Happy Birthday me.

widnerkj

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When I was really young, with dad in the Air Force, living in base housing, and mom not working. (early 1980's) We really didn't have much. One year in particular, Dad ended up selling his hunting rifle to buy Christmas presents for my brother and I. Mom was pretty guilt stricken over that. So now once in a while, she will buy him a nice bolt action if she comes across something interesting. That's the back story. Fast forward a few decades, and mom comes across a Winchester Model 70 featherweight. So she picks it up for him. Funny thing is it's a .300 Weatherby Magnum. So dad calls it "The evil thing" in reference to the movie "the gods must be crazy." But wow, what a hunting rifle that thing is. Drops elk like an off switch, hits deer like god is angry with them. Really is the meat getter.
Dad shows up to visit on my birthday this year, and says. "You should have a rifle you don't shoot very much, but will turn off anything you point it at." So now I've got this fantastic hunting rifle. And I'll likely never change anything about it. Dad did swap out that super lightweight stock, for a Houge overmoulded one. And he included the reloading dies for it. All in all, I'm happier than I can recall any previous birthday.

Winchester 1.jpgWinchester 2.jpgWinchester 3.jpg
 
Well, here is an update.
There are very little to no good heavy .30 cal bullets to be found. Dad is a super fan of Nosler accubonds, or partitions. He told me 200 grain pills are magic with this rifle. He did tell me 180's are also excellent to push as well. The only components I can find as of right now are Berger 185 grain classic hunters. And the only appropriate powder to be found is Alliant MagPro. So I loaded up 4 rounds in 1/2 grain steps from minimum to max according to the Berger load book. Shot for groups to see what this rifle likes best. And wow, I wouldn't wish that kind of recoil punishment, or muzzle blast on most folks. Everything shot within .75 of an inch. Until I got to the last two steps. Next to last (82 grains) was just under .5". But 82.5 grains had all 4 touching. So this angry girl likes to throw them fast. No signs of overpressure. Slightly flattened primer, but easy bolt lift. I could likely go faster. But what would be the point if I've got a fantastic group, and near 3100 FPS with 185's? I'm now going to load up a couple of slips for it, and take it out when I want to punish the steel over at Tucson Rifle Club.
 
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