He's been benchresting a lot of that stuff, yes. I think we're looking at moving off the bags here - a little different animal.
All the game he has taken has been with some type of a rest or prone.
His target work work has been from a bench.
The only offhand shooting he has done has been with a BB Gun.
I will I’ll continue to promote using some type of a rest. I am not a proponent of offhand shooting with a bolt gun unless really close.
In my mind, he is still in the fundamentals stage. Once I have a solid fundamentals shooter.......I will train him to be unorthodox. But, not until then.
Most excellent advice. Shame a large amount of parents are to stubborn to follow. "Well by gawd my grandpas grandpa learned to shoot with open and sights and no rest and so did I"
I grew up under that less than stable platform mentality. I didn’t become a good shooter until much later in life when I learned the fundamentals well. Then, being a solid fundamentals shooter, I can apply them to every other shooting position and be effective. Even.......shooting with my toe. 😎
"To Hell with efficiency, it's performance we want!" - Elmer Keith
I have the Predator version in .223. Would have bought the Ranch with AR mag if available then.
The stock on mine was not free floated and required a fair amount of Dremel work. It now shoots half inch groups. For the price it's a good rifle - biggest drawback is the stock.
I would say I could just switch the stock for a Boyd’s. But, I don’t know if they make one that will accept the Mag release on this rifle.
Ya know. . .what you probably have here is an ideal "teach the kid everything rifle". Handloading's the no-brainer, but on a cheap base rig like this that he's likely to move on from anyway, you could get him educated on screw torque, action bedding, and fiddle with the concepts of forend pressure bedding vs. free float, just to teach him and just to see what the rifle does, and let him make a lot of the key decisions. Better to let him learn all that on an ugly duck on which it's understood by the both of you that it's a set of training wheels.
I completely floated the barrel on my RA Predator. The only tool I used was this special piece of equipment:
The sharp backspine of the blade is perfect for carving thin strips of plastic off the stock. Took a good half hour long mind numbing conference call to get it done.
To make something simple is a thousand times more difficult than to make something complex.
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
He's been benchresting a lot of that stuff, yes. I think we're looking at moving off the bags here - a little different animal.
All the game he has taken has been with some type of a rest or prone.
His target work work has been from a bench.
The only offhand shooting he has done has been with a BB Gun.
I will I’ll continue to promote using some type of a rest. I am not a proponent of offhand shooting with a bolt gun unless really close.
In my mind, he is still in the fundamentals stage. Once I have a solid fundamentals shooter.......I will train him to be unorthodox. But, not until then.
Most excellent advice. Shame a large amount of parents are to stubborn to follow. "Well by gawd my grandpas grandpa learned to shoot with open and sights and no rest and so did I"
My teachers were infantry veterans, great shooters with iron sights and offhand. They used a sling, while in a sitting position (or prone) for tough shots, but rarely shot from a bench, unless sighting in with 5-shot groups. With the minimal big bore practice I was able to get, I couldn't cut it, even though my eyesight was superb, and I went to a scope, early on, and rested the rifle whenever possible, on whatever was available in the field. My early deer hunting was done off-hand, and I missed a lot, partly because of offhand shooting, and partly because I was too impatient to wait for a good shot. After all, opportunities were few and far between, and deer were much scarcer, so naturally I pressed too hard, being a youngster.
When I got older, and really got into hand loading and started shooting more groups, I finally settled into never taking bad shots and always using front and rear rests, though usually some kind of make-shift affairs. I haven't missed a one-shot kill since. This is what I've taught my grandsons, and the older grand son has not missed or failed to make a one shot kill on a deer since age 8. Grand son #2 is a bass fisherman (like his dad), and not really very serious about hunting, but he shoots pretty good, and with a lot less practice than his big brother (and usually catches more fish).
Zee I have the Predator in the 6.5 Creed and like I said on here, it shoots WAAAAY to good to be a $400 rifle period!! The trigger is more than decent and it shoots 1/2 to 3/4 MOA when I do things right with a good scope not the Thermals. I had planned on buying that rifle next just gotta get a kid graduated and a car bought so I can get back at the Rathole$$ DO BUSINESS!!
"You miss 100% of the shots you do not take!"
"As long as there's Lead in the air there's hope!" -- Ralph Adkinson(Daddy) The original Marlboro Man
I would much rather him have a bolt rig. I think it will be very functional for him. Accuracy on the last several factory Ruger's have been good. Not what I was expecting you to get next, but I think it is a better choice.
I was waiting for Bud’s to get them back in stock so I could put one on Lay-Away.
Clock starts now.
Excellent. We have a Guinea pig.
He’s not Italian. I think he said he’s Irish.
“A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”
I have one in .300 B/O, I bought it strictly for subsonic shooting with a suppressor. Bolt feed is a little quirky with the short rounds but I got used to it. Good gun, shoots well. I had to get another stock, I couldn't get used to the plastic feel. This was a early version that came with the sucky rotary mag, I converted it with bottom metal and the new wood from Boyds.
timc - formerly known as timc on the last G&A forum and timc on the G&A forum before that and the G&A forum before that.....
AKA: Former Founding Member
timc - formerly known as timc on the last G&A forum and timc on the G&A forum before that and the G&A forum before that.....
AKA: Former Founding Member
Replies
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
The sharp backspine of the blade is perfect for carving thin strips of plastic off the stock. Took a good half hour long mind numbing conference call to get it done.
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
When I got older, and really got into hand loading and started shooting more groups, I finally settled into never taking bad shots and always using front and rear rests, though usually some kind of make-shift affairs. I haven't missed a one-shot kill since. This is what I've taught my grandsons, and the older grand son has not missed or failed to make a one shot kill on a deer since age 8. Grand son #2 is a bass fisherman (like his dad), and not really very serious about hunting, but he shoots pretty good, and with a lot less practice than his big brother (and usually catches more fish).
I had planned on buying that rifle next just gotta get a kid graduated and a car bought so I can get back at the Rathole$$
DO BUSINESS!!
"As long as there's Lead in the air there's hope!" -- Ralph Adkinson(Daddy) The original Marlboro Man
Accuracy on the last several factory Ruger's have been good.
Not what I was expecting you to get next, but I think it is a better choice.
"The Un-Tactical"
I was waiting for Bud’s to get them back in stock so I could put one on Lay-Away.
Clock starts now.
NRA Endowment Member
This was a early version that came with the sucky rotary mag, I converted it with bottom metal and the new wood from Boyds.
AKA: Former Founding Member
Think i I will change out the Leupold scope tomorrow for a Nikon I have. The Leupold might be better served elsewhere.
AKA: Former Founding Member