It’s That Time Again

Yes, it’s time for all good men who seek a fine gun to step up and open their wallets:  I hereby announce the opening of the Boomershoot Rifle Boondoggle.

I tossed out PayPal earlier for their wokist, gun-hating reporting policies, so this year you will need to send either paper checks/money orders to the Sooper-Seekrit address, or through Zelle via my email addy (kim-at-kimdutoit-dot-com).  Sorry, but there it is;  I refused to be party to PayPal’s bullshit, and I hope you understand my position.

Tickets are $20 each, and you may buy up to five ($100 total) per person.  If you send more than $100, I will allocate you five tickets, and use the rest to defray my travel expenses from Texas to Orofino ID.

Now onto something much more important and interesting.

What kind of rifle do you, O My Readers, want the chance of winning:  a heavy-barreled long distance rifle (ULD) as in the past, or a premium hunting rifle, both topped with a quality scope?  If you plan on doing (say) competitive long-distance shooting or long-range hunting, then obviously you’d prefer to own something like last year’s rifle:

…whereas if you’re looking for a do-it-all premium hunting rifle that will do its job with confidence out to (say) 500 yards, there’s something like this one to consider:

Email (NOT in Comments) your preference (ULD vs. PHR) with “Rifle Choice” in the Subject line so I can do a proper tally and make the decision.  In the event of a tie, I’ll toss a coin or make an executive decision.

Here are my thoughts, to help you make up your mind.  Remember that the more money I get in, the better-quality rifle/scope you’ll get.

ULD:  I absolutely loved the Howa from last year.  The trigger was exceptional, the accuracy WAY better than I could shoot it, and my niggle with the cheekpiece adjustment, I was assured by the manufacturer, was a one-off issue.  Here’s the HCR APC:

That said, I’d also look at the Bergara B-14 and the Ruger American Hunter (again):

All three are superb rifles, and sub-MOA results are all but guaranteed.

ULD Caliber:  in your email to me, if you pick this rifle, tell me your preference between the 6.5 Creedmoor and the .308 Win.

Now for the new category.

Premium Hunting Rifle (PHR)

Everyone has their favorite hunting rifle brand and type, so I’m going to go outside the box on this one.  Firstly, as it’s a do-it-all rifle, I’m going with only one chambering:  .30-06 Springfield  (unless everyone shouts me down).  I want a cartridge that does the job (any job), AND is readily available at Bubba’s Bait & Ammo everywhere in the U.S.A.  And the choices, as you will see below, are not the typical ones…

Tikka T3x Hunter:

CZ 600 Alpha:

Mauser M18:

…yes, a Mauser for under a grand.  (They also come with some funky-ass camo stocks.  I make no guarantees…)

All three of the above would make any hunt a good one (as long as the hunter does his job).

Scope:

Whichever rifle is finally selected (ULD or PHR), I’m going with the Meopta Optika6 3-18x50mm FFP, because I honestly don’t think that you can get anything better without spending a boatload more money (Swarovski, Steiner, Kahles coff coff).

So there you have it.

ULD in either 6.5 Creed or .308 Win, OR PHR in .30-06, both topped with one of the best-value/quality scopes on the market.  I see no bad choices.

Email me with preferences, thoughts and/or abuse.  All input (except the last) will be welcome.  Please get going, as there may be availability issues and I don’t want to grapple with those.

Isn’t this fun?