Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad09
.... Once I buy a gun, I'd like to put at least 500 rounds through it before I even consider taking it hunting. I want to shoot from different positions, at different ranges, with different lighting, crosswinds, and conditions, so that I know exactly how that bullet is going to behave when I take down a deer. ...... So I definitely hear you guys beating the practice drum, and I think you're absolutely right.
Please consider this thread closed.
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Hold on there Brad, not so fast. lol.
I would like to commend your attitude wrt becoming proficient with your hunting rifle.
You might consider purchasing a 2nd rifle for practice, a rimfire in .22LR caliber, whose action is similar to that of your big game hunting rifle. This is advice that I took to heart a couple years ago, and I found that the benefits carried over to my high power rifle.
Brad, you don't need to fire 500 rounds of high power at $1.25 to $3.50 apiece to learn how to repeatedly go through the same correct process/motions that lead to good field marksmanship. $20 will buy you 500 rounds of .22LR, $100 will buy you 2,500 training shots that if taken in a willful protracted way, should make you a proficient shooter of most any rifle/caliber combination.
If you want to get this .22LR practice done in the company of nice folk who really know marksmanship and will share their knowledge and techniques, consider joining one of Alberta's many smallbore Metallic Silhouette Rifle clubs. These folk use .22LR bolt action rifles to consistently hit tiny metallic animal cutouts at ranges that vary from 40 to 100 meters. With their high power rifles, the same folk hit bigger animal cutouts from 200 to 500 meters out....offhand.