What are you going to work on over the summer?

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DesertRam

Director
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I've seen several posts about the season winding down. Mine is no different, have effectively ended in February (there is no coyote season in NM, and other furbearers go through March 15). I won't really get back to calling until the fall, so I'm 6-7 months away from my next stand. Some of you are in the same situation. That got me to wondering - what are you going to work on over the summer to get you ready for next fall? What improvement or modification do you want to make?

There are three things I want to get done.
1. The first relates to firearms. I have two ARs that I typically use for calling. The main one is shown in post 29 of the Show me your calling rifle thread. The other is a similar build, but with a little different theme. It's much shorter and lighter. However, it is currently unsuppressed. I'd like to send the barrel/upper off and have it threaded so can use my YHM suppressor on it. Any tips or suggestions for who should do that work?
2. The second relates to optics. My main calling rifle is set up with a Nightforce SHV 3-10x40. It's a great scope, but presents two issues for me. First, I noticed this calling season that the fine crosshairs are a lot harder for me to see than in years past. My aging eyes just aren't happy with things up close. I also find that 3x is a bit much for some calling situations. Though I still use a shotgun in some really tight places, I find myself using the rifle on stands where action can be up close and personal. With that in mind I ordered a Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8x. I have a 1-4x on my "little" AR and like it, so I'm going to try that on the "big" AR. I'm not a fan of cluttered reticles, so there is some risk with the Strike Eagle. Time will tell.
3. The third relates to sounds. My old Shockwave is full of sounds from 2011 or so (when I won it in the Championship Egg Shoot). These are still effective, but I want to spice it up a bit. I think I'll add some MFK and Cal Taylor sounds before I start calling later this fall.

So, what are y'all going to work on? If you made a change this year and it worked, share that with us. My best "predator calling hack" was the addition of sunglasses with cheaters. Yeah, eyes again. The remote was getting harder and harder to see, so I now use sunglasses with a 1.25x bifocal area. What a difference that makes on stand. Can't wear them walking in though, that sucks. But swapping to them once on stand has made a big difference.
 
I just bought a 1924 German 16ga hammer sxs with good percentage of case colour left. It has a few stock issues that I'll be repairing looking at it for dove and quail.

Work up a.load.for the 22-250 AI. It shoots great with the first load I tried.but I think I want to try a 55gr SP in it.

Get the sand rail up and running for next season.

Shoot some carp and get some fishing in this year. There is a lake down here that has big northern pike that I sure want to get to.

Do a.little more prospecting and rock hounding.

Other than that try and stay out of trouble, "Idle hands are the tools of the devil".
 
I’m going to burn out my 22-250 barrel on some prairie dog towns.

Order a 22 creed barrel (still can’t decide on what twist and bullet I want to shoot).

Shoot the bow a lot and get ready to kill some elk and deer.

Figure out what thermal scope I want to upgrade to. Seems like my top two change weekly.

Try to not buy a Seekins SP10m in a 6 creed. Hopefully everything above keeps me out of trouble haha.
 
I am a big fan of the 243 cal and have acquired an older Savage 110 that has some beautiful wood but needs a barrel. I posted about this rifle and got lots of suggestions to help but nothing has helped the problem, it just flings that bullet out there willy-nilly. I've tried 58gr, 75gr, 87gr and 100gr through the 1-10 twist and no improvement. It currently has a high polished blue barrel with barrel nut and is tapered down to the muzzle which is very small diameter. Any suggestions where to look?
 
Nothing grand like some here but I plan to do some bullet testing to find the best jump gap and then do some 300 + work to verify my loads. There's no range around my area beyond 200 yards so I'll probably go out to one my farms and test.
 
Well lots of practice, work on some load combinations ( I love to play and adjust)

I have a new barrel in 22 br. coming so there's that. (Looking forward to it)

We have an election coming up on the 28th of this month. Very concerned about the out come.
Those Liberals are a bunch of f--king retards...we as country need to vote conservative...if not I am afraid all are freedoms as firearm owners are gone.😡
 
22mag....
Have you looked at the muzzle of the barrel
for a ding or burr in the rifling? My first rifle was a 110 in 243 and it shot great. Those skinny barrels sometimes get bumped and without a target crown bad things can happen. Mine happened in the floor board of my old jeep. Sure wish I had that jeep and rifle back now.
 
Making more serious attempts at getting a bear in the freezer, exploring deeper into the woods, getting practice in the woods at night starting with locating at night, locating first if coyotes or finding fresh sign first if bears rather than impatiently calling convenient random openings, calling the cover, experiment with large pond setups as they’re everywhere here
 
22magnum22 said:
I am a big fan of the 243 cal and have acquired an older Savage 110 that has some beautiful wood but needs a barrel. I posted about this rifle and got lots of suggestions to help but nothing has helped the problem, it just flings that bullet out there willy-nilly. I've tried 58gr, 75gr, 87gr and 100gr through the 1-10 twist and no improvement. It currently has a high polished blue barrel with barrel nut and is tapered down to the muzzle which is very small diameter. Any suggestions where to look?
Click to expand...
Not knowledgeable in barrel makers but did you try different amounts of a pressure point at the front of the stock? And the 3 Savages I have owned (Model 11's) in plastic were all very sensitive to the torque of the action screws.
 
I've got to work on my night rifle load, had some weird misses and come to find out I'll get a random flier on target, both in that rifle and in it's twin. Gee I wonder if it's because of the blems bullets I was using that say "won't shoot/group" on the box as the reason they're blems?

Also going to put the thermal on a plinker type rifle, probably 223 carbine, so I can utilize it more without burning 243's up. I should come up with another tripod so my daughter can shoot with me. Come to find out tripods are outstanding for beginner marksmen and old hands alike.

I'm really debating having a couple sporterized military actions rebarreled. I have a nice 98 Mauser and an 03A3 that my hometown hobbyist smith worked over, probably 30ish years ago. Neither shoots great anymore so I was thinking of making the 98 into a nice light 7x57 and the 03A3 going back with 6.5-06, which it is now, but with an 8 twist to shoot todays' bullets. The guy that built them has long since passed, and the guy who I got them from means a lot to me so they have sentimental value.
 
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