• The Shot You’ll Never Forget Giveaway - Enter To Win A Barrel From Rifle Barrel Blanks!

    Tell us about the best or most memorable shot you’ve ever taken. Contest ends June 13th and remember: subscribe for a better chance of winning!

    Join contest Subscribe

Filter

Trigger warning to the Howa boys - Do I pretty up this pig, or dump ‘er?

Was this a one time fight or is this beyond marriage counseling? If you are serious it sounds more like time for a divorce. Sell the rig and look for a 2 year old Origen or other rem 700 clone that takes prefits. Find a stock/chassis on the PX as well and get a new barrel. It’s spring and new love is in the air.

Night Vision Bare minimum Thermal scope and mono recommendation

Gonna throw myself out there on this one. I am not an expert or a professional. I don’t get paid to kill pigs or varmints, and have spent a shit ton of money over the years trying out equipment to be more effective and efficient at killing pigs, coyotes, and raccoons after dark. I am blessed with a family ranch running cattle in West Texas and have hunting access to around 1500 acres. I and people I invite out (not paid, usually friends and their kids) kill on average 75 pigs and 10+ coyotes and raccoons per year. I’ve killed personally well over 1k pigs over 40 years of hard hunting when I can in my lifetime. I have no axe to grind in this discussion. I have no monetary benefit in making my recommendations. Just lessons learned and the ability to provide some perspective for those following in my footsteps. If I had to start all over again spending my money I would do this in order of priority:
1. 640 handheld scanner. Detection is king. If you know it’s there you can walk up close enough and shoot it in the face with a brief white light and red dot. I have walked 800m through a deep muddy field thinking pigs were at the end to kill, only realizing as I got close that it was jackrabbits. Resolution matters here, especially if you are inexperienced.
2. DTNVGs. I’ve got thousands of hours driving around with 7s and 14s in military in combat and training and they suck. Spent lots of money on high spec DTNVGs and it’s an absolute game changer. Can hunt for hours on end without headaches or eye fatigue. With illum I can typically see animals in fields (THIS IS OPEN COUNTRY WEST TEXAS, NOT FORESTED COUNTRY) well before I need to grab the thermal. I also typically hunt out of my 4Runner, which is WAY more comfortable and carries more shit than using a Ranger or 4 wheeler. Thermal doesn’t work through glass (but does in side mirrors with windows open!) so NVGs work best for ME. If I was dismounted or in an open air (no windshield buggy) I might consider a helmet mounted thermal here instead.
3. IR laser. I’ve used military grade units but in my experience some of the Airsoft shit is good enough and worth the cost savings. Just have to understand the need to zero EVERY TIME you go out. Way too many experiences of pigs/coyotes popping up out of nowhere and they’re gone into cover before the thermal powers up. Lasers and NODS are QUICK. Before my buddy’s thermal is powered up the pig/coyote is dead. I can replace a $200 airsoft laser every year for ten years before I’m into a grey market unit, or a DBAL D2 that spooks critters within 150m.
4. Clip on or dedicated optic WITH RF. Shit looks different at night. Have hunted my family property for 40+ years and still occasionally get lost on landmarks with NVGs and thermals. Coyotes and pigs don’t stay still for long. Bonus if can synch up or calibrate with your ballistic solver.

That’s what I’ve learned over the years and the recommendation I typically give people starting out. This is what works for ME, and your situation may be different, but should give you some things to consider before you spend your hard earned cash. I like to pick one big item that will be a functional upgrade for me and save up to purchase each year. Good luck out there.

Accessories Gear clean out/fundraiser!

My 1SG pushed out anonymously that someone in my platoon had a kid going through some hospital surgeries and such and although I don’t know exactly who it is I would do this for any of them. All proceeds from the sale of these items will go straight to them and I’ll eat the shipping.

Soon I’ll post all my free stuff and anything you want to pay/donate toward them will also go straight to that. I don’t have a direct link so if you just want to give then you can send it to me or straight to my 1SG.

Left to right:
1) unknown manufacturer single point Multicam sling. Like new. - $50 shipped
2) Allen tactical two point sling with QD release on both end - $50
3) magpul mlok AFG like new - $25 shipped
4) vortex precision 1.26” 30mm rings. Used but in decent shape - $90 shipped
5) flip to the side magnifier that I got to run with a red dot. Cheaper one off amazon but it’s decent - $50
6) badger 1.5” 30mm unimount. Good shape, just missing two screws. Pretty sure they’re just 8-40 you can get from Ace or call badger - $80 shipped
7) Sig Romeo MSR red dot. No case but works just fine. Gen 1 - $75 shipped
8) (not pictured) magneto speed V3 with box. Also has a Wiser precision mounting system so you don’t need to clamp it to your barrel - $200 shipped

IMG_4184.jpeg
  • Like
Reactions: NHPiper and Adam B

Angle shooting

As others have said, just use TBR in a range finder.
I've started using it over inputting into a ballistics calculator, it's considerably easier and has worked fine for long range rimfire.

You should use TBR for elevation holds, and line of sight distance for wind holds, but most of the time you can get away with just using the TBR value. Assuming your RF gives you both when your range a target if there's only a few yards difference then don't warry about it the difference.
If however you are shooting 1000yards+ (or 200yards for rimfire) and it's giving you a difference of 10-20yards, that's obviously going to have a much bigger effect, and you should worry about the actual wind value.