Getting your rifle ready for a hunt means putting in some quality range time and checking for functionality as well as accuracy.

Over the years I have hunted with a wide assortment of rifles, and I’ve seen all kinds of bizarre problems pop up. Most are fixable, but the most important thing is you need time to fix them. So the first rule in getting ready for a “big hunt,” whatever that means to you, is to plan ahead. Make your decisions on rifles and optics early in the process, so that you have time for at least a half-dozen range sessions before the hunt date rolls around.

The exact zero you choose depends on where and what you’re hunting as well as your chosen cartridge. This .35 Whelen Ackley Improved is zeroed dead-on at 100 yards, a good choice for close-cover hunting.

For most of us this means months, but even if you have a range in your backyard and can shoot every day, don’t think you can cram for the exam. Especially if you’re setting up a new rifle for a hunt, you need time to work out the kinks. But even if the chosen rifle is an old friend, you need to check things out far enough ahead to allow time for a bit of gunsmithing, if needed, or even to come up with a backup plan. This is especially true if you’re going on an international hunt where you need to obtain a firearms permit ahead of time.

The first steps should be taken before you are committed to taking that particular rifle. Start by inspecting it carefully from butt to muzzle. If stocked in wood, are there any cracks? If the barrel is free-floated, as the majority of factory rifles are today, take a sheet of paper and run it between the fore-end and the barrel, making sure there’s clearance where there’s supposed to be. This can change; one of my own favorite rifles developed some warping in the fore-end, and I had to take some sandpaper to the barrel channel to regain clearance. Make sure the sling swivel studs are secure. You’ll need to inspect your sling as well, but sling swivel studs are a common point of failure, and if a stud pulls out (or your sling breaks) your rifle is in for a nasty fall.

Making certain the rifle is empty, check the safety for proper functioning, and check all the screws. Action screws should be tight, but not over-tightened, just good and snug. Scope mounts and scope mounting are among the biggest culprits. If you are mounting a scope yourself, please read the directions and follow them. If a scope is already mounted, then check all the screws. They need to be tight, but over-tightening remains a problem: if you break a scope mount screw, you’re in a pickle.

Scope mount screws need to be tight, and with torque wrenches so common today many instruction sheets suggest exactly how tight. About 30 pounds is usually plenty, and you definitely don’t want to overdo it and strip or break the mount screws.

Now it’s time to go to the range, but that first session isn’t about accuracy. You can work on that later. The first concern is to make sure the rifle functions properly and consistently. Most of us single-load at the bench and that’s OK, but do at least some of your shooting from a full magazine so you can make sure the rifle performs its basic functions of feeding, firing, extracting, and ejecting, every single time. This applies to old friends as well as new ones because it’s always possible for parts to wear or break.

At some point you’ll need to make decisions on the perfect load for the game you intend to hunt, but initially it’s better to try as wide a variety of loads as you can get your hands on. The accuracy of most rifles varies at least a bit with different loads, and some vary a whole bunch. The most accurate load may not be the one you choose. You may opt instead for the performance qualities of a certain bullet that doesn’t print the tightest groups in your rifle, or you may compromise between accuracy and velocity.

On any hunt that might involve long-range shooting it’s wise to check the velocity of the load you intend to use with a chronograph. That’s the only way you can know the real trajectory of your load.

This decision should be based on the game you are hunting. There are usually several perfectly sound options, so it takes a few range sessions to narrow the field. Eventually you will make your choice. You can continue to practice with other ammo that might be cheaper or more available, but once you’ve decided on the load you intend to use, several steps follow. First, especially with the current ammo shortages, make sure you have enough for the hunt, and a bit more for final zeroing. Then inspect every cartridge you plan to take on the hunt. Factory ammo is awfully good today, and I’m sure your handloads are as perfect as mine . . . but I’ve found the occasional crumpled case neck and even an upside-down primer. Take that ammo on your next trip to the range and run every cartridge from the magazine, into the chamber, and out into your hand and back into the box. Now you know all your cartridges will chamber, so set that ammunition aside until you’re ready to pack.

