A Call to Lever-Action

I recently got back from a road trip across the Western states; Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. It was a great trip through a beautiful part of the country. The rockies, and the plains, all the gorges and buttes had me half convinced, half pretending, I was the Duke in a Spaghetti Western. Then again, nothing snaps you out of a cowboy daydream like passing a Hooters on the lone prairie.  The Wild West isn't what it used to be, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did get me thinking about a quote I recently read in Field & Stream.

They may have been intrepid, but the homesteaders sure weren't very clever. This mountain in MT is named Pinnacle Peak.

A letter to the editor complained about a recent review of several rifles, all of them bolt-actions. The author of the article defended his choices with a very astute observation "this is a bolt-action nation. It has been for a long time." I don't think anyone could argue with this statement, but I do think it is indicative of a problem in our gun culture.

Ask any hunter or marksman what action is most reliable and at least ninety percent of them will tell you a bolt-action. The key feature being a bolt-action's consistency in gripping the rim and positioning the round. Bolt-Actions also tend to have fewer problems than semi-autos or lever-actions (tube-fed at least) when it comes to jamming. But the greatest single reason people love their bolt-actions (myself included) is accuracy. Bolt-actions have long been held to be the most accurate of rifles, and they have made their mark on shotguns as well, being a popular choice amongst turkey hunters and slug-gunners. All good marks considered, I still believe we deeply over value bolt-actions, and for one reason, our gun culture has a hollow foundation.

These days who has time to go out plinking with the .22 every weekend? Hell, who can legally shoot a gun within 20 miles of where they live? Not so many people anymore. But shooting small calibre rifles is still undoubtedly the best (not to mention cheapest) way of improving your abilities as a shooter. There is a severe lack of repetition, practice, and development of muscle-memory, amongst a large base of the hunting population. They learn to shoot, they sight-in at the start of the season, and they make up for their own shooting inadequacies with tech.

Sub-MOA, free floating barrels, mega scopes, are all fantastic advancements in gun technology, but for as much as we covet these features in a new rifle, how many of us are actually accurate enough shots to truly appreciate the difference? As our guns have gotten more accurate we are able to rely on them more, and many of us have gotten sloppy and remiss with our skills.

This is where the Wild Wild West comes in, I want to see more lever-actions. Classic 'True-Grit' lever-actions with buckhorn sights. Why? Because few guns look so good, work so long, and teach you to shoot as well as a lever-action with irons. The lever-action is still a very reliable rifle, it won't correct your mistakes for you, but it will teach you to shoot better. There are a lot of fine .22 lever actions out there as well. Henry Repeating Arms (which patented the first repeating rifle in 1860) makes several great models, particularly the Henry Golden Boy, that perform great and don't wear out the wallet. Browning and Marlin also make some very nice small caliber lever-actions, although I've not tried either myself.

The Henry Golden Boy. Offered in .22 LR & Magnum, Walnut stock, brass plate, $500.

Don't mistake me, I dote on the accuracy of rifles as much as any other gun nut, but learning the basic skills of shooting are just as vital to making a long shot as a scope. Truthfully, how often do any of us take 300 yard shots? Considering skill-level and tech-capability, there aren't that many shots over 250 that I would take, for me it's a question of sportsmanship and humane behavior.

Instead of always focusing on the accuracy of our guns, lets focus on our own accuracy, so when that really long shot comes we can take it confidently. Plus, everyone looks good with a lever-action.

Shooting the 7mm Weatherby Magnum

If I were writing this blog like a book, this post would come much later, after we had a chance to discuss rifles, Weatherby,  and Minute of Angle in more detail. But I feel like talking about my day.

A week ago I bought a 7mm Weatherby Magnum Mk V Lazermark. The new pride of the fleet was a true steal from an estate sale; about 5 shots to sight in this beauty, then the poor fellow who bought it new kicked the bucket. His son sold the gun (retail at about $2,500) to a gunsmith friend of mine for 900 bucks, I got it for a thousand. Steal.

