Introductions, lots of new folks here nowadays

[Glock119]

Hello folks,
My name is Ben Clute,
I'm 40 yrs old and live in Vestal, NY with my wife of 15 yrs and have 2 children - well now 1 child. My son 21 who hates hunting and my 15 yr. old daughter who is like my best buddy and loves just about everything that I love - like shooting pistols-rifles and bows, hunting, skiing, scuba diving, 4 wheeling. We're just about game to do anything thats fun. We love to camp well that is with our 5th wheel and am looking forward to the time where someday we might meet some of you and to have an opportunity to shoot with ya.

After working in management for 12 yrs I started my own company doing construction for residential and light commercial work. I volunteer as a local Fire Fighter, New York State Hunter Ed Instructor, and am a National ATV Safety Instructor to name a few. I just love to teach and help others, no way to really explain it.

Have had the long range bug for many years but with limited areas to shoot LR has always been less than 400yds. I now travel to shoot at farther distances and make time to do so by including it somehow into our little family trips or 4 day weekend getaways.

Like most here I have several rifles, more shotguns than you can shake a stick at, several pistols and an inline black powder rifle that many of my friends with traditionals beat me up over all the time.

Look forward to the day that I might meet some of you and spend some time on the range or in the field with you.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Buffalobob]

Buffalobob – When I was young I was teased by other kids because I looked like Howdy Dowdy. When I was in Utah I drew out on a buffalo permit for the Henry Mountains and killed a huge bull. Needed a distinctive name with a little humor in it.

Hi. I'm Jim Collier, but my middle name is Robert so sometimes I am called Bob. I'm 57 years old and counting down to retirement and moving to back to the Rockies. Grew up in hill country Alabama hunting just about anything that could be hunted with a 22 single shot. Bought my first gun at age 10 by raising and selling cotton. It was and is a Stevens 311 410 side by side. Hunted doves and quail with it. Went to the U of Alabama in the days of Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, Kenny, the Snake, Stabler, and got a degree in physics (funny that nearly every one on this site knows more about ballistics than me). Went off on the scenic tour as Special Forces Lt. and ran Recon/ Sniper with 2/1. My snipers were trained by Lones Wigger at Chu Lai. Witnessed some truly phenomenal shots with clunky ole M-14 308's – would you believe 2100m. Prefer Weatherbys because I grew up reading all of the old greats like O'Conner, Ackly, Kieth, Annabel, and seeing those pictures of safaris to Africa with Weatherbys. Went back to U of A and got a graduate degree in Environmental Engineering. I have a lot of hobbies. If you want to see the wood stripper canoe I built you can go to this web site. The perspective is bad. I paddle about 100-200 miles a year. Fish when I can.

http://www.alliancechesbay.org/project.cfm?vid=99

I have run the Marine corps marathon 3 or 4 times, I'm too slow to be on their website.

I built up a 95 mustang 5.0 to 300hp, then when my son got to be 15 I told him we could go a buy an old 69 or 70 mustang and put a 429 SCJ in it. He said he wanted a corvette so I took him down for genetic testing cause I don't know where he could have gotten such bad genes. Anyway, we found an old, don't run 1974 454 Vette and are trying to rebuild it because he is a good boy despite his obvious flaws. My daughter is older and is an excellent shot but won't go hunting with me.

Most of my hunting time is bowhunting because the season is long and it is quiet and peaceful and I don't have to ruin my hunting trip by actually killing something. I do a little dove hunting, resident geese on the Potomac, squirrels and in the spring turkeys. Despite what I say, I pass up lots of shots nowadays because it is just more interesting to watch pair of foxes playing than it is to take a 30 yard shot when there is no challenge.

