Good Times with Pops

[Dan In Alaska]

Spending some time with my folks in Pennsylvania this week. Dad got transferred to PA a few years after I moved to Alaska, so I don’t know a soul in this state besides my parents. Made it a point this year to come down here, hang out with the folks, and let them show off their grandkids. It’s been a great time!

I’ve been shooting a bunch with Dad, this week. Takes me back to my youth, gleefully shooting his guns and burning up his ammo.


Funny story from this week...
At 70 years old, Dad is the youngest in his group of friends. They were all sitting around talking about their various medical escapades (colonoscopies, knee & hip replacements, back surgeries, eye surgeries, cancer treatments, etc.), all trying to one-up the others as the most awful stuff they’ve had done....think Grumpy Old Men.

My dad pipes up, “You know, when I was two days old I got circumcised, and I couldn’t walk for a year after that!”

Holy shit! I haven’t laughed that hard in forever.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

that's a good one!

ur over on the eastern side aren't ya?

i came up through the west side today from a month on the beach down in the obx. slicked up a 308 montucky donor at about 9am in WV.

weather sucked, tons of downpours. and people can't drive worth a fuck. pulled a pass on the shoulder from about 8 cars back. wife was dyin when people see a camper passing on the right side.

 

[Dan In Alaska]

Just got home, and I figured that I'd share some pics form our trip.

We flew into Buffalo, NY and spent some time at Niagara Falls. We'd never been there before, and the weather mostly sucked, but it was impressive none-the-less. We made sure to grab some chicken wings at the Anchor Bar, home of the Buffalo Wings, while we were in the area.

Spent some time at the Ridgeway Rifle Club. It's an impressive facility with a 100yd rimfire silhouette range, a 200 yard rifle range, pistol range with 4 bays for simultaneous operation, a 1000 yard range. All that for $45 annual dues!

Dad and I spent some time shooting 200m chickens with his Hammerli collection (Dad made the scope mounts). The Diamondback was mostly just there for looks. She couldn't hang with Swiss watches, in the accuracy dept.

I didn't bring a rifle down with me, and Dad is mostly a shotgun shooter. We shot a lot of trap, skeet, and sporting clays during this trip, but next time I'll bring some of my rifles down, so we can do some long-range stuff.

We did visit the 1000yd range during one of their monthly Varmint Benchrest Matches, though:

Here are the VBR targets. I don't know if you can read the distances in the photo, or not, but the crows are shot at 850 yards; the groundhogs at 900, bobcats at 950, and coyotes are shot at an even 1000 yards.

Here's another look at the 1000yd coyote target:

With 32 shooting points, and several relays, they had a hell of a turn-out. Lots of folks coupling up a pair of spotting scopes for better, long-range peepers:

The SEB Rest "NEO" was a popular front rest, used by many of the match shooters I saw. They guy told me they were about $1800 a copy, so this game isn't for the faint of heart.

We also spend some time in Dad's shop, while we were visiting. I'm not much of a wood worker, but Dad dabbles a bit . Here are some of the cutting boards he has made this past winter:

He showed me how to run the wood lathe, and I made a batch of fish bonkers while I was there. He had plenty of maple, black walnut, cherry, and ash to choose from. Pretty fancy pickins for fish bonkers, but Dad says it's all pretty much firewood to him.

Anyway, it was a great trip. We saw and did lots of neat things, and had a lot of fun. I'm anxious to get back there to try out some of the stuff we didn't have time for, this go-round.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

oh man i'm doing a version of the same. i'm sure ur parents had fun with the grandkids!!

pretty neat hammerli's. wouldn't have thought 200m with a 22lr handgun was a thing.

now ya gotta put those bastard beaters to work off the boat.

what kinda of cartridges were used on the VBR game guns?

 

[Dan In Alaska]

pretty neat hammerli's. wouldn't have thought 200m with a 22lr handgun was a thing.

