I'm getting really close. I just about had it this past weekend with my 1960 Featherweight in .270 and it's something I'm going to touch on in my next video. For most of my shots the rifle felt just like catching a baseball in the pocket of a glove. But every now and then I would have a shot that sort felt like when you miss the pocket in a glove or miss the sweet spot of a golf club hitting a ball and it just felt bad. It's a shame that this doesn't get talked about more in shooting circles. As a matter of fact I don't even know the terms to describe what we're talking about? But it is fun figuring it out. And my bad shots where still good but the difference in how those shots felt were the difference between a 1 inch group and a 1/2 inch group.

Jerrold, you just named 2 rifles that I really hope to add to my collection one day. A 1920 Savage and a Griffin and Howe 1903 Springfield. Two very fine rifles!

@@TomRiverSimpleLiving The stuff I like and am attracted to is due to being a "bookworm" as a kid. Roy Chapman Andrews was a fan of the 1920 and the .250-3000 Savage cartridge; Hemingway wrote of his Springfield; Robert Ruark took a humble Remington 721 in .30-'06 to Africa. I was fortunate to have inherited a G&H Springfield when I was 18. Later in life, I was fortunate score a deal on a 721 so new in the box that it still had the factory rust preservative goop in it and on it. I almost bought a Savage Model 1920 in .250-3000 at the Wanenmacher Gun Show in Tulsa this past April. But I got to thinking about it a bit, more specifically, thinking about the 1:12" twist rate of the barrel on a 1920 chambered in .250 Savage, and whether I could be happy NOT shooting 117 grain or 120 grain bullets. Maybe if I lived on the east coast, in a place where groundhog shooting is a big deal, then shooting 87 grain bullets from a .250-3000 might have more appeal to me....... Since I don't, and since I am trying to simplify my life, I ultimately passed on buying the 1920 I was considering.

I'm glad you like the videos! And yeah I would want a little more gun up in your neck of the woods too! Those are some big critters ya'll have up there! LOL

And thank you MrMotorz.

I was in my 30 s before I decided I wanted to become good with a glock. I don't like them.. and it was to prove a point. ... lol ended up I ly proving a point to myself... Fundamentals required to shoot a polymer framer striker fire pistol accurately and quickly... REALLY changed my rifle shooting in a good way. I ve been shooting driven deer since I was 10. But it opened up a whole new level of off hand shooting a rifle, for me.

I'm glad you enjoyed it Duncan and it's funny that you mentioned me having more experience. I have a lot of years of shooting but that doesn't necessarily translate into knowledge because for a lot if those years I never questioned my rifle setup. I just made what I had work. Of course we didn't have access to all of the information that's available now. But your comment made me realize that experience doesn't translate into knowledge especially if most of that experience is in doing the wrong things or not asking the right questions. So yes I probably have more experience but I suspect you're just as knowledgeable as myself.

I can't disagree with anything you said, but I guess I'm just stubborn? This has turned into personal challenge for me and I've really been surprised by how much I've learned about recoil. But you make a very good point and no matter how much I learn about recoil all that matters is how well i shoot it in the field holding the fore end. Thanks for the reminder.

I would say you made an outstanding caliber selection for that rifle!

I've never tried a forward set trigger but I suspect it would be a lot of fun?

This is a 1982 XTR Featherweight and it's push feed and the same as your post 64's if they're push feed. It's a great rifle. Winchester also produced some newer control feed M70's in the 2011-2012 time frame and they're also great rifles. I would have a hard time saying which is best but I can say without I doubt I want both! The action of the newer control feed Winchesters would be almost identical to your MkII. The fit of the stock would be a little different but I don't think you would notice much difference in the actions? You would just have to pick one up and check it for fit if you can find one? Like your Ruger 257 Roberts there aren't that many WInchesters out there in 257 Roberts and they can be hard to find. And personally I love the MkII action. Probably because it is so close to the original M98 and Pre64 Winchesters? But I can understand why you would prefer a push feed. Both types of actions are great.

@@TomRiverSimpleLiving I like my push feed model 70's and Rem 700's quite a bit more than the Ruger for some reason. They're all good, just a personal choice I guess. I know a guy who bought a new model 70 in 243 Win. and that new action is just as smooth as glass and you know how good they feel in the hand. It really made me want another one. I guess I'm trying to weed out the ones I don't really love since it doesn't make sense to keep buying so many. I've really gotten carried away in the last few years with rifle purchases, but when I got a little more familiar with the model 70's I started realizing more about my preferences in a rifle. It would make much more sense to have a few that I really like than several that I do nothing with. Another problem I have is I'm a sucker for a rife with a pretty stock and deep dark bluing. Then I think they're too pretty to use and they just sit there looking pretty. It's a sick addiction, I guess. LOL.

I love shooting heavy rifles at the bench but I sure do prefer carrying light ones in the field hunting!

Oh yea, add scope, sling, gangster grip and bipod weight to that M14 EBR. that rifle performed great but was about as heavy as the m249 (SAW). The M4's were all but useless fighting from valley floors though so I sure was glad to have that 14. Definitely did me well in the Pech. And I just did a little more research on my wife's gun. As far as I can figure out it is an A-bolt Composite Stalker, ringing in at just 6lb 1oz.

