Western Airguns Working to Figure Out the Western Rattler .357

Wow. If you have eliminated the puff of air on your face, then that allen screw sounds like a good thing to try.
Today I was able to take some time to make some barrel adjustments and get some trigger time in. I learned some things and came to a conclusion I’d like to share.

First of all, it is so much easier to work on magazine and barrel alignment issues and jams with the barrel cages off. These cages are the waffle like plastic pieces that cover the barrel back towards the receiver. I don’t like them. Using a black sharpie I placed witness marks on the barrel and chasis to have a reference point to my barrel orientation’s origin. In order to adjust the barrel I simply loosened the barrel retention screws, grabbed the moderator cover (not the shroud), and turned it in the direction I wanted to adjust the barrel. The photo below was obviously taken after moving the barrel from my starting point. I moved it until the only air I felt during the shot cycle was on my chin. I can deal with that.
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Next I wanted to see how the mag cycled. I shot slugs and pellets. In my first mag of pellets after adjusting the barrel, I seated the pellets deeply. What this means is that using a retractable ink pen, I pushed the pellets deep into the magazine to where the dome of the pellet was close to flush with the front of the mag. If you look at an empty magazine chamber you should notice that the grooves in the magazine chambers (they do not resemble rifling. These grooves are straight) start from the middle of each chamber and run towards the front. If I pushed a pellet too far, I used my retractable ink pen tip to push it back into the mag from the dome as explained in a previous post.

View of deep seated JSB Match Diabolo 81 grain pellets from the rear of the magazine.
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View of deep seated Diabolo pellets from the front. Notice the scratch on the dome of a pellet? That’s from the ink pen pushing that pellet back into the magazine.
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After seating all of my pellets, I indexed the mag with the 1st pellet to align it with the barrel. To do this, rotate the magazine 2 clicks clockwise from the position where when standing behind the but of the rifle looking forward look at the rear of the left side of the magazine. Start rotating the mag when the pellet you wish to start with can be seen positioned in the uppermost chamber with an exposed pellet skirt and nothing beyond it is visible. Yes it reads like a lot, but I’m being intentionally specific.

After indexing the mag for my first shot, I pressed the trigger and the pellet was sent. However, the magazine didn’t index properly and the release lever had very little tension when I flipped it up. This was not the first time this occurred today. After assessing the situation here’s what I saw.
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The pictured pellets became dislodged after the shot. You saw how deep I seated them in the magazine. On couple of occasions the issue was easy to correct. Once the mag shifted late after the shot on its own. Another instance I released the lever (flipped it up) and rotated the mag. It felt like the mag was stuck half way through its rotation to index the next shot. This is what I saw on the other side of the mag. The pellet pictured below in the top right chamber became dislodged and when the mag rotated it was pushed in partially and the part of the skirt that remained protruding outside of the magazine was deformed and flattened to what you see below. Also notice that all of the pellets below it have not become unseated. It seems that it may be mainly pellets on the left side of the mag that become dislodged easily. I’m unsure, but this is my suspicion.
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I experienced a minor jam with another pellet that became dislodged and I had to loosen the barrel retention screws and back the barrel out a few turns in order to rotate the mag so that I could align the mag and shoot that pellet out through the barrel. I came close to removing the reservoir and barrel to see what was going on. Keep in mind that my rifle is mounted on a tripod that was leveled before mounting the gun and the rifle remained parellel to the ground since loading it. It was loaded atop the tripod in the same position I shot from.

Here is today’s target. Circles 1-5 were shot with JSB 81 grain Diabolo pellets. Circles 6-10 are shooting NSA 110 grain HPDB slugs. Keep in mind that I recently cleaned the barrel also, but the difference between the accuracy of the two projectiles is pretty obvious. Everything was shot form 50 yards with very little wind.

