that one have 2-groove or 4-groove rifling? I'll talk to my wife, but I won't get my hopes up!

The young ones taste great. When I get bigger ones (well over 100 lbs), I get the backstraps cut into loin chops, set the tenderloins aside, and then have everything else made into great Italian sausage and breakfast sausage. One with my bow is next for me!

X1,000 on Randy Lawson! He's done all the work on my rifles and I even took one down to him from Flagstaff a few years ago because he is AWESOME!!

Yep. Talked to her this morning. Glad it worked out for you both. She's good people!

To my son's school director or someone else?

I mentioned this to my son's school director this morning because she recently asked me if I knew of any '06s for sale. Price certainly is good!

I've been working up a load for my daughter's 7mm-08 using 140 gr Barnes TTSX. I'd have to get the exact data, but I know that the 95% max load of R15 produced a 3-shot .60" group. I think the 97% max load of RL15 is better, but the trigger on her Savage Axis youth is horrible. I'm pretty sure I pulled the 3rd shot of what would have been a sub-0.5" 3-shot group because the trigger is something like 5 lbs! I'm happy to get you the data I have if you want. I'm sure after I replace the trigger and the factory stock, it will be shooting much tighter.

Where do you live? Pretty sure I have one because I load for my brother-in-law's .300 WSM. I'll have to double check, but if you are in or near Flagstaff (or at least passing through), you can come borrow it.

That's awesome! Congrats to your daughter!