@donnie said in Which cartridge will best fit these criteria?: if a 243 AI or 6 creedmoor wont behave over 10-12 round strings, and maybe a 200 rnd match, It's not that they don't behave during strings of fire, it's that they will just all of a sudden, change POI mid-match, for no other reason. Their nodes are significantly narrower and more finicky than the smaller 6mm's. They only go about 1100-1300rnds before they are about done for. So it's not that they won't stay tight during a 12rnd string... its that they just wander POI every 50, 100, 150, or who knows how many rounds. They are just more unpredictable.

The bench mounted CPS is one of the very few pieces of my reloading that I would never give up. the CPS and Giraud trimmer. They take jobs that I hated to do, and made them a non-issue.

Oh I'm sure it probably is the ammo. No real good offerings available. All 17WSM is made by winchester.

@rhyno Thanks, I didn't know the app did more than just monitor temps. I haven't messed with it yet I hope my router will connect going from a metal building that is where we live to the shop. Not too far away and my wife's phone can connect so mine should. Mine is a six I believe. Mess with it tomorrow. I'm trying a chicken now low and slow so we'll see how that turns out. I am going to have to purge and eat some fish, all this smoked stuff is getting to me.

I remember when Simmons came out with the Aetec line of scopes. Aspherical lenses, boy they were the cats meow. I fell for it and bought one for around a hundred and fifty bucks. Buddy of mine had a slew of them on his pig killing rifles he used at night with a red spotlight. Better than a Zeiss he claimed. I still have one on a 6.5 x 55 but the second one I bought used I retired to the back of the cabinet. Certainly nothing like a Zeiss.

I made a nifty tool for the lathe yesterday. I got the idea from a You Tuber so I can't take any credit for it. I made it out of cold roll and cut the slots with a band saw and finished them with a belt sander. For turning short tapers I use the compound and turning it by hand doesn't do too well and usually ends up with a funky looking part. This adapter goes on a cordless drill and slips over the handle of the compound feed and is then power fed. Easy to control your feed rate and get a good finish.

Looking back on this post, best advice I got was grab a game changer, get to a match and have fun. I've made it to 4 matches so far this year, with 2 being 2 day matches. I started out around the bottom 25% of the pack and have been steadily working my way up. Once again my rifle, gear and fundamentals have changed drastically. I'm actually planning on getting my passport in order so I can attend some Matches in Montana next year. Last match at the RFMA Canadian Sharpshooter Classic, I was able to pull off 1st place finish in tactical division and 19th overall. I was no wear near top 10 though lol, and this Jon Pynch guy came in and kicked all our asses by a fair margin. PRS shooting has been a major eye opener for me and is hands down my favorite sport to date.

Wrote to both Kansas senators ... asking them to support the Constitution ... == Senator Roberts/Moran: I see in the headlines this morning, "Trump suggests tightening background checks". The US Constitution exists to define the limits of Government power. The Second Amendment exists for two reasons: 01 - Allow all able bodied citizens to be in constant preparation to aid the nation in repelling invaders or putting down insurrection. The founding fathers, did not want a large standing military (as we unfortunately have had since the end of WW2). Instead, the founding fathers wanted the States militias (both formed and unformed) to be ready to defend the nation at all times. 02 - Protect the people against Tyranny. Several Federalist papers emphasize the belief of the founding fathers that the ultimate defense against tyranny lies with the people, the militia, both formed and unformed. Please ensure that the Constitution is not further abrogated along these lines. Thank You Sir !! Joe Wilkerson Eskridge, Kansas 913 660 6727

"Pick up that cross and follow Jesus. God's endless love has portioned the load."