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The NSA slugs shot as expected. The scope was zeroed for pellets at 35 yards. I used my holds from my DOPE and some shots grouped high, others hit low. I would change my hold sometimes to see if I could correct the variances, but there was no recognizable pattern to the trajectory deviation of these pellets. My conclusion from these groups and previous groups are that these pellets do not shoot well out of this gun out past 30-35 years maybe. I have to check that against previous targets. My biggest issue if with the vertical movement. That is not all due to my actions. Look at the slug groups. The vertical movement seen there is due to things I was doing behind the tripod. I understand what I did because it’s consistent. Then look at circle #8. I was able to cut down on some of that movement. Also note that targets 6-10 are significantly smaller that the circles above them.

I don’t know who wrote that pellets shoot well out of the Rattler 357 on the AOA website and Western Airguns site. I also don’t know which Rattler version or barrel that they used. Most importantly, I don’t know which pellets they used. As for me and my Rattler 357, it shoots JSB Match Diabolo 81 grain pellets as demonstrated within this thread. I stated my conclusion, but you be the judge. These same pellets shoot well from my Benjamin Bulldogs. When the NSA 110 grain slugs remain seated? They shoot good enough for me. I’ve shot them out to 65 yards so far.

Here’s some spent lead shot from the Rattler that I intend to recycle.
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wow i got a rattler 3 days ago , when I first shot nsa grouped horrible i tried some 60 gr pellets my wife made 4 shots then flipped switch and bottle dumped and I had to remove barrel and get out deformed pellet jammed 2 of them , I then cleaned and recrowned to 11% , today I shot 3 groups , 50 yards 32 with jsb 45 gr 900 fps , then 54 gr nsa slugs 880 fps , off tripod , by far this gun is least accurate gun I own , I am hoping i need heavier ammop or different diameter , If it shot I had 5 yotes to take out in my yard coming after my dogs , here is my horrible 50 yd groups and 34 pellets which shot at 8 inch plate 100 yds , anyone with any ammo tips let me know mine is 30 cal

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wow i got a rattler 3 days ago , when I first shot nsa grouped horrible i tried some 60 gr pellets my wife made 4 shots then flipped switch and bottle dumped and I had to remove barrel and get out deformed pellet jammed 2 of them , I then cleaned and recrowned to 11% , today I shot 3 groups , 50 yards 32 with jsb 45 gr 900 fps , then 54 gr nsa slugs 880 fps , off tripod , by far this gun is least accurate gun I own , I am hoping i need heavier ammop or different diameter , If it shot I had 5 yotes to take out in my yard coming after my dogs , here is my horrible 50 yd groups and 34 pellets which shot at 8 inch plate 100 yds , anyone with any ammo tips let me know mine is 30 cal

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Soooo here’s another Rattler that doesn’t shoot JSB pellets well. This member is a better shot than I. I think focusing on shooting slugs from the Rattler will be more productive moving forward.
 
wow i got a rattler 3 days ago , when I first shot nsa grouped horrible i tried some 60 gr pellets my wife made 4 shots then flipped switch and bottle dumped and I had to remove barrel and get out deformed pellet jammed 2 of them , I then cleaned and recrowned to 11% , today I shot 3 groups , 50 yards 32 with jsb 45 gr 900 fps , then 54 gr nsa slugs 880 fps , off tripod , by far this gun is least accurate gun I own , I am hoping i need heavier ammop or different diameter , If it shot I had 5 yotes to take out in my yard coming after my dogs , here is my horrible 50 yd groups and 34 pellets which shot at 8 inch plate 100 yds , anyone with any ammo tips let me know mine is 30 cal

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Here's the information I was given for a good slug to try in the 30 caliber after a bunch of the member's testing…

Western Rattler .30
Max slug length .787”
Barrel 28" 1-26” twist.
Factory reg set at 148bar

AVS 65g FBHP .3013 dia .
418” length
BC 0.144
995 fps 143.9 fpe
ES 4 fps
SD 1.47 fps

Note the slug has a slightly larger diameter. Also of note is that the Chairgun App and the online Kolbe Twist rate calculator both show this as a good stable slug length and weight. Pellets do not seem to shoot good with this fast of a barrel twist rate.
 
