Post by 2 Dogs on Mar 29, 2018 10:15:26 GMT -5
Everybody has their own terrain to cover. Some guys have to carry their rifle everywhere they go along with all their other kit. Some guys (like me alot of the time) could care less how much the thing weighs as they only carry it from the truck to the stand.
But for the purposes of defining what we are going to bicker and banter about I'm going to yank myself out of my comfort zone. I want a rifle I can bail out of my truck with and just GO. I pretty much have in my head WHAT I want, my biggest issue is caliber I think. My hunting buddy Ray has killed something like 54 (some of them pretty dang big) S. Texas hogs with 54 shots with his heavy Hart barreled .223 with the 53 grain V Max bullet. One was at 250 yards. While I think that small of a caliber would be a little on the extreme side of this wranglement I do have very high regard for the 22-250 especially when twisted 1:9" because my testing has shown it will stabilize the 75 grain A Max. Now I'm here to tell you when you run bullets like that one or even the 69 grain Sierra Match King past .223 velocities into the 32-3300's ugly things happen to meat when they arrive on target. The 6mm BR is equally impressive but I can exclude it as well as my 22 BR because losing a single brass case would cause my OCD to set off my PTSD and we might not be friends very long after that.
Then there's the damn Hogs. Always the hogs. Here in S. Texas we really don't care if we kill them or not most of the time. Except for whenever we are trying to prove a point or get a picture or some such. A carry gun 9mm/45 in the middle will fetch one eventually and is often all a rancher down here can manage anyway. Still, shooting from a stand is considerable different than shooting from a field position. I personally like a really tight sling and need something that is reinforced to the point that I can't pull it out of the stock. So I wonder if I bump the caliber up to 250 Savage Improved and bullet weight up from the 75 grain A Max to something like a 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip would improve my DRT Hog predictability. Still, such thoughts bring me back all the way to my days of shooting case after case of Match grade Sierra 308 Gold Medal. The stuff tracked as predictably as the tax man but past 600 yards the S. Texas wind sure took it's toll. I told myself for a long time when the Gummint weren't buying my ammo no more I wasn't going to be shooting no 308. So I built a .260 and later a .260 AI both of which demonstrated failures on some really big hogs. I couldn't believe it. After some time I came full circle and pulled my .308 back out and it was indeed a more sure hog killer for me. So, I sit in a quandry.
I briefly considered a switch barrel. And I mean briefly. Anybody who knows me can tell you I'm already confused enough. I don't need the excitement of trying to chamber a .308 into my .22-250 barrel.
Base Gun: Remington 722 which was my Dad's rifle. Everybody shot it. Alot. I'm thinking a medium weight barrel to give it some "hang" but not become an axle. I would like to find a High Tech varmint stock. I did pick up a LSS chasis. Ain't real pretty, but it's hard to bust a chassis. Can't pull the sling swivel studs out of them either. I don't know about that yet. I would definitely use a 10 shot bottom metal, either a CDI or HS precision. A high end trigger is a no brainer, most likely Timneys newest Calvin Elite. Reinforced sling swivel studs. Talley bases and rings. Scope will take some thought. Anything from a 4-14 Leupold to a Bushnell GAP reticle 3-12 as I have long learned and shot Mils. The more caliber I have on this thing the more likely I will have a muzzle brake. Not to control recoil, but to better spot long range misses. A Jack at 4-500 yards is hard to get on if you can't see where your bullet is landing for recoil.
Anyway. There I am. I feel sorry for Dick. He has an AR15. Sad. I hope he has a big sack of sunflower seeds.....
But for the purposes of defining what we are going to bicker and banter about I'm going to yank myself out of my comfort zone. I want a rifle I can bail out of my truck with and just GO. I pretty much have in my head WHAT I want, my biggest issue is caliber I think. My hunting buddy Ray has killed something like 54 (some of them pretty dang big) S. Texas hogs with 54 shots with his heavy Hart barreled .223 with the 53 grain V Max bullet. One was at 250 yards. While I think that small of a caliber would be a little on the extreme side of this wranglement I do have very high regard for the 22-250 especially when twisted 1:9" because my testing has shown it will stabilize the 75 grain A Max. Now I'm here to tell you when you run bullets like that one or even the 69 grain Sierra Match King past .223 velocities into the 32-3300's ugly things happen to meat when they arrive on target. The 6mm BR is equally impressive but I can exclude it as well as my 22 BR because losing a single brass case would cause my OCD to set off my PTSD and we might not be friends very long after that.
Then there's the damn Hogs. Always the hogs. Here in S. Texas we really don't care if we kill them or not most of the time. Except for whenever we are trying to prove a point or get a picture or some such. A carry gun 9mm/45 in the middle will fetch one eventually and is often all a rancher down here can manage anyway. Still, shooting from a stand is considerable different than shooting from a field position. I personally like a really tight sling and need something that is reinforced to the point that I can't pull it out of the stock. So I wonder if I bump the caliber up to 250 Savage Improved and bullet weight up from the 75 grain A Max to something like a 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip would improve my DRT Hog predictability. Still, such thoughts bring me back all the way to my days of shooting case after case of Match grade Sierra 308 Gold Medal. The stuff tracked as predictably as the tax man but past 600 yards the S. Texas wind sure took it's toll. I told myself for a long time when the Gummint weren't buying my ammo no more I wasn't going to be shooting no 308. So I built a .260 and later a .260 AI both of which demonstrated failures on some really big hogs. I couldn't believe it. After some time I came full circle and pulled my .308 back out and it was indeed a more sure hog killer for me. So, I sit in a quandry.
I briefly considered a switch barrel. And I mean briefly. Anybody who knows me can tell you I'm already confused enough. I don't need the excitement of trying to chamber a .308 into my .22-250 barrel.
Base Gun: Remington 722 which was my Dad's rifle. Everybody shot it. Alot. I'm thinking a medium weight barrel to give it some "hang" but not become an axle. I would like to find a High Tech varmint stock. I did pick up a LSS chasis. Ain't real pretty, but it's hard to bust a chassis. Can't pull the sling swivel studs out of them either. I don't know about that yet. I would definitely use a 10 shot bottom metal, either a CDI or HS precision. A high end trigger is a no brainer, most likely Timneys newest Calvin Elite. Reinforced sling swivel studs. Talley bases and rings. Scope will take some thought. Anything from a 4-14 Leupold to a Bushnell GAP reticle 3-12 as I have long learned and shot Mils. The more caliber I have on this thing the more likely I will have a muzzle brake. Not to control recoil, but to better spot long range misses. A Jack at 4-500 yards is hard to get on if you can't see where your bullet is landing for recoil.
Anyway. There I am. I feel sorry for Dick. He has an AR15. Sad. I hope he has a big sack of sunflower seeds.....