Here in the Northeast we have had our share of ground soaking rain but in between rain storms, I went out and purchased a Savage semi-auto A22 rifle.  I can have more shooting fun at a lower cost for range time, practice, and just plain fun. Over the years, I kept a good supply of .22 ammo on hand. 

I like this rifle because it has all the physical attributes of a big game rifle such as a heavy button rifled barrel, a great looking high-cheek stock and an easily adjustable AccuTrigger.

My club sponsors an Aspirin Shoot (3/8″ size) that I have yet to participate.

Most shoot bolt actions for supreme accuracy but my new Savage Semi-Auto is shooting 1/2 inch 5 shot groups at 50 yards out-of-the-box with CCI MiniMags.  

Below first shot was high with some lube residue in the barrel. but a nice tight group for the other 4 shots at 50 yards. I expect to do better with time on the range, and testing out .22 match grade ammo. 

Today with the right rifle and ammo you can reach out to far off targets, predators and small game. Many ,22lr folks are getting serious about target shooting and like the supreme accuracy of a bolt action, I do too, but have yet to find a rifle I like for the price. 

Most all .22lr ammo I own shoot as good, better, best in this rifle but CCI .22LR Mini-Mags shoot best for my first day with the A22 at the range. 

Gun Issues I Found

Slide Bar bolt came off. Savage sending a new one. 

Clip loads very slow due to strong spring. 

Clip sometimes binds and will not easily fall out.

AccuTrigger has some creep.

If you are buying for a competitive shoot and expect to win, this gun is not for you.

But for otherwise hunt and plink, it has very good accuracy, it is fun at a low cost of around $500 for rifle.

Those who want to win at competitive 22lr shoots are spending at least $1000 to $5000 on gun and scope or even much more.

When Hornady and Ruger collaborated in 2007 to create the .375 Ruger cartridge, they also in future-sight, perhaps knowingly, or not, modernized many yet-to-be named magnum calibers such as the new PRC’s. 

The .375 Ruger cartridge has no belt, no taper, larger case capacity, and a larger shoulder with which to set headspace than the .375 Holland and Holland Magnum. 

I remember reading an article by Jon Sundra in 2011 below about future 7mm, .300 and other calibers that could come from this .375 Ruger collaboration.

https://www.rifleshootermag.com/editorial/ammunition_rs_wildcatting_200806/83581

Did you know that the 7mm PRC and .300 PRC cartridges are children of the .375 Ruger cartridge?

And likely more will come. 

Will they replace magnums? Time will tell.

For nearly a century, many commercial magnum calibers had a belt to set headspace because they were based upon their parent cartridge case, the famed .375 Holland and Holland Magnum created in 1912.

For decades, the H&H Magnum case availability made it easy for industry to reform the case for smaller diameter “magnum” calibers like the famed 7mm Remington Magnum.

I own the .375 Ruger and love it. But it is a magnum cartridge, without saying so, perhaps like the 416 Rigby. I still like the “Magnum” moniker however. 

But the .375 H&H Magnum cartridge will likely not go away and will not for many decades to come. There are far more .375 H&H Magnum rifles in Africa and world-wide today, thus the brass case will remain in mainstream manufacture for many decades.

And the .375 H&H Magnum still has a mystique-like following in Europe and Africa as a dangerous game round up to and including elephant.

So why create a beltless “magnum” case and drop the magnum moniker?

The .375 Ruger’s brass case seen above, removed the belt, case taper and gave a better shoulder in which to set headspace.

Is that enough, to eventually replace the .375 H&H Magnum case?

Replacing the 7mm Rem Mag and 300 Winchester Magnum whose parent case in the .375 Holland and Holland Magnum will be daunting as the belt does not bother me for head space.

Accuracy and energy in my Browning X-Bolt Speed 7mm Remington Magnum, when hand loaded with 175 g bullets, achieves the same energy as the 7mm PRC factory loaded cartridge but the PRC may edge out the 7mm Mag for long range target accuracy and use heavier bullets.

I shoot sub-moa with my 7 magnum.

As a hunter, that is more accuracy than I need. And if I want a heavier hunting bullet I would go to a 30 caliber.

I, for one, like the manly term “Magnum”. And I hand load the 7mm Remington Magnum with great success and accuracy for hunting big game. 

Target shooters will likely migrate to the 7mmPRC and 300PRC  for very long range target shooting but in very heavy rifles to reduce recoil. 

The hunting community will perhaps move much slower as we do love our 7mm Rem Mag’s for long range hunting accuracy and delivered energy.

And case components and rifles for the 7mm and 300 win magnums are on the shelves world-wide right now. Not next year or so. I am older and can’t wait my friends. 

In five years more PRC rifles and components may change that dynamic. We shall see.

In the meantime, I am happy with my 7mm magnum rifle for hunting all North American big game species. 

