New Spring Kit

[SkunkedAgain]

So I've had a Thompson Encore Pro-Hunter single shot rifle for years.  I have used it as a muzzle loader and rifle depending on what I'm hunting that year and it's always had this really stiff trigger.  So in preparation to take my moose this year I ordered a new spring kit to make my trigger pull a little lighter so hopefully I won't flinch when I touch off the .300 Win Mag round... Well last night I finally had time to do the gun smithing... Luckily I had a good video that showed me how to do it because when I pulled the pins everything fell apart and I figured I'd ruined my gun....  We'll it was a really good tutorial and helped me get it all back together and those new spings made the gun so much different, it went from a trigger that was so stiff I almost had to jerk it to touch it off, to one I'm a little scared of because it goes so easy now... Got to go shoot it tonight, but I'm sure it will improve my flinch because it will fire with the slightest pull now.  I'm going to have to learn to not start pulling the trigger if I'm not dialed in, in the past I'd start to pull as the crosshairs were approaching where I wanted them, now I'll have to make sure they are there before I put any weight on the trigger... I think I'll really like this update, but I'm going to need to get used to it...  I have a .223 or 6.5 mm Creedmore barrel for it, so maybe I'll start with those to get used to the trigger so the ammo isn't as expensive as the .300 Win... Won't help my dialing in of the moose gun, but hopefully will help know what to expect trigger wise.... Plus I like to shoot and it will give me an excuse for burning ammo... Have you guys had similar issues with your rifles and have you tried a trigger update?  Did you like it?  Thanks J

[MSM1970]

Sure have, there only a couple that I havent had to adjust or get new, it make the gun a lot nicer to shoot, most my guns are at 3-4 lbs trigger pull, a couple with less, just remember to feel the trigger first and be carful with gloves on.

[SkunkedAgain]

Sure have, there only a couple that I havent had to adjust or get new,  it make the gun a lot nicer to shoot, most my guns are at 3-4 lbs trigger pull, a couple with less, just remember to feel the trigger first and be carful with gloves on.

I tried it last night and burned 14 rounds of the 6.5 mm creedmore... I love the new lighter trigger, it's much better, but I did get one premature discharge... Wasn't quite on the zero, but was only an inch low, so not far off the mark... Boy I sure can't shoot like all the YouTubers.. My groups were about 2" at 100 yards, but I was also shooting off a sand bag as a front rest and not very solid... in fact I'm still flinching even with the smaller rifle... Supposedly that 6.5 isn't supposed to kick much so you can stay on target after it goes off, but it sure blows me off the zero point... Changed the barrel to the .300 Win last night, so I'll try a couple shots and see if it's still close enough to take for the moose.  Hopefully it will be close so I don't have to buy a new box of ammo for the hunt.. Those $3 per shot shells are hard to afford very many to practice with... oh and there's no way I'd dare wear gloves with this trigger, it's too light of pull... Nice but will require caution... I'm glad the gun has a hammer, so you don't have that concern until you cock it...  Thanks for the thoughts... Later Jeff

[wiperhunter2]

I shot my moose with a 7mm and it went right down, so I doubt you would have any problem with using a 6.5 but I understand your concern. By the way, don't they use the 6.5 creedmore in Sweden to hunt moose? Good luck on your hunt Jeff.

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Curt, thanks for the thoughts... I have heard the Swedes use the 6.5 mm bullet on moose, so I'm sure it could work..., but I shot the winny the other night and wow, it has a lot more power, so I'm pretty sure I'll go with plenty of power... It was amazing the difference in impact... Plus it might be the only thing I'll ever use that barrel on now I have the 6.5 for deer... However, if I'm hunting long range maybe I'd take the winny, it's pretty amazing you can push big bullets that fast so they'll shoot a long ways... Anyway getting excited for next week... One week and counting... Later Jeff

[SkunkedAgain]

Just as a wrap up, the Winny worked well for a moose... One shot at 200 yards put it down... 200 gr bullet, I think it had a 2860 fps at muzzle... I did have to shoot through some brush and I think it caused the bullet to tumble and it made a baseball size entry wound, but exited in a small hole after going through the spine... Anyway was a fun hunt even though it was too hot and the animals only came out about a half hour before dark... Made it hard to find many animals, so I ended up with a small bull, but it was close to the truck so they say that counts as a bigger bull..  150 yards downhill to haul it out, so I was pretty blessed... Later J

[wiperhunter2]

Congrats Jeff, should be good eating. How wide is the rack? Looks like a decent one to me.

[2knots]

Well done Jeff

[Jig-fisher]

Way to get it done Jeff. Nice!

