Axis .308's First Outting

Finally got my twins (14 yr old girls) out to shoot their fresh .308 Axis rifles yesterday. It was cold, windy and had a good 15" snow base on the shooting bench. More like a 15" block of ice. We managed to clear off enough space to set up a crappy beanbag rest. They have done all the work on their rifles themselves (trigger job, rail bedding, scope mounting) so they were pretty excited.

With less then ideal conditions (snow was up to 2' deep between the bench and targets) we decided not to try to sight in but just let them shoot a box of shells to get a good feel for the rifles.

With their bore sighted only (they bore sighted without help or supervision) rifles one managed to get all 20 rounds on paper @100 yards mainly to the right of center (12mph wind). The other was really low and only got 2 on paper the rest were low kicking up snow. (I did crank it up a bit for her at the end).

After we cleaned and put everything away I asked what they thought of the recoil ect... One was pretty indifferent said it was about what she'd expected for recoil. The other said it initially surprised her as her first shot wasn't held tight and clocked her in the cheek pretty good. Otherwise she did fine.

I think they were a little disappointed with the accuracy or lack of, but once they get zero'd they should be good to go. They shoot out the bullseye with my .223!

We had fun together and thats the main thing to me. (They live with their mother so getting days like this isn't always easy).

When the weather warms up n the snow melts off the bench I'll get them out on a sled to really sight in with some 165gr bullets. We'd used 150's for their first time out.

We put Pentax GameSeeker III 4-12x40 scopes on so I'm interested in how they will work out. The clarity of them seems great for $100 investment. The hold over reticle should be useful. So far I have to say I was impressed, went from indoor to outdoor temps with zero fogging. Pretty decent considering the high for the day was 24°F and clouds were rolling in.

We didn't have any bolt lift issues not dropped shells so I was glad for the. We had thoroughly cleaned and lubed the bolts and barrels with BreakFree Powder Blast and Gun Oil the ran a bore snake through a couple times just prior to shooting.

To anyone wondering about felt recoil on a .308 my girls aren't petite little girls but they had no trouble what so ever with the .308 out of these lightweight rifles. In fact I'd say they may get 12ga's next they did so well with these.

Sounds like a great time. Always good to get the kids into shooting (i have 2).
Oh, and where the heck do you live? it was 75 and sunny here yesterday:p

MinnieSnowta won't see 75 for a while yet. Yeah I think the little challenges helped to keep it interesting and memorable. We did draw a little crowd as my neighbors kids watched from a distance eventually following their dad who came over to check out the new rifles in between chores. We've hunted and fished together since we were kids. (30 some years now). So its just another day in the neighborhood when we get together and shoot. We've matured over the years and for the most part windmills and mailboxes are safe now.

Brief update:
The Pentax scopes have been a crapshoot.

One has performed flawlessly for about 200 rounds. The other has failed after 30 rounds. The eyepiece lense fell out. Didn't have time to wait for repair under warranty. Replaced it with a 3-9x40 Leopold for hunting season. But daughter has gotten used to the higher powered Pentax and PP reticle. Might just have to put the Pentax back.

But seriously it was a disappointment to say the least. Had it to do over on the same budget I might have bought Bushnell or even Barska or center point . Couldn't do much worse than catastrophic failure!

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Originally Posted by sixonetonoffun

Brief update:
The Pentax scopes have been a crapshoot.

One has performed flawlessly for about 200 rounds. The other has failed after 30 rounds. The eyepiece lense fell out. Didn't have time to wait for repair under warranty. Replaced it with a 3-9x40 Leopold for hunting season. But daughter has gotten used to the higher powered Pentax and PP reticle. Might just have to put the Pentax back.

But seriously it was a disappointment to say the least. Had it to do over on the same budget I might have bought Bushnell or even Barska or center point . Couldn't do much worse than catastrophic failure!

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I recently bought a Pentax--wasn't cheap either--and it seems to be doing well so far. I had a Center Point that self-destructed on the very first shots out of a 308--I consider it a hall-of-fame winner in the "worst of worst" category.

The Lightseeker and original Pioneer series are excellent scopes (and I believe the first pioneer series was made by Burris, but not sure about the Lightseekers), but otherwise it seems to be a total crapshoot with the pentax. Its too bad, because I really like the looks of the gameseeker 30 scopes, but I've never plunked down the money to take one home. I'm always tempted, but just can't pull the trigger on one.

Ordered the girls Praire Hunters custom LOP, 1" Pachmayr pad, 1-Forest Camo and 1-Royal. Their choices. I dunno about them but I can't wait to get these!

Woulda liked to get the tips and caps but just couldn't justify the additional costs. Soon into these close to Model 14 money.

So the scoped, slinged pre boyds weight is approximately 7lb,7oz
With Prairie Hunter approximately 8lb,6oz so though it feels substantially heavier realistically there is a scant pound.

I'm officially calling the second Pentax GameSeeker III washed out. The parallax is out of whack can't focus enough to see a circle from a square @100 yards. I had thought better of Pentax. These were only on 308's and should have had a longer life expectancy then these.

Ok so I had a Weaver Kaspa new take off left from my Axis II project. Helped my daughter put it on in place of the Pentax. We used Burris rings and inserts to get it more or less optically centered. We'll get it actually sighted in tomorrow. I left it up to her to choose between an older vari x ii 2-7 & Redfield 4-12 she chose the 3-9 kaspa which will be interesting. I like the reticle but it's pretty decent glass too. The lack of range to adjustments the only real shortcoming so far. Glad we had a spare set of Burris signature rings on hand. Eventually we'll get something a little nicer. Hopefully this will get through deer hunting.

A lot of Axis owners, Have been having Scope mounting problems using DNZ Med Mounts. That the bolt handle either rubs or hits the bolt,? Of the rifle while working the bolt action.?I was wondering if the High DNZ mounts would correct this problem.?

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Originally Posted by REDTAIL

A lot of Axis owners, Have been having Scope mounting problems using DNZ Med Mounts. That the bolt handle either rubs or hits the bolt,? Of the rifle while working the bolt action.?I was wondering if the High DNZ mounts would correct this problem.?

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I haven't tried either. I have ground down my bolt handles rather then use high mounts. It doesn't take a lot.

High mounts will clear every scope I triied. But high is to high for my comfort.

Just out of curiosity, Does anyone know if there is a long scout scope rail out there somewhere for the Axis? I've been looking on every Axis thread, but my Google-Fu is weak, and haven't found anything. Hard to believe your daughter was disappointed with the 3-9x40 Leopold.

I haven't looked into scout rails. You'd probably get more responses by starting a topic.

She got used to the Leopold. But the 12x was great for targets.