what do you require in a varment gun

[Pup]

On prairie dogs, I haul them all. .22mag, .222, .223, 22-250, .243, .25-06. no need in wasting a chance to practice.

For the coyotes, it depends on where I am going that day. If some of the places lend themselves to a little longer shots, I haul the 25 or the 22-250, shorter stuff and long hauls I use the .222.

Somebody

, has talked me into building the 20tact. I think that will fit in quite nicely.

later pup

 

[Slydog]

MTO,

I hope you had a good fathersday. You better let Jess do the shooting if you want to see it blow up...LOL LOL I don't think she will let you shoot her new gun.ROFLMAO
I hope you had the best day.
Shaky,

I have yet to go after chucks with my 20 but I'll put her up to the test on coyotes. I made 3 shots this last year over 400 with the longest at 437 and I had lots of room. The bullet worked very well and never exited. My scope is a Burris 6x24 w/balistic plex and its diled in with a 200 yard zero and the next hash mark is 312, the next is 409 the next is 498 and the last is 543 with the load I'm shooting now. I have a program that computes the distance to +/- 1.3 yards but like you said, I have to know the distance to make it work. Thank God for range finders. I also need a solid rest to make shots like that. I envy those who don't.

Slydog

PS: if you ever get up in this neck of the woods let me know and we will go find a dog.
My treat, my plesure.

 

[Slydog]

Don,
We were after the 5,280 fps mark back then and barrels don't live long in that range. but it shot well a 4550 for a short time, LOL
Have you tried a ladder for a shooting platform, It helps get you away from the ground so your rangefinder will get better readings and it helps see better.

PUP,
you know that I will buy that clunker of a 20 you are building, before you shoot it. If you shoot it first I wouldn't be able to afford it,,,LOL I will send the tool steel as soon as you are ready.

Glad you made it to Moosies

slydog

 

[Shaky]

Dic,

4550??? My goodness, what bullet were you using?

We have never tried a ladder. I do have an 8 foot step ladder, we may just try that for ranging distance. Thanks. I wonder what I do when Dave falls off the ladder. Oh well, I will cross that bridge when I come to it,

After last night my total so far this season is 34 chucks.

Don

 

[Slydog]

Don,

My grandfather was Howard J. Johnson of the Barnes/Johnson era (458BJ express) and we were swedging our own bullets. Now 20 years later I'm still hooked to Barnes at the waist as an X-tream team member. I guess its just in the blood.

I use a 6' ladder and have customized it for shooting. It works great in fields and on the flats. I use it for coyote huntin in tall sage brush and it works well. HINT: paint it camo to take away any glair.
Hope that helps.

slydog

 

[Slydog]

Don,
Are you thinking of building any small cal stuff. If so I would love to do some of the testing for you. Anything from 17rem to .308 I have 26 calibers that I load for. BTW I'm writing an article for the new Barnes manual #4 on the 8mm witch was my grandfathers favorite.

I'm real interested in .204 stuff and would love to see something in the 36grn area.

slydog

 

[Shaky]

Dic,

I am in the testing phases of various calibers for various applications. I will be introducing new calibers in the near future, once tests are completed.

I am a bit confused. If you work for Barnes why would you want to use my bullets? Maybe I missed something, somewhere.

My bullets aren't swaged, they are all 100% turned but I assume you already knew that.

Be well,

Don

 

[Slydog]

Don,

I love the 20 and will shoot it as long as I can hold up the gun. I don't work for Barnes, I'm on the Barnes advisory staff, the X-tream team. The only trouble is I can't talk Randy Brooks, the owner, into building the bullet I want for the .204 so I'm shooting what works best. Please don't think I'm a spy,,,LOL I only want a bullet that I can shoot deer, coyote or what ever I need to, without worry about performance.

I like the design of your bullet and also the princable behind it. I would love to test one of your bullets if you ever make one in .204 caliber. The thought of a bullet that will expand and not blow up makes me warm all over... LOL

slydog

 

[Delw]

for serious p dog shooting I use a .220 swift and a .243 both with 24x scopes
just playing around with them I use .300 win mag..

for coyotes it depends where I am hunting in the state and terrain...
.223 shorty- up to a .300 winmag and everything in between...

pretty much any more my #1 goto gun is my .243 my #2 is my 300 winmag.

I like to see things go splat when I shoot them...
for bullets the only thing I use anymore is the ballistic tips both for hunting and varmits....
Delw

 

[Shaky]

Del,

My little DAGO BUDDY, how have you been? AND, how is my girlfriend, I mean, your wife doing? Tell her I miss her,

Sly,

I can make you a .204 bullet if you like. PM me your specs. I can't wait to test my 22 VR bullets out on woodchucks out of my 22 CHeetah MK 1. I am thinking somewhere in the 4400 FPS range, maybe more.

Don

 

[Dick Reece]

Shaky, think you could make a 50 grain .204 bullet as well ?

 

[1_pointer]

What do you guys think of this setup for a varmint rifle?

Start with a factory Rem 700 ADL Syn in .223. It would be punched out to .223AI and cut and crowned short enough to get rid of the sight screw holes. A McMillan Mtn Rifle stock would follow later and it would be topped of with a Leupold 3X9 with turrets. Once that barrel is shot out I'd rebarrel to Tactical Twenty!

 

[Dick Reece]

Sounds like a winner to me,the 700 is a popular action to say the least!

 

[Slydog]

punching out the .223 to a .223AI is a good idea for just a little extra poop but it will cause you a lot of extra work for little return, I would just shoot the .223 till it goes away and then build the 20tact.

Thats just my thoughts

sly

 

[Maineiac the original]

With everyone building 20's how can I build one and have something different. Ya'll are killin me.

 

[Dick Reece]

Look at it this way Maineiac,ours will be "pre-factory" builds.Sooner or later this caliber will be another offering from the big 5. A gun made prior to the factories churning them out is bound to be worth more,kinda like pre64's.

 

[Slydog]

Guys the 20tact has been around for about 3 1/2 years and to some of us its not new at all.... You late bloombers.

slydog

sorry I had two many letters in one word

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 06-19-2003 15:16: Message edited by: Slydog ]</font>

 

[Maineiac the original]

I'm just givin ya'll a hard time. I just might have the first 20 in Maine. I just won't be able to bring it to Canada to shoot. They have a .22 rule.

 

[Dick Reece]

Heck,there's plenty of stuff here in the US to kill,and in my state we can hunt any big game with a centerfire.I can legally hunt deer with a 17Rem here,not that I would.

 

[Shaky]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Seldom Ever:
Shaky, think you could make a 50 grain .204 bullet as well ?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Seldom,

That would be a really LONG bullet. You would need a fast twist to stabalize it.

As far as making a bullet goes. Just about any bullet can be made but I am sure you want it to shoot as well.

Don