rburg
Member
All this hatred for the caliber. I started out shooting the family Springfield. Family lore has it that my grandparents bought it about 1904 from the Gubberment. It was kind of surplus and sold for $1.50. The box of ammo they bought with it was $1.75 for 20 rounds! They got it for killing hogs and beef. But the cost was excessive until they discovered 410 shotgun shells worked just fine and were much cheaper. When it was given to me in the early 1960s, we were out of ammo except for one round. We went to a local gun shop and had the owner load us up some light loads. They worked well.
Since then, I've come up with some other guns. I've got an 1886 Winchester that requires a crew to move around. And then there are the single shots. The best I've ever seen is a Browning BiCentennial. And just for fun, I've got its plain jane twin, a B78. That ones got a Leupold scope, 1-4x. I hate its recoil absorbing steel butt plate. But it will easily put 3 rounds into the shield on a Miller light can. Time after time at 100 yards. Those that doubt its accuracy don't speak from experience.
Just for reference, the caliber was used for 1,000 yard competition for a long time. Sure, the big ole slug drops. But its the same amount every time, too. And if you're trying long distance shooting, you can actually see the bullet as it goes out. Back in my teens, I read all the available literature, mostly my dads American Rifleman magazines from before I was born. They kept telling us how accurate they were. So one of our shooting holes was an old played out gravel pit. At the far end of it sat a Buick. No, it wasn't a modern one, but it was old and solid. We paced it off at least a dozen times, and we moved our shooting line so it approximated 1,000 yards, the distance we'd read about.
The old Springfield had a 1,000 yard sight marking. And we discovered it wasn't very good, but we put a sighting point on the hillside behind the Buick. And every time we got a hit, a couple of seconds later we'd hear the thump. With light bullet loads, it would sure dent the sheet metal. Took the paint right off, too. Heavy loads like factory could hole the metal. The poor target took a lot of abuse, but kept its shape.
Since then, I've come up with some other guns. I've got an 1886 Winchester that requires a crew to move around. And then there are the single shots. The best I've ever seen is a Browning BiCentennial. And just for fun, I've got its plain jane twin, a B78. That ones got a Leupold scope, 1-4x. I hate its recoil absorbing steel butt plate. But it will easily put 3 rounds into the shield on a Miller light can. Time after time at 100 yards. Those that doubt its accuracy don't speak from experience.
Just for reference, the caliber was used for 1,000 yard competition for a long time. Sure, the big ole slug drops. But its the same amount every time, too. And if you're trying long distance shooting, you can actually see the bullet as it goes out. Back in my teens, I read all the available literature, mostly my dads American Rifleman magazines from before I was born. They kept telling us how accurate they were. So one of our shooting holes was an old played out gravel pit. At the far end of it sat a Buick. No, it wasn't a modern one, but it was old and solid. We paced it off at least a dozen times, and we moved our shooting line so it approximated 1,000 yards, the distance we'd read about.
The old Springfield had a 1,000 yard sight marking. And we discovered it wasn't very good, but we put a sighting point on the hillside behind the Buick. And every time we got a hit, a couple of seconds later we'd hear the thump. With light bullet loads, it would sure dent the sheet metal. Took the paint right off, too. Heavy loads like factory could hole the metal. The poor target took a lot of abuse, but kept its shape.
(He may have changed it out or rebarreled a #3). He also gave me some 550 gr bullets and his reloading data for his Alaska Brown Bear loads. Like a fool I loaded up a half dozen rounds and headed for the range.
