Be quiet Sight in new rifle with a handful of shots
out there
BY ALLEN MACARTNEY
BY SHEILA ASCROFT
IF YOUR ATV isn’t paid off yet,
or you’re just not in the mood
to buy a fancy new electric one,
there’s another way to quiet down
your hunting vehicle. Install a
silencer or muffler.
There are a several different
designs, some universal, others
that only fit specific ATVs. The
EXSound ATV “extra silencer
with muffler” sells at Canadian
Tire for about $250. This is an
add-on to the original silencer to
reduce those ear-popping decibels
without altering the vehicle’s
performance. But it only fits on
Polaris RZRs with an angled (at 45
degrees) original silencer.
Cabela’s stores and website
offer the Kolpin Stealth Exhaust
System 2.0, with heat shield,
for less than $200. Its universal
design will fit any ATV or UTV
running with a four-stroke engine.
The System 2.0 is described by
the company as “an innovative
high-flow/low-restriction spark-ar-
resting muffler with a smaller
diameter for a better universal fit.”
While it promises at least 50 per
cent noise reduction, it has had
varied reviews.
The Canadian online shop,
FortNine.ca, offers a variety of
“slip-on” silencers that won’t scare
away game and don’t sacrifice
power or performance. It ships
out of Calgary and Montreal with
prices from a few hundred bucks
to more than $1,000.
The Silent Rider (www.atvsilenc-
er.com) out of North Carolina ships
to Canada. It claims up to a 60 per
cent reduction in exhaust noise.
An aluminized steel silencer has a
heat shield and, more importantly,
is designed to fit around most
racks, hitches and dump beds.
Customers include not just hunters
and recreational riders, but game
wardens, ranchers and police.
www.fishhuntandride.ca
IT HAPPENS EVERY spring at
the range. A shooter unpacks a
new rifle and prepares to sight in
the firearm. The shooter takes out
a large case of cheap ammo, and
starts blasting away at the targets.
Too often by the day’s end the
rifle still isn’t shooting true. The
targets look like they’ve been
sprayed by a shotgun.
There’s a better and cheaper
way to sight in a new rifle. Read
on.
Start by making sure your
scope has heavy-duty rings
to hold it securely to the rifle.
Inexpensive rings work loose
quickly, destroying any hope for
accuracy. Then, shoot the right
ammunition – the kind you intend
to use in the field or on the range.
Rifles react differently to different
ammunition. If you’re going to
shoot deer, pick a good cartridge
you inten d to hunt with, and
zero in your rifle with it. What
we’re saying here is avoid cheap
ammunition for sighting in. It is
inherently inaccurate – not good
for this crucial job.
Here are common sense steps
to accurate shooting.
Bore-sight the rifle either at
the store (good) or at the range
(best). Bore-sighting will align the
scope and barrel so you’ll at least
put the first shots on the target
paper.
Then choose a day with light
wind to sight in the rifle – that
way you’re not contending with
wind drift on top of all the other
factors.
At the range, mount your rifle
on a secure rifle rest or vises. This
takes the human element out of
the job, because people move
and shake. Good rifle vices cost
about $100 or borrow one from
a friend. If you still can’t get one,
set up the rifle on sandbags and
take lots of time to settle any
body movements. Sandbags are
more stable than a bipod, and
stability is what you need.
Start by centering the
crosshairs and shooting a single
bullet at a target 50 metres away.
This bullet will be fired through a
cold barrel, which affects accuracy
differently than a hot barrel. Most
hunting shots will be cold barrel,
so when sighting in, pause for
many minutes between shots,
allowing the barrel to cool.
Look through the scope to
see where the bullet hit the
target. Then adjust elevation
and windage turrets if needed.
Take another shot after five
minutes or so, this time through
a slightly warmed barrel. Observe
where that bullet hit, and make
adjustments. After several shots
your bullets should be close to
dead centre.
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Now move to a 100-metre
target. Fire a single shot at the
target and observe where the
bullet hits. You may not have
to adjust your scope (either
elevation or windage) much to
account for the greater distance.
Fire another single shot in several
minutes, and make any necessary
adjustments to your scope.
When your bullets are hitting
the target, finish sighting in by
shooting a group of three bullets.
Fire them slowly over a period of
15 minutes so the barrel doesn’t
heat up and change the point of
impact. If they’re tightly clustered
where you want them, voila!
Celebrate!
An accurate rifle should be
sighted in at least annually, and
perhaps as often as every several
months, depending on use. If you
drop the rifle or knock the scope
when travelling, head back to the
range and sight it in again.
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FISH , HUNT RIDE | 21