No, the antis aren’t coming for your hunting gun…
Two men have been charged in a plot to randomly shoot at people similar to the Washington, D.C., sniper shootings, Sheriff Chuck Wright said at a news conference on Thursday…“Bryan Marion Holder and Mattison Tyler Schomer were randomly shooting people for the sheer pleasure of shooting at people,” Wright said. “They decided it would be fun to shoot and kill people.”
The gun is described as a scoped .30-06….AKA a generic deer rifle. BTW I haven’t been looking hard, but I kinda want a heavy-barrel .30-06 for long-distance target shooting off the bench. Those are amazingly hard to find, as most of the heavy-barrel target rifles are in .308 Win, but I happen to like the crazy handloads you can cook up for .30-06. I mentioned it to my buddy Waldo who works at Cabela’s, and he pointed out that most .30-06 rifles are set up for deer hunting, and people don’t want to lug that heavy barrel through the woods, and don’t take enough shots in the field to warrant the extra barrel weight.
Also thank goodness these goons aren’t much for shots, as no kills with a scoped .30-06 on unsuspecting targets? That says they don’t pull triggers much. Good for that.
Oh and there’s this:
Wright said a break in the case came during an investigation into a burglary at a home on Bethesda Road on June 29, during which numerous guns were stolen. Five of the 11 guns stolen from Bethesda Road have been recovered, including the rifle used in the shooting incident.
Stolen gun too! Yeah these are NRA Members!
But the antis won’t be coming for your hunting gun…but they sure are pushing this story!
Why not buy a .308 rifle configured the way you want, then have a gunsmith ream the chamber for 30-06? Rifling is the same, only the chamber is different. Likely cost around $(a hunnert)
Get what you want at a fraction of the cost of a custom build.
That could be VERY doable. Good idea. Of course a distance rifle is low on my list right now, but I’ll look into it.
B stole my thunder. I was going to suggest the same thing. Reaming from .308 to .30-06 is easily done.
On some rifles, you would run into a problem with this conversion.
Long action vs. short action, magazine box length…etc.
I’m not sure “sniper” is the right word to describe the two … individuals. It sounds like the distances they were shooting from were maybe a couple hundred yards. “Wannabe” seems a better choice of words. Either that, or they really don’t know how to zero a rifle, in which case “wannabe” is the perfect term! 🙂
Still, the only difference between a “high-powered sniper rifle” and a “standard hunting rifle” is what lies in the cross-hairs. “Huntin’ guns” are only a small step behind “military weapons” on the antis’ wish list, and any Fudd who believes otherwise needs to be corrected or disregarded.
On a happier note, I’m ’bout to pick me up one o’ them “huntin’ guns” and should be able to take it out in the next couple weeks. I’ll let you know how it goes. 😀
And — what do you know? — the two men are being charged with a crime and a) the NRA isn’t paying for their lawyer, b) there was no registry of guns, c) there was no micro stamping of the ammo, and d) the homeowner whose guns were stolen won’t (I hope) face any charges. All the things that the antis want weren’t needed. “It was very good police work that led to their arrests.” No kidding. Cops are competent enough, and laws are strong enough, to put criminals who use guns in jail without Brady’s, Joyce’s or Bloomberg’s help.
Weerd,
Buddy of mine in Groton bought him a new elk gun last year . . . a scoped rem 700 in .308 with a fluted 24″ heavy barrel. Stainless is heavy and the fluting keeps the weight down. He’s got that pup dialed in for quarter sized groups at 150 yards. He shoots 165 grain softpoints. Black synth stock with brushed stainless barrel, etc. Pretty looking gun. His 15 yr old son named it Black Momba. If you’re ever in the area of 495 and route 2a, check out Blue Northern Trading in Ayer. Nice people and great service.
Brad
Brad