RIFLE ROUND UP

Theres a few new pump actions on shelves in gun stores and it got me thinking about what turns up most weekends that my crew hunts. While I’m not a technical expert, I’m a real world type of person…something either works or it doesn’t. Theres around 40 woodchopping axes in the shed and some of them are very good, some not quite as good and some just fancy woodheap axes. So any comments I make regarding rifles are based on that logic. I don’t care what the twist rate is or if it’s fancy, it’s just got to work.

The old rattly Remington 7600 is the popular pick in either of the 30 calibres. To me 30 cal is 30 cal, it doesn’t matter if it is 30-06 or 308 or even 300 Win Mag. A 30 calibre hole in the chest is going to pull a deer up, the deer’s not going to say “That was only a 308, I’m not stopping”. There’s a couple of fancy looking BLRs in 06 and 08, a Marlin 45-70 and various bolt guns including a 375 H&H. Probably the only real oddball is the Rem 760 in 358. All of them do the job. I will probably upset the purists but to me a bolt action is a bolt action, it doesn’t matter if it’s from the bottom end of the price list or the top end. Yes, some may be a bit rough around the edges but most, if not all, shoot well enough to hunt sambar. You are trying to hit a dinner plate at 100m, not pluck hairs off a gnats ear at 800m. There is definitely no room in a hound crew for any of those long-range toys.

There will never be agreement on which cartridge is best as everyone has their own opinion and the same with projectiles. One hundred and thirty grain TTSXs out of the 308 will do the job just as well as 150-grain projectiles. I don’t believe that there is any need to shoot extra heavy projectiles out of your 30-06 either…150s or 180s will get the job done.

Scopes and sights are a personal preference. My timber stocked 7600 308 has a Tasco PDP3 small dot on top of it and I have never had any dramas with it apart from the odd occasion that I’ve thrown it up to fire a shot at a deer and bugger, there’s no dot…the batteries are flat.

The Remington gets an annual clean whether it needs it or not and it’s not hard to get the trigger mechanism out to get rid of the dogwood and other accumulated crap from the trigger and hammer. Simply push or tap the two pins out that hold it in place and its out ready to clean. Undo the screw from the front of the fore end and it comes off to clean that area as well. It’s a pretty bare bones firearm when you really look at it. The chamber is a bit harder to clean but a suitable brush with a bent handle does the trick. I find brake cleaner works pretty well at cleaning everything while its apart, and then a bit of a squirt with WD40 or similar and it’s good to go for another season.

I have had the occasional cartridge jam in the chamber and it’s taken a bit to get it open but nothing a handy log and a bit of force hasn’t solved, along with the odd misfire and its generally a factory round that won’t go off. Accuracy is pretty good for a 30-year-old rifle that has fired lots of shots and it hasn’t really let me down while I’ve had it. To me the rattly old Remington is pretty well idiot proof, it will put up with less than zero temperatures, rain, hail, sleet and snow, mud and dirt and still be working next weekend.

The timber is looking a little bit worn, well more than a little bit worn, and it is far from pristine. I wouldn’t mind a set of plastic for it but until my offspring buy them for me for Christmas it’s probably not going to happen. There’s about half and half with wood/plastic stocks amongst the crew. Super Trucker has a set of fancy camo plastic furniture on his 30-06 and that’s probably about how many shots he’s fired at deer as well. Tyson (I can’t use his nickname cause it’s a little politically incorrect) has lovely pink bits on his. Possum and Brenda just have black stocks and fore ends. Brax’s mum has a lovely set of timber stocks on her 308, I wonder if I could swap. Probably not but then again maybe she could pay me for babysitting. Like me, I don’t think any of them have had any real issues with their choice of firearm.

The BLRs are both nice looking bits of kit with one in 06 and the other in 08. The 06 version is the newer one of the two and the owner can tend to be a bit neglectful on maintenance unlike the owner of the 08, it gets looked after really well. From what I have seen BLRs are like a Toyota; you need to maintain them more than most others and they won’t put up with any rough stuff. Others may have a different opinion. I had a play with a BPR lots of years ago and wasn’t super keen on the little plastic rollers in the fore end. They just didn’t seem like they would last that long.

The bolt guns are a mix of Model 70s, Tikka, Howa and a custom mauser in 375 H&H. They are all varying ages, like the owners, but usually pretty well looked after. I’m not saying my 7600 is not looked after but it’s a tool to do a job and in my opinion it does the job pretty damn well. If it gets a scratch on the stock that’s just part of the deal. Would I buy another one? Most definitely. They are in my opinion robust, pretty well bullet proof and will stand the test of time. I’m sure there are plenty of users out there that would say the same thing.

But are there better options out there in today’s marketplace? There are a couple of new pump guns recently arrived on the scene and there are a few straight pulls that pretty much do the same thing. Maybe it’s time to go shopping?

I’ve had a couple of trips offshore, one with a novice that’s really only fished Port Phillip Bay for flathead and one with the Boss. Both trips we managed to bring a few gummies home and thankfully the Boss and myself avoided the spikes on the gurnard. Old Mate wasn’t so lucky and was still complaining five weeks later. I did tell him to be careful but you know young blokes, they don’t listen. I was given a lesson by one gummy, my usual act is to grab the trace and the tail and lift them over the side of the Bar Crusher or stick the gaff in them. Its saves having to untangle the bloody things out of the net. Well, I did that with the first three and then with number four handed the rod across to the Boss and grabbed the trace and the tail and all but ended up in the water. Well, some stupid old bugger didn’t have a real good look at what was there and it wasn’t until its beating the b’Jesus out of me that I realised just how big it was. It was easily the biggest gummy I’ve hooked at around 1.8m and a head as big as a shovel. It swam away with a 8/0 Charlie Brown circle still hanging out of it and left me looking and feeling like an idiot, which is nothing new. Anyhow I won’t do that again, well not until next time.

I thought retirement was supposed to be sitting around doing not much, drinking coffee and telling anyone that would listen how good I used to be. Anyhow time to tell more lies around a campfire. Hound season is happening and there’s six pups here eager to go.

Good hunting.

The old rattly Remington 7600 is the popular pick in either of the 30 calibres.