We're back from the 2007 Rat Rodeo

[Rick in Oregon]

Our rat killing crew just returned from three glorious days of intense rat sniping in Northern Kalifornia, and what a grand time it was. Rifle calibers included the 204 Ruger (go figure), 223 Rem, 223 Ackley Improved, 17 Mach IV, and everyone took their 17 Hummer too.

Most of us also carried our IPDW (Internal Perimiter Defense Weapon), usually a 22LR handgun, but our buddy Dave, lacking such a piece, took his Glock .45acp, and a good thing he did, as his position WAS breached by an ambitious Pocket Gopher...more on that later.

This ranch is over 3,000 acres of rolling hills planted with Skippy's favorite food: alfalfa. Our crew is from five states, and meets on this ranch every year right after the first cutting when Skippy is easy to see at extended ranges. The shooting ranges from right in front of your bench, out past 800 yards and beyond if you feel up to the task.

The rancher slaughters a beef steer, we BBQ a turkey, and have a feast Saturday evening. We all really look forward to this shoot every year.

On Sunday, our last shooting day, we shot for a continuous 11.5 hours, and the usual afternoon wind never did blow. It was a grand way for us to wind up our'07 varmint sniping season.

Here's some random shots of the event...hope you enjoy.

The setup on a hilltop, with Skippy virtually everywhere:



With about 30 shooters, we had groups of about 5 in a given area. The ranch is so large, we never saw other groups from our position. A view down the firing line with a visitor from another group stopping in to harass us :



My Sako M75V looking over the vast target-rich area:




Dave unloads his Glock .45 at a charging Pocket Gopher!:



My Holland-built custom .223 Ackley Improved really got a workout too....had to let the 204 cool down:



These are what Glenn calls "the Blue Meanies"....and for good reason! (Barnes .224 50gr VLC's....turns squirrels inside out) I sure wish Barnes would make these in .20 caliber!:



Here's proof of how effective these babies are on Skippy (you all tell me you want graphic results...so here's a sample of 3680 fps):



Me spotting for Dan while he lines up on an unsuspecting rat:




Looking over Dan's shoulder (Rat Force One) at an impact at about 250 yards out. When I zoomed in on the impact, you can see the rat flying out of the dust cloud. No comparison to "goody253's" work by any means:



The crew just prior to breaking down for the barn:



There's lots more shots archived, so if you guys want more, let me know. Don't want to Bogart the site. Hope this season is as good to your 204's as it's been to ours!

[Sidewinderwa]

Looks like you had a grand time and had plenty of good food and friends to go around. Always like the pictures and the stories.

[madracer]

looking at the graphic photo there seems to be a bit of meat on them. Are they edible?

[Earl Three Beavers]

Great write up and pix, Rick. Thanks for sharing with us.

A 3000 acre ranch!? Wow, that's a nice shooting setup! Looks like a lotta FUN!

[Vartarg]

Yes, we want to see more photos.....great shoot and terrific pictures.....Thanks.

[Rick in Oregon]

mudracer: In regard to the edible question of our sage rats....I suppose you could eat them, I just don't know of anyone that would.

That particular rat had his innards blown about 15' away, and did the "helicopter" effect in the air prior to landing. Normally they're blown into at least two chunks, and you'd not want to consider them as a food item once you saw what was left. The raptors love them, and we usually have eagles, hawks, and buzzards feeding on them while we're still shooting (hence the informal name of our group, "The Eastern Oregon Raptor Feeding Society")

The photo of the rat below is more typical of the terminal result from calibers such as the 204, 223, etc. Doesn't stir your appetite, eh?



Here's Captqc (Gary) looking down range with his Remmy 204 ready....see the top of the ridge on the left in front of him? That's right at 360 - 380 yards away, and the 204 will have the effect above on the squirrels that far away as shown above. We're talking about bullet expansion here folks! With accuracy and explosive results like this, no wonder the 204 is taking the varmint shooting world by storm.



To you others that responded, thanks for the interest and the kind words, I'll post another one very soon. Dang work gets in the way of having fun...

[aussiemick]

Rick that is just an awsome display of Pest extermination

Cheers Mick

[jason]

Excellent pics , looks like the once a year hunt that the rest of us can only day dream about!!! How does the .223 ackley improved compare to the 204 in skippy misting? looking at building up a rifle and have seen this caliber mentioned in other articles before but never really gave much attention!

[Rick in Oregon]

jason: In regard to the 223AI, I built mine back in '98, when it was considered THE prairie dog and ground squirrel caliber, more efficient than the 22-250, and much kinder to barrels. That was before the 204 and the other 20's came about.

I still like the caliber because it shoots 55gr bullets for that afternoon wind, but if you look at the charts, the 204 beats even the 220 Swift at all ranges in terms of wind deflection and bullet drop.

I also shoot the Swift, but only use 55's in it for the windy afternoon's we get out here. I alternate my 204 with my 223AI shooting 50's, and would say that it is noticeable how much flatter the 204 shoots. As far as terminal effects on Skippy, not much difference between the two, or even the Swift for that matter.

