How to Improve Your Muzzleloader’s Accuracy

 

Via Field&Stream
(be sure to read the linked article on firelapping at bottom of post-and RTWT)
Follow these tips to eke out optimum ­accuracy from your in-line muzzleloader.

1. Fire It Smooth

The barrel is the most important component of a tack-driving smokepole. Any imperfections in the bore will hurt accuracy. So get a fire-lapping kit for muzzleloaders ($50; ­bear tooth ­bullets.com) and shoot 15 to 20 of the provided soft-lead bullets as directed. These have various grit compounds that will polish smooth any defects.

2. Mount It Right

Once you’ve perfected the barrel, do the same with your scope rings, using a kit like the Wheeler Engineering Scope Ring Alignment and Lapping Kit ($45–$62; midwayusa.com). This will take off any residual manufacturing marks that could allow the scope to shift after a shot. Most kits provide leveling bars that will ensure the scope runs perfectly parallel to the bore.

3. Get Loose

Granulated powders can be measured and fine-tuned more precisely than preformed pellets, yielding better shot-to-shot consistency. “Like a hand­loader developing recipes, a muzzle­loader shooter can adjust a loose-powder charge to perfectly match a specific bullet-and-gun combination,” says Chris Hodgdon of Hodgdon Powders (hodgdon.com).

4. Find Your Bullet

Pick a few bullets from the top manufacturers, like Barnes, Hornady, Power­Belt, and Thompson/Center, in a variety of weights for the game you’re after. For whitetails, stay in the 250- to 300-grain zone. Shoot each combination of brand, weight, and powder until you hit your smallest groups. Be systematic and clean the barrel after each shot. You may just squeeze MOA accuracy out of that smokepole yet.
***Related very long,but very imp0rtant article on firelapping muzzleloaders to greatly improve accuracy,and greatly lessen barrel fouling.***
Be sure to RTWT…
firelapping muzzleloaders
Firelapping can improve accuracy by as much as 50%,so it’s well worth the time and minimal investment.
Pay close attention to the process-and take note-you have to use real black powder-no Pyrodex,no Triple7, and no pellets-good old Goex blackpowder must be used-or whatever other brand you prefer.
The reason is the way black powder burns vs Pyrodex,etc. The Pyrodex,etc. does not reach full pressure until the bullet is well on it’s way down the barrel,so a good part of your barrel will not be lapped unless you use real black powder.
I’m going to firelap my sidelock and my inline in the next month or so,I’ll post before and after targets from 50,75,and 100 yds.
My brother in law firelapped his old CVA sidelock muzzeloader,and went from 6-8 inch groups at 100 yds to 3-4 inch groups at 100 yds. He’s also used the process on a couple centerfire bolt actions-a .243 and a .308 and got even better results.
He’s 100% sold on the process,and he’s a gunsmith,certified armorer,etc,etc.
They also have no kids-so he’s got way more time and $$$ to spend on shooting/firearms.
Read more.
Learn more.
Train more.
Do more PT.
You don’t have enough ammo.

Gunsite Scout Rifle, Pt. 2

by David E. Petzal

 


The Scout can’t accommodate a conventionally mounted scope and its rear ghost ring at the same time, because the ghost-ring sight screws into the receiver where the rear scope ring sits. This means you have to find somewhere to keep the sight and its mounting screw. I put them someplace where I would never lose them and then could not find them despite months of looking.
When I finally admitted that they were lost I discovered that Brownell’s, which carries everything, does not carry Scout Ghost Rings, and that the manufacturer, XS Sight Systems, doesn’t either. So I swallowed my pride and called Ruger.
If you’d like to use a rear-mounted scope and keep the ghost ring in place, XS makes the Gunsite Scout Rifle Rail, which extends from midway up the barrel to the rear of the receiver, and includes a permanent ghost ring, which can peaceably coexist with a rear-mounted scope. You remove the factory Picatinny rail and install the XS in its place. It’s $90, and, from the comments on the Internet, works perfectly. (xssights.com. You can also get it from Midway. Do I really have to give you Midway’s URL?)
Magazines. The Scout originally came with blued-steel magazines, but these seem to have fallen by the wayside, as they were expensive and would rust on you if you neglected them. They’ve been replaced by glass-filled nylon magazines that are much tougher, much less expensive, and which require no maintenance. These mags come in 3-, 5-, and 10-round versions. For hunting, the 3-round is the best, because it’s legal everywhere and fits almost flush with the bottom of the stock, letting you carry the rifle at the receiver like a Model 94. Five is nice, but what for I’m not quite certain, and 10 is the way to go if you’re tactical. The polymer magazines, by the way, come with a cap, which is a very good idea because it protects the most damage-prone part of the box.
Triggers. Having been the recipient of its share of idiot lawsuits, Ruger solemnly enjoins us not to replace any of its parts with anything not made by them, so be advised, but I have a Timney trigger in my Scout, installed by a gunsmith, and it’s a very worthwhile alteration. If you’re not fussy about triggers, you can get by fine with the factory version. If you are fussy, spend the $125 plus whatever the gunsmith charges.
(My favorite Ruger lawsuit story concerns a woman who caught her husband slippin’ round, as they used to say in the South, and maybe still do, confronted him with a loaded, cocked, single-action Ruger revolver, laid the muzzle against his chest, and proceeded to tell him the Way it Was. Unfortunately, the handgun went off in mid-speech with fatal results. And who did she sue? Sturm, Ruger. This story was told to me by someone who testified at the trial, and I believe I have the details correct, but I can’t swear to them.)
To be continued.

