Range time

[Boerrancher]

The temp is in the mid 20's and there is no wind. I am headed to the range with Dad's 7mm RUM. I am starting with 100 grs of AA8700 behind a 160gr BTSP. I test fired it yesterday and was surprised with the recoil. It is no where near what my Sharps 45-70 cav carbine dishes out with a load of 70 grains of the Holy Black and a 405 grain cast bullet. I am want to get this thing zeroed. Dad bought it new and never even got a scope on it before he got sick. So yesterdays test round was the first round through it. It is a Rem 700, and I have always had good luck with Remington rifles as far as accuracy, so lets hope it still holds true. Based upon the lack of pressure shown I have lots of room to go up or down a few percentage points on the load. I also have some heavier and lighter bullets to play with as well. I am wanting a rifle that I can sit on my back deck and bust coyotes and deer at the lower end of my bottom field.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Boerrancher]

One sore shoulder and bloody nose later, I am pleased to report the rifle shoots fairly well for a factory gun... for the first 3 shots anyway. It is burning so much powder that after three shots from a cold barrel it has enough heat coming off of it the mirage makes it impossible to see through the scope. The first 3 shots will go into a nice ragged hole that can be covered with a dime. After that you may as well throw rocks until the barrel cools... The 4th and 5th shots turned my one 1/2 inch or less group into a 3 inch group, so I went down to the creek and threw rocks for a while until it cooled down. My next 5 shot group was the same, and after cooling down my final 5 shots duplicated the results.

I think it will be a fine hunting rifle, for the mountains and open areas where long shots are possible, but I doubt it will be a target rifle, even if I played with the loads. I think the barrel is just too light to have 100 grs of powder being burnt down it repeatedly. I don't see the need to change my load much with the first 3 going in one ragged hole. You can't ask for anything better for hunting, because I never get more than one shot anyway.

Best wishes,

Joe

[farmerjim]

Only the first shot really counts when hunting.

[Chicken Thief]

Recoil has to do with bullet weight vs. rifle weight.
A 300gr, 400gr and 500gr bullet out of a 458 WinMag with the same E0 will defenetly not kick the same!
A 300gr is quite plesant but the 500gr will kick the snot out of you, all else being equal.

[runfiverun]

one sore shoulder and a bloody nose later.....
yeah that is not the kind of thing that instills confidence in quality shooting.

it did make me laugh though.

[Springfield0612]

Speaking of sore. I had my 120 pound wife shooting a .348 Winchester 250 grain bullets and a single shot 12 gauge. Bruised shoulder, but she's a champ!

[Chicken Thief]

Not eweryone can learn that the recoil is the same whether you hit or miss/flinch.
Oh, and that you cant miss hard enough to kill anything.

[Boerrancher]

one sore shoulder and a bloody nose later.....
yeah that is not the kind of thing that instills confidence in quality shooting.

it did make me laugh though.

Well, the recoil doesn't bother me. I was shooting a single barrel diamond arms 12 ga by the time I was 9 and weighed about 70 lbs. That was also about the same time I started shooting Dad's 7mm Rem Mag. off the bench. Now with all of the shoulder surgeries I have had since I was wounded after I pull the trigger the first time even on a 243 win my right shoulder and arm go numb for the entire time I am shooting.

The bloody nose was my fault. My glasses slid down on the bridge of my nose and I don't know if it was the scope or my thumb that caught them and one of the welds cut my nose. The reason I don't know if it was the scope or my thumb is because as I stated above after the first shot I have no feeling in my arm from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers, thumb in this case. There wasn't much blood it was just a small cut.

Over all I really enjoyed shooting the rifle. I was the only one on the range and every time I would pull the trigger the roar of the rifle would echo in the valley. It just seem to go on forever. If anyone near by was sleeping in late I am sure they weren't after my trip to the range.

Best wishes,

Joe

[TheGrimReaper]

one sore shoulder and a bloody nose later.....
yeah that is not the kind of thing that instills confidence in quality shooting.

it did make me laugh though.


Yea the bloody nose part got me!

[41 mag fan]

The bloody nose gave me a laugh Joe!!
100gr in a 7mm RUM....whew...that'll kick