Were were just goofing off, but those Hammerlis shoot better than a lot of the rifles I've owed. I shot about 50 rounds at the 200m chickens with the handguns. They were a regular, high-power rifle target, and you could knock them over with a 22LR at 200m, but you had to hit them towards the top of the target. I knocked four over, and I rotated the 5th target 90-degrees, but fit didn't fall over. I counted 14 hits on the chickens, when we went back down to look at them. I didn't think that was too bad, using a red dot sight and Kentucky windage.

I was hitting a lot better at the 100yd range, with the actual rimfire targets, except the groundhogs. Those were the hardest little bastards to hit. Guys at the high-power range were swearing at them, too.

Dad is no slouch in the shotgun dept, either, with a pair of Parazzis, a Lujic, several Remington 3200s, lots of Super-X 1s, and a Beretta 682. The Lujic Monogun has a release trigger. I've never shot a release trigger, so I had to try it. Yeah, it was pretty weird, and it would take me a while for me to get used to shooting a release. I've spent a lot of time getting my flinch dialed in over the years, so it's pretty consistent with a pull trigger.

The good news is, that I got the "I think I want a Beretta" out of my system for another 15 years. I like everything about their shotguns, except I can never seem to hit shit with them. They just don't fit me, as much as I try to like them.

I shot the Super-Xs best. They are sweet shooting shotguns, and I'm glad I have one of my own.

what kinda of cartridges were used on the VBR game guns?

I talked to a few of the guys at the range. The one on the NEO rest (pictured above) was chambered in 6.5x47 Lapua. He let me shoot a couple rounds during their sight-in period. He had just dialed in for 900 yards. The 15-55x Nightforce doesn't give you much field of view, and I lined up on the wrong target (950 instead of 900) for the first shot. I nailed the 6" gong on the correct, 900 yard, target with the second shot though. That was the longest (successful) shot I've ever taken. That was pretty neat.

He was shooting 140gr Berger Hybrids. I forgot to ask him what powder he was running.

Other guys were shooting .243 Win, .260 Rem, 6 Dasher, 6 BR, and the like. On windy days, some said they'll bump up and shoot 6.5x284 or 300 WSM. No one mentioned anything in 7mm, which I thought was interesting.

I saw a lot of BAT actions as the range, and there seemed to be a preference for Bartlein barrels with the guys I talked to, anyway. The rifle I shot was a 10x Custom out of DuBois, PA. It wore a Bartlein barrel, as well.

Here's a neat set of binoculars I saw at the match. They were made by Oberwerk, but I'm not sure of the model, maybe BT-70XL-ED?

I saw a few rifles with tuners on them. The one guy I talked to said they helped him eliminate vertical stringing. Most other rifles wore muzzle brakes, so the shooter could watch bullet strikes at those long ranges. I remember seeing my 900 yard gong hit through the scope. That was cool.

If I lived closer, I could see myself getting into VBR game. I looked like a bunch fo fun!

 

[raghornjp]

Man, you covered some ground on that trip !
Looks like a lot of good times !

 

[Big Stick]

Very GOOD stuff.............

 

[Dude270]

Sounds like you guys had a great time!

 

[Dan In Alaska]

Very GOOD stuff.............

Hanging with Dad was expensive...grin. I just won an auction on GunBroker for my own Hammerli 215. I'm anxious to shoot it next to my 41 Smith, but I already have a pretty good hunch how it will turn out.

 

[Big Stick]

A 208 or 215 wearing a 'Dot,would be killer.

You got my wheels turning....................

 

[Dan In Alaska]

Hammerli 215 arrived today...

Dad is making me a mount for it, otherwise this looks to fit the bill...Link.

I'm going to try my hand at making a sporter-style (think Model 41) set of grips for it.

 

[Dude270]

Thats awesome Dan,

Looks like a blast to shoot

 

[Rolltide]

I dig it Dan!

 

[Dan In Alaska]

Had a head-to-head with a few 22 pistols at the range today. The Hammerli 215, with iron sights, outshot my Buckmark with a red dot. No kidding. I’m pretty rusty with a pistol, so that surprised me.