Practice as much as you can. If it’s a hard-recoiling rifle, ration yourself to just a few shots at each range session, but shoot a lot more with a light-recoiling rifle. All shooting is to the good, and there’s no better training tool than a good old .22 rimfire.

A rifle should probably be fired at least fifty times before taking it on a serious hunt, but perfectly good practice can and should be done with a .22. This saves money and also reduces the cumulative recoil you must deal with.

You should always check zero when you get to your hunting destination, but you still want to establish your zero with the load you intend to hunt with at least two range sessions before departure. Where that zero should be is another decision based on where and what you will be hunting. In some cases you may want to be dead-on at 100 yards, but you may choose a 200 or even 300-yard zero. That’s up to you, but don’t leave it until the last range session, and make sure you establish that zero with a cold barrel. By the way, if shooting at longer ranges is likely, check the velocity of your chosen load with a chronograph. That is the only way that you can be absolutely certain of your trajectory.

This is another point in the process where you might consider a backup plan. If it’s a distant “once in a lifetime” hunt, consider setting up a spare scope in rings. I don’t do this all the time, but there have been a couple of times when I’m glad I did. If you use detachable mounts, then the extra scope can be zeroed right along with the primary, but if you take a bad fall or your scope mysteriously falls apart and you decide to switch scopes, you will still need to check zero before continuing the hunt.

On that last range session you can start by checking that zero once more from a cold barrel. Then do whatever shooting you need to do. Hopefully you’ve been cleaning your rifle right along, especially if you’re breaking in a new barrel, but I like to clean the barrel one last time at the end of that final range session. Many rifles shoot to a slightly different point of impact when freshly cleaned, so after cleaning I fire a couple of “fouling shots.” Then I let the barrel cool completely and check zero one last time. Now your rifle should be ready. Hopefully you are as well.

During your initial range sessions with a new rifle try as many different loads as you can get your hands on. Accuracy usually varies from load to load—sometimes significantly—but there are usually several good choices.

Leave a Comment

A new rifle engineered for the serious female hunter.

With the introduction of the new Model 11/111 Lady Hunter, Savage Arms is one of the first rifle manufacturers to design a rifle specifically for women. Most gunmakers seem to think a “lady’s” rifle is just a standard rifle with the stock cut down and maybe some pink highlights, but the engineers at Savage consulted with serious women hunters (yours truly included) and discovered that there is a lot more to it than that.

Stock design is key, and they spent a lot of time getting it right. This rifle has an extra-high comb to accommodate women’s proportionally longer neck length, and the way it is sloped makes it easy to get the right view through a scope. Savage also reduced the girth of the pistol grip and moved it closer to the trigger guard. Weight was another crucial consideration. Conventional wisdom said that women want “light” rifles, but Savage discovered that overall weight was not really the problem–the issue was front-end weight. So they went with a shorter (20-inch), lighter barrel and a slimmed-down fore-end, but retained the weight in the receiver and stock. The result is a rifle with handling characteristics I instantly fell in love with–and so, interestingly, did a lot of men who tried it.

The only drawback, for me? Savage designed the rifle with a 12½-inch length of pull, which would be perfect for many women, but at 5’7”, I found the stock too short. Bill Dermody of Savage told me that the company intends to offer spacers that can be easily installed to lengthen the stock for us long-geared gals, which would easily solve the problem.

My test rifle came in .30-06 and shot minute-of-angle right out of the box with 150-grain Federal Fusion ammo. Even with the short stock, it was so comfortable to shoot I could have stayed at the range all day. Other caliber choices include .22-250, .223 Remington, .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .308 Winchester, 7mm-08 Remington, and what I think would be the perfect chambering for this rifle, the 6.5 Creedmoor.

The gun weighs 6 pounds and tipped the scale at 7.5 pounds with the Burris 3-10×40 scope I mounted on it. The rifle has Savage’s wonderful AccuTrigger, a detachable box magazine, and top tang safety. And no, there’s no pink (thank heavens) but we ladies do like our stuff to look nice—hence the beautiful oil-finish walnut stock. Congratulations, Savage Arms. You’ve hit it out of the park with this one.

