So some of you may have read in another thread about me and my father, his health had been declining for several years due to kidney failure. Well last year we swapped kidneys and he is doing much better, at least stable.
In the hopes that he would be up to it this year, I put him in for both a deer tag and a cow elk tag without his knowledge. He managed to draw both, I was excited, my Dad hasn't been hunting for 15+ years, and with his health as bad as its been I was afraid he might be done. Well the tags showed up at his house, and he just casually asked me about them. I told him he was goin, and to get ready. After a few days I could tell he was actually excited, and looking very much forward to the season.
Which brings us to today's thread, my dad built a sporterized 1903 when he was 16 yrs old (I guess it was all the rage back then) its been his main hunting rifle ever since. Well, it was time to dig this dinosaur out, and prep it for service.
The K4 Weaver that once road atop this rifle had been given to my Grandfather when his K4 shit the bed, so my dad pulled out a cheapie but decent scope he had in his safe. After mounting it up and bore sighting, it was ready for sparks.
After checking into the range, and getting paper hung. We sat down, me behind the spotter, and him behind his warhorse. He almost seemed a little intimidated by the rifle, the extremely loud report of other rifles due to the covered shooting line had him very uneasy. He can be a bit jumpy.
In the magazine was a few black box Winchester 150 power points, we figured we'd just use them to get her sighted in close, then fine tune with the old standby trusted load that Dad has always shot, and never needed to purchase more of. The time worn look on the box, and the price tag tell of the era they come from. Inside, the shiny cartridges looked as though they'd never seen day, Dad is meticulous in his care of his equipment.
After about 4 or 5 shots, we let the barrel return to ambient temp, and then loaded the 150gr Silvertip's that Dad has always used. The first shot landed exactly where we wanted it to, dead center, and about 1.5 inches high (100yds). The second landed just to the side, touching, and the third almost went through the same hole. At this point I told him that Lowlight wont accept 3 shot groups as any claim to skill or accuracy
, so he was gonna have to go for at least five. Well the other two went right into the same spot. Making a nice .9 group.
Dad was definitely happy with the group, as was I. Honestly I didn't know how well the shooter,gun,and ammo would all come together. It seems as though this crew has been together for so long, they know nothing but success in each other. I just now realized, looking back at the nostalgic memories stained by time, my Dad never really missed what he shot at. I obviously wasn't there for them all, but he always was a man of very few shots. But <span style="font-weight: bold">I</span> cannot remember him ever taking a shot that didn't meet its mark. As a child I often wondered why Dad didn't take more shots, he always seemed to be just looking through his scope, concentrating, waiting for the perfect shot.
It was my Dad that told me many years ago <span style="font-weight: bold">"The first shot, is worth all the rest"</span> and he was right, it truly is.
In the hopes that he would be up to it this year, I put him in for both a deer tag and a cow elk tag without his knowledge. He managed to draw both, I was excited, my Dad hasn't been hunting for 15+ years, and with his health as bad as its been I was afraid he might be done. Well the tags showed up at his house, and he just casually asked me about them. I told him he was goin, and to get ready. After a few days I could tell he was actually excited, and looking very much forward to the season.
Which brings us to today's thread, my dad built a sporterized 1903 when he was 16 yrs old (I guess it was all the rage back then) its been his main hunting rifle ever since. Well, it was time to dig this dinosaur out, and prep it for service.
The K4 Weaver that once road atop this rifle had been given to my Grandfather when his K4 shit the bed, so my dad pulled out a cheapie but decent scope he had in his safe. After mounting it up and bore sighting, it was ready for sparks.
After checking into the range, and getting paper hung. We sat down, me behind the spotter, and him behind his warhorse. He almost seemed a little intimidated by the rifle, the extremely loud report of other rifles due to the covered shooting line had him very uneasy. He can be a bit jumpy.
In the magazine was a few black box Winchester 150 power points, we figured we'd just use them to get her sighted in close, then fine tune with the old standby trusted load that Dad has always shot, and never needed to purchase more of. The time worn look on the box, and the price tag tell of the era they come from. Inside, the shiny cartridges looked as though they'd never seen day, Dad is meticulous in his care of his equipment.
After about 4 or 5 shots, we let the barrel return to ambient temp, and then loaded the 150gr Silvertip's that Dad has always used. The first shot landed exactly where we wanted it to, dead center, and about 1.5 inches high (100yds). The second landed just to the side, touching, and the third almost went through the same hole. At this point I told him that Lowlight wont accept 3 shot groups as any claim to skill or accuracy
Dad was definitely happy with the group, as was I. Honestly I didn't know how well the shooter,gun,and ammo would all come together. It seems as though this crew has been together for so long, they know nothing but success in each other. I just now realized, looking back at the nostalgic memories stained by time, my Dad never really missed what he shot at. I obviously wasn't there for them all, but he always was a man of very few shots. But <span style="font-weight: bold">I</span> cannot remember him ever taking a shot that didn't meet its mark. As a child I often wondered why Dad didn't take more shots, he always seemed to be just looking through his scope, concentrating, waiting for the perfect shot.
It was my Dad that told me many years ago <span style="font-weight: bold">"The first shot, is worth all the rest"</span> and he was right, it truly is.
