Lisa and her 243

OT Lisa,

You planning to guard the tractor inventory or fill the freezer with that 243? I ask because I have a special interest in this caliber.

John

I'm not hunting this year. I was blessed to be born a year after they require hunter safety courses. So have to get that done. No time before hunting in a few weeks. Need to put the new scope on and site it in too. So for now guess I'll guard the tractors with it. need to load some brass for it also. Hopefully next year fill the freezer.we're in a lottery zone so unless I get a doe tag next year its buck only.

You can check to see if you were drawn for a doe permit at the link below.
None of the three of us 3 got one. cry
click here

I didn't buy a rifle license this year. Up till now I've been the bow hunter and haven't found time to even shoot that this year. Been too busy chasing tractors on the weekends. Not sure they would like me shooting it in town. So I didn't buy a license. Save myself the 160 for my MN license. My husband did buy a rifle license and wasn't drawn for a doe tag. His preference point is only 1 so maybe next year. Its ridiculous what they get for an out of state license. I need to move a mile to the other side of the river!

Don't know about hunting safety courses since I've been hunting for some 47 years and tinkering with guns for 50 years now. You sound like your heading in the right direction if you plan to develop a recipe for that 243. I have one here and love the non-existent recoil and low bark. I hope you enjoy yours maybe more so than the bow. ( I'm not into bows...yet ) I took a 375lb elk with a 6.5x55 modern swede that was shot previously the day before in Phoenix. Park ranger found it wounded & asked me to finish it off. Best steaks I have had yet! No game taste, just excellent. I hear people dialing in their loads around the area here. I'm like you though. Don't think I can do the same in my neighborhood...too many kids playing in their yards.

John

From the little bit ive shot It I really like it. Being 5'2 and less than 120lbs I needed something that wouldn't knock me on my rear! I think i'll like it much better than the bow. I have an older youth bow so its not as quick as the new ones. So I opted for buying the rifle instead of a new more expensive bow. Its a Winchester if I remember correct. I paid 400 for it and a couple boxes of shells. Pretty nice looking rifle. I did like the fact that you could shoot either buck or doe with the bow. I never did get to stick an arrow in one. Never had any elk. Might have to give it a try one day. Im not a real big fan of the "game" taste in venison. But I help butcher and make sausage and what not out of it. Might do some shooting this weekend the other half needs to do some before he hunts. Probably get the little lady shooting here in the next year or 2. She'll be 6 in may so maybe a little 22 or something.

Funny you should mention your 6.5 Swede. I thought I was the only one shooting here that shot that old caliber. I have one that has I modified synthetic stock,Timiny trigger and cut down and crowned barrel. Holds sub 1'' groups off of a rest at 100 yards on factory 140 grain ammo. One of the best shooting guns I own. Had a heck of a time modifying the straight bolt to get it to clear the scope but I managed to get it to work.

I have always wanted a Gustaf. Finally found one after a 7 year search dated 1899 and is ultra mint. Fella was thinning out his collection and I stayed $100 higher than the rest to the point they gave up. 2 weeks later my gun smith told me he was selling his 6.5he built for himself. His wife was using a 7-08 so he decided to build a 7-08 rather than load for the 6.5 and hers. He said it would put 6 shots through the same hole at 100 yds and proved it so I bought it. He built it on a k98 action with custom trigger dialed to 2.5 pounds, modern barrel ( name escapes me at the moment ) and scoped it with a Burris 3x9x40 Fullfield II Ballistic Plex. That's the one I shot the elk with. I then had him build a 7x57 on a K98 / same trigger but using a never used barrel I bought from a guy in Russia dated 1903. It is waiting to be scoped as we speak because between the Ruger MKII 243 and the custom 6.5, I am very happy. If I ever get out west again, I'll take the 7x57 for the mule deer and or elk. The recipe for this Swede is 129 gr. Hornady Interbond, 45gr RL22, CCI 200 primer. He dialed this in for himself to take black bear annually up in Maine and deer around here in Virginia. He heated and bent the bolts both on the 6.5 and the 7x57 to clear the scopes. If he had told me several weeks earlier, I still would have bought the Gustaf. Looks like it was sealed in a time capsul for 115 years. Would love to use it some day.

They say if you can skin them almost right away, that game taste is minimized to non existent. That elk I took had no game taste at all. Took him straight to Phoenix and had him processed same day. Much better taste than venison in my opinion. Even black bear tastes better than venison but has to be a small younger bear. The older ones have a oil and fat running through the meat whereas the smaller ones ( around 100-140 pounds ) are almost like tenderloin. But yea, maybe a 10-22 for the little lady shooting 22 Quiets to start her off. Light gun, quiet shots. Oh and tractors...gotta mention tractors here

Haha as long as she doesn't shoot my tractors I'll be happy! Think ill implement the you break it you fix it lesson if needed. Couple years she'll be big enough to have her own. Speaking of bear...got a sow and 2 cubs hanging around my food plots...nice big female bobcat and 2 littles. We usually skin right away the next morning and let it hang for a few days if its cool enough could explain the game taste.

Curious to know...tell me more about your hunting experiences there in Florida. My dad lived on the banana river for many years so I am sort of familiar with the area but not with the game there. Would you enlighten me? He was more of a short wave fanatic vs a hunter so I never learned anything in that direction. As for the 6.5, it is a highly respective caliber to this day. Maybe not so much on this forum but in general, a highly respective caliber vs the magnum craze crowd. May be an old caliber but it is tried & proven and I can add that after numerous years of trying various head & ear damaging calibers, this 6.5x55 gets the job done in short order without all the ear piercing and recoil that most seem to think nec. to sink a sub let a lone a deer or what-ever. We have a great caliber since here anyways, deer are only as thick skinned as a dog really. What more would you need?
John