Jay...funny you bring that story up....reminded me how I got started.....13 years old and I wanted to joint my High School Rifle Team. My uncle had a Mossberg target rifle (.22 cal) with a bull barrel and a square, heavy wood stock. The rifle weighed 10.3 lbs so it was steady and secure when you fired it....iron peep sights.....mag fed bolt action......that rifle was amazing.......the most accurate rifle on our high school team's arsenal of rifles.......if it was a tight match, everyone on our team wanted to use my rifle when they shot against their opponent. My senior year, I achieved an average match score of 93.6 out of a 100 points over more than 30 matches using that rifle.....still have that rifle.
My Browning A-Bolt 7mm magnum with Bausch Lomb variable scope....that gun shoots flat, fast and accurately. But the most accurate big caliber rifle I own is a 1903a Springfield that my step dad used in WWII as a sniper......he brought that gun home and later sportorized the rifle by cutting down the stock. He could drive a flat head nail at 50 yards shooting that rifle.....I'd seen him do that with two shots.....not me, it had way too much kick to keep that steady of a hold on the 2nd shot......the 1st shot always goes easy but it's the follow-up shots where it gets harder.
Matt B.