I made it to the range with a friend of mine last week to do some pistol shooting and chronograph some pistol hand loads he was messing with. I took my XDM 45 and my S&W 686 plus 38/.357 revolver that I hadn't shot in quite a while. The XDM Is basically new, I have only fired maybe three magazines through it. I haven't shot the 686 much either and sometimes carry it at the ranch loaded with snake shot. I was going to use it to dispatch trapped pigs but I gave up on the trapping. It's a pleasure to shoot with 38 Specials and magnums also. Just a great pistol if you like wheel guns. I brought a front rifle sand bag with me and just shot from the bench and a couple of attempts standing. I only salvaged one target, the rest got shot up pretty bad and it was of the XDM shot with two different types of ammo from the sand bag at around fifty feet. Next time I go I want to try at twenty five yards after I get a little experience with the pistol. I wouldn't mind doing something to the trigger on the XDM it does seem to have quite a bit of travel but once you get to the end of the pull it's pretty clean. I had to lower my point of aim while sitting but when standing I ended up pulling the shots low and to the right. Bad control of the pistol not a sight problem. I have a XDM 9mm Compact Mod 2 also. It's sweet.

July 2019 In summer it is tougher to get as much shooting/other practice done due to harvesting requirements. But I have not been completely idle. For day time, I've somehow become a local shooting trainer :D I've had 3 sessions with my #1 shooting buddy, 4 sessions with neighbor to the South and 1 session with GF of neighbor to the North's daughter. With SB#1, in the first two sessions we focused on groups at 100yds. Getting him up to speed on the specific "tricks" I've learned over the past 18 months to overcome various fundamentals issues. Then we went out back and tried to translate these learnings into results on the steel at 500yds and 640yds ... 12 inch and 6 inch steel. It was hard to believe, but he was able to hit even 640 face (6 inch steel) after less than 18 hours of training. Replicating what it took me 18 months to get to :D But, he still doesn't get to practice it multiple times per week like I do. And I was making the wind calls for him. But still he was executing on the fundamentals well enough to get hits. And this week we tried it at night and he was able to get hits as well on heated steel with thermal clipon. == For neighbor to the South, when we started off in the first session, he was getting 4 inch groups at 100yds. I doubt he had ever fired groups at 100yds. Most of his targets are set up at 25 yds. But he wanted to be able to do a better job of getting the yotes he sees on his land. So better precision/accuracy indicated. Which means work on fundamentals :) So 4 inch groups was the baseline. I noted he was shooting 55 grain in a 1/7 barrel. So I gave him 400rds of 77gr of mine. He decided he wanted a better upper, so I got him a Lewis Machine upper ... still 1/7 ... 16 inch ... I also gave him a 5x ACOG-ish scope I had that I wasn't using. And I showed him some "tricks" to help with fundamentals. In the second session, we didn't have the new upper, but we got him down under 3 inch groups. Oh and I noted his trigger was very heavy, felt like a 7 pounder, so I showed him out to change out a trigger and we put in a 3 pounder.. In the third session, all the new gear was in place and we got him under two inches. And then finally in the fourth session, I further adjusted his position and he got mostly sub 1.5 inch groups, with majority under 1 inch. I was impressed. And he was ectstatic ! But again, he isn't practicing every day or even 3 times a week, so I need to bug him harder. Learning to shoot is not an "event" it is a "process" and a lot of people don't get that. == Ok, for the neighbor's daughter's GF, she brought a 9mm "high point" I think it was ... basically an AR-ish sort of weapon that shoots 9mm. That said, it seemed pretty cheaply executed, so I wasn't expecting much. But what is a 9mm like this good for ?? Minute of man at 100yds maybe ? Well, she said she was a "terrible" shooter, but wanted to get better. So, that's a good starting point, at least from an attitude perspective! So, we started at 25yds. Her first groups were 4 inches. I went over about 6 "tricks" I thought would make the most difference ...u don't want to overwhelm people with too much to work on in the first session and TBH six things is too many, but she seemed to be a fast learner so I kept pushing. ... and in her words, with her last group "I hit the bulls eye 3 times" ... This was a 3/4 inch colored dot. And it's true she did. Now that's still a "3 moa group" ... but it was WAY better than the 16 moa groups she started with. And as always, I said, practice as often as you can and remember those fundamentals. == So I never set out to be the neighborhood shooter instructor ... but somehow, lately, things seemed to have evolved in that direction. It is gratifying to see people improve so dramatically so quickly. But I cannot "force" them to continue regular practice, so I cannot hope that the lessons will stick. == Otherwise, I still go out 2-3 times per night for coop checks, but have not seen any threats on the ground (or in the air for that matter) at night this month. Summer is usually pretty slow in the chicken threat department as the critters seem to be able to find food farther away from "the big smelly place" (our house :D). I continue to do wind practice and groups but haven't had time to write them up or take pics. My regular shooting should resume in Sept, if we can get most of the hay in by then.

