Will the H&R Buffalo Classic Shoot 1000 Yards? Yep!

[John Boy]

There's this 48" x 82" Steel Buffalo named Homer at Ridgway Rifle Club in PA standing out there at 1000 yards

Took 10 rounds using the Big Lube 500gr original bullet ,among many other recipes, loaded with 65grs of Meteor Powder (vintage 1973) and a velocity of 1177fps, then  started walking them to Homer.  Three 'no cigars but close' and Three Klangs.   Vernier setting - 229 MOA
And ... the rifle was my H&R Buffalo Classic - not my Pedersoli. 

* ... The wind was gusting 20 -50 mph - 62 F and cloudy
* ... Homer's exact dimensions are:
- OAL Width = 82"
- OAL Height = 48"
- Neck to Back = 64"
- Neck Width = 18"
- Head Height = 27"
- Shoulder to Neck Height = 32"
- Hump to Belly Height = 34"
- Haunch to Belly Height = 28"

The other dings on Homer were from a total of 34 hits using all the recipes that I shot





this pic added later by Tim  ... another day and another rifle but it's still Homer!

[poncaguy]

Great shooting, I can't even see that far now................

[DALESCARPENTRY]

Where is Homer in the picture? Is he the dot the furthest out. LOL. What part of Pa you from? I am from Scottdale about 55 miles south east of Pittsburgh. Nice shooting.

[quickdtoo]

Jeez, can ya hear it hit that far away!!! Good shootin, that sounds like a lot of fun, reminds me of shooting the long gong with a flinter and round balls at rendezvous, but I think the longest I've ever shot em was about 450-500yds, sure miss that kind of stuff!

Thanks for sharing,

Tim

[DALESCARPENTRY]

I did a google search and looked at map quest it is 141.32 miles from my house. I went to their site and boy what a nice range. It also only costs $15.00 ination fee and $35.00 yearly dues. That is a great deal. I belong to a gun club also but the furthest you can shoot is 300 yards.

[Rustyinfla]

   Man, Kudos to you... I can't even see 1000 yards any more. Good shootin.

           Rusty <><

[LeeNJ]

Okay, great shooting! Now, what sights? Lee

[John Boy]

Okay, great shooting! Now, what sights? Lee

Lee ... Pedersoli Long Range Silhouette Creedmoor vernier and a Lyman globe wuth a pin head aperature

Dale, wish I did live in PA ... am from Cape May County, NJ.  Big difference in elevation: 87' above sea level here and Ridgeway @ 1841'

[LeeNJ]

No scope! That shut my mouth! Like someone else said, I can't even see it! Lee

[John Boy]

Lee, on the sunny days, Homer fads 2/3 of it's body into the shade from 10:00 until about 3:00.  Yes, it was tough seeing the full body.  So, I placed a regulation size ram (black) in front of his mid body for a marker .  This did help.  And much to my surprise, I hit the ram 3 times the 5 days that I was at Ridgeway    Not with the H&R though, it was with a Pedersoli

[DALESCARPENTRY]

Okay, great shooting! Now, what sights? Lee

Lee ... Pedersoli Long Range Silhouette Creedmoor vernier and a Lyman globe wuth a pin head aperature

Dale, wish I did live in PA ... am from Cape May County, NJ.  Big difference in elevation: 87' above sea level here and Ridgeway @ 1841'

If you lived within 143 mile of this club would you join it? If I did I would only make it there 4 or 5 times a year.

[myarmor]

Lot of fun shooting out that far. Now we wanna see you shoot her scoped
Kudos on the open sights, It's not easy.
Thanks for sharing


-Aaron

[handirifle]

He might live in PA but the target is in NJ   NICE shooting!  There is a 1000 range at one of the local ranges, I used to belong, but will rejoin very soon.

[John Boy]

Aaron, this H&R will never wear a scope ... well, as long as my optometrist keeps fine tuning the shooting glasses for me.   
Gotta give credit where it is due using iron sights:  My good friend w44wcf, John Kort, from Erie, PA did the spotting for me.  And the whole week was not a walk in the park with the wind.  Many rounds, John said ...  'I didn't see it.'  All the recipes that I concocted were total unknowns. 

My primary purpose, other than shooting a 1000 for the 1st time was to compare powders:  Swiss and Goex against Wano Scheutzen - DuPont (vintage 1971) and Meteor (vintage 1973).  All in all, I'm please with how the Wano, DuPont and Meteor performed

Before I went to Ridgway, I ran one round of each over the chrono at 50yds.  Then made up the trajectory tables (using Ridgeway's altitude of 1841')  But the winds were a killer affecting the trajectory numbers and also in front of Homer was a big grass patch.  Many of the unknowns were over his back into the woods or into the grass, so had to fiddle with the vernier and try again.  Do have to say, with John Kort's spotting ability ... there were many close shots too.  Many were inches but with the wind and all ... No Cigars for the close ones!

