Have you ever owned a magic rifle?

I'm getting things in order for my will. I asked a shooting /hunting buddy what he'd like to have of my belongings when the time comes. He said he had fond memories of my m96 swede. Cool, he appreciates it! No  collector value, I put a new surplus barrel and a reciever sight on it.
While it shot 2 or 3 moa from the bench, it somehow seemed better than that offhand with a sling. Potato sized rocks at 175 were almost a sure thing. It really liked Sierra 140 btsp over imr4895  or 4064.
I'm guessing it was the balance and the ridiculous sight radius .
You'd laugh at my method of cutting the shoulder of the barrel for headspacing .  It was similar to the Khyber Pass gunsmiths with hand tools, but it worked well.    

Yep magic!! That is a very cool rifle you have there.

I have one in a 700 Varmint 223. Nothing fancy but in the last 150 rounds fired it's killed 155 prairie dogs. It has not missed a PD in the past 100 rounds shot. I take it every time and allow myself 50 shots with it before it rotates out.

Greg

The "magic" is still there. Antelope at roughly 300 yards. For those not familiar with antelope, they rely on their tremendous eyesight and open country for defense as well as their speed. Getting within 300 yards isn't easy. Couple that with iron sights and it's a sizable handicap.

My 'magic' rifle is my M-1 Garand. When I bought it from CMP about 20 years ago, I took it out to my 100 yd range and was seriously disappointed that the smallest group I could get was 8". I finally tracked the problem down to a very slight ding at the muzzle, making the muzzle slightly oval instead of round. I used a tubing cutter to mark a ring 3/16" back from the muzzle, then cut it at the ring with a Dremel cutoff wheel. Then I borrowed a crowning tool from a friend and crowned it. Problem solved! Now it shoots 2" groups at 100 yds with iron sights. I took it to Whittington Center 5 years ago and was hitting the white buffalo consistently at 1,123 yds using Greek surplus ammo from 1976 - 77. That pretty much convinced me that if I can see it, I can hit it out to 1,123 yds.

I don’t know. My daughter’s CVA Cascade in .350 Legend is a real tack-driver.

But I think I’d go with my Ruger mod. 77 .30-06 I am incapable of plumbing the depths of its accuracy, but on a good day I have put three shots into a very small cloverleaf at 200 yards. I have a couple more boxes of its favorite round- old yellow box Winchester Super X 150 gr PSP

My 'magic' rifle is my M-1 Garand. When I bought it from CMP about 20 years ago, I took it out to my 100 yd range and was seriously disappointed that the smallest group I could get was 8". I finally tracked the problem down to a very slight ding at the muzzle, making the muzzle slightly oval instead of round. I used a tubing cutter to mark a ring 3/16" back from the muzzle, then cut it at the ring with a Dremel cutoff wheel. Then I borrowed a crowning tool from a friend and crowned it. Problem solved! Now it shoots 2" groups at 100 yds with iron sights. I took it to Whittington Center 5 years ago and was hitting the white buffalo consistently at 1,123 yds using Greek surplus ammo from 1976 - 77. That pretty much convinced me that if I can see it, I can hit it out to 1,123 yds.

That hxp ammo is pretty good stuff. In my mind a big contributor to magic is reasonable accuracy followed by enough practice to make you feel that you can do anything with it. I've never felt under equipped with that swede.

My Remington 700 varmint in 7mm-08. Thing shot everything from 100gr HP to 175gr Nosler Partitions to the same point of impact. I never missed a deer with it and it had a long list of deer. My best shot ever was 440 yards, from kneeling on a running buck in a snowstorm that was blowing straight across. I pulled the trigger and heard Whomp come back to me as I watched the deer somersault in the corn stubble.

In the mid 90s I had an Accuracy International AW .308 with Schmidt & Bender factory mounted scope. I actually drove to the factory in Tenn. to buy it. Got a look inside their vault. I couldn’t miss with that combo if I tried. About a year later along came surgery bills and bye bye went the rifle.

Terry

In the mid 90s I had an Accuracy International AW .308 with Schmidt & Bender factory mounted scope. I actually drove to the factory in Tenn. to buy it. Got a look inside their vault. I couldn’t miss with that combo if I tried. About a year later along came surgery bills and bye bye went the rifle. 

Terry

That sucks!

In the mid 90s I had an Accuracy International AW .308 with Schmidt & Bender factory mounted scope. I actually drove to the factory in Tenn. to buy it. Got a look inside their vault. I couldn’t miss with that combo if I tried. About a year later along came surgery bills and bye bye went the rifle. 

Terry

That sucks!

Yes it did. Still does. I especially miss that scope. It was a true BDC scope. Once zeroed, you just dialed the turret to the mark for the distance you wanted and it was dead on.

Terry