As an update. I have the 200gr SMK going 2600fps now with 41.6gr Varget, no signs of pressure and easy bolt lift. Using Lapua brass. Gonna hang a steel plate at 1600 yards and can back up an additional 700 yards if needed for a total of 2300 yards. Plate will be 3/8" 24x24 AR500 (cost $120.00) and 5/16 chain (25'x2) to hang it ($60.00). Will be filming the target with my new 11-33x vortex Razor spotting scope and PhoneSkope adaptor. I have enough in my turret and reticle for 2200 yards.

Had my 6 creed barrel in my DT and was shooting a new load with 107smk. I think it is going to work. 100 yards 3 10 at 200 yards. 5 at 400 yards. 1st shot was high adjusted dial. 3 very tight 2 left struggled with mirage..This load is a keeper. So my good buddy Bob Hart at RW Hart had Hart barrels spin up a DT barrel, there first. He chambered it in his wildcat 30 Hart cartridge which is a improved 300 weatherby mag cartridge. He was nervous and excited to see what it would do. This was a first for Hart barrels and a first for him to chamber. He loaded up the ammo at loads he uses. 3 shots 210 berger VLD at 100 yards 3 with 190 Nosler comps at 100 He was very impressed with the DT platform. These where shot on different days. The DT platform just performs.

I have just over 100 rounds on barrel, I think it should be settled in. Shot this today 5 rounds at 100 yards. I got sloppy on one shot. load is: 143 ELDX 210 M primer 57.7gr H1000 ADG Brass 2.320 to ogive. I have not played with seating depth yet but this 6.5PRC is going to be a hammer. Thank you Travis.

Which way were the crosshairs going during recoil? Low right impacts would indicate rear of rifle is consistently being drawn up and left during recoil. Cause of this could be any number of things. If I saw a video of you shooting in these positions, I may be able to help. Some things to think about: Don't muscle the rifle to the point of overcompensation. If you are supporting the rifle at the center of balance, try pulling it back a bit, putting more weight on you. Don't over-squeeze the grip, as you'll have a natural tendency to pull up into you. All aspects of NPA apply. The top group is low right, the bottom group is low right... but the top group obviously had both horizontal and vertical NPA issues while the bottom group has significantly more vertical. If you evaluate your position for each, you'll likely find that your breathing and natural frame of motion was heavily molested on the top group, while the bottom you were likely more relaxed regarding frame of motion but not breaking the shots at the correct moment in your breathing cycle. Just some general pointers, but as I said I really need to see it to offer anything of any weight.

