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I Lost The Rubber
Buttplate, that is.
A pretty good example of “stuff” for a range bag. Make up
your own, but make sure you take it with you. It doesn’t do
any good at home when you’re on the range.
OK, so I have this good guy doctor from Detroit, and he has traveled 2,000 miles one way to do a tutorial for a mid-range rifle class. He has his special Steyr Scout rifle personally autographed by Jeff Cooper under the bipod leg (yeah I know most of you don’t understand), but the Jeff Cooper people.

It’s a cool rifle and even with the modest 2X Scout scope we — he shooting and me spotting — we’re getting hits on steel out to 400 and 500 yards … happy campers are we.

Well, with all the solid hits on steel we go out to paint up the metal and lo and behold some place and somewhere near the 400-yard line at Thunder Ranch in Oregon, the slip-on, form-fitted really cool but not secure rubber buttpad falls off the rifle. So with a 4,000-mile trip and a reasonably large quantity of money involved, Doctor Detroit’s rifle is a real bummer to shoot as the big gapping hole leaves the hollow base of the stock exposed with kind of sharp edges and all. Pretty un-fun to shoot.

So the point — actually two — is: If you own a Steyr Scout rifle, make sure the rubber buttplate thing is secure if you’re going to take the rifle into the field. And, two, be prepared to fix your equipment in field environments, because stuff breaks if you actually use it in the field.

I have a tool bag of sorts with me on the range and, in fairness, the bag is bigger because it rides in the diesel-powered mule. From loose pistol stock screws to loose stocks on ARs to sight adjustments — and my personal favorite, the rifle is zeroed and the scope falls off the gun during a final zero confirmation string of fire — the bag is pretty handy. I have and suggest a range bag for those of you who really go to the range and shoot. This bag should be armed with wrenches, screw, hex and torx drivers to adjust and tighten and maybe even replace parts … it makes the range day a lot more pleasant if you can spend the day shooting and not looking for pieces and parts. Oh yeah, in the can’t-be-without mode, 100 mph (aka: silver duct tape) and parachute cord … you would be stunned at all the guns — especially rifles and scopes — I have taped, and the slings I’ve roped together to help complete a day of firing.

There's More Ranging Shots
in the April Issue

• Pieces & Parts
• Crunch Tinkle

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2008 ISSUE HERE
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