first centefire to shoot groups with?

Dsfaircloth said:
Hello,
I’m new here and couldn’t find a place to post my ? So I’m sorry I’ve interrupted your conversation by being illiterate
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If you have a question about a Browning Hells Canyon rifle. Art of the rifle Bolt lever and pump action would be a good place to start.
 
Yep. My dad’s marlin 336 30-30 open sights, when I was 11 I think. That’s the first centerfire rifle I ever shot. The first that I actually tried shooting groups with from a prone position was a sporterized lee enfield .303 British when I was 12, uncle lent it to me for hunting. The first rifle I successfully hunted with, what I took my first whitetail deer with, was a Remington 7600 pump 30-06, when I was 13. The first rifle to be my own was bought for me by my parents when I was 14, a savage 111 package rifle in .270 win. I have since taken the majority of my deer with that 270 and am very fond of it, both rifle and cartridge. It’s not my most accurate rifle from a bench but it’s thebrifle I shoot most accurately with from real life hunting field positions.
 
My first rifle was a Winchester 94, but I didn't get it for "shooting groups". I bought my first rifle at 15-1/2 because I wanted to hunt and I was tired of borrowing rifles from people. I didn't own a rifle for "shooting groups" until I was in my 50s and built my first bench rest rifle, all the others have been hunting rifles. I only shot at paper to make sure my rifles were sighted in.
 
.223. I built a crossbreed thing from receiver up.. a 24” bull barrel and target trigger group from Rock River and got a cool looking spacegun forend from a guy that made them. The rest of the parts were from all over.

It didn’t take long to find a load that was shooting a little under 1moa (100 yards in a shooting lane with side berms. Wind not a factor there.)

I had a goal of making a 1 moa rifle and accomplished it all too fast. I learned a lot, had fun, and sold the rifle for about the money I paid for it. Having the 100 yard groups probably helped sell it. That ar platform can be crazy accurate. Building the rifle was 97% building with LEGO blocks, 3% gunsmithing.
 
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Remington 700 in .270, sighting in my Dad's hunting rifle... back when I had lots of hair on my head!
 
My first center fire rifle is my Type 99 Arisaka. I could really get good groups out of it until I started hand loading for it.

I think the first 2 boxes of ammo I bought for it were from a bad lot. I got a lot of vertical stringing and some primers that were so hard the rifle couldn't set them off. Even loads made with an original Lee Loader were much better... Later on I paid through the nose for a set of RCBS dies and I formed brass from old military '06 cases and got even better groups. In the end I was getting 1 to 1.5 MOA groups at 100 yards with the factory iron sights.

Tony
 
Geezer,

I, too, was able to get good groups for a sporterized Type 99 with reloads.

I didn't try any of the factory ammo cause at time found it less expensive to reload.
Factory hunting ammo was expensive and was able to find 100 Graf cases, Lee die set and that Hornady 174 gr bullets (#3130). All 3 shot groups were under 1". But my rifle did have scope.
 
I started with a .22 rimfire, but to your centerfire question, this was my first group shooter at 100-1,000 yards:

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Not precise like my 6.5 CM, but it's the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
 
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30-06 for me. The 30-30 has never been common around here. There was no big game to speak of until the 1970's so most older folks only had shotguns and 22 rifles. Those who hunted big game traveled to western states and used scoped bolt guns for that. No need for a centerfire rifle locally. Once deer populations reached huntable numbers most hunters skipped right over 30-30 for better cartridges.
 
RaySendero said:
Geezer,

I, too, was able to get good groups for a sporterized Type 99 with reloads.

I didn't try any of the factory ammo cause at time found it less expensive to reload.
Factory hunting ammo was expensive and was able to find 100 Graf cases, Lee die set and that Hornady 174 gr bullets (#3130). All 3 shot groups were under 1". But my rifle did have scope.
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I think the thicker necks of the reformed military '06 brass is a contributing factor to the improved accuracy. The case centers better in the sloppy military chamber.

Later on I found a sporterized Type 99 that someone had put a lot of work in. I fixed it up and gave it to my father then some years later he gave it back. Later on I found out that he lost his desire to hunt and shoot because PSTD from the batter for Iwo Jima...

Tony
 
Always remember the first

Remington model 600 in .222 Remington bought about 50 years ago.

Now re-barreled with a 22-inch from the original 18-inch.

A deadly chuck set up along with a Redfield 6x-18x scope.
 
I didn't grow up around rifles so my first centerfire groups with rifle was M1 Garand in boot camp and never shot pistol till then. That was 1960
 
First rifle I shot groups with was my .30-06, when I was about 15...and after mounting a 2.5X Weaver on it. I didn't so much "shoot groups" as confirm the sighting-in and testing handloads we assembled on a friend's Lyman Jr. press. Unfortunately, the chamber on my Savage was a bit longer than the other guys' Model 70' Winchesters, so I had misfires, blown primers and excessive case stretching using that ammo. I told my betrothed that we couldn't marry until I got a reloading outfit of my own, so she got one for me that Christmas (1964). We were married the next June! (Ya gotta know your priorities!)

Probably the rifle I first shot groups more regularly with was my first Rem 700 ADL, .22-250, around 1966. It won lots of turkey shoots over the years, both prone and offhand. Deadly on chucks and crows!
 
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First centerfire was not a lever, unfortunately. The cheapest rifle I could get was a 91/33 Mosin. Still have it. Still funny to watch experienced shooters not hold it well after I say "It'll kick hard if you don't respect it" and they turn to me after the bang and say "Ouuch". I don't let newbies shoot that one unless they are very adamant and show good respect about the recoil. Hasn't happened very often.
 
7.65x53 1891 Argentine Mauser. It was my Dad's rifle. It was about 1963 the first time I pulled the trigger. Knocked me on my bum and I was hooked for life. Still have and shoot it.
 
First rifle I shot groups with was my Pap's Remington Gamemaster 141 in 35 Remington. I still shoot groups with it to sight in for deer season which is what started me shooting groups with it 25 years ago. My son is starting with a lever action Marlin also chambered in 35 Remington.
 
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