SmallCaliberCentral

My crew and I just returned from a 4-day Skippy affair. Not the best of conditions, but any time away from work is a good time, and even better if it involves rifles and live targets.

I took my new custom Model 700 204 Ruger with the match chamber discussed elsewhere, along with my Sako Model 75 Varmint 204, and my custom Sako 17 Mach IV (which never came out of the case this trip). My new rig now has her well-earned name: The Silver Princess of Death, otherwise known as Little Princess 204.

Due to cold and a merciless frigid wind, we never got in one full day in the field, but the mornings were all productive, and one morning in particular, we had almost no wind, warm sunshine, and more targets that we could possibly shoot.....a truly good event. I finished breaking-in my barrel on LP-204, on Skippy of course, then went to work on him in fine fashion with the new rifle. The accuracy of the new Pac-Nor Super Match Stainless barrel was astounding to say the least. Rats peeking over their mound at over 300 yards got smacked right in the exposed head (see photo below), and any rat standing on his mound anywhere was in deep trouble; the wind being the limiting factor.

Due to the wind, we were not able to attempt shots much beyond 350 yards on such small targets, or we'd be walking in shots and wasting ammunition and barrel-time. On the crappy afternoons we couldn't shoot, we broke down and went back to the Rat Hilton to enjoy neat DVD "guy-movies" to pass the time and munch out.

My load of the Sierra 39gr Blitz King (just over max) RL-10X proved to be the winner for now out of Little Princess 204, as it really bucked the wind in fine style, and put the hurt on Skippy big-time....photos below of some of the carnage. Warning: Graphic photos, weenies, young kids, and the weak stomach types need not go any further.... (This load is safe in this rifle, mic'd the web, all pressure signs are "go")

Captqc brought proper hats for the occasion for the crew:



Here's my new sweetie, The Silver Princess of Death in the field, ready to go to work:



One up the spout, ready to launch at 3,980 fps (39gr SBK):



Shooter's view of the new rig:



A shot the first day looking downrange...the fence is 322 yards away, distorted by the camera effect:



A shot of the field, showing the target-rich environment...can you see Skippy and his pals?



This rat was launched off his mound at 312 yards....you can see my shooting position in the background, white target frame and yellow Pellican case:



This female rat was peeking over her mound at just over 265 yards...no match for The Princess. Can you say "head-be-gone?":



Captqc holding up a Skippy skull, found right under the irrigation pivot pipe, dumped by an eagle after enjoying his meal. We found a bunch of these under the pivot:



Keeping my new girl clean.....many times finishing up the barrel break-in:



The first ten rounds out of The Princess were 10 for 10. Later, she went 24 for 25....she's a keeper for sure, and as anticipated, Skippy does NOT approve!



My Sako 204 M75V benched. You can see a partial view of all the mounds in the background in the early morning sun:



The Eastern Oregon Raptor Feeding Society crew taking a break in the afternoon. Note the rimfire pistols at the ready for "rats inside the wire"......



Me chambering a round in my Sako 204, target acquired, range: 288 yards, dial elevation.....launch pending (no, the buildings in the background were NOT in the line of fire....):



The terminal effect of a 39gr SBK at the rat......highly effective (note the "twisted effect", indicating the 'helicopter' launch of the rat....about 6' in the air on this one):



It was a great trip as always. Next month we go again, this time under better weather conditons along with a fresh batch of squirrels being hatched. It will be an even better target-rich environment. Now it's back to the loading bench, and a pile of tumbled, spent 204 cases to reload. The Silver Princess of Death is cleaned, now resting in the safe, awaiting the next call to duty. Gads, this is fun!!

Well done Rick! We still haven't got out yet down here....but it won't be long.

I'm curious if you are planning to coat your bullets for the "new girl?" If memory serves me correctly, I had thought you used coated bullets in your rodent rigs, and I assume the naked rounds were for break in.

Waldo recently sent me some WS2, as my 20 Practical is starting to show early signs of copper fouling in it's Lilja barrel. I shoot 32 grainers from it at 4200 fps, and so far I am both pleased and impressed with this product.

Mike

scooter: You're absolutely right, bud. I do indeed shoot WS2 coated bullets in my colony rodent rigs, and plan to do so in LP204 too, but I usually put at least 200 rounds through a barrel before turning to coated bullets in order to properly burnish the bore with naked bullets first.

This regemin was learned from both Chris Ditcher at Pac-Nor, and my friend and rodent shooting buddy Darrel Holland. Neither of them still use coated bullets, saying it's just too time consuming for them, but I have lots of time, and don't mind coating my own bullets for the extra time shooting it gives. Like most of us, I'd much rather be shooting than cleaning any day!

The Silver Princess of Death has only 110 rounds down range so far, including break-in, so she's got at least another rat trip before I start to use WS2 coated slugs in her. Good memory though, shows CRS has not set in yet!

Thats just way too cool RIO!!

Rick--It is GREAT to hear you are getting fantastic rusults from the Silver Princess of Death. Thanks for the excellent writeup and fantastic photos. I always enjoy reading your detailed reports about your hunts. Keep the reports coming.