It's a great question and my answer, or at least the reason that I personally don't like muzzle brakes, is the noise. Noise isn't an issue at the range but in the field most of us don't wear hearing protection and those breaks are really load. But I do see the benefits and I don't fault anyone for using them.

noise.

I just finished load testing on my 1960 Winchester model 70 Featherweight chambered in .270 Win and I was shocked that I didn't get the same jump in it that I get in newer Featherweights chambered in even lighter recoiling cartridge. So I'm at a loss right now and truthfully I think I could just spend the next year shooting nothing but Featherweights trying to figure this out. There is obviously more there for me to learn and after this I can't say for certain the one you ordered would jump like my newer ones have but I suspect it would? As for what would benefit you most for the type of shooting it sounds like you want to do, I would suggest more of a target rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor? I know everyone is jumping on the 6.5 Bandwagon right now and I don't normally suggest that cartridge but most people aren't wanting to use it for what it was designed for. Most people that I talk to want to use it for long range hunting but it was designed specifically for long range target shooting. Well you are one of the few that could really benefit from this cartridge because that is precisely what you want to use it for. And as for everyone else jumping on that bandwagon, that's a plus for you because it means ammo readily available (in normal times and in match grade ammo or any other type of ammo) and is generally less expensive. Plus it's low recoil which will really help you hone your shooting fundamentals and it's lower pressure which will mean more barrel life. That cartridge was literally designed to do exactly what you want to do with it. As for a rifle, there are so many great options but I would suggest more of a target rifle and for the same reasons. You want to shoot tiny groups in targets and target rifles are designed specifically for that. If you wanted to stay with Winchester then a M70 Long Range MB or Coyote Light (if you can find one and they aren't that light) would be good choices. But there are a lot of great options out there. I obviously love Featherweights but those are hunting rifles which isn't what you want to do. You can of course use a Featherweight for target shooting, and you would definitely have the best looking rifle out there, but from a functional standpoint I think you'll be happier with a rifle designed for what you want to do? I hope this helps?

Ouch, but we all have similar regrets. I'll have to tell the story about the first rifle I ever bought new one of these days, maybe? LOL It's all part of the learning experience.

That's about what I'm thinking as well. And I'm looking forward to some quality range time with this rifle just because of what you said about using it as a training rifle. And I'm pretty certain the reason it's jumping is energy just looking for the path of least resistance and it's pretty much the same thing as muzzle flip on a handgun. And the point of so many of the modified grips for handguns now is to control the handgun during recoil. When I get back to the range I'm going to approach it from that standpoint and really work on my fundamentals and technique. And I'm certain that's going to carry over into my heavier rifles and just help improve my overall accuracy? We shall see.

​@@TomRiverSimpleLiving Hey did a little more digging and found an interesting video. Leave it to the Mythbusters. They basically use the force of an airbag to swing a gun incredibly fast applying enormous amounts of force before and after the gun is fired but it seems as soon as the primer ignites the bullet has already reached such a velocity that the speed which the gun was going before or after didn't matter. the bullet is traveling so fast its as if the gun could have been standing completely still. Which also makes sense if you think about how fast bullets go verses the explosive recoil from the bullet being ignited and dispersed to your gun and into your arm. Glad I came across your video because I feel like we all learned a lot from this. Thanks! (video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a9yKZ890sNyVmZ8.html)

But thats not to say all this recoil cant mess up a second shot, i think it absolutely will. Especially with a lighter gun, requiring more time to get back on target and let the nerves calm back Down.

I think the movement in the gun during combustion just changes your point of impact just enough to throw of the shot? Supposedly the bullet has left the barrel before a rifle has time to move but Newton's 3rd law states for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. The reaction to the bullet being propelled forward is for the rifle to go backwards. And the rifle goes back simultaneously to the bullet going forward. With a normal weight rifle it isn't an issue. Everything is stable enough that it doesn't affect your accuracy. But with a really light weight barrel you get inconsistencies. And I noticed that as I dropped bullet weight I also felt a big drop in recoil (recoil might not be the right word here but the rifle jumps significantly less) and I got a huge improvement in accuracy. And when I mentioned muzzle flip on a pistol it wasn't in reference to it slowing you down on the followup shot. Your grip and muzzle flip on a pistol changes your point of impact and. your shots will hit higher on target. I think something similar is happening here? And since I've become hyper focused on this I've noticed subtle changes such as how the stock is positioned in the shoulder in other rifles will change the point of impact but only slightly (less than an inch). So I can't wait to get to the range after deer season and experiment with some of this.

Of that I have no doubt! But I bet it's a lot more fun carrying on a long hike in hills.

I love a 308, I've taken a lot of deer with a 308, and I think it's one of the best hunting cartridges there is but I do not want a 308 in a light weight hunting rifle. The recoil is going to be just a little more than I care for.

Wanting "almost an aught-six" instead of the real .30-'06 deal tells me everything I need to know, too.

I have owned hundreds of rifles and one thing I have learned is that one caliber is not better then the next but it’s all about personal preference and feeling confident in what your shooting! How much fun would it be if all they made was only one caliber! There is no right or wrong just what fits and feels good and shoots good for you!