Good Shooting

© Copyright 2023

It’s all a matter of time, patience and some cash for me to get back outside to my Outdoor Life hunting, fishing, boating and camping. I began my spring with pulling my 2007 Key West boat and trailer out of storage with one of the brake pads frozen.

So much for chasing early striped bass. The fix included ordering pads and then having them installed and bleeding the air out of the trailer lines. It wasn’t cheap. But then it was windy and rainy which makes striper fishing crappy. Rain, rain go away as the saying goes. 

I got the boat home and cranked my brand new 200 hp Yamaha over and it purred in my driveway like a kitten. Nice! I was running a checklist before launch. I grabbed the hydraulic steering wheel and turned it to center the outboard but the helm wheel just spun in circles. Must have air in the hydraulic lines or something. Back to the shop.

A new helm and purged lines later, I was back in business. It is just money, right?

Next, the trailer, a bunk type needed TLC so I decided while in the shop to do repairs on it and will sell the trailer for a new roller type and protect my sizeable investment in the boat. Boat stands for; (Break Out Another Thousand $).

This is my third power boat and true to form, it is costly but you can’t trade its ocean and lake benefits of freedom on the water. Todays fiberglass, well equipped boats of my size can cost more than twice what I invested so I should take heart. 

And soon the sun will shine and the fish will bite once again.

Good Fishing and Boating and Sunshine!

© Copyright 2023

The Browning X-Bolt Speed 7mm Rem Mag 26 inch 9.5 twist barrel I have tested this past three months with a new Timney trigger (set at 3 lbs), simply put a wide smile on my face today. 

Some shooters say 7mm Rem Mag in 9.5 twist is said to rarely achieve 175g spitzers at 3000fps and MOA accuracy. This may be true for some, but not here.

I am here to tell you that I have achieved hand-loaded sub-MOA results with Nosler 175g ABLR and other bullet manufacturers to 3000 fps.

Using Alliant RL 22 or Vihtavuori N560 Smokeless Gun Powder have both pushed Nosler 175 ABLR to 3000 fps while achieving sub-MOA 3 shot 100 yd accuracy. . Standard Deviation hovers around 10 fps. I am using Norma Cases and CCI or Winchester Mag primers.

I have achieved the bench rest group below three times in a row today. It’s no fluke!

I attribute my success with attention to handloading detail, a great Browning rifle, a Leupold scope, a Timney Trigger, Nosler bullets and world class powders. Note: 7mm Rem Mag ammo is on the shelf across the world for hunters.

Good Shooting!

© Copyright 2023

I ran into a friend who shot a doe with spitzer type muzzleloader bullet. The deer ran hundreds of yards before dropping. And he recovered the bullet, which never mushroomed to deliver killing energy.

I advocate for semi-spitzers with rounded nose, round/flat nose or hollow point bullets for muzzleloaders that deliver sufficient energy to open/ mushroom the bullet. 

Do your homework and read up.

Avoid spitzer styles that are difficult to open and mushroom.

Most shots are taken at 40 to 60 yards and do not need sharply pointed bullets. 

You will be glad you changed bullets. I like a 300 grain semi-spitzer/hollow point for my 50 cal.  and at least 100 grains of pyrodex. 

Some examples of better mushrooming bullets.

Now is the time to shop!

I avoid sharp sleek pointed bullets that are not designed to readily expand. 

Good Shooting!

Not finding your favorite powder for sale?  This chart can help find powders closest to yours. I did that with my alternative to Reloader 22 and found Viht N560 and it worked great. Nosler listed it in their manual. 

Reloading safety is of prime importance thus you must begin a new powder at starting loads and work up. The internet should give some start load data sources if you search your caliber and alternative powders.

All reloading manuals list alternative powders but there are some older reloading manuals that are not current in new state-of-the-art powders. 

IMR published a burn rate chart PDF below and includes many brands.

Check it out.

https://imrpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/burnratecolor.pdf

Removing the two mounting bolts, you can pop out the barrel and action with some finagling and prying. It is a tight fit. 

Here is the Timney Trigger below.

Below there are 2 pins that hold the trigger in the half moon cutouts in the barrel. Use a 1/16 punch to remove the two pins and the trigger will come off. 

The part I did not expect is that the Timney did not just drop in. The forward slot was too narrow to fit in the half moon cutout. I had to grind off a few thousandths from the trigger housing to widen the slot with a Dremel tool. 

Below you can see my Dremel tool that I used to grind the forward pin housing a bit. Took me 20 minutes to grind and fit it. Not overly hard with the right tool. Some triggers drop in to those slots in videos. 

Below is the Timney trigger installed. The whole process took me about an hour or less.

I put my Lyman Trigger test gauge on the Timney and as expected it measured 3 pounds almost. Two pounds fifteen point nine ounces. I tested again at 3 pounds exact. Test the safety slide to be sure it works. Mounting bolts need torque to 35 inch-lbs.

Below is a video that helped me.

Good Shooting.

©Copyright 2023