Spikers for the freezer

marksman

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l thought l'd share a story about how l went out yesterday after my old mate gunsmiths funeral down the bush looking for some venison for the freezer

here is a zoom photo on some young spikers feeding and playing that l found

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and here is the original photo

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l shot three of the four but next time l will wait for them to get higher up so l dont have to drag them up hill
pretty knackered today

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my rifle is a 6.5 x 284 that my gunsmith rebarreled for me before he passed
this trip will put venison in the freezer for a couple of family's
 
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l thought it was myself, he was the no fuss type of country guy that was very capable with rifles
l went out again to pick up another with this rifle while they are about before the heat of summer hits

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so l have been eating a lot of venison and l decided l needed more
this one was shot at 325 yds
here is a zoomed and cropped photo of him when he came through the fence

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and here is a photo of him where l dragged him into the shade to gut out showing a yellow arrow where l took the shot from, l am very happy with the rifle and bullets performance
it was the last done by my gunsmith mate and will be very cherished

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Nice wee spiker and another bond with your recently passed gunsmith mate.
 
Nice, and it's nice these are taken for meat.
Any chance you will write up a story about the rifle specs and who it was built by?
I'm always interested in reading what parts went in and images of hunting rifles.
 
Nice, and it's nice these are taken for meat.
Any chance you will write up a story about the rifle specs and who it was built by?
I'm always interested in reading what parts went in and images of hunting rifles.
+1.

One of the great joys of life can be found in friendship, so pleased that you have the opportunity to honor him in such a meaningful way.
 
Nice, and it's nice these are taken for meat.
Any chance you will write up a story about the rifle specs and who it was built by?
I'm always interested in reading what parts went in and images of hunting rifles.
theres not really much to say about the rifle but l will give it a crack

it is an older model Winchester featherweight long action that was in 308
the bore was corroded from not oiling when put away so l bought it pretty cheaply with the idea of rebarreling it but beforehand being able to find a light load in a light walk around hunting rifle to teach my kids how to hunt with it and how shoot a centerfire safely

here is a photo of the rifle with its first kill after l found a light load using hornady 110 gr v-max projectiles, not my favourites for small deer but for close range up to 100 yds worked no worries

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then being locked down so much in Victoria l saved some money up by not being able to leave the house for anything worthwhile (hunting or fishing) so l bought some IBI barrels to try out after much research on them being considered of match grade quality
l had the barrel chambered and fitted by by my smith Tony Roberts and his son David from Carpendeit Victoria using my 6.5 x 284 reamer made to American Robert Whitely's specs from PTG in America and used on another chamber in heavy rifle
Tonys son David told me he had chambered all sorts of brands of barrels but none had ever been as straight as this one when dialled on the lathe ( l also had them chamber a 6mm dasher on another IBI barrel that was as straight so it wasn't being just lucky) after looking down the bore with a bore scope they are indeed match grade quality barrels

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cont....
 
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the rifle was ready after a week, l was wrapped in the finished work from Tony (the mountain man) and David

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but now it was my turn to do some work l l sanded the barrel channel to suit the new Rem sporter barrel contour, bedded the action, gave the stock a true oil finish, then l took the magazine block out and shortened the bolt stop to suit the longer bolt throw that l wanted so l could have a longer OAL using long projectiles to get the most out of this case,
l have kept the original trigger as IMHO when set correctly the Winchester triggers are perfect, l did have to muck around with the safety to get it to work properly but its all good now
at the moment it is a 2 shot because l am waiting for a long action mag spring and follower to suit that should stop the rounds from jumping out when loaded with more than two rounds
l can single feed the action pretty quick so its ok for now
l worked up some different loads finally picking 140gr berger hunting projectiles and ADI 2209 powder as a good recipe that is humming along at 3000 fps with an ES in single digits that works on the fallow deer
the rifle has filled a spot in my gun safe and wont be swapped out
some say that the 6.5 x 284 is a barrel burner and maybe it is as a competition round but as a hunting round it will last years and years considering it may shoot 30 or so rounds a year
IMHO the rifle has already paid for itself in the meat it has brought to the table already
 
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Nice rifle and a good write up. It's the detail I find interesting , learning about the modifications required to make things work etc.

I had a couple of IBI barrels chambered for hunting rifles. The gunsmith was seeing good results and they were reasonably priced so I decided to try them.
 
Very nice and a nice gesture too
 
Nice rifle and a good write up. It's the detail I find interesting , learning about the modifications required to make things work etc.

I had a couple of IBI barrels chambered for hunting rifles. The gunsmith was seeing good results and they were reasonably priced so I decided to try them.
l will buy IBI barrels again for sure, putting the bore scope down the bores of a few show they are made to a very high standard, l paid $400 AU each
l did find that these barrels being a 5R did like long heavy projectiles that are shot faster to get good precision
l find to get a rifle to work if you have good quality parts that are put together right with a trigger job, good bedding, quality bullets, a sight that is set up right and a consistent nut on the end of the butt help
 

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