Scanned through this thread (didn’t read every single post), but seems to me there’s entirely too much effort being spent to wring out acceptable accuracy out of a $3,000 piece; even if it is semi-auto. Then again, I’m reminded why I never took out my M1A over my Tikka 308 for deer work…semi-auto rifle triggers (without extensive rework or a good aftermarket solution) will never be as good as a quality bolt action out of the box.

I was seriously entertaining getting a Rattler 357 but was skeptical about dropping that much coin on it and possibly still needing to invest a lot of time/effort comparatively speaking to get decent accuracy from it. This thread just saved me a lot of coin!

Now I’m down to choosing either the FX M3 or the Texan for another big bore 357 to go with my Bulldog….
 
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@shootinsquid I dont’t blame you. Shop wisely. Pellets are the thing that I’m not seeing when I compare how this rifle has been marketed and reviewed in videos. A handful of members seem to really like theirs once they got them dialed in. I’m not there yet. This Rattler shooting pellets video was eye opening. I’m not familiar with the content creator, but I assume the video was edited. We probably have different skill levels and I was not seated or shooting from a bench. His is a .30, mine a .357.

Here’s how it has been advertised.
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If this never comes together to shoot pellets accurately beyond 30-35 yards, I’m not going to be happy.
 
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Scanned through this thread (didn’t read every single post), but seems to me there’s entirely too much effort being spent to wring out acceptable accuracy out of a $3,000 piece; even if it is semi-auto. Then again, I’m reminded why I never took out my M1A over my Tikka 308 for deer work…semi-auto rifle triggers (without extensive rework or a good aftermarket solution) will never be as good as a quality bolt action out of the box.

I was seriously entertaining getting a Rattler 357 but was skeptical about dropping that much coin on it and possibly still needing to invest a lot of time/effort comparatively speaking to get decent accuracy from it. This thread just saved me a lot of coin!

Now I’m down to choosing either the FX M3 or the Texan for another big bore 357 to go with my Bulldog….
Some airguns are supplied with better barrels, some with better triggers, and a few other's are supplied with both. Semi auto airguns are kind of a new era in the airgun world, with not as nice of triggers and a different feel than our typical lever cocking airguns. To their benefit, Western Airguns have supplied good barrels from known good sources that offset the new semi auto triggfe's feel. But a compatable ammo size, style and weight for the particular gun's power level and barrel bore and twist rate is a necessity if wanting to be accurate. And this is so with a cheap or expensive gun and no matter the gun style or configuration; we airgunner's typically need to find the best most accurate ammo that shoots the tightest groups for each individual gun.
 
@shootinsquid I dont’t blame you. Shop wisely. Pellets are the thing that I’m not seeing when I compare how this rifle has been marketed and reviewed in videos. A handful of members seem to really like theirs once they got them dialed in. I’m not there yet. This Rattler shooting pellets video was eye opening. I’m not familiar with the content creator, but I assume the video was edited. We probably have different skill levels and I was not seated or shooting from a bench. His is a .30, mine a .357.

Here’s how it has been advertised.
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If this never comes together to shoot pellets accurately beyond 30-35 yards, I’m not going to be happy.
Yeah, I hope this isn't misreading advertising also. I'd like to see the upper end power level (in this advertising) be true and the things be moa accurate at longer ranges which are more typical of this style and caliber of big bore.
 
Back at it starting my work from 90 yards again.
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Same target as yesterday. Target I drew in lower left corner.
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I think I got my hold figured out. I’ll find out on the next target.
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I filled my reservoir to 250 bar last night in some cold weather. After bringing the rifle in to sit over night and placing Rattler in the sun in truck and in tripod before shooting my reservoir gauge read 255 bar and the regulator gauge read 175 bar. After 2 shots and a dry fire the reg settled to 150 bar where it is set.
 