Savage Arms, 413/568-7001
savagearms.com

Leave a Comment

Hunting Cape buffalo with an Aimpoint sight

Consider the Cape buffalo. Humped with muscle at the shoulder and neck, black like a pirate, stump-legged and bellicose, he stands immobile sniffing the air. His upper lip curls back to reveal a toothless sneer, only pink gum showing, his wet nose jutted forward to catch any scent that might betray whatever it is that disturbs him–a peculiar lump in the grass.

I am the lump. I’m still right now, sipping tepid warm water from my CamelBak after crawling on my hands and knees some 80 yards across a wide open Zambezi flood plain, the only way to approach the herd of 300-plus buffalo without a stick of cover between us. Mercifully, my knees are protected from the craggy ground of the dry-season plain by a set of Arc’teryx knee pads. My hands squish into fresh buffalo dung as I crawl, but a pair of black leather gloves keeps the tan muck from oozing between my fingers.

I gingerly raise a Leica 7×42 binocular, pressing the rubber eyecups to my eyebrows. A hard-bossed bull is mingled with cows and calves, a typically frustrating situation when trying to pick a particular bull in a herd of over 300 buffalo. Now you see him, now you don’t.

The herd is calm. Many are still lying down in the mid-day heat, chewing cuds and swishing flies away with tuft-tipped tails. The bull is old, his curvaceous horn tips worn down from years of rubbing. Like most buffalo here in Coutada 10, which borders the famous Marremou Game Reserve, once home to Africa’s largest herds of buffalo of some 100,000 strong, he is narrow of spread.

Hammered during Mozambique’s long civil war but bouncing back through sound game management, the buffalo herd today in the Marremou Reserve numbers perhaps 30,000 buffalo of which about 12,000 range across Coutada 10. “Coutada” is the old Portuguese term for “hunting area.” There are no fences at all, only swamps and papyrus beds, miles and miles worth.

Mozambique buffalo, at least here in the coastal region of the Zambezi River delta, are genetically predisposed to narrow spreads, making for unimpressive trophies. I hear that the odd 40-incher is taken every season, but I’m a skeptic. I always check the skinning shed when I arrive in a safari camp to get an idea of an area’s possibilities, and in this camp’s shed I measure four buffalo: 33, 33, 35 and 37 inches.

My professional hunter, Jacques Kellermann, an Afrikaaner from Pretoria, said he expects clients to shoot a solid-bossed buffalo of around 36 inches, on average. The buffalo in the shed average 34.5 inches, below the norm.

But I don’t care. I’m not here for a Gold Medal. I’d have to go much further upstream, into the lower Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe, to have a reasonable expectation of a good buffalo. Here I settle for a hard-bossed, mature, old bull, never mind his dinky spread.

I inch closer, head bowed so not to show my face to the curious buffalo looking at the oddly shaped lump wobbling toward them in the grass. My rifle is a new-production Winchester Model 70 Safari Express chambered in .458 Win. Mag. It’s essentially the same Model 70 that “Winchester” made before its New Haven plant closed down, but now one with the “Winchester” name stamped in FN’s North Carolina plant. I’m delighted to find that the trigger on “the rifleman’s rifle” is greatly improved, thanks to new a three-point leverage system. It feels like a 2-pound match trigger. It’s not, of course, but the compound leverage of the FN-improved trigger gives it a much lighter feel.

I wear a Kifaru day pack with a CamelBak and other “essentials” like spare ammo, a SureFire flashlight, first aid kit, knee pads, gloves, and other stuff. I slide the rifle sideways in between my back and the pack, a comfortable and convenient way to carry a rifle while on hands and knees crawling. I make sure not to point the barrel at anyone on my left, not that anyone else is on the flood plain beside Jacques, who’s in front.

Jacques and I are now 40 yards from the herd and we dare not go closer. A dozen cows are looking at us with the Motorola dog’s quizzical stare. A calf bleats. Cattle egrets mill about. Tick birds prance across a sea of black backs, orange and red beaks shining beautifully.
I set up my short Stoney Point shooting sticks, the ones made for the sitting position. I nestle the Winchester’s forend into the V of the sticks and look at the herd through an Aimpoint “Hunter” optical sight. My “Hunter” is a new model from the Swedish sight manufacturer, featuring a single red “dot” aiming point in a much larger tube diameter than previous versions. This one sports a nice, fat 34mm tube diameter, compared to 30mm of previous models. Additionally, the tube features a longer overall body to allow for greater versatility in ring placement.

