Hello from Georgia,
A good friend recently got his Remington 30/06 back from the gunsmith after having it bedded, recrowned, and a new trigger installed. He called to tell me that he had sighted it in at a local public range and would like to bring it to my private 500 yard range to shoot it. He brought it over last weekend along with his "custom" ammo, shooting bags, and new spotting scope. We were set up for a nice afternoon of shooting. He also mentioned that since he got this "Rem. Shooter" back that he could now outshoot my " old raggedy cheap single shoot". Well I have never been a confrontational type person but I also know that my Handi will outshoot most rifles that will ever come to my range, so I opened my locker and brought my "Little Buddy" out into the light.
After a bit of preperation and hanging some nice new targets the shooting cominced. The first 5 shot group he shot was a good group, around 1 1/4 inches. He said that he needed to settle down and that the rifle was able to shoot groups half that size. I sat down at the bench and shot my first group which was measured with his caliper to the tune of 1 1/8 inch. He then fired a second 3 shot group that was a touch over an inch which to me is quite acceptable for a hunting rifle. My second group was AWESOME !!!!!
we measured it to be 3/4 of an inch.
I knew that my rifle was being fed some match loads that had already proven to be deadly accurate in the past so I was not a bit surprised. There was a bit of grumbling coming from his way. Scope this, and ammo that, and rest the other. Not being done yet, I suggested we fire a few rounds out at the 300 yard gong which is a quite generous 8" diameter. Since I have been shooting this target for sometime and have figured out the mil-dot system, it was as simple as holding over correctly and " ringing the bell".
We traded shots for another 5 shot group and after 2 shots he finally rang it. I hit 4 out of 5 and only missed the last one because I was trying to be a wise guy and cut the chain down and deny him his last shot which he actually hit.
Without any trashtalking(which was totally unneccesary), I invited him to come back again. He humbly thanked me for the free range time and drove off. I sat there on the range for a while just petting my Handi, and talking to it. I know this rifle very well and feel sure that I can shoot with anyone, anytime with any type rifle on the planet. I admit that there are many rifles that will shoot smaller groups, and at longer ranges, but for the money some of these guys have in their guns, I can be a lot happier for a fraction of the cost. These Handis may not be recognized as pretty, or elegant but as they say, beauty is in the eye of the gunholder and I think these simple single shots are GORGEOUS !!!
