Where are all the hardcore Varmint hunters gone ?

[Alycidon]

On 4/12/2020 at 10:02 PM, Scooby-93 said:

Thanks for the informative reply, it’s going to be a 20-250 and 10twist at 26” long. 
 

I will be using n550 and hoping to get 4200+ with around 38gr of powder.

barrel life will be low, Most likely sub 1000 but for flat trajectory to 300-400 yard it is more or less point and shoot give or take.

what charge we’re you getting 4100 with? 
 
The BR case will be a lot more efficient than the 20-250 but i needed a reliable  Feeding round from my tikka action so went with that instead 

N550 is in fact slower than N150,   I know that Vit suggest otherwise but thats what I found when I tried it and N160 as well.,  you should ideally fill up to the base of the neck  or close to for a nice even velocity spread.  To do that may mean using a slower powder than is generally advised but it pays you back with single figure ES sometimes and rarely more than a 20 fps difference in a 5 shot string.

Its not the drops that get you at long range,  you can range and dial that out but its the drifts as I am sure you are aware,   thats why I went for the Berger 50 as at the time it was the heaviest 20 cal bullet out there.  But in practise 200 yards is a pretty long night shot for me,   so drop/drift is academic.   Zero 1 inch high at 100 yards,   puts it on at about 180,  so its 200 yards plus before you have to think about anything if its a chest shot,  I appreciate that you dont get time to range at night usually but if you shoot at a constant mag ( I usually use 8x) then you know how far a,  by the ground assuming you know your ground and b,  by how it fills the reticule.    Building a high speed 20 today I would build it around the 39 SBK and 1 in 11., ( think thats what Sierra advise) . 

Re charges, around 32gr/33gr  from memory,  it was some years ago now,  my working load is around 29.5 gr, (3500)  to give me a consistent ballistic curve and similar velocity I deduct .5gr when loading for the 39gr.   Had that rifle for around 10 years,  only ever missed 3 foxes with it ( all were perfectly straight forward 150/200 yard shots)  but my declining eyesight  ( I am 66 now) means it does not now get the night use that it used to some years ago.   Been out to 300 yards on foxes with the 39s with no issues but on a front on bib shot it does not usually exit.

Have you had a look on Quickload to see if 38 gr of N550 can be burnt in a 26 inch tube ?,  might be an idea if not,   extra barrel length = extra time in barrel = extra velocity,  around 30 fps per inch. No point loading 38gr if the barrel is not long enough to burn it all.   You might also check that it will fit your cabinate,  thats something I forgot,  luckily it JUST went in.     The only drawback with a long tube it that its a pain to handle inside a 4x4 and forget carrying it very far unless you are young and fit.  

In my experience you dont get a second shot at anything you have missed,  its dead or its gone,  ( I missed more than a few in my 22.250 days !! )  I suppose a quick reload is handy if you mess up the placement,   knowing you only have one pop does make you wait till everything is about perfect,  so no Chinese heart shots and no going out in high winds.  

I have only ever had one occasion where  a fast follow up would have been handy and that was on my 17AH ( which is my least favorite fox round).  I have had the ejector removed on all my rifles except a semi 22LR,   as I dont want to lose expensive Lapua brass that has had a lot of prep work,   yet one night I killed 3 foxes ( almost full grown cubs) and had a miss all in around 30 seconds including working the lamp and having to move the Disco slightly for the last one,   I have a butt stock shell holder to keep fresh rounds handy.  

My action is Lawton 7500 single shot,  one of the first in the UK,   (Lawton failed as a business when the owner Barney Lawton died, ) a single shot actions supposedly flexes less under firing and are therefore a shade more accurate ( supposedly) than a magazine fed action ,  if you shoot 100BR  a .1 increase in group size can be the difference between top three and nowhere,  but for a sporting rifle then it would be perfectly good,  horses for courses. 