The Aimpoint’s battery life is absurdly long. Turn it on and leave it on—-and the battery lasts an unbelievable 50,000 hours, or just shy of six years. The dot’s brightness can be adjusted easily with a rheostat switch. I say again—-six years!
The red dot settles on the buffalo’s black shoulder. I notice how easy and fast the sight acquisition is, the dot jumping out like a landing light on a dark airstrip. At the shot, the buffalo hunches. I reload with the rifle at my shoulder and watch as the herd gallops away in a haze of dust.

I know what will happen. The bull will slip to the back and fall behind, which I anticipate by getting back on the sticks and watching around the red dot as the herd stampedes away. When they’re about 170 yards away, a solitary bull slows to a labored walk, dropping behind the disappearing herd.

I rock him with another 500 gr. Swift A-Frame. He staggers, lurches forward. My third round in the Winchester’s magazine is a solid and I hold high on his back. He tumbles sideways, legs go awry, dead as he hits the ground. No death bellow; the last shot breaks his spine.

Before closing in, I laser the distance: 209 yards for the third shot. The first was about 40 yards and took the heart; the second was about 160 and hit the lungs. I’m pleased that the Aimpoint could deliver not just a first-shot on the money, but two follow-ups as well. Two hundred yards is damn good for a non-magnified sight.

The Aimpoint “Hunter” finds a home on my .458 as I realize that the optic’s unlimited field of view and bright red dot are tailor-made for dangerous game in

Technical Specifications: Aimpoint H34L

Length: 9.0”
Tube Diameter: 34mm
Weight: 9 ozs.
Reticle: red dot, 2 MOA
Field Of View: unlimited
Magnification: 1x (none)
Battery Life: 50,000 hours
Included: 34mm Weaver-style rings, battery, adjustment tool

Leave a Comment

Now more than ever, lever-action rifles are a great choice for big-game hunting.

Like a lot of kids, I grew up in the Northwest during a time when blue jeans were not a fashion statement and most everyone got a haircut once a week. The opening of big-game season was a big deal. When the first part of October rolled around and everyone headed for their favorite hunting grounds, most of the rifles that came off the gun racks were lever actions. Models and calibers varied, but most of the rifles were Winchesters or Marlins.

To the farmers and ranchers, they were just a reliable tool, just like a shovel or rake. They stood in the corner of the porch or hung on a peg in the barn most of the year so they were easy to get to in case some varmint started bothering the livestock or digging holes in the field. I can even remember seeing a few that were painted black so they wouldn’t rust.

It does make you wonder why the lever gun was the rifle of choice over the more modern scope-sighted bolt-action rifles. When you stop to think, it makes sense. The typical lever rifle is a bit shorter and lighter than a bolt rifle. Little maintenance is required to keep it in working order. A lever rifle is designed so that if it is dropped in the mud or dirt all that is needed is a slosh in the creek or a hit with an air hose to keep it operational. The thin profile makes it a natural to fit in a saddle scabbard or hang against a wall, and you can stuff a half dozen rounds in the magazine so in most cases you don’t have to carry extra rounds in your pocket.

And in those days, if you were blessed by being left-handed, the selection of good hunting rifles was very limited–except for the ambidextrous lever gun, which didn’t care which side of the stock you put your cheek.

When Savage discontinued the popular Model 99 a couple of years ago and when Winchester announced this winter that there would be no more Model 94s, some people thought the lever gun was going to fade into obscurity. Nothing could be further from the truth. These guns have been around since the end of the Civil War and they aren’t going away any time soon.

One activity that will ensure the longevity of the lever rifle is the popularity of Cowboy Action shooting. The rifle portion of this fast-growing sport is almost exclusively lever guns. What could be more fun than dressing up like Wild Bill or Calamity Jane and banging away at steel gongs from the back of a wooden horse or behind a hay bale? There is so much interest in this sport that Marlin and other manufacturers and importers are producing rifles specifically for the Cowboy Action shooters that are chambered for the old cartridges and feature long octagonal barrels, buckhorn sights, and crescent bull plates. Ammunition manufacturers such as Black Hills, Winchester, Ultramax, and others are making ammunition specifically for Cowboy Action shooters with lead bullet loads that are ballistically equal to the original factory loads from a hundred-plus years ago. That has given new life to old cartridges such as the .38-40, .44 Russian, and .45 Schofield, not to mention the .45 Long Colt, .38-55, and .45-70.

