Preparing your Rifle for Hunting Season

Recently I was at my gunsmiths shop discussing the work he was doing for me. Like a couple pigs in mud we were rootin around the spare parts bins and grunting away about our latest exploits. The conversation turned to a discussion about a rifle leaned up against the wall that looked very much like my brothers, which had been stolen. The story on the gun is that some old gal owned it and brought it in for cleaning and repair. The rifle was loaded and the safety on the fire position! It wouldn’t fire so I guess why bother unloading it and putting it on safe. OK, so now we are discussing the condition of most guns he receives and part 3 of the equipment prep is born.

A gun or weapon is a tool and tools need to be maintained, even a shovel. I am not suggesting we dig with our guns but interestingly enough the gunsmith did have a story about a good ol boy who’s rifle was sitting on the bench. That rifle was used as two tools: 1. to shoot the deer he was hunting 2. to clobber it because he wanted to save a round since the first one didn’t kill it. Well, his truck also needed some maintenance because when he whacked the deer in the head with the butt of a loaded rifle it FIRED and hit the fender. Now, if you are like me your brain says……why was he so close to his truck when he shot the deer? Anyway, I didn’t get to ask the question because by then the next story was coming up and I already forgot what I was thinking.

The gunsmith offered up some suggestions on new and old gun ownership and maintenance. So here it is:

Treat all guns as if they are loaded and always point the barrel in the direction you would want a bullet to go.
Inspect the gun from crown to butt. Look for damage to the bore, crown, stock, bolt face, bolt, safety, scope, scope rings, magazine, carry strap mounts, trigger and guard etc.
Clean your weapon and make sure it is properly lubed. Most people do not know how to properly clean and maintain a gun. I suggest you take it to your gunsmith annually for a thorough inspection and cleaning if you are not an expert at this. I cleaned my pistol before taking it in for repair and he said it was OK, for crying out loud it was perfect!!! Tip: most barrels do not get properly cleaned and have a build up of copper and lead in the rifling’s. Most triggers are not cleaned properly because they are hard to get to.
Smith work: a good smith will ensure the stock is properly relieved or reinforced to provided consistent accuracy. Trigger work, crowning, bolt facing, head spacing, indexing, and blue printing are extra steps to insure your gun is working properly for accuracy as well. In fact most gun parts are stamped and have a lot of metal filings, rough edges, and milling debris. A good gunsmith will disassemble the gun and clean up the parts so they are working properly and the debris will not interfere with firing pins, hammers, or safeties. Hint: target triggers are not generally accepted for hunting purposes. Most smiths recommend 3 lbs or more.
Shooting. Nothing makes up for time with the tool. Have you ever watched a roofer work with a hammer or nail gun. They sure make it look easy. Have you ever roofed with a hammer or nail gun, it sure AIN”T easy. To be good you have to know your gun and know what you are doing. Remember we are talking about shooting an animal and we own it to them, ourselves, and our sport to make sure we are dispatching them quickly and painlessly as possible.
Ammo. I used to spend a lot of time with reloading to get the right case, powder, and bullet combo to work well. Today most ammo is pretty good right out of the box. It is up to you decide which works best for your rifle. It is expensive but, in my opinion, worth shooting different brands and weights of bullets to find the one that performs best. I still reload but that is simply because I know what works and I have all the stuff. Also, the gunsmith mentioned that if you reload and have more than 1 gun of the same caliber DO NOT mix brass. I actually had this exact issue: no two guns are alike and the expansion of the case will differ and can cause extraction issues. Worst case is that you can get too much pressure from not enough expansion in the case and blow up the gun. All my cases are in separate lots now.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2068729_maintain-hunting-rifle.html