Free In Idaho!

I got a chance to go out to the desert this weekend and see how a couple different handloads shoot in the new rifle.  I still have very little experience shooting a scoped rifle, so I’m keeping it at 100 yards for the time being.  I’ll push it out as I go along, but right now I’m trying to learn breathing, proper sight picture in the scope, letting the trigger break by itself without me jerking it… you know the drill. 

For those who keep track of these things, the loads I’m working on are .308 Win, once fired Win brass, Federal primers, 168 grain Sierra Match Kings over 42.3 to 43.3 grains of IMR-4064.  I liked the results from the 43.3 gr load so far, so before I go out again I’ll roll a bunch of those and get down to some serious practice.  Near as I can find out, that is a pretty close dupe for Federal’s Gold Medal Match, but substantially cheaper handloaded.

Actually, all of this is a pretty flimsy excuse for going out into the desert and lying on the matt in the sunshine.  “Hey Bill, are you asleep?”  “Huh?  ah, no.  Just letting the barrel cool…”

Sunday Music for the last Sunday in April is “Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven”

 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
 to the throne thy tribute bring;
 ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
 evermore God’s praises sing.
 Alleluia!  Alleluia! 
 Praise the everlasting King.

 Praise the Lord for grace and favor
 to all people in distress;
 praise God, still the same as ever,
 slow to chide, and swift to bless. 
 Alleluia!  Alleluia! 
 Glorious now God’s faithfulness.

 Fatherlike, God tends and spares us;
 well our feeble frame God knows;
 motherlike, God gently bears us,
 rescues us from all our foes. 
 Alleluia!  Alleluia! 
 Widely yet God’s mercy flows. 

 Angels in the heights, adoring,
 you behold God face to face;
 saints triumphant, now adoring,
 gathered in from every race. 
 Alleluia!  Alleluia! 
 Praise with us the God of grace.