steve1

I was wondering what kind of a set up, people use now days, to win the Windledom Cup. I think SGT. Hathcock won that once using a 300 Winchester Magnum, if I remember right. I'm not sure what kind of scope. I've never shot at ranges like that, but it does sound like fun practice....It would be a real challenge. I have shot targets out to 500 yards with a little wind. Groups really start to open up at that range.... Thanks for the info. all. This is interesting stuff....

Can anyone recommend a good range finder (for the money). I've heard their are many cheaper ones that won't give accurate ranges beyond 300 yards. I'd think that a good range finder and target turrets would help tremendously....It sounds like fun to me....

Bigun had some good info. on that website. It said that usually a 308 is an accurate round, no matter which gun it is used in. While some rifles like the 25/06 are finicky and will only shoot well if the right reload is used in that gun. Possibly this is why the military has adopted the 308 as a sniper round....Maybe match ammo will shoot good in most 308's, (that have been accurized)....That may not be the case with other cartridge types.....

I was also wondering if anyone out there has used a scope with target turrets. I'd think these could be very deadly for long range shooting, if you know where to set them. I don't want them to turn by accident though. That could mess up a shot if you don't check the setting every time before shooting. I've never used them. They might make target shooting more fun.... I normally sight my rifles in about 2 1/2 inches high at a hundred. I used to sight them in, about 3 1/2 inches high, but this was shooting over deer at 200 yards. With this system you could hold right on a deer out to 300 yards and hit the lungs easily, with a flat shooting rifle. For longer shots I have another system that is quick and easy. I use the space between my duplex rectacles to estimate range. It's not always perfectly accurate though.... Target turrets would probably make shots beyond 300 yards easier yet.....I'd like to give these a try... I think you can send a Leupold scope in and have them put on at the factory. There are another type that you can screw on yourself, onto a regular scope. I've read a few bad reviews on them though....Others think they are fine.

I'm wondering how expensive they are. Are they within the range of the average Joe (price wise), and how accurate are they. I know hunters who have bought range finders who say they are often off....a lot. I imagine this all boils down to how much you want to spend.....

I've never been a big fan of spending a ton of money on a custom rifle. I like Remington 700's. I also like Leupold scopes. This combination is usually very accurate. With some fine tuning and custom loads, they will usually drive tacks. I use these rifles for hunting purposes, and practice at long ranges. I seldom take a shot at over 400 yards, because I don't like to wound game. But I would like to hit targets at much further than that. Practice at long range, can make close shots easy.... The problem is, (as I see it) that a shooter seldom knows exact ranges when afield. A rifle with a rainbow trajectory will completely miss the traget if you are off in estimation, even 40 yards. Some people carry range finders, but they are often off too. It just seems to me that a flatter shooting gun is an advantage in long range shooting..... I know you do a lot of long range shooting, John. So, I respect your opinion on this.....

I'm wondering too about what kind of accuracy one can expect from an automatic rifle compared to a bolt action. I fine tune most of my bolt guns to where they will group (five shots) between 3/4 and a 1/2 inch at a 100 yds. So what I am wondering....Will an M-14 or other automatic rifle shoot that well. I'll bet John knows the answer to this.... I'm sure there are advantages to having an automatic for military purposes....

I've often wondered why the military and police like this round so much for long range shooting. I know it is a very accurate cartridge, the recoil is mild, a thirty caliber bullet would buck the wind well and retain energy better than a smaller bullet. A short action may be a plus... But the 308 just doesn't seem very flat shooting to me. Wouldn't a 300 magnum, 7mm magnum, 30/06, or even a 270 be a better choice for long range shooting? Having a flatter trajectory would spell the difference between a hit and a miss if you over or under estimate the range at long distant targets. Maybe someone can educate me on this.....

I had a small hunting knife on my stylemaster reserve. It was up next to my altimeter and stop watch. Don't ask me why I had a stop watch. I don't think I ever did look at it. (even once) I remember seeing a military hook knife or two back in the 70's. But most jumpers had no knife at all. Line over malfunctions were fairly common back then. I'm not sure when anti-inversion netting came out.... That has me wondering....Is anti inversion netting on military belly warts, now days. That is probably a great invention.

We had a lot of field exercises with mortar fired illumination. They threw out a ton of light and ruined your night vision. It would be darker than dark when suddenly it would be just like day....Not a good time to be caught out in the open!

I miss those mass exits, we had in the army. Green parachutes everywhere. Usually it was out of three large aircraft flying formation. I can only imagine the parachutes one would see on a 400 way....Sounds dangerous too. Jumping T-10's were safe enough on formation loads. You could have a collision, entanglement, or even walk off someones chute, without getting killed.....Ram-air chutes would be a different story. I had a buddy of mine who was scared to jump (in the army). I always jumped first. After I'd go out the door, he'd be right on my tail. I had several near collisions with him....

reply] What, no French paraboots? Oh, yeah. I had them too. They were long since out of fashion though. I guess I looked like a reincarnated skydiver.... I had a buddy that was making his first few jumps at the time. I later loaned those boots to him, because I figured he needed them more. I decided that I could jump a P.C. with tennis shoes. A few jumps later, I had a malfunction and tried to land a wildly oscillating 24 ft. reserve into a rock pile. I sprained both ankles bad. I limped back up to the air strip, and caught a ride back to the hanger in our plane. I think I would have been okay, if I had only had my frenchies. I loved those old boots....