More on the Scout Rifle, Pt. 1

 

 by David E. Petzal
Although the late (and much missed) Jeff Cooper was primarily a handgunner, he devoted a good deal of thought, experimentation, and writing to the development of an all-around rifle which he called the Scout. Not because it was trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent, but because it was highly portable, handy to use under all conditions, accurate to 300 yards and a bit, powerful enough for anything short of dangerous game, and light kicking. He envisioned it as something that a highly mobile Marine or soldier would carry if he had to move a lot, and quickly.
The first company to produce a Scout was Steyr. Their rifle debuted in 1998 and was an odd-looking duck with a synthetic stock and a hefty price tag. I got to shoot one. It was very, very accurate, and more or less everything Lt. Colonel Cooper claimed it was.
By the time he went to that great range where the wind never blows and there is no mirage, the Scout concept was well established. But it was Ruger that really picked up the Scout and ran with it. In 2011 they introduced a version that was developed in conjunction with Gunsite Academy, which Cooper founded.
That Scout took off. It’s essentially a .308 carbine, but with bells and whistles, mostly of a tactical nature. There are now ten variations on it, including left-hand, .223 (which would have given Jeff Cooper a seizure), stainless, synthetic-stocked, flash hider or recoil suppressor, two barrel lengths, and steel or synthetic magazines of 3-, 5-, or 10-round capacity.
What follows are some random observations on the rifle, based on mine, which is one of the early versions, a blue-steel, .308, southpaw gun. Ruger is now advertising the Scout as the one rifle that will do it all, and they are pretty much correct. The .308 is one of the most highly developed and popular cartridges around. There’s a literally endless variety of ammo available for it, and components if you’re a handloader. So:
While the Scout’s short barrels (16.10 and 18.70 inches) are a big convenience in many ways, they cause you to lose velocity. In my rifle, which has the 16.10, I see speeds in the 2,450 fps range with 150- and 165-grain bullets. The real-world velocity of a 150-grain .308 slug in a 24-inch barrel is 2,700 fps, and if you chop 8 inches off the barrel you’ll lose about 25 fps, per inch, or 200 fps.
If this concerns you greatly, you can get a Scout with an 18.7 inch barrel, which will put some speed back, or you can handload. I’m able to get 2,700 fps out of 150-grain Barnes X-Bullets via handloading, and there are no pressure signs at all.
The Scout is a very mild kicker, and I don’t see why people would want a recoil reducer. Maybe it has something to do with the Millennial Generation, which also feels the need for Safe Space, whatever that is. In any event, I much prefer the flash suppressor. In case you feel the urge to remove it and replace it with a cap, don’t. Because of the short barrels, you are bound to get considerable muzzle flash, and even if you’re not using the rifle tactically, that doesn’t help your shooting. Ruger’s flash suppressor works; leave it alone.

Read the rest @ Field & Stream here

Long Range Hunting Newsletter

StarvinLarry

The cover image this month was taken of me by Robb Wiley of Non-Typical Outfitters on a hunt together this year. It demonstrates the use of an Ultrec Saddle Rest on a front tripod plus the use of some stacked up rocks for supporting the right arm and elbow. Both are taught in the LRH-NTO Shooting Classes which we'll be offering again next summer.

I had fun this month writing the article on "What's In Len's Backpack”. It refers to the stuff I typically have with me on a solo DIY "boots-on-the-ground” hunt for mule deer in the western states.

It turns out that when they are counted, 51 items (a crazy number) find a place in my pockets, around my neck and in or lashed onto my backpack. And a reader already pointed out that I forgot to list toilet paper. 

Read the rest here

New: Savage Model 11 Scout Rifle

 Savage Model 11 Scout-I really like this one...