Have a look at Saubier for more info on 20-250 if needed, I have no experience of it but do have hands on experience of 22.250 and 22.250 AI,  both sad stories.  The AI belongs to a friend who also posts here occasionally,  having shot out the barrel trying to make it shoot it was re barrelled to 22BR and it now shoots .2 - .3 from the off with minimal load development again a single shot action,     Hope you have more joy with the .250 case than we had.  

 

A

[Bob57]

23 hours ago, Scooby-93 said:

Thanks for the informative reply, it’s going to be a 20-250 and 10twist at 26” long. 
 

I will be using n550 and hoping to get 4200+ with around 38gr of powder.

barrel life will be low, Most likely sub 1000 but for flat trajectory to 300-400 yard it is more or less point and shoot give or take.

what charge we’re you getting 4100 with? 
 
The BR case will be a lot more efficient than the 20-250 but i needed a reliable  Feeding round from my tikka action so went with that instead 

Not sure how vn140 would work in a 20-250 (could be good ?)but I used to get just shy of 4100 with 38grns of vn140 in my 22-250 with 40grn nosler b/t and great accuracy.

Personally I wouldn't use vn550, if it's like vn530 I'm using at the moment in .204 Ruger with 39grn sbk's it shows a lot more pressure than single based vhit, and the quoted figures are higher than you'll get, i can't get any more speed from vn530 than vn133!!

[Kevgun]

On 4/12/2020 at 8:00 PM, Alycidon said:

Run with the N135,  that will be fine.

A

I’ll give it a go.

[Bob57]

Just now, Kevgun said:

I’ll give it a go.

Hey kev how's the pard mounts going??

[Montey]

Vit550'works very well in my 243win Dolphin Neska using 95g heads shoots very flat and no pressure signs 

then what do I know !! 

[Kevgun]

11 hours ago, Bob57 said:

Hey kev how's the pard mounts going??

Hi Bob, on the back burner, I run a workshop for a refrigerated van rental company and we are supplying Supermarkets and Pharmaceuticals so i've got my work cut out keeping a 120 vans Running at the moment, hopefully ease off soon and i can get back to tinkering in the Shed. hopefully by the end of the Month i should be back to normal.

 

Kev

[Bob57]

2 hours ago, Kevgun said:

Hi Bob, on the back burner, I run a workshop for a refrigerated van rental company and we are supplying Supermarkets and Pharmaceuticals so i've got my work cut out keeping a 120 vans Running at the moment, hopefully ease off soon and i can get back to tinkering in the Shed. hopefully by the end of the Month i should be back to normal.

 

Kev

Ok mate no worries, sounds like what you're doing is more important than mounts👍

[Bob57]

On 4/8/2020 at 6:04 PM, One on top of two said:

Well I never got time for any crow busting , however I did get myself a bunny wabbit 

here’s the vegan version 👍

One shot ... One kill .. sorry I mean dent . 

Sorry to going off track ootot,

So back to it, Have you dented any crows or rooks yet !! 

[One on top of two]

On 4/14/2020 at 2:00 PM, Bob57 said:

Sorry to going off track ootot,

So back to it, Have you dented any crows or rooks yet !! 

Hello bob , 

sorry for the delay in getting back to you mate , I’ve flat out on the blasted rooks , there driving me wild . 
 but I’m getting a handle on it , they have just started to work out that nowhere is safe . As soon as there ass hits the dirt there toast ! 
will send you a link to a little video clip I done last sat  on a long range crow 👍

[Bob57]

4 minutes ago, One on top of two said:

Hello bob , 

sorry for the delay in getting back to you mate , I’ve flat out on the blasted rooks , there driving me wild . 
 but I’m getting a handle on it , they have just started to work out that nowhere is safe . As soon as there ass hits the dirt there toast ! 
will send you a link to a little video clip I done last sat  on a 700 m crow 👍

lovely 👍, I like to see a long range shot.

Yep they always learn quick 😕, I blew a magpie up this evening on a dead rabbit😀, and it's mate disapeared, anyway rabbits back in the bag and there's tomorrow for that one 😃

[No i deer]

A POO23 at 700yds in a 10mph wind 😳

That must a luckiest shot ever made 😆

You must of woke up just after the shot went off in your dream 😉

If I were you I'd buy a lottery ticket 😁.

