ligonierbill
New member
...or "Why do I have all these calibers anyway?" For the first time in many years, I dropped a caliber. It got me thinking. The specifics of this action are that I wanted a .22 LR match rifle, and I needed to make room in the budget and, more importantly, the safe. I had a nice Remington 22-250 that, it had become apparent, I was never going to shoot game with. Found a fellow with the opposite situation, so we traded. Strict dollars and cents, he came out on top I think. But we both got what we wanted, and now two idle rifles will be put to work.
So I'm down to loading 30 calibers (not bragging - others on this forum load far more than I). But why? Three reasons: 1) Obsolete or oddball rounds that are just fun, 2) Keep the old girl shootin' and 3) No, really, I'm gonna shoot stuff with this.
An example of 1) is .41 Long Colt or, since this is a rifle forum, 25-20. If you think they're not obsolete, just price ammo or brass. For 2), I have the Mauser 98 that was my deer rifle in my teens, and my Dad's before that. Also, I inherited an old Mosin-Nagant from my brother. Not only keeping these shooting, but shooting well. So 3) was where the 22-250 fell. I don't want anyone to think I'm gar mouthing the round. Great choice if you want to hit small targets a quarter mile out. But for me, I'll be closer, and I have a .22 K-Hornet to wack the odd groundhog, coyote or (in some PA game units) turkeys. If I were to try the quarter mile, I, like a whole bunch of shooters, have "discovered" the .243 Win. It's a deerslayer, and knocking off a few varmints sounds like good practice.
So, that's my penance for sending my rifle away. Good for me, I have my match rifle. Good for my trading partner, he has his varminter. Bad, very, very bad for Ohio groundhogs. They're going down by the dozen when that bad boy hits the field.
So I'm down to loading 30 calibers (not bragging - others on this forum load far more than I). But why? Three reasons: 1) Obsolete or oddball rounds that are just fun, 2) Keep the old girl shootin' and 3) No, really, I'm gonna shoot stuff with this.
An example of 1) is .41 Long Colt or, since this is a rifle forum, 25-20. If you think they're not obsolete, just price ammo or brass. For 2), I have the Mauser 98 that was my deer rifle in my teens, and my Dad's before that. Also, I inherited an old Mosin-Nagant from my brother. Not only keeping these shooting, but shooting well. So 3) was where the 22-250 fell. I don't want anyone to think I'm gar mouthing the round. Great choice if you want to hit small targets a quarter mile out. But for me, I'll be closer, and I have a .22 K-Hornet to wack the odd groundhog, coyote or (in some PA game units) turkeys. If I were to try the quarter mile, I, like a whole bunch of shooters, have "discovered" the .243 Win. It's a deerslayer, and knocking off a few varmints sounds like good practice.
So, that's my penance for sending my rifle away. Good for me, I have my match rifle. Good for my trading partner, he has his varminter. Bad, very, very bad for Ohio groundhogs. They're going down by the dozen when that bad boy hits the field.