Which to take along...

[Rayleigh_Scattering]

Last night I took both a '18 Enfield and a '41 SVT to the indoor range to sight them in.

Tonight I'm headed out to W119 to walk the coolies on Farmer Bob's ranch.

I still don't know which to take with me.

Both had shot dispersions small compared to the sighting error and my skill limits, although the SVT point of impact rose noticeably as it warmed up.

Sighting accuracy is better for the Enfield with a 4x scope, although acquire is slower and rate of fire is lower due to the bolt action. She is also lighter to carry.

Acquire and rate of fire are faster on the SVT with both eyes open and a red dot, although sighting accuracy is less due to the lack of magnification. Also had 1 failure to feed in 20rds.

Last year was mostly pop-up targets at 50-150m ranges.

I am undecided which to carry, and would welcome suggestions.

 

[purple]

The shot that counts in hunting is the first one fired out of a cold, fouled barrel. Self and a lot of others confirm zero and leave the bore fouled for hunting.

Good target resolution is important, so a scope works best, except at very short ranges. You are shooting at a particular spot on the animal, rather than at the animal, to get a clean and quick kill. Your target is basically the size of a basketball.

I've shot a few truck loads of deer with a scoped No5 LE and it works well. My preferred technique is to hunt the wind and hunt from a expedient natural blind which breaks my outline and wait for the deer to come to you on established trails. Wear a face mask and sit still and its amazing how close the deer will get. Over the years most deer I've shot have been under 100 yds with many coming less than 50 yds.

If you are walking with the hope of getting a mule deer they will normally see you first and keep a good distance between them and you. If you see them at a distance you can sometimes use dead ground to work into a closer shot location, bearing in mind that the wind can never blow from you to the deer or you're busted. Good luck.

 

[Ganderite]

You only get one good shot. Pick the rifle that will mount and fire a good shot smoothly.

The big difference in the two rifles might be the ease of using the safety - or the noise the safety makes.

 

[Rayleigh_Scattering]

Thank you all for your inputs.

In the end I went with the SVT, and am sad to say it did not go as well as I had hoped. This year they were skittish, and it was more about sneaking over the crest to see what was in the valley below.

Still, it's a beautiful country out there, and it's worth the trip just to spend a few days out walking the ranges in the sunshine.

Also, the Lakeview campground at Elkwater worked out well. Easy to get into and out of, no locked gate (if you get there at 0100), and close to town. If anyone's heading out there with a trailer, it's open until Nov 30.

The dark sky preserve out there makes for an amazing sky at night.