Long Range hunting – decided in 1978 that I needed a gun to shoot across canyons up on the Manti LaSal in Utah. Did not know much about what I was doing (pre-internet instant expert days), but decided upon a Ruger #1 platform and 7mm Weatherby cartridge in a Shilen heavy barrel with a 6X18 Redfield rangefinder scope (no laser rangefinders in those days) (no adjustable bases either), custom rear stock. Got turret knobs and painted the tops white then zero and marked in every hundred yards from 200 –1200 yards. Then clear coated that in. Final calibration of the knob was done out in Skull Valley, Utah near the big rock, lying prone in the bed of a pick up truck (Ford naturally) using sandbags – no tables, no vises. Starting at first light shot in 900, 1000, 1100, and 1200yd. Last two groups of 5 rounds each at 1200 yards was fighting mirage but both groups went under 8 inches. I was in business! Hunted two seasons with the gun but never solved the bullet selection problem. I see it is still being debated 25 years later, so I guess I'm not as dumb as I felt.
This is a great site and I really am surprised at how many people actually enjoy this rather arcane sport. I am using this site to learn about the new technology and advances in barrels, adjustable bases, stocks, scopes rangefinders, bullets, PDAs (no more 3X5 cards to sort through before shooting) etc, since I last tried my hand at this. It is just so good to have so many opinions on stuff and not have to mangle animals to learn what works. I guess I will start getting a new gun built next summer after I figure out how much tuition is going to cost to get the boy out of the house. Thanks to everybody.

 

[Whitewolf393]

Hello all,

Well, I live in the "Metropolis of Northern Virginia", outside of Washington DC. I'm 38 years old, still single thank God and work as a network engineer at the Pentagon. I'm a civilian contractor, as they call it around these parts. I grew up in New Jersey, but did much more fishing than hunting, chasing bluefish and sharks in the Atlantic. I'm new to the Long Range Hunting thing, but not hunting, and I look forward to learning alot from all of you. This board is without a doubt the best and most knowledgeable group of shooters collectively anywhere in the world, in my humble opinion. If any of you around my neck of the wood ever want to go shooting at Quantico or anywhere there's some distance, let me know. I'm usually up for some plinking in the spring and summer months before hunting season and into October, too.

I'm a former Army grunt, having served in light infantry and special ops for a stretch, and got out completely in 2001. My other hobbies besides hunting and shooting are saltwater fishing, with both the fly rod and spear gun, gourmet cooking, which gets me dates with the ladies :]], music (just listening), martial arts, which I've been training in for some 15 years or so, and skiing when it frosts over.

 

[308 nate]

MY name is Nathan Dagley,
but my friends call me Nate and the 308 Winchester is one of my favorite rounds.
I am 25 and married to my childhood sweetheart and the love of my life, Elizabeth.... 7 years this June, We have three wonderful blessings. Jessica 6 this month , Eli 4-1/2 , Sarah Rose 2-1/2.We have 1 horse (Lady Luck) 1 Pony names (Britches) a cow (we try not to name our food) and a black lab(Scout)

I will try to give you a quick background.
I was schooled at home from day 1,when I turned 11 my Dad let me take His Marlin lever action 22, with an octagonal barrel (which was almost 100yrs. old)rabbit hunting.
I spent hundreds of hours with that gun.
from 13-16 I worked summers for a 1,000 cow/calf pair ranch near Mobridge,South Dakota. When I was 16 the ranch forman left and the job fell to me. Being homeschooled I had my studies with me and I was able to graduate early....My first full time job in which I was ranch foreman for 6 years!
My first centerfire was a Winchester lever action .30-.30,and a Ruger blackhawk .357. we had about 100 acres of prairie dogs on the ranch and this is where my long range addiction started.
My first prairie dog rig was a Remington 700 BDL and I was introduced to reloading when I was 16,by a good friend.
and I haven't hardly bought a factory round since!!
I started pillar bedding rifles when I was 17 and have never glued one in. When I was 21 and the third kid on the way,I realized the ranch took too much time away from my family,I worked 6-1/2 days a week and on call 24/7/365!
My father-in-law gave me a job offer I couldn't refuse which involves manufacturing Hanks pet food. We have a small two man operation in which we produce and sell 100,000 lbs a month of some of the best nutritional meat based dog food money can buy! as we put no money into advertizing and it is packaged in a plain brown bag so we can keep our prices low while putting in quality ingredients.This is equivilant to Iams and science diet for 1/3 the price!....In our spare time we build automatic coal stokers and easy clean boilers we also install them and install propane furnaces and central air systems....... and He had a fully equipted machine shop that was almost unused by Him. Now my job hours are extremely flexible and I have been able to pursue my gunsmithing dream.I have been AGI trained and have been building precision long range,custom rifles for two years.And I have a quickly,ever growing clientele.
I don't own a stock rifle,other than my lever action 44,which does have a few modifications.

