lancetkenyon

I hear Sasquatch is looking for some new boots. Might want to hit him (or her) up with those size 13s. Bump for a great deal for a set of skis...

Non-typical mule deer AZ record is 258 1/8".

.270 Win is plenty for any AZ big game with proper bullet selection and shot placement. But proper shot placement is priority #1. A $6000 custom rifle will shoot like crap with a cheap $100 scope and bad mounting. A cheap, $400 rifle will shoot better with a $1K scope mounted correctly. I would beg/borrow a decent scope and mounts to actually check your rifle's capabilities, and maybe even have another shooter help out in the testing. THAT will tell you a lot. Then you can decide if you need a new stock, new optics, or complete new rifle/optics set up. Trigger work helps a lot too. Always start with the easiest and cheapest solution. I wouldn't automatically buy a new rifle. Figure out what your issue is, and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and make sure you are practicing CORRECTLY. It is easy to miss when you shoot once or twice a year. Kneeling or off a shoulder is not necessarily a steady rest. Buy a bi-pod, either mounted to your rifle or one like a Bog Pod you can carry. At least one solid rest helps immensely. If you decide your rifle is fine, and need to upgrade your optics/mounts, watch the classifieds here for optics. There are a lot of quality scopes that get posted here, saving a lot over retail. And get a good base and rings. You can have a $2K scope on a $5K rifle, and bad mounts make it all for nothing. You can't be repeatable if the scope moves around.

I am chomping at the bit to go shoot it.

The existing "up to" 1000 yard range has indeed been open for many years. But as stated above, it has not been open to the general public. If G&F will now be opening it up to the masses, that would be awesome if treated and run correctly. I just see an issue with John Q. Public walking down and checking targets, and not getting in the necessary shooting time. The main range is bad enough with 15 minutes of shooting and then 30+ minutes of posting/checking targets. It would be great if you had to shoot a 200 yard test target to qualify to be eligible to use the 1000 yard range. That would weed out 85% of the weekend shooters....and 95% of the guys who go out the weekend before hunting season to sight in their deer rifles....only to call it good when they shoot MOPP (minute of paper plate) at 50 yards. Since Cowtown LR Shooters has gone belly up, it would be a nice alternative.

They are about equal, with a slight nod to the .280 Rem in available bullets if you hand load. .270 Win 90-175gr. bullet weights .280 Rem 100-190gr. bullet weights. .270 Win can push a 150gr. NAB LR w. a BC of .625 @ around 2950fps. .280 Rem can push a 168gr. NAB LR w. a BC of .652 @ around 2850fps. Both would WRECK an elk or deer with proper shot placement at reasonable ranges. I guess it would totally come down to preference. I have had a .270 Win, and it worked just fine for deer/elk. If I were to build another rifle in this class, it would be a .280 Ackley Imp. And if you go with a .280 Rem., you can always set it back a thread and re-chamber in a .280 Ackley if you wanted to gain an additional 150-200fps.

