This will be the last in my series, at least for now. Not because I’ve run out of cartridges but because the articles get harder and harder to write in a way that will hold your interest. I’ve shown you 71 competition cartridges from my collection and will finish with 13 more. So far the articles have been more or less serious. Those who know me have probably wondered how I could stay serious for such a long time, so I’ll close with something on the lighter side.
The average non-benchrest shooter probably looks at us Benchrest guys as stodgy old fogeys who never laugh or have fun, always serious, and are only interested in putting all our shots in one tiny hole. Well, that last part is true and the rest may be true of the liberal Democrats among us, but it’s a far cry from what most of us are really like. If you don’t believe me just take a look at some of the monikers attached to our wildcat cartridges.
Now, ordinarily, wildcats are named for things that are fast, or loud, or big. But most of the good names are taken so we turn to the next best thing - animals. Yes, I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but what would you name your newest pet after? Insects? OK, insects do make good names for varmint cartridges but can you imagine a super accurate benchrest cartridge called a 224 Hemiptera? ,That’s a real word. Look it up.) Not bloody likely, so let’s put our tongue in cheek and look at a few of those aptly named benchrest cartridges.
Pup, Doggie, Tall Dog, Waldog, Coyote, Ware Wolf, Wolf Pup, Baer, Boo Boo, Yogi, Tom Cat, Fat Cat, and of course, the eminent and venerable Aardvark.
All real cartridges that were seen on the firing line at one time or another. I’m not going to try to describe all of them for you, look at the photos and if there is one in particular that you can’t live without knowing more about just e-mail me and I’ll be glad to give you a full description.
The average non-benchrest shooter probably looks at us Benchrest guys as stodgy old fogeys who never laugh or have fun, always serious, and are only interested in putting all our shots in one tiny hole. Well, that last part is true and the rest may be true of the liberal Democrats among us, but it’s a far cry from what most of us are really like. If you don’t believe me just take a look at some of the monikers attached to our wildcat cartridges.
Now, ordinarily, wildcats are named for things that are fast, or loud, or big. But most of the good names are taken so we turn to the next best thing - animals. Yes, I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but what would you name your newest pet after? Insects? OK, insects do make good names for varmint cartridges but can you imagine a super accurate benchrest cartridge called a 224 Hemiptera? ,That’s a real word. Look it up.) Not bloody likely, so let’s put our tongue in cheek and look at a few of those aptly named benchrest cartridges.
Pup, Doggie, Tall Dog, Waldog, Coyote, Ware Wolf, Wolf Pup, Baer, Boo Boo, Yogi, Tom Cat, Fat Cat, and of course, the eminent and venerable Aardvark.
All real cartridges that were seen on the firing line at one time or another. I’m not going to try to describe all of them for you, look at the photos and if there is one in particular that you can’t live without knowing more about just e-mail me and I’ll be glad to give you a full description.
