- Joined
- Mar 16, 2006
- Messages
- 42
- Reaction score
- 1
First of all, I would like to extend a big THANKS to all of you for your help in learning more about smokeless muzzleloading. After much deliberation and much research, I went ahead and sent my Ruger to SMI for conversion over to smokeless.
As a small amount of background, I have had this rifle for many years and really, really enjoyed hunting with it - problem is, there is not much use in Central Indiana for a .300 Weatherby Magnum. This aided my decision to spend what I felt was a reasonable amount of money to convert a gun I liked over to something I could use every year hunting here at home.
Now that I have it back, here is what it looks like:
As you can see, it has the fluted 28" barrel. I also added a Simms Limbsaver pad to it and went with glass that I am just used to shooting - a Leupold Vari-x II. As a side note, if anyone has a Leupold scope that is already threaded, the flip-up Alumina caps are wonderful!
For those of you wondering what the breech setup looks like, here are some shots of the breech end as well as the breech plug:
Finally, Ron sends along a breech plug remover, take-down ram rod, and a little primer gadget (no, the brown dog did not come in the package - he just guards the stuff from my Dad).
I have a variety of material to go and shoot, but I have tried to take advantage of the learnings of others - nothing exotic, just known commonities such as the Barnes - X, some barnes spit-fires, and some XTPs. I figure that I will at least get an idea about how the gun will shoot.
Initial impressions
Just to echo the opinions of others, Ron Name really puts together a classy product. I have been around the machining/tool and die business my whole life and feel quite strongly that the mechanical work is outstanding. The gun (wood/receiver) is in as good as shape as when I sent it and despite the re-work required, there are no stray marks on any of the screws, metal finish, or wood. That doesn't seem like that big of a deal to some, but it is much appreciated by me. The overall balance of the gun is not drastically different than before and really appears to be ready shoot.
If anyone is interested in an alternative to the Savage, you just may want to give the SMI idea some thought. They are very nice and took the time to answer every single question that I had about the system. If I had not already owned this Ruger, I probably would have been hunting with a Savage this fall. For me, this just was the way to go. I don't care to argue any of the SMI/Savage pros/cons as I personally don't have a PhD in locktime or other hot topics. Now that I have an SMI, I must admit that I will likely have one built for my sons once the hunting bug bites them. I just know that there is NOTHING better to a hunter than to have something new before hunting season. The fact that I get to keep some of the pre-SMI nostalgia attached to this rifle is just a boost.
Good luck to everyone with their smokeless muzzleloading. I will post results of my upcoming visits to the range.
As a small amount of background, I have had this rifle for many years and really, really enjoyed hunting with it - problem is, there is not much use in Central Indiana for a .300 Weatherby Magnum. This aided my decision to spend what I felt was a reasonable amount of money to convert a gun I liked over to something I could use every year hunting here at home.
Now that I have it back, here is what it looks like:
As you can see, it has the fluted 28" barrel. I also added a Simms Limbsaver pad to it and went with glass that I am just used to shooting - a Leupold Vari-x II. As a side note, if anyone has a Leupold scope that is already threaded, the flip-up Alumina caps are wonderful!
For those of you wondering what the breech setup looks like, here are some shots of the breech end as well as the breech plug:
Finally, Ron sends along a breech plug remover, take-down ram rod, and a little primer gadget (no, the brown dog did not come in the package - he just guards the stuff from my Dad).
I have a variety of material to go and shoot, but I have tried to take advantage of the learnings of others - nothing exotic, just known commonities such as the Barnes - X, some barnes spit-fires, and some XTPs. I figure that I will at least get an idea about how the gun will shoot.
Initial impressions
Just to echo the opinions of others, Ron Name really puts together a classy product. I have been around the machining/tool and die business my whole life and feel quite strongly that the mechanical work is outstanding. The gun (wood/receiver) is in as good as shape as when I sent it and despite the re-work required, there are no stray marks on any of the screws, metal finish, or wood. That doesn't seem like that big of a deal to some, but it is much appreciated by me. The overall balance of the gun is not drastically different than before and really appears to be ready shoot.
If anyone is interested in an alternative to the Savage, you just may want to give the SMI idea some thought. They are very nice and took the time to answer every single question that I had about the system. If I had not already owned this Ruger, I probably would have been hunting with a Savage this fall. For me, this just was the way to go. I don't care to argue any of the SMI/Savage pros/cons as I personally don't have a PhD in locktime or other hot topics. Now that I have an SMI, I must admit that I will likely have one built for my sons once the hunting bug bites them. I just know that there is NOTHING better to a hunter than to have something new before hunting season. The fact that I get to keep some of the pre-SMI nostalgia attached to this rifle is just a boost.
Good luck to everyone with their smokeless muzzleloading. I will post results of my upcoming visits to the range.