Our weather up here in North DaColder has turned more winter-like again. Winds are blowing a steady 15+mph with gusts up around 30 and sometimes up as high as 40 mph. It IS NOT nice up here yet. Our day or days are coming though. In the meantime, I need to find some calm day/s to get the rifles sighted in again and a load figured out for the Danzac coated 27.8 gr. Hammetts in my Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington. So many things to do and so little time to do them all!!! Such a problem.

Rick : : Way to go on the break in of the "Silver Princess" !! Nice Pics to boot! Love group photo and the carnage is just a great topper. Skippy loosing a head or two!! Yep ya gota love that little 204. I heard for some of the farmers that they have seen a few chucks out. So I guess its time to walk the fields with a favorit iron.....I think ya know what i mean..haha.
Thanks for sharing and PM before ya left.......some day..some day
Later
Ray P

Rick,

Thanks for sharing your hunt and the pictures too! Looks like your new gun is a keeper.

Thanks for sharing, I always like reading your post.

Hey Rick,in a head to head, which of your 204's shoots better? I know thats like asking which of your kids you love more.

Glen, Silverfox, Ray P. & Melvin: Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. It's fun being in the field with our favorite rifles and companions, and always enjoyable to share the fun here when we return.

VA Varm: Can't say which one would win out right now, as The Silver Princess of Death is still warming up so to speak. As you mention, picking one over the other would be difficult as a favorite....one is wood laminate, one is synthetic, both stainless, same scopes, but in terms of accuracy, The Princess would most likely come out on top, being as she has a custom barrel and match chamber.

As for a favorite, The Princess over my Scandanavian beauty, too early to tell.......

hey RIO
absolutely marvelous pics and story. I really like the hat! I know down here in N Kalifornia, while shooting beldings, sometimes the bald eagles and once in awhile even a golden or 2 get kinda thick over the kills in the fields. Last year, on one of our shoots, i wounded a belding at about 100 yds away, and when he was trying to get back to his hole, a juvenile baldie swooped down on it and began eating lunch right in front of us. kinda limited our shooting area, but was really cool to watch!

futuretrades: Gald you liked the post. The logo gets some odd looks in stores in town, and I'm guessing some of the more 'liberal' folks who see it invision us as some kind of fuzzy-green bird watchers and feeders. Fine with me, they don't get it anyway.

I know what you mean about eagles and hawks, even ravens. We've had them in our field of fire many times and like you, had to limit our cone of fire to keep the raptors safe. When we return to our home-away-from-home, the 'Rat Hilton', we have a clear view of the killing fields below, and at one time counted 12 bald eagles either in the field or resting/eating Skippy on top of the irrigation pivot pipes. The field always has a good showing of ravens and goldens feasting on rat parts, hence the name of our little group.

Eagles and hawks usually boot out the ravens, mostly while we're still shooting. Here's a shot taken from the Rat Hilton porch with the eagles and hawks gone, enjoying their full bellys, and the ravens swooping in to get whats left of Skippy and his pals:



We'll be down your way in mid-June for another go of it. I love this time of year!

So far, the days of shooting are really limited. Weather just won't cooperate. Lots of wind and colder than a witches tit in a brass bra. even been getting snow for about a week now. not amounting to anything, but just plain nasty.
I think I recognized one of the fields you were shooting down here in Northern K. come on down anytime. would like to meet the members of the Eastern Oregon Raptor Feeding Society. maybe even share some of our Italian home made HOT Sausage and some home made Italian Salami.

future: This crappy weather is hindering shooting from here all across the country it appears. A friend in WY says they just got another batch of snow, so the dogs in his area are still down. When we got home from the shoot pictured above, it started snowing, and an hour later, we had 2" on the ground.....this is mid-April for krikes sakes!

We'll be in your neck of the woods in mid-June.....that salami sounds purty dang tempting!

So Rick, how much different are your loads between the two guns?

We were planning Memorial Weekend, but one in our party can't make that and we are still finishing up building our house so we'l probably reschedule.

TD-M: Have not worked up a dedicated load yet for The Silver Princess of Death, but have backed off my Sako loads for that rifle by .4 grains of powder respectively (32 & 39 gr bullets).

The 39 grain load for my Sako runs right at 3,800 fps out of the Sako, but the exact same load with seating depth adjusted to just kiss the lands in The Princess runs exactly 4,015! The tight match chamber made quite a difference. The brass looked okay, as did the web dimensions when mic'd, no stiff bolt lift either, but prudence demanded a powder reduction, hence the .4 grain back-off. Brass shot in the Sako with it's SAMMI chamber will not enter the chamber in The Princess, even if F/L sized.

This new load shoots excellent in the new rig, but after the killing season is over, I'll work up her very own load, and hope it's using RL-10X and Sierra Blitz Kings to keep components common between the two rifles.

So for now, that's the story, and it seems to work, as the new rig has no problem at all smacking these dinky critters out as far as I normally shoot them.