 

 http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/11Scout



Savage already had a rifle they called the Scout, but this one is much closer to the Gunsite formula, and gives you all the Scout hardware at a considerably lower price than Ruger. It comes in .308 only, and its synthetic stock is adjustable both for length of pull and for comb height, which is a very good idea. Savage has equipped it with a decent set of iron sights, an Accu-Trigger, and a detachable 10-round magazine. Barrel length is 18 inches, and weight is 7.8 pounds. In place of the Ruger Scout’s flash suppressor, there is a slotted muzzle brake, so this one should be a truly soft kicker. Savages shoot very, very well, and because of its short barrel this one should be somewhat better than average. The Model 11 Scout is too new for me to find a real-world price for it, but the MSRP is $794, which buys you a lot of rifle for the money.


http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/the-gun-nuts/petzal%E2%80%99s-shot-picks-best-new-rifles-of-2015?cmpid=enews020615b&spPodID=020&spMailingID=7484590&spUserID=NjI2NzA0MjQyMzcS1&spJobID=620675495&spReportId=NjIwNjc1NDk1S0

Looks an awful lot like an improved version of the Ruger Gunsite scout rifle.As Mr. Petzal said- the adjustable comb height and length of pull are a good idea-and a big part of why I like it- Every Savage rifle I've ever had was very accurate,had a model 99 .308 that I got rid of when I was young and didn't know all that much about rifles-been kickin' myself in the ass ever since I figured out I should've kept that 99.

Here's Ruger's version of the scout rifle...


http://www.ruger.com/products/gunsiteScoutRifle/specSheets/6803.html

To the Governor of Washington: A List of Grievances by We the People

 

 

 

To the Governor of Washington: A List of Grievances by We the People

by Kit Lange | Feb 6, 2015 | Editorials, The Battle for Washington State | 0 comments

One of the most important rights as citizens in a Constitutional Republic is the right to call upon the government for redress of grievances. Unfortunately, We the People are all too familiar with so-called lawmakers who not only ignore the will of the people, but actively work against it. We see this in Washington State as well as other states throughout the country, as legislators continuously pass law after law that directly infringes upon those rights that are outlined as being off-limits to government control.
Regardless of whether our elected officials wish to acknowledge it or not, We the People retain this right to redress, and we present this list of grievances to the Governor of the State of Washington, and demand that they be rectified. As the Washington State Constitution makes clear, all political power resides with the people. As such, We the People demand that our rights be secured and maintained, as the Constitution calls for—not infringed upon and denied.
While these grievances are not solely done at the state level, if the state allows the infringement of rights by the federal government, then the state is also guilty of the same violation.
At the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the founders outlined a list of grievances against King George III. They, too, demanded redress, and were met with the same contempt that many legislators show the people today. We the People, as the holders of political power in the State of Washington and the United States of America, demand that we be heard, and that the following infringements cease immediately:

1. Militarizing police and SWAT Teams
2. Stockpiling of Ammunition while Limiting the Rights of Citizens to Purchase Ammunition
3. Distributing License Plate Readers meant to track the movement of law-abiding citizens.
4. Tracking Cell-Phones with Stingray Devices
5. Turning Cell-Phones into Roving Listening Devices
6. Creating Longitudinal Databases to Track Citizens from Birth to Death
8. Carrying Out Military Drills and Lockdowns in American Cities
9. Tracking People via Facial Recognition
10. Using the TSA to Create Databases of “Suspect Citizens”
11. Carrying out Soft Target Checkpoints
12. Directing Government Workers to Spy on Americans
13. Suspending Habeas Corpus in a Time of Peace with NDAA
14. Using Drones to Spy on Citizens and Map Their Property
15. Directing Government Workers to Spy on Americans and Create Linkage Charts of Patriotic Americans
16. Conducting Widespread Spying Networks Using Fusion Centers and Listing Americans as “Terrorists” Without Trial
17. Carrying Out Constitution-Free Border Control Searches
18. Funding City-Wide Surveillance Cameras
19. The State governor demanding that the Washington State Patrol violate their own oath to the Constitution by authorizing them to suppress the people’s right to the First and Second Amendments through threats of arrest and force.
20. The State Legislature unlawfully and deceitfully reclassifying firearms as “props”.
21. The state legislature arbitrarily denying the right of a group of adults, based on their age, from viewing their government proceedings if they choose to exercise their Second Amendment right.
22. The state legislature continuing to allow the federal government to illegally lay claim to and hold lands belonging to the people of the state of Washington.
23. Infringement upon the unalienable basic right to self-defense of the people through unjust laws that violate not only the federal and state Constitution but natural law.
24. Taxation without representation, through unlawful and unnecessary taxes and fees charged for the exercise of rights, and the repeated refusal of the state legislature to hear and act in accordance with the will of the people and the Constitution that binds their power.
25. The passing of rules in secret by the State House, State Senate, Speaker pro tempore, and the Lieutenant Governor, that directly violate the rules of the people.
26. The abuse of power by elected officials such as (but not limited to) Rep. Laurie Jinkins and Rep. Jim Moeller, who have used their positions to exert control over the people and deny them their rights.
27. The allowance of judges to legislate from the bench that a police officer’s ignorance of the law is grounds for the violation of the People’s rights.
Regardless of inconvenience, the legislature and the Governor cannot violate the rights of the People, and must adhere to their oath. It is imperative that the state government understand that it must operate within the limits of the state and the federal Constitution, and as such, must secure and maintain the rights of the people without question and without infringement. Instead, the legislature has made its own rules and used the force of the state to enforce those rules, which is in and of itself a threat of violence against the People. This is unacceptable.
We seek no violence and do not condone the use of force outside of the blueprint outlined by the Founders. We do, however, seek redress and remind the Governor of his own oath, found in RCW 43.01.020:
“I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state of Washington, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Governor to the best of my ability.”
These continued infringements and assaults upon the rights of the people—or the refusal to stop those abuses by legislators and government officials—constitute a blatant and gross violation of that oath.  We call upon the Governor of the State of Washington to cease infringement upon the People’s rights and uphold his solemn promise to uphold the Constitution of the United States and that of our state.
We will not comply.  We stand.

