How do you set your rifle down in the field?

[hereinaz]

Some of you guys would die if you got in the position to do a belly crawl stalk on an antelope.


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Something tells me hunters with pretty guns don’t ever hunt that way…

And, yeah, I would be using my rifle to clear the ground and scrape away cactus, lol. I have tangled with cactus too many times.

 

[CorbLand]

Or having great hunting stories


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I don’t know. Grew up hunting a desert. The most effective way to hunt it was driving from high point to high point glassing and just driving to cover distance.

Have some pretty epic hunting stories that came about from the back seat of a 70s bronco.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I have a couple tikkas with rattlecan paint jobs, and an old R700 that looks like it was used to dig a ditch and then fill it back in.

1 Lean it on a tree or bush
2 lean it on a rock with only the stock touching the rock
3 lay it on whatever

Mainly concerned about keeping dirt out of the action. I have a rubber glove finger over the end of the barrel.

 

[Vern400]

I never thought much about this. If it's loaded I'll just unlock the bolt so it can't fire and set it down. Game warden told me some people in Georgia have been shot in the ankle when their long gun falls over. As long as you don't bang the scope on something hard or cram mud up the barrel who cares? It's a tool.

 

[Macintosh]

Guess this baffles me a bit too, but for a different reason. I like wood and blued guns. I like really, really nice wood with a super nice finish on it. I like pretty guns and I see SOME guns as a combination of art and tool. Ive even gone so far as to devote hundreds of hours to painstakingly create my own stocks for some of my guns to get a perfect blend of fit, function AND beauty and hand workmanship. Soul, some might say. I appreciate function and I own purely functional guns—glock, etc—but I still take my pretty guns thrashing through brush and rocks, out in pouring rain and snow, etc, and yes, Ive even taken them crawling through gravel and cactus and sage for antelope, and banging around in the mountains for elk. It is satisfying and fun, maybe something like hunting with a cartridge you loaded yourself or fishing with a fly you tied yourself. I dont need to do any of this, so why not do it the way I enjoy? Also, theres this amazing new technology called pAPeR towELs that does a mind blowing job at cleaning off water, mud, snow, debris, etc. That, in combination with LOOBRIKATING OIL seems to create something of a “water of life” effect on guns where they inexplicably last a really long time if you just give them the most superficial of treatments once in a blue moon. Every so often I steam out the dents and scratches and put a refinish on to keep it pretty, and doggone it if those guns dont last near forever. My 1913 fox still going strong, etc. Sure, theres carry wear and some dings, but thats honest wear and I think gives it more personality. I dont understand it, maybe its magic, but I seen it with my own eyes.

Yes, I just put em down in the rocks or snow and lean em against trees, etc. it is an inanimate object, it doesnt throw itself off cliffs or scratch its itchy back on barbed wire, it just. Sits. There. On the rocks. In the snow. Not getting scratched. Not getting dinged. Pretty.

There is a galaxy of difference between not using or babying your guns, and requiring your gun to look like the step board on a 1986 timberjack skidder. I also dont bang nails with my chisels, or shovel my driveway with a screwdriver, so I have no problem not using my gun as a stand-in for a club, canoe paddle or rock-bar. If thats what you need in a gun, well, choose accordingly I guess. This isnt hard, dont overthink it.

 

[DangerRanger]

sometimes a rifle just gets dragged


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Stopping by to say this is one of the best looking rifles I’ve seen. What pattern is that? A take on GAP?

 

[Oregonmuley]

I almost always have a day pack with me which gets used as a rifle pad

 

[mt100gr.]

I hated dealing with it so I made this, and sell it here. www.lswild.com Scoped Action Armor

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Looks A LOT like the Sunrise Tactical Rifle Cap....

 

[RussDXT]

It goes on the ground, unless there’s a chance that it would get buried in the snow. Then on the treking poles.

 

[atmat]

It goes on the ground, unless there’s a chance that it would get buried in the snow. Then on the treking poles.

