Leo

In my experience I would say an illuminated reticle on a 40mm objective is a waste of money. We can hunt from 1 hr before sunrise to 1 hr after here so I hunt in low light frequently. On a 40mm scope you have to crank the power down to 5 or 4 to get a good view through it in low light. At about the same time you loose the ability to see the crosshairs you loose the ability to clearly see your target. So if you have illuminated crosshairs it won't matter you still won't be able to see your target. Illuminated reticles are useful with 50mm and 56mm objectives. 50s will work in low light at up to 7x and 56s up to 8x. The larger objectives show a clear image for quite awhile after the crosshairs are hard to see. I think it has to do with the resolution advantage larger objectives have over the smaller ones. Regardless of why, I've found that good low light scopes start at 50mm. As far as color goes green is better than red for low light in my experience. Red seems to overpower the view more easily than green. What I mean is it seems much easier for me to see the target with green crosshairs in low light than red crosshairs.

Quite a few very expensive custom rifles are extremely accurate and not free floated. Every now and then I'll get to shoot someones "production" of the shelf gun that is just amazingly accurate. It won't be free floated either. An extremely accurate and stressfree fit between stock and barreled action can produce great accuracy. On custom guns they work hard to get it right. On production guns occasionally the manufacturing tolerances happen to meet up perfectly. If you have a production gun that is not free floated but is extremely accurate don't mess with that stock! If you want to see if free floating or pressure bedding will improve that gun, I strongly suggest you get another stock to try that out on. If it doesn't work out as an improvement you can always go back to the original unaltered stock. Sometimes the barrel may not be very whippy but flexes enough during the shot in a free floated channel to cause serious issues. Some folks call this "barrel slap". What happens is the barrel flexes enough to "slap" the inside of the free float channel during the shot. The result is shot groups that seem to follow a line and string out along it. You'll have oval groups instead of round ones and the gun will do this even if you are certain the barrel is cold between every shot. Often opening up the channel some fixes the problem but occasionally the barrel is flexing too much for this to be a practical solution. Opening up the channel too much looks bad and weakens the forearm of the stock. Pressure bedding can fix this without modifying the barrel or action. And it can still be done to the stock if free float doesn't work. Personally I think pressure bedding is a better option than cropping an inch off the barrel. Cropping just 1 inch off the barrel (say from 22 to 21") will reduce the deflection by 15%. So cropping can have a significant effect. I've done this and it worked but now I wish I'd tried pressure bedding first. I need to add. If you get an aftermarket replacement stock for a gun. Before you do anything to the stock. Try it first! It might work great right out of the box.

My take on it is this. Free Floating the barrel removes stress and binding that can affect the barrel. Sometimes it's the stock pushing on the barrel in a bad way and sometimes it's the barrel pushing on the stock. In either case it can cause unpredictable shooting results. Pressure bedding is a controlled pressure so the results are repeatable. It's typically required when a barrel is too "whippy" to be accurate when free floated. The pressure bedding gives the barrel the extra support it needs.

Actually with a legitimate 8 - 10 mph crosswind I'd expect the drift to be more. What you are describing is what a 6 - 7 mph crosswind would cause. If the wind isn't perfectly left to right, in otherwords, angling towards you or away from you then the effect is that of a much slower wind. Angle is absolutely as important as speed! That's what makes shooting in wind so difficult. Unless it's howling, at distances 200 yds and under, wind won't cause a miss on a game animal. Most of the time you can get away with ignoring it out to 300. I know lots of guys that missed shots barely over 200 because they over compensated. 300 and over? Nope, you can't ignore it. You better know.

Check the Mark V Ultralight again. The Bell and Carlson stocks appear to be free floated but I've found that in fact they aren't completely floated. About 1/2" in from the forearm end there are two little contact nubs in the stock that actually press on the barrel. The nubs are about 1/2" wide. From the nubs to the action the barrel is free floated. They are easy to miss. I understand this is a Weatherby specification and I'd be surprised if they aren't there. I've been emphatically warned not to sand those nubs off. I have had decent luck using zymoil carwax as a release agent but you need to be sure the wax is sticking to the metal. Any oil on it will prevent that. I've heard Kiwi Neutral color shoe polish is easier to use than carwax. I'll probably try it next. I test release agent experiments by applying it to a piece of metal then sticking it to a piece of wood with the bedding agent.

I agree.

What specific rifle was it? I'm trying to get a feel for what rifles benefit and what rifles don't.

I've found that free floating the barrel to improve accuracy is mostly true but it is not always true. Truth is sometimes free floating the barrel makes things worse! Weatherby Mark V's are notorious for loosing accuracy when free floated (though not all do). Remingtons are even more notorious for benefitting. My question is. If you got a rifle barrel free floated did accuracy benefit or not? This might be interesting information.

For me I'd pick a modified. IC chokes are great for close shots and busting skeet but I personally have trouble getting on flushing game fast enough before it's out of practical range with an IC choke. It's a lot different when you are expecting the shot like in skeet or have ducks cupped and dropping into the decoys.

I certainly should not have forgotten you Ross! I apologize.

The Rem Chokes will fit in the invector plus but it's a bad idea. The bore sizes are not the same, and your patterns won't be great. With some shells this practice might be dangerous. For jump shooting a Full will serve you well. Resist the temptation to pull the trigger on birds inside 30 yards and you'll hit a lot more. I really recommend the Trulock Precision Hunter Chokes. These are great chokes that throw nice even patterns. I have the modified one and it is my duck choke. http://www.trulockchokes.com

Well you know ruttinbuc you did get an invite for a deer hunt down here from the land manager Besides sharing camp again with the members I have already had the priveledge of spending time with. I suspect I'd have a great time with Dakota, M_gardner, Randy, Rhino and wtnhunt (and family).

That's really neat!

Shiras Moose?

Actually the one thing missing from Buckee's picture is the the Prime Meridian which with 180deg longitude divides the globe into western and eastern halves. So depending which way you are looking it could be southeast, southwest or just south. But you can only being looking directly south if you are looking along the Prime meridian (0 deg) or 180 deg.

Prayers sent!

It would be nice if you were allowed to carry more than a Buck knife for extra protection during bowhunting season. Being that is Canada a handgun is probably out of the question and I think that really sucks.

Fabulous!

Real real real nice!

The biggest difficulty in estimating scores on pronghorns is getting a feel for what mass measurements they'll net and how much prong they have. I agree this antelope sure looks like a 78 inch pronghorn but like Wyohunter said it just takes a little here and there to miss it. In this case 1/4" more mass per measurement and 3/4" more prong per side and bingo 78 inches! You might guess the prong length right but accurately identifying a 1/4" more mass per measurement per side is extremely difficult! Typically more than half the score of a pronghorn is determined by mass and prong length. Yes some "stretch" horn antelope violate this. Even though they have super long horns they aren't guaranteed to score as high as a pronghorn with shorter horns and heavier paddles. Mass and prongs are ten separate scoring measurements. A major portion of the score is contained in these measurements. These measurements are much more difficult to guess than horn length. With pronghorn it is very possible to be looking at two big bucks and having to choose between them. If one is long horned and one is a little shorter but heavier, I'd shoot the heavier one every time.

Before After And on the wall. Really enjoyed the meat. Antelope makes the very best chili as far as I'm concerned.

That's a real nice Vancouver Blacktail! Looks like you have to track through the same kind of stuff we do. It must be a coastal thing even though we are on opposite coasts!

Go earlier and stay later. The more time you put in actually in a stand hunting the better your chances.

That's a real beauty of a pronghorn! Very very good! Well done!

That's a stud Muley!