SmallCaliberCentral

Hi Gang - been gone for a while on a multi-day ground squirrel safari with some buddies here in Oregon. Although I took a total of six rifles and three handguns, the only rifle I shot was...... you guessed it, my Sako .204. Laser flat, accurate, and just plain fun to shoot.

Here's some shots of the event on a large alfalfa ranch we shoot often.

Peaceful, great weather, good target-rich environment, and barrel-stretching distances.



Here's the group of shooters, this is Garth from Leupold (Rem M700 VLS .223 w/Lupy 4.5-14X):



Captian QC (Gary) w/Rem M700 SS/Lam/Thumbhole .204 w/Lupy 6.5-20X):



His son, Rat Force One (Dan) (Rem M700 VLS .204 w/ Bushy 6-20X):



Ryan (forum lurker) w/Rem M700 VS .223 w/Lupy 6.5-20X (His dad and I have hunted together for over 30 years)




Yours truly giving Skippy the worries with my Sako M75V .204 w/Lupy 6.5-20X LR:



This is very open country, and shots can be long if the wind allows. My longest shot of the trip was a first shot hit on a squirrel was 465 yards.



Happily announcing my 400+ yard shot to the world:



My "come-up" chart for both the Sierra 32 & 39gr Blitz Kings worked like a charm. Could not have made shots much beyond 300 yards on such small targets without it.



A 49 yard insurgent squirrel that met Mr. Power Point from my Ruger MK-I with Leupold/Gilmore Red Dot sight:



Proof positive that you need an IPDW (Internal Perimiter Defense Weapon) handy for these sneaky rodents:



Lots of shooting in the field means lots of cleaning. Not fun, but mandatory if you want to keep peak accuracy. Besides, give you a chance to BS with the crew while the barrel is stewing:



My basic setup. Lots of great open country for Skippy to frolic with his buddies. Complete stability is a must for this type of shooting. A bipod laying on the ground just doesn't cut it:



Okay, everyone likes gore here, so here's what happens to Skippy when he meets a 32gr Blitz King at 4003 fps from about 325 yards:



For those who have wondered about the size of these Belding Ground Squirrels, here's a comparison of an adult prairie dog skull along side a ground squirrel skull. You can imagine how hard it is to smack Skippy at extended range compared to the much larger PD:



Here's my .204 brass out of the tumbler and ready for neck sizing prior to the next scheduled event:



Of course, I've got more, so if you guys want to see it, let me know. Don't want to clog the forum with my stuff all the time unless it's wanted. One thing for sure, the .204 Ruger cartridge is here to stay! At least in my safe it is.

glad you had good weather and good friends Rick. Guess my good weather dance paid off. One of these days I will share a shoot with you. Great pics and thanks for letting me live thru you your adventures. I for one never tire of your pics and stories.

talk with you soon friend,
andy

I love my new BR Pivot Lite.

Say why do you run your scope cover off to the side like that versus up? Just curious. I also notice you don't appear to be using a front stop. Are you putting the sling stud just past the bag?

Great pics, as usual, Rick. Thanks for sharing.

Man, those shooting fields are NICE compared with the 50-400 yard rolling hills here in VA. Still waiting for a little quality trigger time here as ground hogs are just peeking out. Soon!

ADH: Thanks Andy, it was a good shoot, wish you could have been there. The 'good weather dance' must have paid off. You may have done a waltz though, as for Saturday afternoon, we had a freak wind/rain storm that almost blew the roof off the cabin. It was back to the field and rifles the next morning though, and the squirrels didn't seem to notice at all, as they were back out in force.

TD-Max: I put my front objective cover off to the side so when acquiring a target, it does not interfere with my vision looking over the rifle/scope for target aquistion. I take off my QD studs when shooting on my front rest, but always have them handy in case I take a walkabout with the rifle/sling/bipod. Don't want the studs digging into my bags.

I turn down my forend stop in the field, as I usually shoot multiple rifles, all of which have different forend to barrel heights and barrel contours. By turning it down, I just adjust the bag width on my Sinclair rest and shoot away. Glad you love your BR Pivot Lite...pretty cool, eh?

E3B: Thanks for the kind words bud. It sure is great country here, I'll agree. Be glad you also have good long range possibilities there, some of our fellow shooters have to drive for hours just to get out of the city in order to torch off their rifles at all. And we both have varmints too! Life is good. Take care, good to hear from you.

Rick, what kind of bore guide are you using? Do you recommend it? I admire your entire setup, everything looks very efficient and functional.

Hotshot: Thanks buddy. That's a Sinclair bore guide with optional solvent port you see there. The entire setup is a result of 'evolution' of right at 40 years of doing this, so even I can get it right after that much time.

Nothing that I don't really need, and everything I do (at least I think so.)

ATTA BOY I see you kept a few scalps

Hey Rick, nice photos as usual. You must have been some where away from here as we had a shoot planned for last Saturday and it was a complete bust. The weather really sucked. Wind, rain and some blowing snow (didn't stick to the ground). Of course, Easter Sunday was bright and clear as a crystal, at least until 4pm when it got really crappy again.
Oh well, it is spring time here in paradise .

Keep those photos coming, we all like'em. If we can get out this coming Sunday, hopefully we'll have some photos to share as well.

Rgds, Gerry

Rick, Great reporting as usual. Glad you had a good outing. Like Gerry, I had chores to do on Saturday for my trip to Reno and CA. Was supposed to be a good day on Easter but turned out rain. Missed an opportunity but will make up for that in CA. Those fat CA squirrels are a bomb when a 32 hits them.

Gerry & WP: That nasty wind and rain storm smacked us too on Saturday afternoon. The morning shoot was okay, but once the storm hit, we were tucked in our cabin watching movie DVD's, fondling our rifles.

The next day dawned bright and sunny, so we hit Skippy again, and had a dandy shoot all day, tore down around six in the evening. Glad we had four days, otherwise if it had been just a weekend, it would have been a bust.

Hope you are both able to get out soon in some decent weather. The Weather Talkers are guessing this Sunday should be decent (the same fools who predicted great weather all last weekend! ).

WP: I well know about those nice fat California squirrels. Almost as big as a small prairie dog. We have an annual shoot down there every year in June...big splats!

Hey Rick, nice photos! We always love to see 'em and never get tired so keep bringing them in. Looks like you guys had a great day!

Nice picture's as always Rick thank's.

Great photos from an entertaining day. Cheers!

Nice pics Rick. Makes me jealous we only have groundhogs here in Ohio to get after. Soon as this weather clears up our Hogs will be back our regularly again. The early warm weather here was great, but the recent return of winter has been a cruel joke. I thought that groundhog said we would have an early spring. Just wait till I see him again.


What do you have over the muzzel in your cleaning pic?