111 Hog Hunter, .338 Win Mag

- B&C Classic Checkered Medalist
- Leupold FX-II
- Leupold QR mounts
- Savage stainless trigger guard
- Magpul MS1 sling

This was purchased, largely as a toy, several months ago. "A .338 for $440? Heck yeah!" I said. I also said "meh, the factory stock is fine and I prefer irons". You see how that turned out. The Classic Checkered stock is great, it really helps tame this guy to very, VERY comfortable levels, it's rigid, and the surface webbing is grippier in both wet and dry than my Boyd's stocks (none are checkered). But, it doesn't do it at a particularly light weight... 9 pounds, 13 ounces as seen here, loaded with 4 rounds of Barnes 225gr loads, that I still need to do some grouping and a final zero with. I've been back and forth on the scope for this rifle as mounts and other little things trickled in, but I have been shooting it quite a bit with a rough bore sight and with irons, and it handles well, and feels natural. I'll update with 100 yard groups with the Barnes later on. While this did begin as a toy, the process to upgrade the stock and get some glass on it did give me the thought that I could make this the one and only hunting rifle. It may eventually become that, but I think I've snapped out of that silliness for now. This is going to be the black bear rifle this year.




111 Trophy Hunter; .30-06

- B&C Classic Medalist
- Nikon ProStaff (yes, the original ProStaff! I thought it was junk too, but it's still going strong)
- Leupold Dual Dovetail mounts
- Steel trigger guard, going to add a steel hinged floor plate in the coming weeks, but for now it's the factory synthetic DBM.
- Same Magpul MS1 sling

I just received the stock today, so no idea how it'll shoot, but I will update here as well with groups. The rifle, as pictured, comes in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces, with 5 rounds of 168gr Barnes loads. Not too shabby, lighter than when it had the Boyd's Prairie Hunter, only a few ounces heavier than with the factory stock. This has been my main hunting rifle for a few years now, and I have a lot of woods time with it. I love the rifle, and when I got the stock for the Hog Hunter in-hand, I just couldn't feel good about not having one on this rifle. So, that happened. Then I grabbed a stainless trigger guard for it, because the factory plastic one was getting pretty gouged up, and as I said, I will convert to a stainless floor plate because I just never change mags. Overall, feels great. Shooting it will be the obvious thing to seal the deal, and that'll come in the next couple days, but assuming something crazy doesn't happen with the stock, I know the rifle itself is good to go.

One interesting thing, however, is the stocks are different models.... The "Classic Checkered Sporter" on the HH, and the "Classic Sporter" on the TH. The Checkered is a blind mag, the non-checkered is inlet for the factory DBM. Well, the non-checkered has about as much flex as my Boyd's stocks... not enough to notice, but I can squeeze the front end towards the barrel a little. The Checkered version doesn't seem to have any flex at all. At first, because the non-checkered flares out to accept the DBM frame, it seemed like the forend was slimmer, but when I actually looked side-by-side, they forend dimensions are the same, leading me to believe that the lack of supportive material for the DBM is what's allowing the flex, where the Checkered model has a complete fiberglass bottom, meaning more strength. Just an interesting note, I'm not a bench shooter, and these rifles are to be used in the field.. I can't feel any flex off-hand, so it matters not to me, but if you were maybe looking to upgrade for a bench gun, something to consider. Oh, and grips... The grips on both stocks are a bit short, a little fat, and have slightly different angles. I really like the feel for off-hand work, but they both leave a bit to be desired if you're doing long sessions with the gun. These stocks are definitely hunting stocks, in my eyes.


And the year of getting rid of things I don't use, and "squaring away" the things that I do use, continues.