Just joined TGT. Been meaning to for some time but have been busy with fishing and now getting ready for deer hunting.
My wife and I moved to The Woodlands in 2019 due to a job transfer. Lived in Maryland all our lives except for time in the US Army and 3-1/2 years when we moved out-of-state (35 miles lol) to Delaware.
Got my TLC as soon as possible when we moved (getting a CCW in MD is basically the same odds as winning Powerball). I hope I never have to rely on it, but it’s nice knowing it’s there in case it’s needed.
Most of my firearms have been geared towards hunting, with most being bolt-action rifles in various calibers. My favorite rifle is a Remington Model 700 BDL chambered in 7mm Rem Mag. My father bought it the year after the cartridge and rifle were introduced. He always called it his “big gun”. In the mid 90’s he asked me to look at it as it would not fire. No wonder. While he kept the bore clean, he had never disassembled the bolt and the firing pin spring was basically cemented in place due to dried-out grease. I removed the remnants of decades-old grease, cleaned, lubed and reassembled the action and man, was I shocked at the trigger pull. I checked it on a scale at 3.3 lbs, with zero creep or overtravel. After that I looked closely at the stock. Years gone by had caused the finish to yellow and crack (when new it was shiny like polyurethane). I could not leave it like that, so I stripped off the old finish and applied a hand-rubbed tung oil finish. The walnut was beautiful. I replaced the ventilated black rubber recoil pad with a brown Pachmayr Decelerator pad and then glass-bedded the action. I removed the one-piece scope mount and installed Burris rings and bases but kept the original Leupold fixed 7.5x scope (didn’t want to break up the set). I picked my dad up for some range time and on the way, he stopped to buy a box of cartridges. He came out and handed me a box of Remington ammo and a card. The card basically thanked me for such a beautiful job, but as he was getting older, he wanted the rifle to hunt vs sitting in a safe, so he passed it on to me right then.
It shot great. I later worked up two good handloads- one with a 150 grain Nosler BT for whitetails and a 175 grain Partition spitzer for larger game. In 1996 I took it and a Ruger M77R in .338 Win Mag to British Columbia for a black bear hunt. After four unsuccessful days toting the Ruger, I laid it down and decided to take the Remington. A few hours later I saw a big, black rump run up a hill and stop about 85 yards away. One 175 grain Partition did the trick. It went down and never moved again. My dad (who’s now passed) was very happy to hear that!
My other favorite is a revolver. I’ve always loved westerns and I really wanted a Colt SAA (but not at Colt $$$), so I bought a Cimarron Arms Model P (4-3/4” bbl, blued with color case-hardened frame and walnut grips). It’s a real beauty and I love hearing it spell C-O-L-T when cocking the hammer. It shoots a variety of factory cartridges well, but it absolutely shined with Goex Black Dawge 235 grain black powder cartridges. I had four out of five shots in a 4” circle at 25 yards when my buddy said “don’t blow the last shot!” I pulled it (of course). Missed the circle by 1-1/2” lol. But I was surprised at the accuracy. It is a pleasure to hold and it points spot-on every time.
My wife and I moved to The Woodlands in 2019 due to a job transfer. Lived in Maryland all our lives except for time in the US Army and 3-1/2 years when we moved out-of-state (35 miles lol) to Delaware.
Got my TLC as soon as possible when we moved (getting a CCW in MD is basically the same odds as winning Powerball). I hope I never have to rely on it, but it’s nice knowing it’s there in case it’s needed.
Most of my firearms have been geared towards hunting, with most being bolt-action rifles in various calibers. My favorite rifle is a Remington Model 700 BDL chambered in 7mm Rem Mag. My father bought it the year after the cartridge and rifle were introduced. He always called it his “big gun”. In the mid 90’s he asked me to look at it as it would not fire. No wonder. While he kept the bore clean, he had never disassembled the bolt and the firing pin spring was basically cemented in place due to dried-out grease. I removed the remnants of decades-old grease, cleaned, lubed and reassembled the action and man, was I shocked at the trigger pull. I checked it on a scale at 3.3 lbs, with zero creep or overtravel. After that I looked closely at the stock. Years gone by had caused the finish to yellow and crack (when new it was shiny like polyurethane). I could not leave it like that, so I stripped off the old finish and applied a hand-rubbed tung oil finish. The walnut was beautiful. I replaced the ventilated black rubber recoil pad with a brown Pachmayr Decelerator pad and then glass-bedded the action. I removed the one-piece scope mount and installed Burris rings and bases but kept the original Leupold fixed 7.5x scope (didn’t want to break up the set). I picked my dad up for some range time and on the way, he stopped to buy a box of cartridges. He came out and handed me a box of Remington ammo and a card. The card basically thanked me for such a beautiful job, but as he was getting older, he wanted the rifle to hunt vs sitting in a safe, so he passed it on to me right then.
It shot great. I later worked up two good handloads- one with a 150 grain Nosler BT for whitetails and a 175 grain Partition spitzer for larger game. In 1996 I took it and a Ruger M77R in .338 Win Mag to British Columbia for a black bear hunt. After four unsuccessful days toting the Ruger, I laid it down and decided to take the Remington. A few hours later I saw a big, black rump run up a hill and stop about 85 yards away. One 175 grain Partition did the trick. It went down and never moved again. My dad (who’s now passed) was very happy to hear that!
My other favorite is a revolver. I’ve always loved westerns and I really wanted a Colt SAA (but not at Colt $$$), so I bought a Cimarron Arms Model P (4-3/4” bbl, blued with color case-hardened frame and walnut grips). It’s a real beauty and I love hearing it spell C-O-L-T when cocking the hammer. It shoots a variety of factory cartridges well, but it absolutely shined with Goex Black Dawge 235 grain black powder cartridges. I had four out of five shots in a 4” circle at 25 yards when my buddy said “don’t blow the last shot!” I pulled it (of course). Missed the circle by 1-1/2” lol. But I was surprised at the accuracy. It is a pleasure to hold and it points spot-on every time.