Say Phil, on your other favorite bear rifle..I assume that is your FN .30/06....how many barrels have you gone through on it? Thanks, Dave.

This would be # 3 or #4, I don't remember. But hopefully it will be the last as when I have worn this one out ( I have only fired 700-800 rounds through it so far) I'll have it rebored to 35 Whelen or 9.3x62.

I vote 9,3x62 Phil. 320gr NORMA solids work very well for bone busting.

Rich

Phil,
How many rounds through your 30-06 barrel is "worn out?"
best regards,
dmw

When it quits shooting good - either because of too many thousands of rounds - or too many days spent in the soaking Alaskan wilds without being cleaned

I don't have to deal with much soaking where I have lived for the last couple of decades, KS, but I wondered if the water and subsequent cleanings were a problem for you there on top of round count. I have an Old stainless Ruger '06 that had a very rough bore but shot like a house afire. I have scrubbed the barrel more times and longer than I would care to confess trying to remove the copper but the thing still keeps shooting fine though doubtless my cleanings have taken a toll. I had about 3,000 rounds on it and gave it to my daughter’s father in law for a proper hunting rifle last year. He loves it and has killed several deer with it. I imagine it will last him forever.
Question: how do you like that 1 in 8 twist was it in the '06?
Best regards,
dmw

The quick twist in my 06 seems to shoot everything I have tried so far. 150 grs is as low as I've gone and they shoot well.
As for rough bores, if you ask Danny Peterson, who built my barrel, what makes one barrel shoot well and another one poorly he will tell you he doesn't know. I have seen the bore of his old hunting rifle and it looks terrible - but it still shoots well!

Congratulations on a great and successful year to all of you hunters, and to Phil and his crew.

When I got this Ruger in 1992 and shot a few rounds down the tube and found it coated with Copper. It took an hour to clean it with JB Bore Paste. After about three or four of these sessions, I called Ruger and told them it was the roughest barrel I had ever seen with machining marks running 90 degrees to the bore all the way down. They said to send it back and I told them I would as soon as it quit shooting those tiny groups. Well it really never did quit shooting good so I never sent it back. I doubt my friend will ever shoot it enough or critically enough to think he needs to do anything with it either. I am pretty sure that if I was going to do something with it, it would be bore it to 35 in a 1 in 12 twist Whelen. It is just one of those barrels.
Best regards,
dmw

If Ruger found out you had one of their guns that would shoot tiny groups, they probably didn't want you to send it back so they could fix it... they've just probably never seen one that did, and wanted to coon- finger it!

Aggie,
I always kind of figured all the Ruger bashing was mostly Internet myth based on some small amount of truth but no more than anybody else's guns sort of thing. I know they had some bad guns reportedly but I have never seen one. I have one in 260 for my son that isn't stellar but if one can't kill a big game animal with a 1.5" grouping for three shots at reasonable ranges then he is in the wrong game. The target range is over there sort of thing. Most folks can't hold 2-3 moa from field positions at normal ranges much less internet ranges. Read all the posts above from Phil of clients shooting one's bear in the arse, foot, gut from less than 100 yards. That for darned sure is not the guns fault. All that to say; I can attest to this old paddle stocked version of the Mark II shot very well for a very long time. It also has never changed zero with the same load year to year in any weather. Can't ask for more than that.
I also bought a Ruger 77 with tang safety in 280 Remington for a friend out of a Pawn shop some years back, mounted a used Burris 3x9 from the same pawn shop, loaded some red box federal 150 grains and proceeded to put 3 in a large hole over and over. I called him and told him that in all good conscience I could not let him take a gun I had found for him to spend his hard earned money on that only had one hole for three rounds of ammo. He thought he could forgive me and took it anyway. His son has slayed several big deer and never shoots much ammo doing it.
best regards,
dmw

I imagine most of their bolt guns are acceptably accurate, roughly 1.5 MOA. Not target accurate, but not bad. I've had both Ruger and Kimber varmint rifles that both shot about 1.5 MOA, regardless of loads (factory or handloads), so it's not just Ruger. That's fine for hunting, you are right in that most people have a hard time holding that well from field positions. I can, however, hold a 1/2 MOA rifle much tighter than a 1 1/2 MOA rifle from field positions, usually out to 300 yds or so. After that I need to go prone or get a good rest.

I have had my fill of Ruger's Mini 14 and Mini 30. Every one I've had has been predictably Minute of Pig, as long as it was a big pig. I'm done with them.

I was not trying to disparage your rifle, just making a stereotypical joke. There are good and bad examples of every make out there. My pets are all M70's, both factory and customs, but I have a M70 .308 Fwt that I've shot 10-15 animals of all sizes with, and when I shoot for groups at the bench, it's about a 2 1/2" gun at 100 yds. Go figure. (I won't carry that gun anymore, lost all confidence in it)

I honestly don't know why anyone would make a stupid statement like Phil's client about not allowing the guide to make back up shots. I've done a fair amount of DG hunting and so far, I've not had a PH fire a round. But it certainly wouldn't bother me if he/she felt it necessary.

I'm sure that with the good fortune to continue taking these types of hunts, the day where I need help will certainly arrive. When it happens, I hope I have the good sense to say "Thank you very much".

How do you maintain civilness back in camp after a guy ties your hands that way, gut shoots the animal, and then refuses to help clean up his own mess? That would take a level of professionalism that I'm afraid I would have a hard time displaying.

By the way Phil, those are some nice looking bears you pulled out of the thick stuff.