being homeschooled I spent my extra time learning many different trades I am a class A welder,Iv'e got over 200 hrs in backhoe work,I am a very sufficient roper ,I roped around 1,000 calves a year when I was on the ranch.I have rebuilt several engines.I love to invent and engineer.I drew up blueprints am in the process of building a 7,000 sq.ft. home in which I will have my machine shop with a small gun and reloading shop.(straightshot gunsmithing)

my three passions in life..
#1- trusting in the Lord with all my heart and leaning not on my own understanding!
#2- my wife and kids.
#3-gunsmithing and shooting long range
looking back the Lord has blessed me with more than my share and I am truly greatfull!

last weekend I chambered my first two 50 BMG'S for a customer,they couldn't have turned out better...Man was that fun!
I stumbled onto this site about a year ago when I was researching barrel blocks and have been here almost everyday since!
thanks to Len and all the members who make this site very informative and almost no-nonsence site.
308nate

 

[Centre Punch]

Hi everyone,
I am Ian Wilson, i am the same age as Dirty Harry's magnum and live in the beautifull English county of Northamptonshire, ancestral home of Princess Diana RIP.

My wife and i have been married for 15 years and have 3 daughters (11, 9, and 5) and a son james who is 4.

I retired from work 4 years ago on medical grounds but spent my working life as a master machineist involved in the R&D and manufacture of fuel delivery systems for the gas turbine engine industry, in my last year of employment i took over Quality control and testing of these systems.

I suffer from a rare degenerative muscle disease which effects my back and legs and makes getting around quite difficult and all but curtails my hunting apart from that on easy open terrain.

My shooting started seriously when i was 15 and i took up 6m and 10m Match Air rifle, over the years i tried smallbore, clays,and archery but nothing lit my fire untill i took up fullbore pistol shooting in 1983.
PP1, PP2, and 1500 were my prefered disciplines with steel challenge and pin shooting easily being my favourites.

After the government confisscated all our pistols in 1997 i still wanted to shoot, so got involved in rifle shooting, i had always had a fascination with heavy barreled rifles and after a few years of plinking with various 222s, 223s and 22-250s i graduated to benchrest in HV class and started to play around with BPCR, were i had my first experiences of long range, shooting Quigley matches. After beating all but one of the British benchrest shooters in my first 2 competitions and shooting a British record breaking 0.068", because of the extremely hostile reception and comments i got from the established benchrest shooters i them to [censored] off and packed it all in.

After a bit more a bit more BPCR, bullet casting, dirt and obnoxious fumes I packed that in as well!
So here i am today with my 243 and my 300WSM shooting purely for fun and having agreat time at LRH, which i think is the best of its kind and at the forefront of shooting developement with a lot extremely knowledgeable people contributing, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ian.

PS. I thought i would leave this one till last, i passionately pursue Pike with lures and fly and so far have had a best of 18 3/4 lb which in your way is about 38"

 

[dbhoug]

I guess I am kind of a "light load" compared to most of the hunting and shooting experience I see here.

I spent 11 years in the US Navy riding nuclear subs (poseidon and trident). Had the pleasure of moving around a lot during those years and have hunted in most of those places. I even had the pleasure of hunting some wild boar on the island of Guam (grouchy, nasty animals). I did a tour as a recruiter in ND....try selling the Navy to someone in the middle of North Dakota! Also lived 5-6 other places.I have spent about 3 years of my life underwater going places that I never saw and still can't talk about. I worked for the DIA for several years after getting out of the Navy, living in the Langley, VA area.

I hunt mostly Mn whitetail but have taken several elk, moose, and mulies. My collection of 4 rifles and 3 shotguns would probably pale next to most of yours. My wife and I are avid campers and I will sometimes pull the travel trailer up north in the middle of our 80 acres and spend a week hiding, talking to no one but the animals (yes, I am a little crazy). I would prefer to LIVE in the woods, but unfortunately I have to make a living.

I work in law enforcement, currently on loan to a multi-county taskforce that deals with drug and gang activity here in MN.

