On Target

Gun Guru's Tom B's worked his magic on the trigger of our Youth Ranger .308.  Oh, Boy, what a difference the trigger job made.  We are VERY HAPPY!

Our three goals are very simple.

1. We want to relearn how to shoot from the free-style standing position with no support of any kind other than our hands, arms, legs, etc.
2. We want to be able to get off our first shot within 2 seconds beginning with the rifle held in two hands at waist level.
3. We want to consistently get four consecutive shots within an 8-inch circle at 100 yards.

It's all about the free-style standing position for us.

We actually have a plan on how to accomplish these goals.  The first part of the plan was to reduce the trigger pull.  We quickly deduced it would be a waste of ammo to practice with a hard-to-pull trigger.  We figured to might as well wait until the trigger was where we want it.

Secondly, we also have factored in using two .22 caliber rifles to relearn how to shoot from the free-style standing position.  One is an ancient Winchester Model 67, probably made prior to WWII.  The other is an old beater Marlin Model 60 semi-auto (tubular) that we bought almost 30 years ago in Flagstaff.

The idea is to alternate shooting all three rifles and to use the .22's to relearn response, body position, sight acquisition and shot timing.

We don't plan on using very much .308 ammo on any given day.  Today, for example, we shot a grand total of 12 rounds of .308 in three sets of four rounds each.

Meanwhile, we shot maybe 30 rounds of .22 from the M67 single shot.  We're really not too concerned about the accuracy of the .22 because we're simply using it to get the "muscle memory" part reacquired:  Lift-Aim-Shot.  Since it's a single shot, we have to reload after every shot and, naturally, that means you start back at square one on your next shot.  

It's been decades since we shot the M67 using its original iron sights.  It was such a wonderful pleasure to have those sights back on the rifle again today.  It's a perfect training rifle and we are so happy to have it in our hands again.  THANKS, TOM!

Meanwhile, we set up a target at 50 yards and have begun to practice with at that range.  We will gradually work our way up to 100 yards.  It's 50 yards first.

Most shooters aim for tight groups.  We couldn't care less about tight groups.
This is what we want to see--almost all our shots inside the 8-inch circle!

We were shocked and surprised to see that 9 out of our 12 rounds with the .308 were inside the 8-inch circle.  Note that the shot circled on the far right is actually two shots and they are essentially close enough to call "good."  The 12th shot was one-half an inch outside out "goal zone."  We are VERY HAPPY with those 12 shots and consider today's practice session a success.  The trigger job and the warm up with the .22 really made all the different.  There's simply NO way we could have been this good with the old hard trigger.  It's exciting to see the difference the trigger made in today's practice. Likewise, it's really exciting to have that good ol' .22 single back in action.  THANKS, TOM!

The target as it appears at less than 20 yards.

Winchesters

We had our Mentor & Guru work on not one but THREE Winchesters in a single day Wednesday, December 5th.  Oh, what a Great Day that was.

First, Master Gunsmith Tom B. took an old 1960's scope off our ancient WIN Model 67.  He then rummaged around his extensive shop and found an iron rear sight.  He drifted that sight in practically with his eyes closed.  The surface rust on the sight perfectly matched the rust on the barrel.  They are a match made in Single Shot Heaven.

This Winchester Model 67 isn't just ANY single shot, it's our very first rifle we ever had.  I am pretty sure I got it handed to me in 1954 or 1955 when I was 7 years old and got my first hunting license back in Indiana.  It sure looks like this particular Model 67 was made prior to October 1944.

Here's a snippet from the Wiki on Model 67's:

"In place of the earlier chrome plating, blued finish was used on the bolt, trigger, and cocking piece starting in October 1944."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_67

Well, this Model 67 definitely has the chrome and not blue so "go figure."

Next up was the Model 94 lever action carbine in the timeless classic .30-30 caliber.  Back in the 1980's we really wanted an Old Navajo Sheep Gun.  We even put an ad in the newspaper trying to find one to buy in Northern Arizona.

After 25+ years later, we found one late last fall and bought it December 15, about an hour after we learned our Mom died. We knew we were going to have to go to Indiana and sell off all our childhood firearms so we bought this old beater WIN Model 94 .30-30 as a hedge that we would always have something to remember my Dad by and his love of firearms and collecting old, beat-up relics.  This is a genuine old, beat-up relic, we can assure you of that.

Dear Friend Tom looked it over and pronounced it safe, savory and sharp to shoot.  He then also pronounced, "This rifle is in better condition than 98-percent of the firearms on the entire Navajo Reservation."  That sure made us feel good and cemented our new lifelong attachment to this old, worn, pitted, rusted relic.  We plan to shoot the heck out of it now and maybe even hit something, too.

The final act of Tom's trifecta was doing a trigger job on our Wnchester Model 70 Youth Ranger in .308 caliber.  Tom tweaked, twisted and thumbed his way through that trigger like a skilled surgeon.  When he finished it, we were practically jumping for joy.  It's as light as a feather and it's surely going to help us take our own big game to the next level.(pun intended)

It's not often in life that a guy gets three Winchesters worked on in a single day and gets to take them home that very same day.  It's not often that a Dear Friend brings a couple of Winchesters back to life and breathes new sensitivity into a third Winchester.

It was definitely a "Winchester Kinda Day."

THANKS, Tom!  YA DUN GOOD!  I so appreciate what you did.  Happy Shooting & Many Cheers!

jp