A friend, Art came over today with his new rifle. He had a Tradition's Pursuit. Needless to say when he wanted to shoot, I was more then willing since I figured I'd get to shoot his new rifle.

He had a 3x9 Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn Scope on the rifle. Excellent clearity in the scope. He also had some 300 grain Nosler Soft Point bullets and black high pressure sabots.

He wanted to sight the rifle in at 50 yards which was fine with me. He suggested I grab a rifle, so I took my Knight Wolverine II with open sights. I also grabbed some 460 grain NO EXCUSE CONICALS and Goex 3f powder.

The first thing I noticed were his pellets. He then explained that this was a magnum rifle. He load 3 Pyrodex Pellets and a 300 grain Nosler. I suggested he use only 2 of the pellets but Art was positive that this magnum rifle would handle the stress. I then watched him get knocked around by the rifle terrible. He fired seven rounds and was not very happy with his rifle.

I fired six rounds of 460 No Excuse Conicals over 85 grains of Goex 3f out of the Wolverine, and was more then pleased for the open sights. My hits are marked with the letter D and of course Art is letter A.

We then changed targets. I finally insisted he lower the rifle to 100 grains of pellets which he did. The rifle then began to behave much better. He shot a very respectable group finally hitting about two inches above the bull. He was so pleased he even kept his target.

I told him next time to bring loose powder and some 300 grain XTP's or some Shockwaves and we would back up to 100 yards. I personally think the heat was a factor, and the recoil was bothering him a great deal as I watched him flinch numerous times.

I did fire his rifle three times using Goex and some 240 grain Cheap Shots I had in the field bag and the rifle actually shot very good. Also, the Tradition's Pursuit has a nice trigger pull. They must have fixed the problem if there was one. Art felt that he wanted a bigger bullet then the 240 grain Cheap Shot. I did suggest he shoot one of the No Excuse Conicals out of his rifle, but he refused. He seemed to think the big chunk of lead would kick. As if my laughing, watching him getting knocked around by 150 grains of pellets did not kick. Needless to say, he has a nice rifle.... A little work and I am sure it will be a great shooter.