For the big-game hunter, modern technology combined with old, proven designs means that lever guns can now equal the performance of the most modern rifles on the market. Some raise the question of the accuracy of lever-action versus bolt-action rifles, but in most cases, the rifle will shoot better than the person pulling the trigger. Performance on game is a matter of the cartridge and the bullet, not the mechanism that is used to launch it.

The Browning BLR is chambered for .22-250 up through .325 WSM and most popular cartridges in between, including the other WSMs–.270 WSM, 7mm WSM, and .300 WSM. If it’s a long-action cartridge you want, the BLR is also chambered in .270 Winchester, .30-06, 7mm Remington Magnum, and .300 Winchester Magnum. Because of its side-eject mechanism, a scope can be mounted low over the centerline of the bore so fit and sight alignment are as natural as any bolt-action rifle. The other advantage of the BLR is the detachable box magazine the rounds are fed through. There is no need for concern about cartridges loaded one behind the other as there is in a tubular magazine where the bullet is resting against the primer of the cartridge in front of it. Spitzer bullets can be used safely in these box-magazine lever-action rifles, just as they can in bolt actions. (The Savage Model 99 had this same advantage with its rotary magazine, and in later Model 99s, a detachable box magazine.)

Marlin has been making lever-action rifles almost as long as Winchester has. The design of their many models has changed little over the years except for the advent of modern materials and some different variations. The short-action Model 1894, chambered for .44 Magnum, is a great, fast-pointing, close-quarters brush gun for deer.

The Model 336 and Model 1895 are the longer versions, chambered for .30-30 and up to the potent bear-stopping .450 Marlin. All versions of the Marlin lever rifles have a side-eject so a scope can be mounted low over the receiver.

One of the most popular rifles in the Marlin line was introduced a few years ago. The Guide Gun, a version of the popular Model 336, was intended to be used as a backup gun for guides and outfitters who hunt in the North Country where the big bears live. Weighing less than six pounds, with a short barrel that is ported to reduce recoil and made of stainless steel to resist salt spray and moisture, it is fast, handy, and can deliver many rounds in a hurry if needed. First chambered for .45-70, and later for .450 Marlin, it is potent medicine that can be counted on when the need arises.

The one criticism of tubular-magazine lever-action rifles like the Marlins and Winchester 94s has always been that they could be loaded only with round- or flat-nosed bullets to prevent potential detonation of rounds in the magazine as the bullet is resting against the primer of the round in front of it. Consequently, the ballistic coefficient of these bullets was not as high as a spitzer-style bullet of the same caliber and weight.

Hornady cured this problem when it introduced LEVERevolution ammunition in five of the most popular cartridges chambered in tubular-magazine lever-action rifles. Now anyone who shoots a .30-30, .35 Remington, .444 Marlin, .45-70, or .450 Marlin can take advantage of this ammunition, which is loaded with a spitzer-style bullet. The secret is a high-tech Elastomer tip that gives the round the ballistic coefficient of a spitzer, yet is pliable enough to absorb the shock against the primer of the round in front of it, eliminating any possibility of an accidental discharge. With this new bullet design, Hornady is advertising an additional 250 fps muzzle velocity and better downrange terminal performance than the traditional flatpoint or roundnose bullets. Great idea!

Not to be overlooked are the trusty little rimfire lever-action rifles. Marlin’s Model 39, Winchester’s 9422 (if you can find one), and a couple of imports are quality little rifles that shoot well and will last long enough to pass on to the next generation. They are also great rifles for plinking or for teaching someone to shoot. The exposed hammer that makes it easy to see if the rifle is ready to fire and the conscious effort of cycling the lever for the next round are all safety elements that help the new shooter and his or her instructor.