Would I build another one? Yes, but only if I already had a good shooting 204. Brass lasts about forever, no stretching, extremely accurate, hard hitting, fast, and easy to load for. Mine loves H335 and Nosler 50 BT's, my standard bullet for this caliber. When I want to shoot 40's, I use one of my 223's. Hope this sheds some light on it for you. If you build one, you'll like it, I promise.

Oh, almost forgot.....that shoot above is one we do once a year, we usually do about three or four shoots here, each shoot is a three day shooting session. The Rat Rodeo is one affair we really look forward to though down in California. Next year, I'm going for five days! That reminds me......time to start reloading all over again....

[Bayou City Boy]

jason: In regard to the 223AI, I built mine back in '98, when it was considered THE prairie dog and ground squirrel caliber, more efficient than the 22-250, and much kinder to barrels. That was before the 204 and the other 20's came about.

Rick:

Since you commented briefly on the recent history of the 20 caliber cartridges, I hope you don't mind if I add a little bit more historical perspective on them.

As early as just after WWII, there was considerable interest in 20 caliber rifles. Some of the first barrels produced were available and in the hands of wildcatters as early as 1947. The interest level in 20 calibers, even among wildcatters, was not very great until the mid 1950's. One issue which affected this level of interest was a general lack of good cartridges to work with and the fact that all bullets and barrels had to be custom made. Several cases that were used for early 20 caliber wildcats were the 219 Zipper case and the 219 Donaldson Wasp which was an improved Zipper. The Hornet case was also played with and necked down.

The introduction of the 222 Rem in 1950 created a revival of sorts and the 20-222 became fairly popular among 20 caliber wildcatters. Also, the later arriving 223 Rem cases resulted in the 5mm-223 being fairly popular in the 1960's and later. I knew one hard-core 20 caliber wildcatter out in West Texas in the 1980's that shot a 5MM-223 rifle and made his own custom bullets.

I maybe have said it too many times for some folk's comfort levels, but the "recently invented" 20 Practical is the exact same necked down 223 Rem case as the 5MM-223 of an earlier era.

Also, the current 204 Ruger built off the 222 Rem Mag case was actually preceded in time by the 20 Terminator which was also built off the 222 Rem Mag case with a little bit longer case neck.

Other cartridge cases that were later introduced like the 221 FB and the 17 Rem became fodder for more 20 caliber case designs like the early 20-221 and the 20 T-N-T. The introduction of the PPC and the BR case designs also resulted in more "playing ' with 20 caliber cartridges.

Todd Kindler can definitely be credited with the recent revival of interest in the 20 calibers from the mid 1990's on. His efforts and the popularity of the cartridges he designed finally convinced a rifle producer and a cartridge company that a factory 20 caliber might sell - thus the 204 Ruger came about in recent years.

It hasn't been that many years ago that there were only two factory 20 caliber bullets - a 36 grain Berger HP and the old 33 grain Hornady. Both were made seasonally and weren't always available all year around. So if you wanted some you had to buy a bunch when they were available. Otherwise you had to wait until one of the companies made more next year. Introduction of the 204 Ruger brought about the current crop of 20 caliber bullets.

I solved my own bullet availability problem by investing in a Corbin swaging set-up to swage my own 20 caliber bullets. I still shoot a hand swaged 38 grain HP almost exclusively in my 20 caliber rifles which includes two 204 Rugers.

I hope I didn’t hijack your post and you don’t mind my adding this additional 20 caliber information. Nice pictures and a good story.

-BCB

[Rick in Oregon]

BCB: No worries buddy, good historical information is always informative and entertaining. I'm aware of that history, but I'm sure there are many newcomers who will find it of interest, as most newbies most likely think the 204 Ruger is 'new'.

I was close to building a 20 Terminator back around '95, but got sidetracked onto another project (can't have too many varmint rifles, right? ) Once the factory 204 came out, I knew it was just a matter of time until I'd have one. Glad I did, as it's now my "go-to" ground squirrel rifle, and another one, or maybe a 20 VarTarg may be coming along soon. While one is soaking w/solvent and cooling, I'll put the other one to work on Skippy.

No hijack, just good, useful informaiton. Thanks for sharing, and for the kind comment.

[Hawkeye Joe]

Nice job with the rifles and camera. I'll bet the Skippy population took quite a hit. How many rounds did you go through?

[Rick in Oregon]

Mike: Hey there, New Yorker!

I personally went through 200 rounds on Sunday, about 100 rounds each of the other days. Could have shot more, but gotta keep those barrels clean and cool!

We tallied rounds shot, hit percentage, and figured out we killed just over 1,000 squirrels in those three days of shooting. Amazing thing is that my buddy and his wife went back to our exact same shooting position the day after we left, shot all day, and called me yesterday to say the rats were so thick there, it was like we were never even there!

That is a target-rich environment! Wish you could have been there.

[Robert harrel]

as far as eating eating them you could call it varmint bologna ( nuthing but lips and a--holes) nah i dont even like bolagna.

[Hawkeye Joe]

WOW! THATS A LOT OF RATS Are they Chinese? shoot one and there's 5 more to take his place Sounds like you need some help .Give me a date ,time and GPS position and I'll be there