http://www.patrickhenrysociety.com/governor-washington-list-grievances-people/#more-770

How to Shoot a Rifle Offhand

Shooting from your hind legs like a man (or a woman, or whatever makes your heart happy) is by far the most difficult of all the positions.  

Article by David E. Petzal

Beliefs that my generation held as sacred are now null and void. If Capt. John Paul Jones were asked to surrender today, he would not answer “I have not yet begun to fight” but “Let’s work this out. Violence is never the answer, and all these dead bodies in the ocean are an environmental hazard.”

Also, we can’t seem to shoot offhand anymore. We no longer walk; we sit. And thanks to the current long-range craze, the idea of sneaking to get a closer shot at something is as alien as going afield without four electronic devices that you consult every two and a half minutes.
Stand and Deliver
Shooting from your hind legs like a man (or a woman, or whatever makes your heart happy) is by far the most difficult of all the positions. It requires exponentially more practice than any other simply to be competent, never mind good. And it is still absolutely necessary to master, unless you enjoy papering the walls of your home with unpunched licenses.
Offhand, Easily, Sort Of
The secret to shooting offhand is to accept that no one can hold a rifle steady while perched on his hind legs. No one. So don’t try to eliminate muzzle movement; instead, control it. Develop the finesse to make the end of the barrel move in a circle and to make that circle smaller and smaller as you aim. Then, the instant the crosshairs are on any part of the bull’s-eye, pull the trigger. Crude as this approach may seem, a great many of your shots will land in the center of the bull anyway.
The other thing you must do is shoot fast—because bucks won’t stand around waiting for you. An aimed offhand shot should take you no more than five seconds, and three is better. The longer you wait, the more likely you’ll screw up.
The Range Regimen
Here’s how to practice shooting offhand: Get a .22 rifle, as close a match to your centerfire as possible. Get as much ammo as you can buy, beg, or extort. Get a package of 100 NRA A-17 paper targets, each of which has 11 black bull’s-eyes about the size of a silver dollar.
Set your scope at 4X and start from 20 feet. Shoot strings of five rounds per bull; a hit anywhere in the black counts. Zero hits through two is pathetic; three is so-so; four is not bad at all; and five is outstanding. Your initial efforts are likely to be so bad that you will go into shock and require hospitalization.
As you improve, move back to 25 yards. Once you are shooting mostly fours and fives, switch to your centerfire rifle, and shoot from 100 yards at an NRA 50-yard pistol target with an 8-inch bull. Shoot no more than 20 rounds per session, and try to get all of them in the black. Very few shooters can do this; if you can get 18 or 19 into the 10-ring, you’ve done very well.
Finally, remember two things: First, practicing offhand is logistically easier, cheaper, and more valuable to real hunters than practicing at long range will ever be. So there’s no excuse not to do it. Second, shooting is a sport of muscle memory, repp­titian, and concentration, so shoot lots. And good luck getting the .22 ammo.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2014/12/how-to-shoot-a-rifle-offhand?cmpid=enews123114b&spPodID=020&spMailingID=7393611&spUserID=NjI2NzA0MjQyMzcS1&spJobID=583926057&spReportId=NTgzOTI2MDU3S0