Definitely minute of deer, although I’m not sure I’d want to take a 100 yard shot with an air gun that groups like that. Seems to be an improvement, tho. Nice work, sir.
@shootinsquid It’s not the gun that shoots like that. It is I. I am NOT someone to be looked as one who sets the standard. I’m just a regular guy. I’m confident that I’ll get better the more time I spend behind the trigger.
 
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Today was my second session working with this rifle. Right now I have it paired with an Athlon Helos Gen2 2-12x42mm FFP IR scope. Within 50 yards this scope seems to be ok for me. As much as many of you all like it, I'm still trying to like it. Anyhow, my first time out I mounted this scope on my Rattler with the turret settings from when I removed it from my Benjamin Bulldog M357 with a 50 yard zero. When I shot the Rattler using this scope it was pretty close to dead on without touching a thing. I initially shot it from the Caldwell Turret Rest seen below.

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Here's my first target. The first two shots are touching the edge of the bullseye and touching each other.
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Then removed it from the mount and affixed an Accutac bipod (that was pretty comfortable to shoot with without a rear rest). I felt pretty good abut my first time shooting from 50 yards.
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The first target started out great with the 1st two shots hitting the bullseye, but my chronogragh was not reading the shots. As a result I set the gun down, fiddled with the chrony, and re-situated myself behind the Rattler. The 3-shot that grouped above the bullseye were the next three shots. I was shooting 140 grain slugs that I swaged.
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After a good first outing where I could compile chronogragh data and try to get a feel for the gun I was very optimistic about the rifle. Later in the week I had some time to go check on some properties. I was speaking to a property owner about what I saw as I drove around on their property. After taking a headcount of cattle, I swung around and saw a couple of animals in some knee high grass. At first I though they might be donkeys as they swished their long tails back and forth. I slowed down and looked closer when I realized these were too short to be donkeys. They're hogs!! They weren’t that aware as I drove up on them while talking to the property owner on the phone. Once I realized what they were, I took a photo and backed up my truck to head home and grab a gun.
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The first thing I grabbed was my Rattler .357 since I'd just used it the other day. I also grabbed some slugs, snake boots, a SCBA tank, and hit the door. Why did I grab a SCBA tank? I do not know. It makes little sense to think that I'd be doing that much shooting. When I returned to the property it took me about a half hour to track the hogs down. I located them crossing a road into the woods on an adjacent property. I walked to the edge of the road, knelt down, and when I saw one coming out of the brush I aimed for the head/neck area and let a shot rip. It was loud and I had hogs on both sides of the road scrambling. I never found any blood and the hog that I shot at didn’t squeal long or loudly. I did not hear a loud slug smack, nor did I hear the hog crash, although I heard them running into and through thickets violently. Another group doubled back looping behind me through the woods, winded me, and bolted back across the road at my six o’clock.

I counted 5 hogs through my scope. I’m just not used to hunting with semis so I have to practice double taps and such. It doesn’t come natural (to me) with airguns to keep shooting at an animal. I'm used to trying to shoot once, maybe twice, and hitting an animal with the first or second shot. After they seemed to stop running and stirring in the brush, I went to investigate the area I thought the hog was in when I took my shot. I didn’t see an indication of a hit. There wasn't a drop of blood that I found. My biggest mistake was not ranging the animal. I actually had a rangefinder on me, but I'm not used to using them in the field so it wasn't a natural thought. There was a lot of action and it happened relatively fast. My heart was pounding and my adrenaline was up because it seemed as if I just kept seeing pigs and hogs coming in. I can say this, this set up (gun, scope, bipod) was heavy. I don't know if it was because of the bipod or if the rifle is just that heavy in general. I can say this, if you intend to spot and stalk hunt - GET A SLING. After walking through the woods with this rifle my arms were fatigued.

Today I was able to get out and shoot from 25 and 35 yards and there's a noticeable difference in holdunders. I'll post photos of today's targets in a bit.