I haven't done that yet, but I have messed up a madjohn load or two....

I always enjoyed skiing on the edge....going way too fast was fun. Wiping out on hard pack, was no fun, but you soon forgot all about that, and went back to skiing sometimes out of control. Another old jumper I know skiis that way too. I kept encouraging him to go fast....Two winters ago he broke his neck bad! He still skydives, but I'm not so sure about the skiing. I've tried to slow down when I'm on the hill since then. I keep telling everyone that I don't want to fall and break a hip. When you get old you have to worry about stuff like that. I can still beat my daughters to the bottom of the hill though, so I'm not all washed up yet. I never used portias for skiing. They might work okay....I have jumped them when it was way below freezing. I can't remember them fogging up much.

I'm 6'4" & 225#...that's 10 pounds lighter than the last time I jumped it 25 years ago. Lost some weight, gained some brains! ....................................................... I was always a light weight, until recently. Forty years ago I was a strapping young Lad of about 135 lbs....Standing up a rag wasn't too hard with Frenchies. Today I'm a portly old feller, who has lost some of his marbles. I have trouble remembering more than one point. Sometimes it's hard just remembering where my slot is. In the old days things were simple....You just looked for something round, and then you tried to get in. I'm still thinking about getting my old PC out of moth balls..... The last time I jumped old gear, I told everyone if I didn't make it they could have my gear. The thing is, nobody wanted it....

Are their any young "Whipper Snappers" who know what that means?..... If you are pushing 60 you are ineligible. How about, "Do you have some Portia's that I could borrow?" If you jumped during the 70's you probably know these terms well.... I quit jumping for years and years and then started up again. I was jumping my old gear of course. I showed up with my b-12 container, double zipper jump suit, belly wart, and motorcycle helmet. Everyone was looking at me with concern...About then I asked another old jumper if he had an extra pair of portias that I could use. He about cracked up laughing. Those things were long since extinct.....

I could have used a contraption like that when I was trying to pack my Mark 1 into my Super Pro container. It sure was purty when it was all packed up though. My stylemaster reserve was tight bugger too. My 24 ft. reserve didn't want to go in there. Packing was what kept me in shape back in the day. That and hoisting beer cans....

Man! You've been in a long time....

Sometimes, when we jumped with the National Guard, I'd wear my frenchies and stand up my T-10. Most officers would look the other way. They knew I was a skydiver, and there was some respect that came with that. I knew better than to try a stunt like that with the regular army....

The last time I tried to tell a joke I was with a group of women teachers. Someone else told I joke, so I figured I'd tell one too. I told a joke that another skydiver had told me. It had a rather crude ending. After telling the punch line I started horse laughing and snorting. About then I noticed that almost noone was even laughing. It was very quiet and almost everyone had an uncomfortable look on their face. One old gal looked pissed. Well, I think that was the last time I was asked out to eat lunch with them. I guess I need to work on my social skills....

Have you tried Steve the beaver expert and PM him for advice from a pro. I always wanted to be an expert on beavers.....If I was a little smarter I would have gone into ginecology....(did I spell that right?)

Oh, you guys make me laugh! We're just getting started Howard. Sorry to wreck your great thread.

In a recent survey, 9 out of 10 men who have tried Camels ......... prefer Women! That reminds me of a camel joke.... There was a Foreign Legion colonel assigned to a distant post in the dessert. He was the new commander there, and his first sargent was showing him around. This was a truly desolate place. The colonel asked his sargent what the men did, when they were in need of a woman. The sargent said follow me. They walked around the back of a building, and there stood this huge female camel. The colonel took one look, and said, "I can't believe that anyone would resort to that!" Well, the weeks passed, and this mangy-old camel started to look a little better to the colonel. One day the colonel decided to give it a try. So, there was the colonel and this camel, doing the wild thing. About then the colonel's company of men came marching around the corner. Everyone stopped stone still and stared with disgust on their faces. "What in the hell do you think you're doing," said the sargent!" "I'm just doing what you told me," said the colonel. "No! No! No!", said the sargent....."We ride the camel into town!"..........

reply] I find it hard to classify a pellet gun as a gun - But hey - defend it all you want - It all depends on how ascenine you want to be about it. ................................................................ I'm not very good with big words. Is ascenine kind of like being an ass hole? I don't have a websters handy....I'm just trying to make sense out of your words....

Sorry to hi-jack this thread! Beaver are very capable of delivering scratches and bite marks. I used to trap beaver. Sometimes my canoe would be loaded down with a couple hundred pounds of beaver and traps. Spring is mating season for beaver. There's a lot of fighting that goes on then. You have to pull your traps when mating season starts. Most of the mature beaver will have huge holes in their back delivered from another beaver. They aren't worth trapping then. Some big river beaver will weigh eighty pounds or more. Hardly anyone traps them where I live because the price of fur is way down. They can do a huge amount of damage to trees in the area. So, that's about all I know about beavers!