The M41 outshot the Hammerli, but it wasn’t a fair fight. The 41 is driving a red dot, too. After a red dot upgrade, I predict the Hammerli wins. As it was, hitting clay targets on the 50yd berm was pretty easy with the 215’s iron sights.

The trigger on my 41 is awfully sweet. The Hammerli arrived with a disappointing amount of uptake and creep. It’s adjustable, so I need to consult the instruction manual and figure out how to get it in-line to what a target pistol’s trigger should be.

 

[Big Stick]

I think I'd D&T a modest piece of rail,just shy of cocking serrations and run the bitch. It'd be ALL Holosun for me.......................

 

[Dan In Alaska]

I’ve got a Vortex Viper on one on my .22s, and their Venom on another, both reflex-style dots. I’ve got a Holosun on a 9mm. All of them seem to work well enough, but I really like the “shake awake” feature on the Holosun.

I hadn’t thought of drill and tapping the barrel. The mounts Dad made slide into the dovetail on the underside of the barrel, that’s normally used for barrel weights. The link I gave for the mount from Larry’s Guns attaches the same way.

 

[Dan In Alaska]

The front sight comes off with just a press of a pin. The rear sight hood is held on by one screw, straight out the back. With a red dot, a guy could streamline the rest of the package pretty easily.

There’s no safety on mine, so a cold chamber is the only way I’d take it into the field.

 

[Big Stick]

If I can simplify and cut to the chase,I KNOW that's how I'm gonna roll.(grin)

Holosun LOVE is certainly founded upon the Wigglin' Wakeup Feature.

'Dots are RELIABLE enough now,that I've seen me gut Irons and roll a 'Dot expressly and never an incident. You're prolly gonna be nicer to the HAMMER',than I am most of my shit and likely not parachuting in to The Sand Box. I'd pare it down and get going,then have a GFI Kenai holster built for the bitch,so I could flog on it,at least some....................(grin)

 

[Big Stick]

I don't even tote a Grock with one in the pipe...................

 

[Big Stick]

If/when you go this deep,you best be sure..............

 

[go ahead]

Holosun HS507C-X2 Reflex Sight 1x Selectable Red Reticle Solar/Battery

The HS507C X2 is an open reflex optical sight designed for pistol applications. The X2 Series pistol optics feature two improvements. First is the...

www.midwayusa.com

Is that the one?

 

[Big Stick]

That’s the one...........

 

[Dan In Alaska]

I’ve got a cheaper Holosun, the 407A3. It was a PSA sale item, when I nabbed it. I think it was $165, or something like that. No solar panel, though.

 

[Dan In Alaska]

Dad brought a home-made scope mount with him, on his summer fishing visit. I slapped a coat of flat black krylon on her, and stuck it on the Hammerli.

With a red dot, the Hammerli shoots almost as well as my Tikka with a 10x scope. Here's a 5-shot group at 25 yds.

 

[Dan In Alaska]

We did a bunch of fishing, while Dad was here. I had a couple of uncles come up to join us, as well.

We took a trip across Cook Inlet to dig some razor clams. We dug as many as we wanted to clean, maybe a few more...

Some of them were Booners!

Linguini and clam sauce:

We caught buckets of halibut, too. These were from our Cordova trip. I've been to Valdez a few times, but this was our first trip to Cordova.

This one needed her own bucket:

A buddy followed us over to Cordova with his boat, and he snapped this picture of us:

A friend holding a ling cod I caught. This one was 45", and I caught while fishing halibut on a muddy bottom. I thought these things liked a rocky bottom? Just goes to show, you never know what you're going to pull up next.

We got decent mileage on the way over, as well. Burned about 75 gallons, each way.

The fuel dock at Cordova was a trip. It's not really set up for little guys, like us.

Deep Creek fish:

More Deep Creek fish:

We had to chase the good weather, so here are couple of the Seward fish we caught:

A couple more Seward 'buts.

A Seward fish box always has plenty of rockfish:

Two days worth of Prince William Sound silvers and kings:

Eight kings!