I have one other hobby that I spend more time with than hunting, and that is bicycling. I have 1 carbon and 2 aluminum framed bikes that I spend a lot of time on. During the summer I usually ride 600-700 miles per month. I have ridden a "century" many times ( over 100 miles in a day). The feeling one gets after finishing a nice bikeride is almost as good as the feeling of sitting in my deerstand anticipating that next big buck's arrival. Unfortunately, I can only sit in the stand for a few days per year, but I can ride for 6-7 months per year. I hope to be able to still do both until I am 80ish or older! I am 50 now. My granddaughters tell me that they are the ONLY ones who have a "grampa that rides a bicycle". They are really the ones that make my world go 'round. If you are a grandparent, you know what I mean.

Anyway, this forum allows a person like me to get a lot of information from the likes of all of you. I much enjoy the reading!

 

[Ian M]

I did not notice that Dave started up another intro, good idea as usual. Here is some personal background. Unlike Dave and Len, I have never shot a rifle, don't own any, and am not sure I would like to try shooting one. There is only one way to find that out...

I am considering starting up a fund to help with the purchase of my first rifle - nothing fancy, but would like to experience the joy of shooting a custom rifle. Just send money earmarked to "Ian's First Rifle" to GA Precision, Long Shot Rifles or Kirby Allen - preferably one hundred dollar bills /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

I will also set up arrangements with Cooper Arms and Dakota Arms, since I am sure that you guys would also like me to own a factory produced rifle, not just custom rigs from those great builders. I expect Dave and Len will lead the rush to send $, what are friends for anyhow? I would even accept a few S&B scopes from Pete, maybe a couple of tacticals and one of those low magnification models with the bright dot...

I am confident that the great guys who hang-out here would like me to have a real gun so that I can experience what they enjoy so much. By the way, if anyone believes this gibberish they are reading the wrong website /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

We are fortunate that Len provides this site, that Dave lends his knowledge and expertise in everything from shooting to computer-Geek stuff and that such a great group of guys hang-out here. Thanks to all.

ps I think if I looked around I could find one rifle around here...

 

[Ronin]

Hello, I too am one of the several who have forgotton passwords and had to start afresh. My name is Andy, I live in the northwest of England near to the border of Cumbria and the Lake District, which for those who don't know is a beautiful and picturesque area of our fair land. I work in "Law Enforcement", which takes up far too much of my time! I am 38 and have been married to my wife for nearly 3 years, we have a son and daughter - who is four days old. So as you may imagine I don't spend as much time as I would like shooting.
I have just one shotgun and I may as well throw that at my quarry for all the use I am with it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif However when it comes to rifles, I have a passion for accuracy and long ranges, not in the same league as goodgrouper my limit at present is 500yds. I own three custom rifles; 6.5x284, 25-06 and 22-250AI. They have been worked on in the UK by Norman Clark and Peter Jackson respectively, who both have good reputations for excellent work. I do my own bedding and stock prep and I seem to do ok. i recently entered a fly shoot at Diggle ranges in Oldham and managed to get a 2inch group and hit the fly with the 6.5x284 so I was very pleased. I would really like to do my own smith work but have neither the time or tools to attempt this at present.
In the future, I hope to enter more long range comps and also spend more time stalking the resident deer population on the various bits of land I have permission on.

This is one of the best forums I have seen to exchange and obtain knowledge from the vast quantity of excellent providers out there, long may it continue. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[riof16]

Captain Lafe Dunn, US Air Force F-16 instructor pilot, currently stationed at Luke AFB in Phoenix, AZ. Did a year on the wire in Korea (Osan), dropped a lot of bombs on Iraq, and after 9 years active duty, I've had enough. I'm going to Springfield, Ohio Air Guard to keep flying the "Viper" because my real, only home and family is there.

I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart because He first loved me, and realize without him I am literally just a pile of dirt, and worse: an eternal play-toy for Lucifer. Thank you, my Lord for delivering me by your suffering from so great a destruction. If you don't believe, or never had a chance to ponder it, maybe you oughta pick up a Bible and make sure you have all the facts first. It's infinitely important that you do.

