Mid-Life Crisis? or WTH have I done

Littleluk

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Minuteman
Jun 4, 2020
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Damn this forum.... It reignited a fire I thought was out 20 years ago. Long ago in the Corps I got to shoot several matches to try and make the summer team. I never made it but I did turn out to be a pretty good 8531(Primary marksmanship Instructor aka kitten herder) as a secondary and developed a love of shooting and competing. Early 2000 and the world is at peace so I went a different way after 15 years in. (Don't ask apparently I don't like retirement plans that have lifelong benefits) Obviously the world changed and I still feel guilt over not being there. Back to that mid-life thing. I am now much older and still in great shape only if you consider ROUND a shape. I got on some shooting video's and ended up wandering over here and signing up. Read things for a few days and debated in my head. I am too old for this shit and it has literally been 20 plus years since I focused on front sight tip and squeezed a trigger.

Then last night happened... not a complete impulse as I was kicking this around in my head but something clicked and I said.. well I don't know what I said but it must have made sense to some part of my brain at midnight. (don't ever say what I said to myself if you value your bank balances) I was planning this as a budget endeavor though and at least that stuck. Next thing I know I am on Brownell's website, great place, great selection, horrible search criteria and scary for a newbie. I want a Howa 6.5 Creedmore barreled action and a chassis. Ok found that. Add to Cart. Good to go we got this. Now on to stocks. Brownells most common item is the "out of stock" stock. OK..... and I especially like the out of stock discontinued line... Like can we delete that item so 2:00 AM binge shoppers can make some progress. XLR element chassis.. in stock this looks promising... backordered for the Howa 1500 short action. ^&%$#$^& I know it is because of Covid and the impulse gun buying wave but hey I want my ^$%#$ now too. Longer story short.. I see they have 1 Howa KRG Bravo in 6mm Creedmoor left in stock. Can it be? These are sold out everywhere as are the Oryx's. (I really wanted a Bad Rock or APO SniperHide but... I have this other addiction to fishing that umm well I just hope when i die my wife doesn't sell everything for what I told her it costs) I ended up getting the Howa KRG Bravo in 6mm Creedmoor. I just hope it is a good one.

Now to get the other pieces I need. Note to self.. when you read lots of posts by people saying this is good or go to a club and look at what other people shoot. Do that sh&^%%$ before you spend all night trying to pretend you have any idea wth you are doing on Brownells. 20 tabs open clicking add to cart. Scope Rail. Holy S*&^ that is one expensive Lego. Scope rings.... ohh wait you need to pick a scope first dummy. You need the tube size. What do they mean I need to choose between low, medium and high?? Oh there is my old friend Out of Stock again. Short version, I am going to list what I actually bought so you guys can tell me what else I actually need. I know I need a front and back bag still. If I get serious about this shooting thing and can find a local club in California I will get into the technology side with kesterel and app etc. I will probably take a class or two and shoot factory amo for now. I also bought cleaning stuff and seeing CLP on Brownells refreshed the memory and I could still smell it from the old days cleaning the M16A2.

Seriously, if I got the wrong rings or made a real bad choice let me know.

Rifle- Howa KRG Bravo in 6mm Creedmore 26 inch barrel
Scope - Brownells Match Precision Optic 5-25x56 Not a heavily suggested model here on the hide but looking for sales prices and trying to figure out the different models broke my 3:00 am brain. The few voices that had tried it liked it so I am giving it a shot. The biggest complaint seemed to be people did not like adjusting to the reticle. Since I have never used a scope much.. NO Problem!

Scope Base- BURRIS - HOWA 1500 SHORT ACTION XTREME TACTICAL 1-PIECE BASE 25 MOA base No recoil lug but I could not find one that had one.

Scope rings- Leupold Mark 4 Steel 34mm High mount rings And I thought the damn lego of a scope mount was expensive... you sure electrical tape won't work? those are expensive broken washers...

Bipod- Maglok M-Lock Those notches in the front of the Bravo look like M-Locks so it should all fit. Again not the most popular choice but everyone who tried it seemed to like it or MagLok has terrific compensation program for endorsers

Brake - no cans here in Ca- VG6 Gamma 65 muzzle brake in 6.5 Now I think I could have used the smaller size for 223 but thinking and knowing are too different things. I knew that having a muzzle brake that was for a larger caliber only lost a few % points of compensation and I knew that having too small of a hole at the end of the brake for the bullet to pass through is one of those patented guaranteed bad things so I have a 6.5 brake.

Cleaning stuff - yes... and looking at ammo options now so I can get a few hundred rounds of different weights to test with. I know I want/need a bag or two. Any real favorites out there? (Game changer and air pilow maybe?) I need a case. Do I need a sling in the modern world? I don't think I am going to be humping this thing around but I also did not think I would be 2500.00 in a midnight shopping spree. If you made it this far, thanks for reading and bearing with me.

Most importantly- Did I forget anything?
 
Wow! For a post midnight bargain shopping spree after being out of the game for 20 years, I think you did pretty damn ok!
You might want to check out Prime for the 6 creemore ammo, as you are not hand loading....
I have been super impressed with the SH podcasts, and have gained a lot of knowledge vicariously through them, just food for thought.
Have fun!!
Jordan
 
Haha, loved your story! Are you a writer for gun magazines?

I love my 6mm Creedmoor. It's really fun to shoot. You don't need a muzzle brake for that but it doesnt hurt. I've had excellent results with Federal Gold Metal Match with the Berger 105 Hybrid or the Hornady 108 grain ELD-M match ammo.
 
Cleaning stuff: get a can of wipeout foaming bore cleaner, a rod and a jag with some patches. A rod guide is nice but not essential to get started. It’s the simplest set up, squirt it in the barrel so foam comes out the end and let it sit an hour or a day and then wipe it out until the patches are dry.

I like my pint sized game changer bag, it’s expensive for a sack of sand but I use it for everything.
 
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Since you're a Marine, you might want to explore some of the exclusive prices made available to veterans. Bushnell, Burris, Leica, Leupold, Nightforce, Steiner, and Vortex are some brands you might want to check out. Shoot me a message if you need any help.