White king, next to a regular king:

Dad and all the visitors left tired and happy. Good times!

I didn't tell them this, but I didn't leave the house for two days after Dad flew home. I was pretty beat, too!

 

[Rolltide]

That looks like one fun time for everyone!

 

[raghornjp]

Great times there and a bunch of fish!
Nice work Dan !

 

[Dan In Alaska]

Here are a couple of 50yd groups I shot with the Hammerli, yesterday.

Shot the bottom group, then adjusted the red dot for the top group.

 

[Big Stick]

That thing is a hammer. Good shooting.

I towed a Buckmark home,just for giggles..................

 

[Dan In Alaska]

I just snagged another Hammerli off GunBroker. This one is a little fancier, the 208 model. It'll be a week or two before I get to fondle it in person.

 

[Big Stick]

I bought Sister a Kimber K22 HS and might see it this pass.

Last time through Los Anchoritos,I bought a Heavy Barreled Buckmark and it is simply fucking sensational and shoots circles around my 41's and their extra barrels.



Fucking thing is STUPID.

Shrugging shoulders,because it makes ZERO "sense"....................(grin)

 

[Dan In Alaska]

I picked up this 4" Buckmark a couple/few years ago, while waiting on the suppressor.

It looks unwieldy, but the Surefire 22A only weighs 3oz, so it still points really well.

A Tactical Solutions high-ride hip holster keeps it handy, but it would be nice to have as a chest holster. I think there is a "universal" chest holster rig out there that'll mount up with a traditional hip holster. I'll have to check it out, because a suppressed .22 on a snowmachine ride would be a nice tool to have. Ptarmigan beware!

 

[Big Stick]

GFI Kenai,is where you wanna be................

 

[Dan In Alaska]

The "new" Hammerli arrived today. The 215 is up top, with the red dot and composite field grips, and the 208 is below it with the original target grips that came on the 215.

It's an older model, and it has a safety....that was a bit of a surprise.

 

[Dude270]

Badass little rigs there Dan.

 

[Big Stick]

Wore a 22/45 LITE in a GFI Kenai all day yesterday and never regretted it....................(grin)

 

[Ndbowhunter]

two questions

what's going rates on a hanmerli? local store had a pretty mint one for 575$ didn't last long so i figured i screwed the pooch on that

and should a guy just cut a check for the volquartsen black mamba or get a newer mark 4 and improve from there

 

[Dan In Alaska]

I’ve seen Hammerli’s on GB go for $700 - $3k, over the last several months, depending on the make/model/variant.

I don’t claim to be a Hammerli expert, but reading posts on other forums, it seems than the 208 and 215 models are exceptionally affordable, these days, compared to a couple years ago. I’ve read posts from 2019 and early 2020 saying that anything under $1500 was a steal. Both of mine were under a grand, and I’m convinced they’ll outshoot anything else on the rack, in that price range.

I don’t know much about the Volquartsen pistols, and other than handling a few, I’ve never shot one. Out of the box, I like a Buckmark better than a Ruger.

 

[Dan In Alaska]

A Mini Mamba with a can looks like it would all kinds of fun, after you ditch the sights and install a red dot.

Mini Mamba | Volquartsen Firearms

volquartsen.com

 

[Big Stick]

Thinking I'd prefer a Scorpion frame,for that jingle................

 

[Rolltide]

A Mini Mamba with a can looks like it would all kinds of fun, after you ditch the sights and install a red dot.

Mini Mamba | Volquartsen Firearms

volquartsen.com

I've got the 4" Black Mamba that I shoot Steel Challenge with.

It's a badass little rig. Take the brake off and it's even better with a can...

I like the idea of the chest holster though, for those times when I'm on the ATVs or just out goofing off...

As soon as the adaptor shows up for the 422's though, the Black Mamba will end up going back to full-time SC duty...

 

[Big Stick]

22/45 LITE there,on the GFI Kenai.

You think COVID has killed some shit?!?..................(grin)