I got home last night, and after dinner, put together the rest of the components, cleaned the rifle thoroughly (which was already pretty much spotless), and lubed it up with some Frog Lube on the necessary moving parts. I verified all hardware was torqued to spec, and all were dead on. Did a quick bore sight on a light at 200 yards away, so I should be close when I make it to the range this weekend. I gained a lot of elevation travel back from a 0 MOA mount to the 20MOA rail. I think I got back what seems like 9MIL at initial bore sighting. I know I had to go up 12MIL with my AR to sight in at 200 (factory settings are for use with a 40MOA rail), and I am bore sighted now at +3MIL, but that will change a bit once I get it on the range. I just wanted to make sure I have a little down (3.3MILS before I hit the 0 stop) in case I need it. I also need to run it all the way up to see how much actual elevation travel I have once I get it sighted in with a 200 yard 0. Scope is at 1.84" over bore vs. 2.3" over bore with the AR, so that would be some of the difference too. I also set the cheek piece to fit both my daughter and me comfortably, and added my padded cheek rest after the photos, and fiddled with the ocular focus on the scope just a bit more to perfect it for my eyes. The fit of the stock for me is fantastic. Good LOP, comfortable cheek weld, and the palm swell feels nice. My daughter is comfortable behind it as well. My first impressions are really good. Fit and finish are top notch. I cannot even see where the muzzle brake and barrel meet, and I love the Badger Thruster brake not having ports on the bottom to kick up sand/dust, and the side ports are actually angled up just a bit as well. The bedding job is awesome (I will take it apart again after the first outing and get photos then, but you can see the edges in the photos). The Timney trigger is super crisp and REALLY light, not sure what it is set at, but dang. Safety works smoothly with no drag on the stock inletting, and is nice and crisp with a slight audible "click" when it engages. Bolt runs smooth, even with the CeraKote applied, and it will only get better with running it. I will get the gun on the scale and see what finished weight is, but it is pretty stout, I am thinking north of 13#? This, along with the muzzle brake should make shooting it a real pleasure, but definitely not "pack it over mountains and canyons" friendly. That is OK with me though, as it is more of a recreation gun, and will serve as a LR hunting rifle second. I am already planning a lighter LR hunter in the nearish future (if I draw an elk tag this year which I doubt). I opted for a Coyote Tan CeraKote, as I knew I was going to paint my stock, so don't think the monochromatic scheme will stay, but I wanted the metal to match the base color of the stock. It might not be for some folks, but I love it so far, even without the stock painted. I am debating on having the scope CeraKoted, but not positive on that right now. I still need to check final seating depth on bullets, but PCR had a round to ensure everything was good, so I am sure it will be fine. I might even have room to pull them out a touch, depending on what I find this afternoon when I get home. I like to do load development with the bullets jammed .0010, to ensure they would be at max pressure, and it would never go up, only down when I start messing with seating depths. I will also add up all of my receipts tonight, to see what the total was for a complete new gun (minus action), all new reloading components, scope and mounts, b-pod, etc. My goal was to keep everything under $6K, and I think I made that goal. Not bad for a custom rifle, new top tier optics, and all reloading components. And with all of the items I sold, I should be able to figure out what my actual out-of-pocket costs were too, as I have a list of all of the profits I made. I swear, I might have to ditch work tomorrow...... I would like to get home today and have some sun for some better lighting, but here are photos from last night with my lousy flash. I will also get some more paint done on the practice stocks, so I can start on the real deal next week.

Uploading photos to Photobucket as we speak....

Patience, Grasshopper....

Going to be putting it together tonight, and will definitely be out at the range on Saturday morning. Just trying to decide if I want to go to Ben Avery, or go straight out to my LR spot and get sighted in, then shoot a 400 yard ladder test...and maybe try a 1K steel shot to break it in......leaning towards that if weather is good.

I picked up my rifle from Phoenix Custom Rifles today......just saying. I won't spoil the anticipation with lousy cell phone photos, but I will break out the digital camera when I get home.

I have used my 15s more in 6 months than I used my spotter in 10 years.

Thanks all for their input. This is an excellent point, and I've been considering it. I wish I could do an outside side-by-side comparison. Unfortunately, every pair of binoculars seems about the same when looking at the shoulder mounts in cabelas under fluorescent lights, but then you sure see a difference in them right before the sun comes up. Ask Cabela's to put them on a tripod side by side and take them outside. They did it for me a few different times when I was looking for my 10x42s and 15x56s. They will be more than happy to do so, especially when it leads to a sale.

OKAY, what brought on this question? Let's see your buck....in all seriousness, if I thought I might have a top 10 P&Y buck, I would keep all photos closely guarded. https://pope-young.org/records/top_ten.asp?sid=32 From 274 7/8" @ #1 to 246 6/8 @ #10.

YES! I regret buying expensive glass every time. Because it means I will have to upgrade my next one soon. Upgraded from a $550 pair of 10x42 binos to a pair of $1300 10x42s. Which led to upgrading to a pair of $1700 15x56s. Which led to upgrading to a $1300 rifle scope, which led to upgrading to a $2000 rifle scope for a different gun, which is leading to upgrading to a $2700 riflescope for yet another gun.....it is a vicious cycle. DON'T DO IT!!! Your wallet and wife will hate you. But then again, so will all of the deer/elk/coyotes/steel/paper that you will now see, or at the least, see much better.

No love lost for the CBP on this site? Or LEOs for that matter? What gives? Much respect for LEOs/military here in my household. Try walking in their shoes for a month, it is a thankless tough job.