I’ve done this and toss a hat or something similar on the bore to keep water out.

 

[CMP70306]

I hated dealing with it so I made this, and sell it here. www.lswild.com Scoped Action Armor

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People complain about Ted’s bolt knob design but you tell at a glance it’s an ARC action.

 

[hereinaz]

People complain about Ted’s bolt knob design but you tell at a glance it’s an ARC action.

Ted is a crazy mad scientist, lol. No doubt. I love this bolt handle above all others…

 

[hereinaz]

Stopping by to say this is one of the best looking rifles I’ve seen. What pattern is that? A take on GAP?

Reminds me of Kuiu Vias pattern if it isn’t that.

 

[hereinaz]

Looks A LOT like the Sunrise Tactical Rifle Cap....

Hmm, never seen that before. Been making these for myself for years, so good minds think alike.

 

[RussDXT]

I’ve done this and toss a hat or something similar on the bore to keep water out.

I taped the end of the can before the hunt.

 

[CMP70306]

Ted is a crazy mad scientist, lol. No doubt. I love this bolt handle above all others…

My only issue with the originals is that they were rough in that groove and would wear the skin off my knuckles while dryfiring. I still have that one on my Mausingfield but most of the other ones came with the smooth handle and I liked them so I didn’t pay to change them.

The red ones though? If they offer them for the old actions I’m buying some immediately.

 

[hereinaz]

My only issue with the originals is that they were rough in that groove and would wear the skin off my knuckles while dryfiring. I still have that one on my Mausingfield but most of the other ones came with the smooth handle and I liked them so I didn’t pay to change them.

The red ones though? If they offer them for the old actions I’m buying some immediately.

I could use a little less knobbiness for dry fire. I never thought about it like that, cause I like the texture in the field. Just feels like something. I have tried similar shaped smooth ones, not the same. I bet a second in a lathe or drill press and file could get me the perfect feel, lol.

 

[hereinaz]

Back to the topic, you guys putting in on the ground, in the snow and in the trees, have you ever had problems with water, dirt, stuff in your action that led to problems?
Do you worry about that?
how do you handle it?

I want more protection from limited experience. Makes me paranoid. Not sure how much others worry about it. Obviously, you all arent losing sleep about the “looks” of the tool.

What about functionality? You all have much more time in the field than me. I am a rookie hunter, in the grand scheme of things. I love to pick brains when I have a dilemma like OP.

I blew a primer cause water got in my action. It worries me for safety reasons. At a match, I got some “stuff” in my action and interfered with closing the bolt. Both times, I needed to break the bolt down because it wouldn’t fire. The primer got stuck in the bolt and some grit got in the firing pin to slow it down beyond just difficulty closing the bolt.

Also, I have heard of triggers going down because they get dirty. I want to avoid that.

What are you doing after the hunt, if anything, to clean your rifle beyond a wipe down and whatever cleaning of the barrel?

 

[hereinaz]

Back to the topic, you guys putting in on the ground, in the snow and in the trees, have you ever had problems with water, dirt, stuff in your action that led to problems?
Do you worry about that?
how do you handle it?

I want more protection from limited experience. Makes me paranoid. Not sure how much others worry about it. Obviously, you all arent losing sleep about the “looks” of the tool.

What about functionality? You all have much more time in the field than me. I am a rookie hunter, in the grand scheme of things. I love to pick brains when I have a dilemma like OP.

I blew a primer cause water got in my action. It worries me for safety reasons. At a match, I got some “stuff” in my action and interfered with closing the bolt. Both times, I needed to break the bolt down because it wouldn’t fire. The primer got stuck in the bolt and some grit got in the firing pin to slow it down beyond just difficulty closing the bolt.

Also, I have heard of triggers going down because they get dirty. I want to avoid that.

What are you doing after the hunt, if anything, to clean your rifle beyond a wipe down and whatever cleaning of the barrel?

 

[Pharmseller]

I have strippers take turns carrying my rifle for me. Never put it down.

Highly recommend.




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