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks guys, it was 41.25" wide, not a monster, but it is eating well. Been enjoying the steaks and burger I've tried... Steaks are a little tough, but taste good. My wife won't eat any game, but she likes the burger, so that is a major win in my book... This one tastes a lot more like beef than the other moose I've tried and makes it a nice benefit to have in the freezer... Thanks again for the congrats... Jeff

[2knots]

Thanks guys, it was 41.25" wide, not a monster, but it is eating well.  Been enjoying the steaks and burger I've tried...  Steaks are a little tough, but taste good.  My wife won't eat any game, but she likes the burger, so that is a major win in my book... This one tastes a lot more like beef than the other moose I've tried and makes it a nice benefit to have in the freezer... Thanks again for the congrats... Jeff

Soak a couple steaks in coconut milk for 5 to 7 hrs, you won’t believe how tender it is after

[BRL1]

Congrats on the moose.
Don't cook the steaks past medium.  Medium rare is even better.

[MSM1970]

Just as a wrap up, the Winny worked well for a moose... One shot at 200 yards put it down... 200 gr bullet, I think it had a 2860 fps at muzzle... I did have to shoot through some brush and I think it caused the bullet to tumble and it made a baseball size entry wound, but exited in a small hole after going through the spine... Anyway was a fun hunt even though it was too hot and the animals only came out about a half hour before dark... Made it hard to find many animals, so I ended up with a small bull, but it was close to the truck so they say that counts as a bigger bull..  150 yards downhill to haul it out, so I was pretty blessed... Later J

nice bull, congrats.

[RILEYFISH]

Well Done Jeff. Very nice Bull. In regards to your earlier questions about trigger pull, I have had all of my triggers re worked and have them all at about 1 pound to 1.5 lbs pull. Yes, this is very light. most will say nope. I however have used both and much prefer the light pull and have adjusted to it and wont change back. 

Enjoy that Mooose meat. Im currently sitting on 25 points for my moose. Im hoping sooner than later but will see. I just dont seem to be as lucky as some.

[EyLayo]

Congrats Jeff! What are you planning for a mount? I bet moose jerky will make the perfect ice fishing snack.

[Cowboypirate]

Glad to see you found one. It is sure a blessing when they are close to your wheels

[MrShane]

Fantastic Moose Jeff!
When/If I ever draw I would pop one like that in a second!
Do you mind sharing what unit you drew?
Thanks,
Shane

[Bubman1]

Congratulations on your bull, I have seen guys take a lot smaller bulls way to early in the hunt. I think you did well taking that bull with the weather conditions this fall and short pack out to boot. Anyways congrats again.

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks guys, it was 41.25" wide, not a monster, but it is eating well.  Been enjoying the steaks and burger I've tried...  Steaks are a little tough, but taste good.  My wife won't eat any game, but she likes the burger, so that is a major win in my book... This one tastes a lot more like beef than the other moose I've tried and makes it a nice benefit to have in the freezer... Thanks again for the congrats... Jeff

Soak a couple steaks in coconut milk for 5 to 7 hrs, you won’t believe how tender it is after

Thanks for the tip Alan, I was a little disappointed how tough it seemed so I'll try that for sure... Thank you... Jeff

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Congrats on the moose.
Don't cook the steaks past medium.  Medium rare is even better.

I know that's what I should do, but after all the cutting and butchering I've been doing, I have a hard time not cooking it to med-well... Maybe when I'm a little further away from the butchering I'll do that... right now I'm too close to the process... Thanks Bryce... later Jeff

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Just as a wrap up, the Winny worked well for a moose... One shot at 200 yards put it down... 200 gr bullet, I think it had a 2860 fps at muzzle... I did have to shoot through some brush and I think it caused the bullet to tumble and it made a baseball size entry wound, but exited in a small hole after going through the spine... Anyway was a fun hunt even though it was too hot and the animals only came out about a half hour before dark... Made it hard to find many animals, so I ended up with a small bull, but it was close to the truck so they say that counts as a bigger bull..  150 yards downhill to haul it out, so I was pretty blessed... Later J

nice bull, congrats.

Thanks Mike, appreciate the tips on the trigger earlier, it was just what the Dr. ordered and as usual I didn't even feel the kick when it was aimed at the moose... That .300 Win is a mean gun, it had plenty of power to tip over the moose full penetration even after going through the heavy spine bones... and a little brush in front of the moose on the way in... Maybe a .45-70 type  shot through the brush, but it worked.. Later J

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Well Done Jeff. Very nice Bull. In regards to your earlier questions about trigger pull, I have had all of my triggers re worked and have them all at about 1 pound to 1.5 lbs pull. Yes, this is very light. most will say nope. I however have used both and much prefer the light pull and have adjusted to it and wont change back. 

Enjoy that Mooose meat. Im currently sitting on 25 points for my moose. Im hoping sooner than later but will see. I just dont seem to be as lucky as some.