Here's the compliment of recipes that I shot mainly with the Pedersoli ... http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=4137.0

[Fred M]

Great shooting. Just had my right eye done and my vision is  improved.
For many years I used nothing but arparture sights for hunting. My left eye will be done  next week maybe I can throw away the scopes.huh.

Does anyone use the Ruger#1 in 45-70 for this kind of shooting?

[handirifle]

Great shooting. Just had my right eye done and my vision is  improved.
For many years I used nothing but arparture sights for hunting. My left eye will be done  next week maybe I can throw away the scopes.huh.

Does anyone use the Ruger#1 in 45-70 for this kind of shooting?

Fred, "Done" you mean LASIK or similar?  Had mine both done couple years ago, and the right re-done last year.  The right eye is fantastic, but the left has a slight astigmatism back.  MUCH better than before, but not real good with iron sights, I shoot left handed.  Good luck on yours.  BTW the norm is excellent vision for the first week and within 3-4 weeks if it's going to "settle" it will.  Most have no issues, but I'm one of the "lucky" ones.

[Fred M]

Handirifle.

I had a lens implant. Don't know about  Lasik. Right now I can read the print on the screen without my glases. There is still a bit of an haze. It looks to me a very
good job. Anything has to be better than it was. Old eyes can not be made young again. My wife had her eyes done the same way and she is doing well.

I was told the implants will corect the astigmatism which I have in both eyes.

No I don't think I will be able to shoot without scopes. I had issues with some
scopes thinking they had bad optics when in fact it was my eyes. I really had a lot of trouble shooting benchrest getting the scope in focus adjusting paralax. The x-hairs are so fine and the dot is only 1/8" at 100. It was a struggle.

I had to miss a BR match this weekend, but that is a small price to pay if I get good use  of my eyes again.

[handirifle]

Sounds similar to what my brother had done, due to cataracts he had.  His hasn't come out too well.   Good luck on yours.  Wish the best for ya.

[wcf3030]

Some outstanding shooting!

[Cat Whisperer]

 If I was shooting that far away, I'd need a forward observer to adjust fire! 

[billy_56081]

Sweet! That's all i can say.

[44 Man]

I couldn't see that far either!  I'm wondering about the flight time of the bullet.  Seems you might have time to fire, eject, and reload about the time you heard the 'clang'.  Ha ha.  Honestly, that is some great shooting and sound like great fun!  Keep it up!  44 Man

[handirifle]

I just sent off the funds to buy a 4X Dixie scope for my 38-55 and even with that 1000yds will STILL be a long way off.  I hope I can shoot that far, that accurate with my scope.

[John Boy]

Handi - good luck with the scope and your 38-55 barrel at 1000 ...
What I didn't post was that I also took my H&R 38-55 barrel to Ridgeway.  Did pretty good clipping the rams at 500yd and the chickens were pretty easy.  The real purpose for  the 38-55 was to see if Homer would ring using it.  Montana Charlie had a post on Shiloh Rifle the he was clanging a 900 yd piece of steel with this RB 38-55.  Using a 300gr and 245gr bullet, the best I could do was just short and to the right of a pallet at 800yds ... not enough ballistics coefficient with these bullets.  Homer at a 1000 was a No Go.  Next trip up there, gonna try some 335gr bullets with FFFg and FFFFg.  Should be interesting

Might add, the arsenal also included a Henry 22 - LSI 92 (45 Colt) - Win 94 and the Taurus Thunderbolt using 45's.  Was really surprised how many chickens dropped with it using a tang sight.  I have a 0.135" bead on the front which was too big to really dial in the shots at 200.  But the TBolt will shoot at 200 with accuracy and the 22 was a ball working over the chickens.  One of the fellas in our party needed 7 hits on a chicken with his 22 to make it fall of the rail 

[handirifle]

JohnBoy
Mine would not stabilize the 330gr Snovers.  I tried and that was at 50yds.

I have yet to shoot them, but I cut the bottom band of the 330's and now they are 285's.  I have them loaded with GOEX so we'll see how they do.  Once I get this package together, I have a LOT of shooting to catch up on.

Your results are very similar to what I have read about the 38-55.  The 245's do not carry enough ooomph to make it to 1000 and the 1-18 isn't enough to go over 300gr with.

Now one fellow has a 38-56 with a 1-14 twist and he's shooting 330-340gr very well to 800-1000.  Much higher velocity and heavier bullet.

[handirifle]

John Boy

Was re-reading this post and wondering how your vernier sight was mounted?

[quickdtoo]

I think the answer is in this previous thread. 

Tim

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/topic,122434.msg1098419843.html#msg1098419843

[handirifle]

Well, no pic, but must have been mounted in the inserts, similar to how mine was.  Thanks Tim.

[Curt Dawson]

The BC barrel is in the top two of extra barrels for my new handi.The other being a 223.But I will be using a scope for the long range work.Probably something in the 10x on up power range.

[shaner]

thats really neat doing those  long range shot!