My makeshift big-bore backstop and target for the day.
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I decided to start at 25 yards. These were 140 grain slugs. 14 shots were taken while seated an resting the fore end of the reservoir on the yoke of a Primos Trigger Stick bipod.
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Then 120 grain slugs. 15 shots.
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Second target at 25 yards, 120 grains slugs, 15 shots.
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Now I moved out to 35 yards with the 120 grain slugs. 11 shots, I turned up the power wheel so the Rattler was using more air and I didn't want to fall below the regulator set pressure. The hold also changed. I'll know more when I shoot from a few more distances.
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I did shoot below the regulator set pressure a couple of shot strings. I don't advise doing so. I think it shot down to around 115 bar without my knowledge until after the fact. What I noticed was that the magazine release arm was slightly up and had very little tension when I pushed it back down. Then I raised it up again and rotated the magazine. The magazine felt as if it was halfway between two chambers. Thankfully all 15 were empty or it probably would've jammed and dumped air. I've realized that the more you turn the power wheel, the more air the rifle will use. It can get to a point where the increased air use does not translate to increased velocity.
Got 1 when I was in az,at aoa but ain't had time to shoot
 
*Long post detailing real-world experience with the Western Rattler afield on a hunt.

I went out yesterday evening and got on some hogs with my Rattler. No tripod, no shooting sticks. Just the Rattler loaded with NSA 110 grain slugs, a sling, and thermal optics. This was a pretty eventful outing. Prep work paid off. I got my pup on hogs for the first time and he performed well. It was probably 31-33F when I went out. In 5 hours I had 3 encounters.

My first encounter occurred on my way to move a trail cam. It was around 5:30pm. As I walked I looked down the clearing and I saw what appeared to have been deadfall in the brush. It was strange because I didn’t know of any deadfall to be in the area. When that registered, I looked closer and I saw tow hogs eating.

My view of the hogs before they took off.
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I had to work with the pup the get him where he needed to be. Because of the wind I saw them before he could smell them and they couldn’t smell us. Unfortunately he was being a a bit stubborn not understanding what was going on and I had brush obscuring my line of sight. I’d ranged the hogs at 25 yards. It was a chip shot in my PB range. BUT this pup is in training and I make every effort not to shoot over or across my hunting dogs. By the time he was situated. I had a hog looking in our direction. I didn’t want to shoot through any brush so I tried to side step the bush blocking my shot and was busted. The hog saw me when I stood up and was directing the dog. It’s when I started moving sideways that the two hogs took off. I felt stupid for not taking a shot as soon as it registered what they were, but the process in which I do things is going to save us trouble (probably life and limb) hunting these animals so I erred on the side of caution. We remained in the area since it was hot. I kneeled down next to the bush and waited with my pup.

In the second encounter, I shot twice from 54 yards. Four hogs came in on a trail. I heard them communicating with the other group or part of their group before they arrived, so I knew they were close. I got into the kneeling position, woke my thermal scope, and pressed record. The first hog was hit broadside, high mid-body. It was the second of four hogs. I clearly heard the impact when the slug hit it. That big sucker took off running.

Still photo of my view when I shot
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I took a shot on the second hog on the run from the report and reaction of the first shot hog.

My view just before the shot on the second hog.
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The second hog was actually the fourth in this group. When I took a shot at it, I realized that the mag failed to advance completely after the first shot. It was a dry fire. I lifted the lever and manually advanced the magazine. This was my worst fear with this gun and it came true today. I think I mentioned this was something I was concerned about earlier in this thread. You may wonder “well why did you take it out of you were worried about that!” Because I needed to see how it would perform in cold weather after my adjustment and I needed to know how this rifle performs in the field. I hunt and I hunt in all sorts of wether. If it’s a gun suitable for hunting I’m going try it and test it as a hunting gun. Anyhow, after checking the area before moving on, I didn’t see blood where the hog was shot. It was muddy, sloshy, and almost far so ti was tough to see. I needed to get to my trail cam before dark so I could move it because I didn’t like the area one was in.

