How I Spent the Seventh of October

I did NOT hit the gong at 525 yards with my H&R Buffalo Classic in .45-70. But it was a joy to try and I had a great time. I came within a foot of it a couple of times. Of course, since the sights only adjust up far enough for the 500 grain bullet to strike dead-on at about 150 yards, shooting at 500 was sort of a joke. I used the same juniper tree that we'd used before with our .22s, but they had scopes and I could usually tell almost exactly where I was holding. In this case, I'd try to SEE the gong through the peep sights, then TRY to lift the front sight in a straight line up to the top of the juniper behind the gong. Then, going by what Aric had said about the last shot, I'd make additional adjustments in both elevation and windage. Then, I'd squeeze off the shot, usually only looking at the corner of the juniper's topmost branches at the moment of discharge.

If that sounds ridiculous to you, you're right! As the day wore on, those 500 grain slugs began to wear me down with their "equal and opposite reaction." Because I held the rifle exactly the same way from shot to shot, my bruise was a fearsome one by the end of the day, and was riding on a tall bulge which had never been part of my anatomy before. But it had to be done. Accuracy is everything and consistency of behavior yields accuracy.

The same rifle had hit the same gong earlier in the afternoon a bunch of times, but that was only from 156 yards according to Aric's laser range finder. The gong produced very loud rings and got dented seriously by both the 500 grain flat points and the 305 grain round nosed flat points.

My shoulder is almost healed now. That's a good thing, because the rifle has been singing to me from the closet for days now.

Reaching out 525 yards with 500 grain flat point bullets.

Aric Armell scored several hits on the 525 yard gong with his Ruger Mini-14. The mil-dot scope may have helped a little. Still, hitting anything at 525 yards is an accomplishment.