Thank you, and I do really love that new trigger pull.  I haven't tested to see what weight it is, but it's way better than before and I know it's made me a better shot already...  Good luck on your moose tag, I finally listened to my brother and started looking for the best odds on drawing and three years after I started applying for the CWMU tag instead of the Cache tag I drew... It's still not good odds, but 80 to 1 beats 2000 to 1... The CWMU comes with some things that I didn't love, like you couldn't do any advance scouting, you only have 5 days and they don't want to let you take more than one other person with you hunting.  I got permission to take others since i didn't think I could get a moose out on my own, but they make you all stick together, so you are really limited in finding a big bull... It was hard to find any bull this year with the leaf coverage on the trees and the heat keeping the animals in the cover until about half hour before dark.. It was really hard to find them with such a small window... So I was glad to get one, I sure didn't want to be the only person to not fill a tag on this unit... also after 42 years applying I didn't want to not get one... Hope your luck will come through for you soon... Later Jeff

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Congrats Jeff! What are you planning for a mount? I bet moose jerky will make the perfect ice fishing snack.

Hey Shawn, so they told me to do a full body mount, but then they looked at my bank account and said the European would be a stretch, but I decided to do the head shoulder mount, my wife actually wants this more than I do, so I was excited to jump on that chance...  I had a guy that is doing my brothers animals and it looks like he does pretty good work from the ones I've seen.  (Jake's up in Lewiston)

I haven't done any jerky yet, but I did the meat so I can do a batch at a time later.  It is taking way too long to do the full grain jerky cuts, so I'll be doing the ground meat type, and probably more towards the summer sausage since that has usually been the most popular around my family... My last deer, I did sausage, full grain jerky, ground jerky and steaks and the sausage was gone very quickly and some of the jerky got freezer burn before it was ate up... And it was good I did the steaks in single packages because I'm the only one that would eat them... So from years of experience I've found for my family that I do the back straps and tenderloins into steaks and I kept a few roasts, but not very many and I've ground up the rest....  Now so far my wife enjoys the burger, so we'll probably use it up that way, but if not I know I can add spice and smoke it into sausage and it will disappear really fast, so I'll try to have some of the sausage when we get on the ice this year... Hopefully I'll have a good spice mix so it will be enjoyable... (I got it from Lee's meat department, was really good last time) When I get a few spare minutes I'll try to get a first batch into the smoker, might be a few weeks before I can get that going... I haven't done it with frozen meat before, so I hope that won't change things, but I think it should be okay... Guess we'll find out... Later Jeff

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Glad to see you found one. It is sure a blessing when they are close to your wheels

Lance you said it right there for sure, and down hill to boot, it doesn't get any better, except the year I shot a buck in the corn field and drove my truck to it and lifted it in back, but that doesn't happen very often, so I'm counting my blessings for sure... Glad it turned out this way, I'm not as young as I used to be and so I'll take those blessings when they come for sure... Thanks for the well wish... jeff

[SkunkedAgain]

Fantastic Moose Jeff!
When/If I ever draw I would pop one like that in a second!
Do you mind sharing what unit you drew?
Thanks,
Shane

Thanks Shane, you're being a little too kind on that one, but I appreciate it... I drew on the Durst Mountain CWMU, it is just north of Morgan.. Really neat ranch, pretty steep, but beautiful country, I'd do it again even with the rules that I grumbled about... it was a great experience and I loved how the private land has so many more grouse and you didn't have 10,000 other people around all the time... Public land is getting so busy with not only hunters, but runners, OHV users and people everywhere, up here on the private we only seen the 3 elk hunters and ranch manager over 3 days... So it was a great get away... Noone to spoil your hunt except me, so that was really nice... I think it was actually a better hunting experience than the public tag, except you may not get a chance at as big of a bull... but that's okay at this point...Thanks Jeff

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Congratulations on your bull, I have seen guys take a lot smaller bulls way to early in the hunt. I think you did well taking that bull with the weather conditions this fall and short pack out to boot. Anyways congrats again.

Thank you, it was kind of the best of circumstances for me for sure... I had heard rumors of a bigger bull on the unit, but with the thick heavy cover and short window of opportunity I just couldn't find the chance to find that animal.  In fact I wasn't sure I'd be able to get onto this one after I decided I'd take it the night before... In fact I don't remember if I mentioned this here or not, but I ended up with a different bull than I had decided to take... the night before we glassed the bull from about 2000 yards away, but my nephew had a really nice spotting scope so I got to check it over really closely.  The bull I decided on had split brow tines on both sides, but was about the same size otherwise and we thought it was the only bull in the area as we had watched it for three days... Well I guess there was a second bull with single eye guards and that's the one I took... Kind of a surprise for me, but with the light and short window to shoot, I didn't notice before I pulled the trigger... Part of the fun of the hunt... Later jeff