Chris-NZ Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 I got a bit tired humping two heavy rifles about while out varminting on the quad so decided to do something about it. First move was to import two rifle rack yokes from the US. The smaller of the two was ideal for the front of the quad storage box as the yokes are removable from the mounting bases so you can have a clean look whenever not shooting. The next job was to design a removable shooting frame which would also hold the second bigger rack for the wide-forend rifles. After much measuring and several mock-ups, it became evident there was no way the big yoke set would fit on the shooting frame without dangerously obscuring your driving view, hitting the bars during tight turns or else stopping the storage box from opening. These three aspects were non-negotiable so in the end, I made a wooden cradle which fits the top of the box in one minute with two wingnuts. This is lined with tough ?polypropylene foam and it grabs the rifles nicely without the need to strap the rifle in. I made it so you can leave a bipod attached if necessary. The now-redundant steel tabs on the rack were put to use to mount a small open ammo box. Took it all out for a test-drive this morning before the temps came up too much. The padded rack is a -major- improvement for shooting over just the bars. It gives so many more rest possibilities than just the handlebars. I found that having both elbows on the bars while resting the forend on the padded crossbar is surprisingly steady. The three maggies were nailed at 253-260yds in three successive shots- two were fronting each other up when one copped it and the other stupid bugger came back in about 5 secs to have a go at the carcase... Then, just as I was about to ride off, another one came along to investigate and met the same fate Knocked off about 20 maggies plus assorted other stuff in about three hours. Got into some rabbits in a big river bed towards the end so the cats are happy. Chris-NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6mmBR Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Looks like your putting your new bit of kit to good use Chris. Fantastic scenery and some good shooting by the look of the bag. Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown dog Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Chris, Love the modus operandi - reminds me of one of the spaghetti westerns (can't remember which); Lee Van Cleef had to take on a distant target; he walked up to his horse and unclipped a canvas roll that rolled open down the side of the horse to reveal a selection of rifles - and he picked the one appropriate to that particular task Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6.5shooter Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Nice setup Chris. Been thinking about doing the same kind of thing for myself but just trying to gather a few ideas first. Getting the rifles held secure enough without knocking the zero on rough ground is my worry. Nice work!! Garry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxing2night Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Fantastic mate, you should have hours of pleasure with that setup Darrel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotch_egg Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Chris, Nice quad set up there, a mate has just picked up a suzuki 450 so this topic will come in handy for him. I also note you have a new scope on the remmy, details please.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-NZ Posted February 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Chris, Nice quad set up there, a mate has just picked up a suzuki 450 so this topic will come in handy for him. I also note you have a new scope on the remmy, details please.... Here's a pic I just took of the way the frame mounts to the front quad rack: There's a tab that slips under a crosstube of the front quad rack and the shooting frame is them tied down with two inch-wide strips of truck tubes. It's surprisingly solid but has enough give in the case of a nasty thump of some sort (hopefully not me going over the bars.. ) As for the scope, it's a 4-16 side parallax Nikon Monarch which cover the necessary zoom range. I actually used it close up on 4X yesterday when I had to stalk a rabbit in some scrub. 16X is plenty for a .223, well at least what I use it for. Chris-NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejg223 Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Good going Chris, nice pictures and great weather compared to the gale blowing here. What load do you use in the 223 at the moment? edi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-NZ Posted February 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Different loads for each rifle Edi. "Your one" uses a bulk load which gets tossed together as I get through so much ammo in that gun. It's 26grs of ADI-2206 (slightly faster brother of 2208/Varget) behind a bulk 50gr SP in R-P cases. I bring these projectiles back from the US by the hundred and despite being super cheap, I can always put three into 3/4" and quite often 1/2" @ 100. Don't ask me the velocity as I've never measured it but adequate. The VS uses a load I developed years back when I got it and I've never changed as it's deadly. 27.5 grs of W748 behind a 53HP Hornady Match in FC cases. If three don't go into basically 1/2", I know I've fired a bad shot. Can't remember the actual MV but it was reasonably good and the projs come part nicely on small game. Many guys who either watched it in action or fired it themselves are impressed with how accurate/easy to shoot it is. A little weight doesn't hurt at times.. The SPS wasn't near as accurate in the orig factory stock but the VS was a shooter from Day 1, once I'd played with the trigger. Don't diss a Rem til you've tried it- some are no doubt far better than others but generally they shoot a lot better than they deserve to, given the mass production methods. I once heard a figure for how much a std Rem barrel (didn't) cost the factory and it was amazingly low, something like 10% of what I'd have to pay for a premium barrel like a Krieger or Broughton. If you're lucky, you sometimes can get far more than what you paid for Chris-NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejg223 Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Chris, I have a very similar set up to yours with a 243 remmy in the same stock. It is my favourite run around rifle at the moment. A lot to be said for a light rifle. The 243 shot mediocre until the barrel was shortened and re-crowned. Can't complain about accuracy. edi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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