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To: donmeaker

Moose, Elk, Deer, Feral hogs and coyotes. Dropped a white tail at 800 yards. It will reach farther. But I’ve never had the opportunity. A Bolt stalker with Leupold 3x10 gold ring scope 50 mm obj. A friend of mine took a Grizzly at a 1/4 mile with the same rig.


29 posted on 10/04/2013 1:33:14 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (What's the frequency, Kenneth?)
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To: Conspiracy Guy

Long range machine gun fire used to be taught in the Army.

When they initially changed the .30/06 load from 180 grains to 150 grains, those with experience of WWI machine gun tactics objected, as the 180 grain rounds permitted indirect fire past 5000 meters, and the 150 grain round didn’t. Many machine gun ranges were short enough that there was significant risk of rounds going behind the end of the range. During WWI Heavy machine guns were the ones with a water jacket or enough mass (like the hotchkins) so that they had a high sustained rate of fire.

After a few years, it was tried again, and enough old machine gunners had left so that it was unexceptional, and we fought most of WWII with the 150 grain round. Of course between the wars the .50 BMG was developed, and it took over most of the long range machine gun duties. The term Heavy Machine gun refered to the new larger caliber guns, and what used to be heavy was downgraded to ‘medium’. Light MGs like the Lewis or BAR were unaffected by the change in designation.

The German General Purpose machine gun was an attempt to do all three roles: High rate of fire for long effective range, light weight for mobility of the light machine gun, and good sustained fire (with quick change barrels, rather than water jackets) to do the job of a medium. Of course the MG-42 was not quite as mobile as a BAR, nor had it the range of the M-2, or the sustained rate of fire of the M-1919, but you weren’t asking where you put that other machine gun when the situation changed.

Darnedest shot I ever heard of was Elmer Keith’s 600 yard mule deer with a .44 magnum. It was a wounded animal, so there were no sporting concerns with taking the shot, but wow. Elmer earned his big hats.


30 posted on 10/04/2013 1:44:21 PM PDT by donmeaker (The lessons of Weimar are soon to be relearned.)
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