clarence said

ShawnN said

What a dumb idea to put rotary mags in a bolt action.

Shawn,  you need to get your hands on a Mannlicher-Schoenauer.

  

This brings up the memory of a rifle I had quite a while back – a Mossberg of all things.  It was the RM-7 model in .30-06.  It was quite a quality well-built rifle.  It had the Swedish Kongsberg rotary magazine.  It fed cartridges just fine.  These are almost never seen for sale.  I think it was available very briefly – 1979/1980 I believe.  

TXGunNut said
Glad to hear the range trip went well, Shawn. Shooting these old Winchesters is an important part of collecting for many of us.

 

 

Mike

  

Second that. It’s SO much easier to understand history once you’ve handled, loaded, and shot ANY Winchester repeater. Rimfire, centerfire, lever, pump, bolt or automatic – it don’t matter none!

In Oklahoma Territory north of the Red river, the old ad slogan for the “Improved Henry” really resonated: 

“[so armed] A RESOLUTE MAN, PARTICULARLY IF ON HORSEBACK, CANNOT BE CAPTURED!

Firing off a whole magazine from any Winchester 22 repeater can’t help but put you in a box canyon, holding off a war party of the terrible Lords of the Plains. You’re sweating and counting your ammunition, saving one for yourself before you run out. 

A Winchester 22 is a time traveling machine and a stress reliever. And cheaper than a psychiatrist. 

There’s something about those bolt action .22’s. We don’t get to see that level of quality and workmanship in similar guns today. The old sporters shoot nearly as well as the target models and the 47’s and 67’s are hard to beat for introducing young shooters to the sport. Matter of fact, my 67A Junior is hanging out in Houston waiting for my great nephews and niece to show an interest in shooting. I have a couple of very nice 9422’s around here for trade bait but my 1892 in 32WCF costs about the same to shoot as a rimfire these days, 38WCF only a little more. 

Mike

clarence said

Zebulon said  Their Dad used the 59 to run off a large Black bear and her yearling cubs who were raiding the henhouse. A warning slug into the nearby embankment was all it took. Fortunately, for son and bear. 

#8 shot far more effective, & used in some national parks to discourage problem bears; no serious harm done to bear if shot fired at 25+ yds, & you’d be damn lucky to get that close before bear runs off at speed of a greyhound.  I’ve done, or tried to do, this many times to black bears that raid my bird-feeders in spring, but big problem is getting out the door & in position to fire before they take off like a rocket. 

  

Unfortunately, this incident took place at less than 10 yards and mama bear was engaged in ripping the hen into pieces for her chillun.  There are bears of several sizes and in that area they grow large on plentiful food and do not fear humans nearly enough.  This female probably weighed at least 350 and 500 pound males are not uncommon in the Preserve. She had no intention to leave until the 12 gauge muzzle blast convinced her. The slug loads were not intended to just frighten but to spare my man from being mauled. A female Black with cubs is a different, unpredictable animal.

In 2010, a local city councilman went to retrieve his newspaper at the downslope mail drop and lost an eye and the use of an arm because he inadvertently got too close to a cub. 

ShawnN said
I saw a ~500lb black bear while driving out of Cades Cove in the Smokey Mtn’s. We had just seen an adolescent up close then a couple miles up the road I came around a curve and there was a big boy standing facing me on the opposite side of the road. He turned and shot back down the hill but I told my wife I would NOT like walking out my back door and seeing that guy standing there!

  

I don’t doubt it. We drove through Cade’s Cove in early Spring of 2019 and saw several large Black bears digging for roots and such. The big lone males seemed tolerant of tourists, some of whom got foolishly close to take photos.

My understanding of the Tennessee/Carolina bears is they have grown large on large scale soybean and other nutritious crop farming. The record boar in Pennsylvania was over 800 pounds some years ago now.

The prewar norm was under 200 pounds, I think, and I remember Winchester ads listing the .30 WCF as suitable for “deer and black bear.”  That would still work, I’d guess (I’ve never hunted bears) but I’d be happier with a 30/06! 

When deer hunting in the western slopes of Colorado, I was aware there were bears there. In addition to my 30-30 M1894 SRC or M1892 44-40, I carried a 8 3/8″ M29 S&W loaded with full power loads. One cannot be too careful when bears are involved. All the years hunting there, I never saw one. Just tracks. Father in Law was too paranoid I guess.   Big Larry