The 7mm Mag packs a lot of power

If there's one thing above all else I love in a gun it's accuracy, occasionally to my own detriment. I regularly eschew the knockdown power of my .30-.30 for a Sako .270 during deer season- even though the conifer-scrub bordering the BWCA where I hunt rarely offers shots beyond 50 yards- because the .270 can make any shot I need it too, even if that shot never appears.*

My love of ridiculously accurate rifles has made me a long time admirer of 7mm and .308's, and acquiring one for bear and (someday) elk has been a long time coming. There are some strong opinions about Weatherby, to be certain, but there are few gunmakers with a sub-MOA guarantee on such large calibers. For that reason I am a big fan of Weatherby Magnums, as long as you plan to actually hunt with it anyways- - Thompson's line of ICON Precision Hunters is certainly better for target/varmint, but I've only seen them up to .243 Win, can't say how their .308 Win groups.

Today was the first chance I had to take the new 7mm out to a shooting range beyond 100 yards, and I was overly excited to get out there, as a result I made a silly error that cost me half a box of bullets. I should have had the beast bore-sighted properly before I sighted it in, but instead I went straight to the range, I didn't want to have to wait until tomorrow to shoot.

I shelled out the extra cash to shoot at the Caribou Gun Club (Le Seuer, MN) because they have a very nice range. Other than a 10 mph wind from the West (range runs North-South) it was perfect weather for shooting. I started on the 100 yard berm, and was shocked to see dirt kicking up about a foot above where I aimed on my first shot. After two more shots it was clear it was not my nerves, but the scope, which was sending these shots so high.

Assuming the old croaker had sighted this baby at 200 yards, I moved over a berm. Three shots at the target and there was no chartreuse to be seen on the target. The dirt kick up certainly seemed better though, so I went down to the target and checked it out.  On one hand I was very pleased with the results, the grouping was fantastic, all sub-MOA. However, the shots were still 5-6 inches above the bullseye.

The three shots on the wood are from the 7mm

When sighting in at one hundred yards you want a grouping about 3 inches above the bullseye, unless you'll be shooting from an elevated position (i.e. a treestand) in which case you want it about 1 inch above the bullseye. Assuming this was sighted for a non-elevated shot that meant we were still needing to go back quite aways to sight this thing in. A shot at the 500 yard berm confirmed two things; firstly, that if this gun was sighted properly, it was sighted for one hell of a shot; and secondly, with a Nikon 2-7x32 scope on it, the previous owner was either a crack shot, or never finished sighting it in.

More than likely, it was mis-sighted and the guy was not planning on a 500-yard shot with such a scope. However, the gun was perfectly sighted along the x-axis. Really, I got reminded of some of the basics of sighting.

1. Just because the guy who sells you the gun says it's sighted doesn't make it true.
2. Always get your new acquisition bore-sighted, it will save a lot of time and rounds in the field.


Well, I should have known better, but I'm still so thrilled about this guns accuracy and grouping that I don't mind the rounds I wasted today. Then again, tomorrow when I wake up with a shoulder and neck suffering from rigor mortis I might save shooting mistakes for a smaller caliber.

*- Last year using my .270 finally paid off when I took a deer at 215 yards. But that is for a different post.

Wise Words from Fellow Gun Nuts

Being a shooter, a lead-head, a gun nut, whatever you want to call it, you discover certain universal truths. Here are some of the best  I've learned over the years, from gun writers, from gun buddies, and from guns themselves.
- A firm handshake is a good sign the man might be a deadeye. 
-When someone tells you where you're missing a target, you ignore them. If they can tell you why you're  missing, you listen carefully.
-Long ago you gave up hope that any news reporter, or activist, would learn anything about guns.
-Part of recycling a can is putting a half dozen holes in it.
-When shooting, you secretly think of yourself as GySgt. Carlos Hathcock, John Wayne, or Elmer Keith.
-Guns can't love you back. On the other hand, they don't die.
-A fine safari shooter is life insurance and a 401k, made of walnut.
-Pity Britain for making such beautiful guns they will never use.
-Throwing away hulls/brass is throwing away money.
-It's not a cowboy gun if it's a synthetic.
- Irons count double against scopes, when it comes to bragging rights.
-Nothing smells so nice as the curl of smoke after a spot-on shot.
-Hunting season is only a few months long. Stay sane, buy a nice O/U or Side by Side.
-Nothing keeps you honest, or in form, like your .22.
-If you had to have a desk job, it'd be with Holland and Holland.
-Blaze orange and upland hunting are water and oil.
-Bunker trap is what American trap would be, if American trap were fun to shoot.
-Extreme accuracy is good, which is why every gun nut needs a varmint gun.
-If you've raised dogs, you miss the ones who have passed more than most people you've lost.