For my 12th Christmas, my folks (Dad probably)...

by Hoot , Diversityville, Liberal-sota, Tuesday, November 23, 2021, 14:37 (1096 days ago) @ AaronB

presented me with a box of metal bits, a barrel and a piece of wood. Over the next 8 months or so, Dad and I (mostly Dad) turned all that into a .25-06 and I couldn't have been prouder. We went to Wyoming that fall and I shot my first deer with it. To say I think highly of it, is a severe understatement.

I ended up giving that rifle to my daughter a few years back and felt an awful hole in my line-up. I scrounged about and found a Ruger M-77 heavy barrel and that bugger will shoot! The heavy barrel gets to me after a while but if'n I'm just going to sit in a blind, it's no matter.

My only "complaint" is that bullet weights top out at 120gr. or so. There are some boutique offerings but I'd have to wonder on twist rate, et al. But, I sure wouldn't mind an extra few grains of weight, well, just 'cause.