Oh, Lord that felt good............:)

[3006guns]

No technical date, not a new load or anything like that....

I'm retired and have been cooped up in this house for over three months due to the winter weather. On top of that, I'm babysitting my 15 month old grand daughter during the week so having an adult conversation is impossible until the daughter in law picks her up. By then, it's dark.

Today...relief! No babysitting and no other responsibilities, so I grabbed the first rifle I could lay hands on, a 1903A3, some cast loads and beat feet to the local range while it was still daylight.

150 grain, GC boolit sized .310 on top of 17.5 grains of 2400. Rear sight set at 700 yds...held at six o'clock on the gong at 200 yards. Enjoyed the modest recoil, but no hit. Hmm. Put the sight blade on the middle of the gong and WHACK! Made that thing dance like a jitterbug king. Eight more rounds exactly the same. A friend showed up and I advised him on leading in his .44 magnum then shot the bull for about twenty minutes. Packed up the rifle and headed home. Cleaned it carefully, wiped it down and stored the remaining ammo. Made a mental note to order more gas checks from the sellers on this website.

Big smile on my face. It's going to be a great summer...........:)

[Uncle Jimbo]

:goodpost:

[OS OK]

You are a 'fine Grampa'…now that you have had your reward... get some diapers and baby powder ready...cuz winter's gonna be a while yet.

May your spring/summer reward you again in Aces!

OS OK

PS…Teach that granddaughter to handload ASAP…somebodys got to inherit all those tools and put them to good use!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

You do live in God's country, that's for sure. Back in the '80s a friend and I used to hunt on Mt. Bidwell and around the south end of Goose Lake. Thought about moving there until we chatted with a local who mentioned that one winter it hit -35. There was a Wild Plum Winery on 395 between Alturas and Lakeview. Really delicious stuff. Bought half a dozen bottles and took them home and stored them away for future reference. A couple of years later I thought I'd try some and couldn't find it. I asked my wife if she had relocated the bottles, and she just smiled....

[Virginian]

Great post!

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Three months without a shot; I'd go bananas!:redneck:

[No_1]

When I was young I lived for the quantity of shooting time. Now that I am older and less foolish with my components I live for the quality of my shooting time.

[Hickok]

3006 I too have the cabin fever. About a week, I grabbed one of my Smith .44's and some loads, locked the F150 in FWD and went off road. Found a place with some sandstone peaking up through the snow, stood in the snow and re-enacted Harry Callohan downing the punk running across the football field! "Made my day!"

[Windwalker 45acp]

I too got in some warm barrel time saturday. Mostly 38spc, but I did get some 7.62x39 brass emptied of the evil copper j-words so that I can develop some 155 grainers up.
Picking up my brass laid me up for a day or two... gonna have to rig me a tarp and bucket up.

[Good Cheer]

Saturday was great here too. The better 2/3's perforated targets, got to go to a gun show and we had a steak dinner.
Man I think she's still smiling.

[tmag97]

What Mold did you use? I have a 1903 and would like to cast for that rifle. I have cast pistol boolits for a long time. Still have lots to learn , might as stick both feet in the water.

[Old Ranger]

I have a 2 groove 03A3. I use Lyman 311291 sized 311 and 2400 powder as my go to plinking load. My rifle had a badly worn barrel when I bought it years ago. It did shoot cast bullets sized 311 OK. Found a brand new 2 groove barrel and have never looked back. Have had good success with 4198 as well. 03A3's are not that common up here in Canada. Attracts some attention at the range from the uninformed who may recognize a Lee Enfield but think everything else must be Mauser or Moisant Nagant . My favourite plinking rifle.

[smokeywolf]

Proud to hear (read) that you got out and had some "me time". Have to admit though, it's great that you and your granddaughter are having this extremely valuable time together.

Not too many powders that give the accuracy and consistency in a 03 Springfield that 2400 produces.

[Boolseye]

same here, nice warm one along the NH/VT border, good little group at the range–shot the breeze as much as the firearms...

[WRideout]

When I was in College at Chico State, north of Sacramento, I nearly didn't graduate due to the abundance of hunting and fishing in the area. I did make a trip in the general direction of Alturas to hunt rabbits, but didn't bag any that day. It really is the old west yet; i drove by the pens that the BLM used to round up the wild ponies. The West is a very vast place, and sometimes I still miss it.
Wayne

[jsn]

Teach her to reload and shoot. Start 'em early.