LONG RANGE HUNTING: always wanted to learn how to load rifle cartridges, and finally took the time this year. What a money-eating, time consuming, incredibly frustrating, addicting, joyful habit. Dove right into the WSM/WSSM family, and the results are in the previous sentence.

Email anytime, I love to share my life's story and adventure with good people. I am an unofficial public speaker (not-for-profit), specializing in schools and churches. My country-boy fighter pilot story is pretty good, and I like giving people, especially kids, HOPE. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[email protected]

 

[41mag]

WEll I have grown up traveling between the Houston, Tx area and our property in East Tx. Our family has deep roots in a couple of small towns up there, and we have a little over a hundered acres on which to piddle. My whole family has hunted forever, more from necessity back in the late 30's, but it spurned a love of the outdoors which has been passed down through the generations.

Myself, at 42 now, have been hunting since I was old enough to understand what SSHhhhh theres a deer meant. I can clearly remember being with my dad at just over 2 when he got a deer. and I finished it off with my stick gun. LOL. I got my first deer at 6 and started helping out with the handloading at 8 and have been going ever since. I not only hunt but fish just as hard. WE generally fish the surf in search of the inshore monsters. Personal best on the sand has only been a smallish 5' Blacktip but have hooked into several much larger ones. My love of shooting was spurred on by my dad who would spend hours and hours at the range with his old 03A3 burning up this and that load. After his passing, I pulled his rifle down and found, after a two day cleaning session, that it actually did still have lands and grooves. That thing will still shoot 3/4" groups with ease.

I got into sudo long range shooting early, as on our place, the deer came across our hay fields on their way from one set of timber to the other. I got tired of watching as the better ones would stay out 300 yds or better and I didn't have the confidence to bust a cap. Well eventually, one **** cold morning, I pulled it together and got one of them. Since that day my longest measured shot on a deer was at 285yds. Not that far compared to some shots posted here but, I have set some limits on them through the years. I have shot several that were probably further out but the results were less than gratifying. The 285yd shot was definatley my best ever deer. We had seen him the year before and I decided he was the one for the following season. When it came around the following year, my deer season lasted only 20 minutes. My hunting pardner ranged him and I simply settled the crosshair on the Sendero 7 mag. and squeezed.

However, since we have such a feral hog problem, I have resorted to them, as most of you do prarie dogs. They simply make up a great source of practice as well as a great media for testing out new loads on. One other thing is that they eat darned good too. LOL The longest laser measured shot on them has been just over 400 yds with several rifles, and my longest shot on anything was a yote out at 550, with my 25/06.

I also have a daughter who is a very accomplished hunter and shooter. She bagged her first wall mount two weeks before delivering my grandson. Truly hardcore. She has taken several yotes out past 300 yds as well as a couple of trophy deer from our place. It won't be too long till my grandson picks up the pace, as he is already capable of distinguishing tracks of different animals at 4. He has been with me and his mom on several sucessful hog shots and loves nothing more than to sit while watching any of several hunting movies and shoot the deer with his bolt scope rifle as he calls it. LOL I am looking forward to spending time in the woods with hiom in the upcoming years.

Since finding this board, I have learned a lot from the regulars as well as some of the newer folks who ask the right questions. I have also decided to extend my knowleged of long range stuff, as well as the ranges on the hogs, and ordered one of Kirby's .270 for some real fun.

I am hoping to be burning up some large quantities of powder sometime after the first of the year which will be prime time for the hogs around where I hunt. With the 800+acre cotton field being picked and cut they will be easy pickins out as far as we can hit them.

I look forward to posting up some great results as well as info on different bullets at different ranges. Look for me to be asking some repeat questions here in the next few months. I hope that I can meet up with a few of you local folks and possibly we can get together one day for some shooting or hunting somewhere. Feel free to get in touch if your interested.

If your interested in some of what we have put on the ground through the past couple of years, feel free to look through my photo's at the link under my sig.

