Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Dec 31, 2019 9:08:59 GMT -5
I'll have to raid my wife's phone later to get the pics of the girls opening up their rifles on Christmas morning. They seem to like them.
I got one a Keystone 722 bolt action, the other a CZ 457 bolt action, both compact models. Their mother is pretty small and fits a youth rifle well, so I doubt they'll grow out of these. Both had good reviews and were pretty similar in price, but after unboxing them I found that the CZ is definitely of a higher quality, although the Keystone is nice also.
A year or two back, I got a good deal on four used Leupold scopes, all VX-1 or Rifleman series. I put 3-9x40s on each of their rifles. It turned out that I had to remove the rear sights from both their rifles to mount the scopes where I wanted them, so I guess it was a waste of time to sight in the open sights like I had done previously. While I was at it, I got out my old hand-me-down JC Higgins and put a 4-12x40 on it.
The CZ was slick right out of the box, I gave it a good cleaning and haven't had a single problem out of it. I flipped a coin prior to wrapping, and the younger daughter got this rifle.
The Keystone my older daughter received took a little work. The trigger stuck in the rearward position each time it was pulled, and you had to force it back forward manually before it could be operated again. I found the screws holding the stock to the action to be extremely loose, tightening these up fixed this issue. Next, the rear sight looked like it was tilted at an angle and wouldn't even hit a shoebox at 15 yards. I got this sighted in pretty easily, but as stated previously had to remove the rear sight anyway to install the scope. Finally, the spent shells were consistently sticking in the extractor mechanism each time the bolt was worked. Thorough cleaning and repeated operation have reduced this to probably once every five shots, and I'm hoping it is cured completely after a few more shooting/cleaning cycles.
I zeroed the scopes at 25 yards, using CCI 29 grain ammunition. Accuracy isn't quite what I'd like out of any of the rifles, but I intend to try a few more types of ammunition to see if they like any one round more than another.
*Disclaimer - All shots fired by a mediocre shooter*
Keystone 722
CZ 457
JC Higgins
Left to right: Keystone, JC Higgins, CZ
These are the girls' first rifles, other than the pink Daisy bb guns. They're really enjoying shooting them, hitting targets a lot better than when they were using the open sights on the Daisy. If the weather is decent tomorrow we're going to get them out squirrel hunting; I doubt they get one but should be fun regardless.
I got one a Keystone 722 bolt action, the other a CZ 457 bolt action, both compact models. Their mother is pretty small and fits a youth rifle well, so I doubt they'll grow out of these. Both had good reviews and were pretty similar in price, but after unboxing them I found that the CZ is definitely of a higher quality, although the Keystone is nice also.
A year or two back, I got a good deal on four used Leupold scopes, all VX-1 or Rifleman series. I put 3-9x40s on each of their rifles. It turned out that I had to remove the rear sights from both their rifles to mount the scopes where I wanted them, so I guess it was a waste of time to sight in the open sights like I had done previously. While I was at it, I got out my old hand-me-down JC Higgins and put a 4-12x40 on it.
The CZ was slick right out of the box, I gave it a good cleaning and haven't had a single problem out of it. I flipped a coin prior to wrapping, and the younger daughter got this rifle.
The Keystone my older daughter received took a little work. The trigger stuck in the rearward position each time it was pulled, and you had to force it back forward manually before it could be operated again. I found the screws holding the stock to the action to be extremely loose, tightening these up fixed this issue. Next, the rear sight looked like it was tilted at an angle and wouldn't even hit a shoebox at 15 yards. I got this sighted in pretty easily, but as stated previously had to remove the rear sight anyway to install the scope. Finally, the spent shells were consistently sticking in the extractor mechanism each time the bolt was worked. Thorough cleaning and repeated operation have reduced this to probably once every five shots, and I'm hoping it is cured completely after a few more shooting/cleaning cycles.
I zeroed the scopes at 25 yards, using CCI 29 grain ammunition. Accuracy isn't quite what I'd like out of any of the rifles, but I intend to try a few more types of ammunition to see if they like any one round more than another.
*Disclaimer - All shots fired by a mediocre shooter*
Keystone 722
CZ 457
JC Higgins
Left to right: Keystone, JC Higgins, CZ
These are the girls' first rifles, other than the pink Daisy bb guns. They're really enjoying shooting them, hitting targets a lot better than when they were using the open sights on the Daisy. If the weather is decent tomorrow we're going to get them out squirrel hunting; I doubt they get one but should be fun regardless.