Lever-action rifles are here to stay. A lot of critters have bit the dust over the years at the hands of a competent hunter carrying a lever-action rifle, and that will continue for years to come. If you doubt it, just go back and read “The Medicine Gun for Lions” in the August 2006 issue of Sports Afield. The author, Edmund Lewis, proved that an old Model 95 Winchester chambered in .405 could still kill a lion just as well today as it did for Teddy Roosevelt almost a hundred years ago.

Leave a Comment

Optics aren’t just an adjunct to a hunt, they’re an amplifier, increasing your visual pleasure, providing more information, and saving time and steps.

Naturally, you’ll need a binocular for your hunt. But when you travel, don’t pack your glass in your checked luggage. First, you don’t want to risk having an expensive set of optics lifted by a sticky-fingered baggage handler. But more to the point, your binocular is too useful to restrict to hunting camp only. Include it in your carry-on bag or even wear it around your neck. And use it often. Just as it’s important to dry-fire your rifle to develop and maintain proficiency, so is it essential to practice glassing whenever possible, whether you’re studying a bird outside your hotel window or the Rockies from the Salt Lake City airport waiting room.

If you fear drawing attention with your Swarovski 10×42 ELs in JFK (although I haven’t heard of any TSA bans on them yet), try the smaller 8x32s or even a unit as small as a 8×20 compact. A well-made miniature binocular can never transmit as much light or resolve quite as much detail as an equally well-made, full-size binocular, but the higher-quality pocket models come surprisingly close. And they’re so compact, so light, you can store them in a corner of any carry-on bag, or even your shirt pocket. Even if you then pack a full-size hunting binocular, you’ll have a back up. But don’t settle for an inexpensive, off-brand mini binocular. At this size, materials and construction must be first-rate.

Another option is to carry a mid-sized tool such as the 8×32 Swarovski EL or any similar instrument from a top-line manufacturer. Roughly 4.5 inches square and weighing around 20 ounces, 8x32s are my idea of the perfect all-round travel and hunting binocular. Their 4mm exit pupil, coupled with some of the industry’s most efficient multi-coated lenses and phase-coated prisms, makes them bright enough for effective use 30 minutes to 45 minutes after sunset. Heck, I’ve used them on full-moon nights to detect single stems of tall, winter grass against brushy backgrounds at 60 yards. Pack something like this in your carry-on and you might not even need a larger binocular in your baggage.

If, like this traveling hunter, you love what a spotting scope does for your viewing pleasure, consider taking it along, too. You’re not going to wear a 3-pound spotting scope around your neck, but you might squeeze it into a carefully packed carry-on bag. An acceptable compromise between too big and too small is something like the mid-sized Swarovski ATS 20-60x65MM HD, at 2.4 pounds and 13 inches. I frequently fit one of these in my camera backpack, along with an amazing collection of lenses, bodies, a flash, chargers, binoculars, toiletries, spare socks, underwear, shirt–everything I figure I’ll need to survive lost baggage for a day or two. They won’t let me pack a gun in there, but at least I’ll be able to view, study, and photograph wildlife while awaiting the delayed firearms.

I find a spotting scope essential for sizing up open-country game like sheep, goats, and pronghorns. Lots of magnification is also critical for hunting trophy mule deer, elk, whitetails, and even African antelope. Anything with horns or antlers really requires a careful, high magnification vetting if you’re aiming for maximum trophy quality. A binocular is rarely sufficient for seeing small details, and an inch of horn often spans the difference between “book” and no-cigar. Sure, you can let your guide do the studying through his spotter, but that hardly enriches your experience.

If you’re going to pack any optic with a magnification above 12X, it’ll need solid support. A tripod is best. To save weight, I screw a small photo ball head or the Switcheroo head atop a Bog-Pod tripod and slip it into my rifle case. This unit weighs about 2 pounds, but its legs telescope from 22 to 68 inches. Taped together with supplied Velcro, it works fairly well as a walking staff. At camp it suffices as a support pole for rain tarps or laundry lines. Attach a spotting scope or binocular to the head for steady glassing at any height from sitting to standing. Screw on the yoke and use as a rifle rest. After your shot, you can even attach your camera to the tripod and get some self-portraits.

Leave a Comment