The cost of getting a kid's first javelina mounted is priceless. As for money out of pocket, I think around $600 for a shoulder mount? I don't know though. I can tell you to make sure you go to a good taxidermist. Not one of the shady guys in the business. I would hate to see a horrible mount on her first pig. Congrats to the huntress, and to the people who got her out there. Good job to all. And great shooting too.

What more can be said. Amazing buck. Good job.

On the second stock, I am reversing the application. Starting with the off-white, and moving back to the tanner main color, leaving the stencils on for the duration. Started with the off-white for the dots. Masked off the dots and applied the brown (and I added some rust for a blended effect) for the small amount of the darker spots. I forgot to get a photo of the dots masked off before paint, but you can see them if you look closely. Masked off the larger areas that will remain dark, and applied a layer of khaki/sage. I wanted to have less green in this one, so I eliminated the brighter green, and just did the sage. It was getting cool outside, so this was as far as I got last night. I will start the final coat tonight if I get a chance, then strip all the stencils off to see how it turned out.

So, in anticipation of getting my rifle back from Phoenix Custom Rifles, I started practicing my paint scheme I want to do on the stock. I had a couple old take-off stocks, and figured they would be perfect to try my hand at the "MultiCam Arid" paint I want to do. I read up on how to do the MultiCam paint, and there are two ways to do it. Thought I would try both. First way is start with the base of tan/green or tan/brown, then another pattern of similar, then add the dark, then add the off-white dots. This is a lot more masking work, as the further you get into the paint, the more masking you need to do, leaving less and less exposed. Second way is to start with the off-white as the base, and just mask off the dots, leaving the tape on for each layer until the project is complete. I am in the middle of that process now, so no finished photos. Here is what the new MultiCam Arid looks like. I prefer the subtle greens in this vs. the original MultiCam. I went to Home Depot and picked up a bunch of different shades of tans, and some greens to try out. I already had a bunch of camo paint, along with some rust primer from previous paint jobs. Cost around $37 in paint. Started by spraying the stock down with brake cleaner to remove any oil or contaminates that might be on it. Then hit it with a coat of flat primer. Then hit it with the base coat in khaki and two colors of green. Here is when it dried. I thought it looked good, but a little too much green once it dried. Anyway, it is just a trial stock, and painting over it is not a big deal. SO I masked it off with some patterns, and applied a second coat of 3 different tans (khaki, dark khaki, nutmeg). I really liked how this was turning out so far once the tape had been removed. I thought "One more layer with a rust to light sand blend would look cool".....wish I would have skipped this step and gone right to the small patterns of dark brown and off-white dots. Oh well, trial and error on a cheap stock is better than on my $750 Manners stock. I stopped here and did not do the dark brown/off-white, as I needed to let it dry. Not a terrible first attempt so far.

Still here. $700.

Man, that really stinks. A beautiful mature muley to begin with, ruined by a bad taxidermy job. I agree that looks like one of the mounts that should have been hanging in a bar since the 50s. As far as if that is your cape or not, I see no real big identifying marks, but it appears to be the same cape in looking at some of the highlights in your first kill photo and the mounted one. Too bad it looks like you drug it behind a 4-wheeler for a couple miles by the shape the hair is in on the mount.

Here we go again... I don't feel $30/lb. is "way overpriced". It might be $3-5 more a lb. than other stores, but when you factor in shipping and Haz-mat fees, it is cheaper. Plus, at least you can walk in and GET it. I appreciate them having it on their shelves for me to pick up. Especially if you are buying it in 1 lb. bottles to try out new recipes. Who wants to pay $8 shipping and $25 Haz-mat fees on one lb.? You are looking at $58/lb. then. If you don't like Bruno's prices, then don't buy from them. It leaves more opportunities for guys like me to be able to get the stock on hand for ourselves. If you are buying 8lbs. at a time, it makes sense to go elsewhere. You can save $10 by ordering it online and waiting 7-10 days to get it in the mail. But I would rather have it now than wait for $10. The cost difference is only $1/day. Worth every penny to me. Plus I like my money going to a small AZ based shop, not a huge corporate monster who sends my money out of state.

I wish they would get some Spectre gunships..... The cartels are getting really bold, and they don't care who they hurt. I wish CBP might be gearing up to give some back.