I didn’t want to press the hogs too hard because I have some trap work going as well. We walked the property a couple of times. The third encounter was all on my pup. It was dark I couldn’t see much without the aid of my thermal optics. As we walked, my dog began to alert me. I couldn’t pick up anything outstanding on my thermal, but he’s proven to have a good nose and I trust it. So I knelt beside him and watch him. I saw where he keyed in on. I put my thermal scanner on the area and saw a white mass, but I didn’t know what it was. I did hear anything. I woke up the thermal scope and scanned with the rifle. It was clearly a group of hogs eating. I ranged the group and they were 8 yards away. I flipped off the safety above the trigger and guessed a hold, before sending a shot. I underestimated my hold, shot low, and they scattered. I only took the one shot so I didn’t know if the mag advanced at the time. After the shot I lifted the lever and advanced it manually just to be on the safe side. I feel like I really shouldn’t have to do this. When I turned on my head lamp I saw a bunch of brush that I’d shot through. That let me know why I didn’t pick up the hogs well in my scanner.

I can say this about hog hunting with the Rattler. Once I got myself in better shape I found that I can handle the rifle better without getting sore or tired fast. I don’t feel sore. Ditching the tripod in this terrain was a great decision. It cut down on weight and allowed me to get a feel for walking with the Rattler for hours. No back pain tonight.

I am still concerned about this seizing issue. I don’t want to jump to conclusions just yet, because I am still working on learning this gun. I am a bit disappointed in its cold weather performance. On a positive note, after taking it out to 100 yards with this ammo, I trust the Rattler’s barrel shooting this particular projectile to put my shots close to where I aim.

My posts may dissuade some of you from trying this gun. That is perfectly ok with me. I’m giving you all honest feedback from my experience with my Rattler. Others may have different experiences. I haven’t given up on it and I am still warning with this rifle. I have plenty of time to work out some issues and to better learn this platform. Keep checking in on my progress if this interests you.
 
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Pigs are tuff!!!!! Powder burners and PCP's at close range I aim between the ear and eye....Pretty much a head shot will put them down. Their heart is lower in the chest than a deer. I sent my boys a diagram of a pig so they would know where to shoot.

Glad you are able to carry the Rattler around with you. They are a heavy rifle for sure...I hiked out of my blind in Texas only 1/4 of a mile and that thing got heavy with no sling.

Tony P.
 
Pigs are tuff!!!!! Powder burners and PCP's at close range I aim between the ear and eye....Pretty much a head shot will put them down. Their heart is lower in the chest than a deer. I sent my boys a diagram of a pig so they would know where to shoot.

Glad you are able to carry the Rattler around with you. They are a heavy rifle for sure...I hiked out of my blind in Texas only 1/4 of a mile and that thing got heavy with no sling.

Tony P.
@pesty3782 I have a better understanding of hog anatomy this year than I did last year. I am very aware of ideal shot placement on where to shoot them to drop them. However, having the opportunity to do it, the ability to do it, and the enough practice to effectively execute the steps necessary to successfully complete the process are entirely different things that must all come together for an ideal situation. I’m not a great shot. Don’t take my words for it, let my photos tell you. I have plenty of photos of dead animals and shot up paper targets on AGN. Let that speak to my abilities. I’d like to think I’m a good shot, but I am not. I can only do what I have the knowledge, opportunity, and ability to do. Also, since this isn’t a hunting thread there are things that I left out. The tool is the focus of this thread. And having the right tool for the job and having it functioning properly are also important.

Yes .357 Rattlers are heavy. It’s still heavy depending upon how I carry it, but I’m in better shape now so that helps. My arm can get tired faster carrying it a couple of ways. I probably walked 4-5 miles with it last night. Had it slinged up in two different configurations. I feel fine this morning.
 
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