Tell us another 😆😉

[No i deer]

On 4/14/2020 at 2:00 PM, Bob57 said:

Sorry to going off track ootot,

So back to it, Have you dented any crows or rooks yet !! 

That would of been a flesh wound 😁. Maybe buggs would of had a sore throat for a couple of days 😉 

[One on top of two]

4 minutes ago, No i deer said:

A POO23 at 700yds in a 10mph wind 😳

That must a luckiest shot ever made 😆

You must of woke up just after the shot went off in your dream 😉

If I were you I'd buy a lottery ticket 😁.

Tell us another 😆😉

Yep I should do the lottery because I KNEW you would to have your say haha 

 

[No i deer]

😁

I've had some longish kills but i use bigger calibre..

I once had 2 consecutive 630yd rabbits with a 6.5-06 with 140gr amaxs..

The amaxs are some of the finest hunting bullets I've ever used..

I launch the 162gr amaxs in my 284 and there superb..

A bit harsh on roe sometimes..

There better from past 250yds.

Nice shot OOT2 😎

[brown dog]

On 4/5/2020 at 1:06 PM, brown dog said:

 Always good to read technical and expert rifle/equipment focussed varminting chat, which I sense was the intent of the OP.  The 'other stuff' always attracts trouble and trouble-types, which is why we don't have it on here. Simples.

Yawn - a few posts removed.

Difficult to understand the attitudes of 1 or 2 people on a site provided to them, by other people, for free.

I'll say no more.

 

The concept is in the quote (and is, once again,  being proved correct, by the 1 or 2).

The concept is, you'd think, really, really, really simple to understand.🤔

 

 

[One on top of two]

11 minutes ago, No i deer said:

😁

I've had some longish kills but i use bigger calibre..

I once had 2 consecutive 630yd rabbits with a 6.5-06 with 140gr amaxs..

The amaxs are some of the finest hunting bullets I've ever used..

I launch the 162gr amaxs in my 284 and there superb..

A bit harsh on roe sometimes..

There better from past 250yds.

Nice shot OOT2 😎

Cheers matey 👍

yes mate I love my Amax too . It’s all I use in my .22 s 

[Bob57]

Unfortunately I couldn't get the vid to play last night, and missed the drama this morning 😱.

Anyway sounds like it was a  nice long shot with a 223 ootot👍

[One on top of two]

43 minutes ago, Bob57 said:

Unfortunately I couldn't get the vid to play last night, and missed the drama this morning 😱.

Anyway sounds like it was a  nice long shot with a 223 ootot👍

Cheers bob , it was just another one of those lucky shots I keep having mate 😉

[Bob57]

6 hours ago, No i deer said:

That would of been a flesh wound 😁. Maybe buggs would of had a sore throat for a couple of days 😉 

Ah you see that's where you're wrong nid, as rumour has it that's just where the fly was sitting, and nobody likes a fly😁

[No i deer]

That was a cracking shot if the fly was there 😁🕷

[One on top of two]

1 hour ago, No i deer said:

That was a cracking shot if the fly was there 😁🕷

I only meant to wing  it Neil ! 

[No i deer]

I gagging to go out and shoot at some mid too long range targets 😫.

I need a fix badly 😂.

One shot at a fox isn't gonna cut it at the mo 🙄🤣

[Bob57]

1 hour ago, No i deer said:

I gagging to go out and shoot at some mid too long range targets 😫.

I need a fix badly 😂.

One shot at a fox isn't gonna cut it at the mo 🙄🤣

Heard on the radio this afternoon that we've another 3 weeks lockdown, but you can drive to the countryside to take a long walk😟

[No i deer]

Shoot with a mod on 😋😉

[Kevgun]

Resorted to my Theoben Rapid 7 in the garden, luckily it’s a big garden, shooting .177 pellets on end to keep my hand in😃