Home on the range

My hunting partner Kyle and I hit the range together last Friday in Birchwood to put a few rounds through our handguns and make sure our rifles were still dialed in from the fall. It’s just about go time and I’m feeling confident in my shooting abilities this spring.

We started at the rifle range. Kyle recently purchased a new-to-him Ruger chambered in 300 WSM. It’s a near twin to his Ruger 300 Win Mag but in a slightly lighter package and with the ability to reach out and touch something a bit further with his scope setup and additional barrel length that corresponds to a bit more velocity. It shot great and he was able to dial it in and get comfortable with it. He said he plans to take it goat hunting with him this fall and for applications that might require a bit further shot.

I fiddled around with a new butt pad for my rifle for several minutes before I sent some rounds down range. I replaced the original butt pad that my dad had installed on the ol’ 30-06 when he first bought it in the 80s. It was basically a brick on the end of the wooden stock. The new Limbsaver pad I screwed in was thicker and provided waaaay more cushion, so much so it was comparable to shooting a smaller caliber! I was very pleased with the new pad and my groups at 100 yards that evening.

We finished the night shooting our handguns at the pistol range. Kyle spent some time shooting his .44 magnum while I put another box or so through my 10mm.

I purchased a box of bear defense rounds, specifically Hornady’s Backcountry Defense that features their Dangerous Game Handgun (DGH) bullet. My research showed that the popular and well-accepted hard cast lead for bear defense can lead to lead fouling in the barrels of some of the semi-automatic handguns. Hornady’s Backcountry Line features hard cast lead bullets encapsulated with a copper coating. I’m already a fan of Hornady’s CX bullet as you may have read in previous articles, so I thought I might as well give this a shot.

And I was pleasantly pleased with the results! The 200 grain rounds shot great through my Glock and seemed to group better and more accurately than my target loads (not entirely surprising). At $40+ per box I kept my shots to a minimum, but I was happy with those that I did take and will definitely be happy taking them into the field this year.

I’m hoping to hit the range at least once or twice more before really going after bears this spring. Having confidence in my shooting will give me a piece of mind while I’m in the field. I encourage you all to spend some time at the range this spring.