"If I ever needed to hunt in a tuxedo, then this would be the rifle I'd take." - okie john
"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." - Michel De Montaigne
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
Which is why I've always been an advocate of actually hunting game (IE getting as close as you can), instead of turning a hunt into a long range feat of fancy. Most folks can't shoot even 2 MOA in the field. And I say that, having taken, and made some fairly long shots on big game. I've also had shots go bad, and not been happy with myself, or the results. But if you hunt long enough, it will happen to you. Generally its not the rifle, or the MOA size of the group it'll shoot that is the issue. It's the nut behind the butt.
If a barrel crown is an issue from poor cleaning practices, it can be fixed, usually, by a competent smith.
I do a fair bit of close range deer hunting, but even more alpine deer hunting. Also some alpine sheep, goat, black bear, moose. The last few years shots have averaged 300yds.
I might try have the crown worked on if it's cheap. That husky is such a lovely rifle to carry, I hate to give up on it. It's perfect for my late season SE Alaska deer hunts...except that I'm moving to suppressors for such work. Those shots tend to happen fast, without time to put ear pro in.
I don't disagree with any of this, and take the marksmanship side pretty seriously, shooting bullseye pistol, hi-power rifle and PRS the last 2 years, as well as the military EIC matches. My big shooting goal is to be double distinguished this season, 12 more rifle points left.
That old husky is such a lovely gun, it just grinds on me not being able to shoot it as well. I'd love to take a Mtn Goat with it this year (my dad got one out of Skagway back in the 60's). But looking at where I"ll be hunting, odds of 300 yd plus shots are pretty high. Ditto the places I"m deer hunting in Aug/Sept.
For the open country goat/sheep, suppressors aren't such a big deal...they are major treks in. For the alpine deer, it's not such an expedition, so don't mind the weight of the suppressor.
Hmm.
To all, thanks for all the replies
@JDB, just another thought, but a new barrel wouldn’t have the rollmark that says “Husqvarna Vapenfabrik” in a long lost italic font.
In my experience, any thread that goes past 1 page it looks like a branching tree rather than a telephone pole so far as staying on topic. We all have different experiences and more often than not our experience may not be specifically on point but still useful. I grew up in Alaska and the rifle my family used most often was a Winchester M70 in .30-06, mfg in 1949. My father used it, my mother shot it, I shot it, and so did my brother. Later on my father got a .300 Win Mag. My experience must be understood in the context that I never weighed more than 140lbs and that rifle has a steel buttplate. I still have it. Anyway, at some point my father wanted to make it handier and took it to a smith and had the barrel cut down to (I think 20", but I'll have to measure it later), and put a Herter's muzzle brake on it. I can't say that I remember the recoil being any different with the brake. I only used it for hunting moose and I don't recall ever getting a shot at over 100yds. So any loss in velocity and energy didn't make a difference. Mom and Dad used it on Caribou and they always came back with kills so I can only assume they had good hits and enough power. If it was good enough on Caribou, it should be easily good enough for deer, even with a shorter barrel. On moose, Dad taught us to shoot for the neck. Less waste of moose and we ALWAYS had one shot kills.
My best memory is Remington 180gr PSP. For Moose and Caribou, it was always 180gr. For Bear, 220gr SP, though I never shot a Bear and the only one that Dad came home with was a Black Bear. So no Grizzly or Brown Bear. But that was why we had the 220gr. We moved to Alaska in June 1964, so my hunting experience there was the 60's and 70's.
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's