Very crude...but good

[wilmsmeyer]

I am impatient by nature and I had to shoot today. Temps were in the 20's and Ozark's gun was talking to me. SHOOT ME! It is a BEAUTIFUL gun!

Could not make it to camp where the bench is....So, I improvised some crude shooting platforms: A pallet, a plastic sled, a bi-pod and a hand muff...and went to work with some very mild loads in back of my place. Prone. Probably about the best you could do woodchuck hunting feild edges. A bench would tighten those groups a little I think.

Goals were to shoot very light bullets slow.

After getting on paper at 100 yds I printed two groups. After the first group I made an adjustment and fired the second one. Both measured 2.1 inches.

The load was 30 gr 5744 and a 185 XTP in a HPH24 trimmed sabot. This bullet has a very short bearing surface. No idea on speed...guessing 1,500ish. Could hear the bullets hitting the cardboard....like the old days with shotgun slugs and slow ML's.

Gun loaded nicely. Fit was snug in a good way. Snugger then I would have imagined such a bullet going down the barrel...although this is the same bullet I launched at 3150 fps in my other gun with a duplex with similar accuracy a while back. Anyway....

The little bitty holes were from my NEF .17 HMR. The last 2 shots were inside 1/2 inch at 100 yds. Starlings are showing up....gotta be ready.

Here are some pictures. FUN STUFF....shooting wimpy loads for the girlfriend!!! Gotta spoon feed the recoil intolerant!! ;D ;D

[dannoboone]

Hey, if this "girlfriend" thing is, or is gonna become permanent, a
.45 PacNor barrel conversion would be just the ticket for her! ;D
They are GREAT for those of us who are much, much less recoil
tolerant than you...........which leads me to the question.......

Wilms has a "no-recoil whatsoever" rifle in .17hmr? That's a great
little round.........who woulda thunk a rimfire could be so accurate!
Mine has claimed a couple hundred of those feed stealing, stinking
starlings. ;D

[wilmsmeyer]

Even a tough guy doesn't mind a gentle message now and then. Gotta get 'ole sweetcorn ready to hunt. She wants to do it more and more. How can a guy say no?

[Deleted]

My shooting platform is 50# sack of feed on the hood of my pickup. ;D

My most accurate 250gr. load is a sst or xtp ,rcr,and 34gr. alliant 2400.I end up going back to it eveytime I stir up my tore rotator cuff.Rocky

[DBinNY]

Wilms, that does look sweet and I'm glad to see you haven't defaced it. Just a little tighter and you'll be able to pick off those starlings with Ozark's gun. The jet wash might take 'em out even if you miss by a little.

[ozark]

You are abusing that rifle taking it out in that weather not dressed in warm clothing. I hope it pleases you down the road. Ben

[mike.dawson]

What is that stuff on the ground? Sand?

Mike

[chuck41]

If you want to go with reduced loads and light recoil, try a blue 50/40 sabot with the 185 or 200gr 40 cal XTPs. They have a longer bearing surface than the 45s and they consistently gave me 1 1/4 to 1 1/2" groups at 100yd. It was the best accuracy combo I ever found in my 50. I used 38 to a max of 41.5 gr of 4759, but your 5744 would probably work just as well.
Should be a great starling load, especially if you can line up about a dozen of 'em in a row. ;D

[tar12]

Wilms,
What type of Bi-Pod and how much have you shot it?Have you compared groups with and with out it attached? Results?

[wilmsmeyer]

Mike Dawson,

This is called snow. It's finally melting.

Tar12,

Harris bi-pod. Last year shot all shots without it. Different loads and similar groups. Yesterday, this option let me shoot prone out in my back yard as I do not have an official shooting set-up here.

This gun is going to serve as a woodchuck gun this summer. I want the bi-pod on there....it's a must for the type of hunting we'll do. It only needs to group about as good as it already is doing in order to pass inspection and be effective inside 100 yds.

For the heck of it, I set up 2 16 oz propane cylinders at 145 lasered yds. I guessed the drop to be about 6-7 inches and wacked them both almost dead center with 2 shots right at dark. I am woodchuck ready.........

[tar12]

I was just curious.I am thinking of trying this approach with Tarbaby.She sometimes has issue with keeping the sticks mated where they need to be.The bipod would eliminate the slippage and wobble associated with sticks.I will have to check and see if we can find a bipod long enough for her to shoot from the seated position...

[wilmsmeyer]

Good idea Tar. This is the one for you (her). It's the 13 inch model. Used the way shown (in the beginning of this thread) is perfect for prone. I only used that sled to compensate for the pallet I was laying on to stay out of the snow. When extended, a smallish person (I'm 5'8") can shoot sitting down easily. I have had this Bi-pod for 25 years and it's a great tool for woodchuck hunting and deer hunting too if you're on the ground a lot. Here's a pix of the gun with the extentions out.


Yesterday, the snow had melted where I was shooting from. Ground wasn't too wet. From prone, I shot an 8 shot group at 150 yds that went 4 1/2 inches horizontally and 3 inches vertically. There was a slight breeze right to left. I was tickled. This load tickles the shoulder too......less then my .243! 30 gr A5744 - 185 gr .451 XTP - HPH24 trimmed.