Well, we had to bag the 250-for-old-folks class last month, due to an unexpected domestic situation. Color me highly annoyed. I told the wife we are going to the next one in 2017, regardless of relatives who cannot keep their feces consolidated. They will be SOL if this bullshit comes up again.Originally Posted by GJM
Assuming, of course, my HKs are still legal to own by then...
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Practical rifle breach loading and benchrest breach loading are not the same thing. Bob sleds and similar are for the latter.
I never answered this.
The issue I had with the compact was twofold. First was that the forearm was too short, both for my long arms AND for the Ching Sling. Second was that the Compact stock comes in at the suggested length (suggested by Randy and others) without cutting, but it is too short for my long arms/long neck/bony frame. I wound up not having room to run the bolt with my face stuck to the stock, and getting chastised for moving it when I shouldn't be. My suggestion would be to buy the full stock and put it on the Compact barreled action, which is where I was headed had I kept the gun. I chose to sell mine because I also want iron sights, and having them added has proved to be an expensive pursuit.
Having done both, if I had to choose one, I'd start with Randy. Really solid with fundamentals (think natural point of aim), but, like his shotgun course (also highly recommended), Randy pays a lot of attention to loading the long gun under time pressure. You can discuss details like ejection port size all day, but run a Rolling Thunder drill and you will quickly learn what works and what doesn't.
This illustrates an important point: Expecting an off-the-shelf rifle stock to fit you perfectly is a game of chance. Sure, you can accommodate to a generic stock, especially shooting at the range off a bench. Field shooting from jackass positions, using a shooting sling, running the bolt for fast follow-up shots requires a stock that fits you. The M70 Classic Compact that Rob had at the Cain course comes with a 20" barrel and a 13" LOP with a shortened forearm. This did not work for him, but we are roughly the same height and that gun fits me well as I like a short LOP. Here is the same model of rifle; the location of the front sling swivel is necessary due to the short forearm. With the scout scope, an even shorter LOP is possible; 12.75" works for me for a short-action scout or lever gun.
HOWA is coming this year with a rifle with an even shorter action in 6.5 Grendel with a choice of 20 or 22 inch barrel plus a detachable mag. It may be well suited to this type of activity. Rifle is already available in 223.
I decided to bump this for no particular reason other than Randy is awesome.
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I'm glad you did so and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the whole thread. As a lefty, there are a number of bolt guns that are interesting to me, but are either not offered in a left hand option, or are much less common/more expensive. About 15 years ago I got a decent deal on a left hand Ruger scout rifle in 308 and foolishly sold it after a few years. Then a friend (fellow lefty) told me he had the same model in the back of his closet and was willing to sell it to me, which I greatly appreciated. I still haven't put an optic on it, but I do shoot it on occasion and is one of my favorite rifles to take to the range. I really like the look of the grey laminate stock, and mine shoots most ammo well enough.
There's just something satisfying about shooting a bolt gun, and I usually have it suppressed which is very pleasant on a fixed action. I would like to make it out to a class like this someday.
Looks like Randy is offering this class this November in FL. I'm tempted to take it and bring my Ruger American Ranch 5.56mm. Curious how it will hold up.
Anything new in off the shelf rifles now?
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