@orkan said in Seeing the sights!: I've come to really like photography. Obviously the marketing efforts of Primal Rights have benefited, and I do enjoy that a great many of my skills with a rifle cross over to skills with a camera. I can say there are about three really important things that allow even a novice to be proficient with photography. 1 - Gear Just like with a rifle, you need to have the good stuff if you expect to get high quality pics. You can have the best camera body in the world, with a crappy lens, and you're going to get a crappy pic. Just as with rifles, there are surprisingly few truly exceptional body and lens options at each price point. My stuff is mainly low to mid-range. I'm running a very dated canon T3i body, but its a good one. Those are very cheaply had these days. My lens however, no expense was spared. Canon EF 100-400mm IS II USM zoom lens. With the crop body T3i, it's as if it is a 640mm top end. With a full body like a newer pro grade canon, it would be truly representative of the 100-400mm zoom specs. 2 - Settings Once you truly understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO... it's all down hill from there. They are all tied into each other, and have to do with lighting and motion. Most good camera bodies will have light meters, and you can usually plainly see how fast something is moving, and light is easy to observe also. In time you can get a pretty good instinct for it all. Run in manual mode only on the camera, and get these three settings correct... and you can take crazy good pictures. After that, adobe photoshop for post process and maybe lightroom if you really want to get fancy. That's it. 3 - Framing the shot Learning how to present your subject is purely instinctive. Once you can properly frame shots and use lighting to its fullest effect and understand how shadows affect everything, it gets fairly mechanically simple. Yet this will always be a "talent" or an instinctive skill set rather than raw mechanics. You need to be able to see something that looks good, and then capture it correctly. Another item you need on the list if we're talking about wildlife photography specifically, is the ability to hunt. If you can't hunt, you can't be a wildlife photographer. Both the deer and the pronghorn below required intimate knowledge of the wind, lighting, terrain, and the animal's behavior in order to get close enough to make these shots. Being able to stalk is a skill I picked up from bowhunting. I can get close. Really close. I could have easily killed either animal with a bow. The hawk carrying the snake I shot out the window of my pickup. I always keep my camera ready to roll in the seat next to me, and as I was driving I saw this hawk sitting on the shoulder of the road. I figured it was eating something, so I quick grabbed the camera... checked the settings at a glance, popped off the lens cover, rolled down the window, and just then it flew. I saw it had a snake, so I put my knee on the wheel and fired off a dozen shots in a second or so as I drove by. Only two of those shots were usable... but ONE is all it takes. The difference between a zoom lens and a telephoto is pretty basic. Zoom lenses have variable powers, while straight telephoto is generally referring to fixed powers. My 100-400 second generation canon is awesome. However, for some extra range I plan to get a fixed 800mm canon at some point. I just don't feel like spending that $11,000 right now. lol The zoom lenses are very forgiving and allow some real flexibility. If I were to only have one lens, it would be this 100-400. Other lenses are great for other things. I have a mid-range macro lens, a couple wide angle lenses, and some crappy kit lenses also. It all comes down to what you want to be able to do. Generally, with a good wide angle, a decent 50mm, and a good zoom lens, there isn't much you can't do. Those are some amazing pics Thanks for sharing them.

@martino1 Decidedly more predators around pdog towns. Seems to be more still after I've hit one hard for a few days in a row.

May all of my misconceptions be discovered through the Word, which comes from the bible, which has taught me to trust God.

Well, I did the second one yesterday and it wasn't exactly a plug and play kind of thing. It had a Redfield/Leupold one piece base like most of the Mauser rifles I have that employ three mounting screws. The hole centering was the same with the exception of the rear hole and a little tweeking with a small round file fixed that. A pass through with a slightly larger bit for the through hole would have worked also. The problem was the stripper clip hump on the receiver. Some people grind all that garbage off when they use a military Mauser action and some leave it there, like me. Lazy. EGW designed these rails to be placed on the receiver with the leading edge .250 rearward of the front receiver ring so the mount clears the hump and you can do a four hole mount. That's what you want. I don't remember if I did the original drill and tap on this rifle or my buddy Dwight that did the barrel fitting and bolt forging but anyway it was too far forward and the rail hit the hump and only one hole could be used. Bummer. There is a couple of ways to drill and tap a Mauser receiver for either the Redfield type or the rails and I have done both. One is by measurement hopefully in a milling machine with a nice read out and a Kurt vice and snap jaws with built in parallels and the other is a fixture. The fixture can be used with a hand drill, yeah right. Or with a drill press. The only catch is the barrel has to be out of the action. I have done a couple with it and it wasn't any fun. I rigged up a vise in my drill press to mill this rail out so it would clear the hump and it worked. Just took a few minutes more and only have one screw in the rear of the rail however it's a hunting rifle and I don't see how it could fail. Happy Fourth.

Well it looks like i will settle on the Sako quad. It is the synthetic model with aftermarket bolt knob and bottom metal. Just getting conformation pics for the model and should be mine. Ill report back when its in hand and has a couple shots down range.

You can also contact the prez via this link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ He even wrote me back.