Good shooting,

 

[sewwhat89]

Well, my name is Stephen Wyatt, and my background is similar to Mike's. I grew up in Nacogdoches, TX and I have been shooting since I was 5 and hunting since I was 6. I would have started earlier, but my older brother always talked me into staying home to watch cartoons instead of getting cold and wet hunting. After he had killed several deer and his first forked horn buck, I wised up and went myself. I started hunting with my great-grandfather's 410 for squirrels and anything else my Papaw would let me shoot. Ended up with one squirrel over about 3 years worth of hunting. (It took a while for the whole stealth thing to set in!) Then I graduated to a Ruger 44 mag carbine. I took my first deer with that. A Savage 243 lever gun was my next gun, but that gun didn't shoot for crap in my hands. My dad then gave me my first deer rifle, a Browning BLR 243. I harvested several deer over the next couple years. I started handloading with my dad at around 6 or 7 years of age. I am a math person, and handloading just seemed to fit the bill. I am still known on occasion to spend 12 hours a day in the shop just loading rounds. I now own too many guns to list, but my meat gun is a Win Model 70 .25-06. I have shot all species of shootable game in East Texas with this rifle. My newest loves are my 300 SAUMs. I have a Model 7 and a Sendero model. They have matching Zeiss 4.5-14x44mm scopes. The Model 7 will regularly place 3 140 gr Barnes X and 150 gr NAB into nice 2.2" groups at 300 yards. My Sendero will keep the 175 SMK in 0.25 MOA groups out to 535 yards.

I earned my BS in Forestry/Wildlife Management at Stephen F. Austin SU in Nacogdoches, and promptly went back to school to pursue a doctorate in Pharmacy. Currently I am in my third year of Pharmacy School, and I am counting the days to freedom and the pursuit of fine custom firearms. No women have been able to put up with my addiction to hunting, fishing and shooting habits. Someday I will find her, just not yet!

Stephen Wyatt
Houston, TX

 

[4ked Horn]

Names Joe. 1 wife of 14 years. Two sons and favorite hunting buddies aged 7 and 3. My other hunting buddies that visit this forum are "Dave in Idaho" and "Gonehuntingagain" aka Big Al. I didn't start hunting 'til I was 16 when I moved from Albuquerque to north Idaho. I was a machinist for a number of years then got in a fight with a Jeep (I'm still around, the Jeep ain't) that put a stop to that. At that point I got married and moved to the Boise area of Idaho. I wasn't to keen on South West Idaho until I discovered that the deserts were full of coyotes and mule deer and the nearby mountains had loads of elk, bears and all manner of birds and the rivers support a number of ducks and geese. In short, what I thought was a lousy place to live turned out to be a hunters paradise. I got into long range hunting when my friend "Dave in Idaho" kept prodding me and teasing me for owning a "skinny barrel" rifle. He pointed out that with my newly aquired walking dissability long range hunting would save me lots of walking the hill sides. So I got a .308 and I am continuously working at learning how to make it cover the distance so the only walking I have to do is to dress out the game that is laying there waiting for me and then a leisurely packing of meat to the truck. This is where hunting buddies come in real handy.

Any way... I've been a locksmith for 9 years and have owned my own business for 4 of them. I like every aspect of the shooting sports from target shooting, reloading, shotgunning, the occasional IPSC match, teaching my boys to shoot, hunting and advanced gun maintainance (Not quite gunsmithing but when I get a lathe and a milling machine in the garage...watch out!) to sitting in cold duck blinds, working on hunting boats, building shooting accessories like gongs and benches and my most recent passtime... Riding my new 4 wheeler. 'Bout the only aspect of guns I haven't dabbled in is muzzle loading. I don't know why but it has never appealed to me. My hunting experience is quite limited due largely to a late start and being raised mostly in a large city by parents that never really did any hunting either. I have taken a few deer and one bear. We try like hell for ducks and geese but have not had consistant success there. I'm hoping to increase my time hunting upland game and I will be making better efforts on elk next year. I've nailed my share of rockchucks but have yet to get in the 500 yard club. I love calling in coyotes and have been at nearly baseball bat distance from more than a few. What a rush that is.

I also like Geocaching and playing on wave runners and camping and just being outdoors. I like good beer and good food. Oh and I used to make custom holsters for a while but I burned out on that and haven't made one for quite some time.

Blah blah blah. There is a bunch more but at 25 words per minute (Not too shabby for two finger typing.) I figure this is a great place to stop.

 

[Len Backus]

This thread is CLOSED now to encourage new members to start their own new thread.