SmallCaliberCentral

well i finally got a chance to take my new savage25 in .204ruger out and use it on some real targets at the weekend, camping out on a station 200odd ks inland from the coast in mid-Western Australia.

aside from the blistering high 40s heat it was perfect weather... little wind, warm night and the thunderstorm clouds kept the bright moon at bay..

whilst out spotlighting we found what we thought was a fox, between 100-150m away in a rare, slight clearing of the scrub.

i couldnt believe my luck when i realised it was a cat through the scope. was so excited i forgot to chamber a new round after putting the magazine in, it then jammed so i ejected it, finally chambered a round as the cat began to walk across us (even with the full blast of a lightforce 170 and a 240 focused on it ) and i popped a remington accutip 32gr through its front shoulder and into its chest.

i was impressed with the way it dispatched other larger game, but the cat was easily the highlight of my night



ps. i love the 204, even if ammo is ridiculously expensive (between $1.50 and $2/round depending on brand/grain) !

Made a good cat out of that one. I assume it's a feral cat? Are there any native wild cats in Australia? Just curious.

broper, not sure about wild cats,but i believe there's lots of WILD sheilas down there.

definitely feral... like some of the sheilas

no, no native cats here in aus... the tasmanian tiger (extinct) was more doglike anyhow

cats, like foxes, are wreaking havoc with our native wildlife who have all but no natural predators (aside from birds of prey and dingoes i suppose)... this one was only a juvie though, almost looked tame

I'd say you tamed it! Thanks for posting, we like to see stuff from down under. Gary

Yeh
not native ,we get alot of feral cats toward the dryer regions in Australia. Alot of them have developed to a size the same as a medium sized dog. Alot have been pets that have been dumped by a..hole owners and they have had to adjust to survive in these areas.
Shot about five last week and missed one that was to quick that looked like a panther
sorry no pics only took pics of the pigs we shot
Jason

how does that light go you've got under the barrel?

its a fenix tk12, has a CREE Q5 LED and runs on 2x CR123a lithium batteries... that was the first time id tried it out and i quite liked it... made a huge difference for me because i could hop off the ute and take the 130m walk into the scrub to find the prize with ease...

its like carrying a spotlight with you, but is virtually weightless (when compared with the weight of that savage barrel)

Thanks for the answer. I've always been interested in Australia and the wildlife there. The nice Sheila's too! I hate those feral cats. When I moved into this place where I live now there was about 6 feral cats living underneath it. Didn't take me long to get rid of them.

Awesome, back in the 70's when I was in the USAF, I used to go after our feral cats with a 22 WMR. Dang wonder what I would have done if I had a .204 back then

I have three cats that look just like that one! It was a ferrel cat with a litter that I took home from work. Before I could get it spayed it was pregnant with another litter I gave them all away but one. It got pregnant before I could get it spayed. These things reproduce like rats I raised three litters before I got them under control I also killed three Tom cats that moved in on me. I do have to say they are the gentalist cats I have ever raised never been bit or scratched. I found the old ladies that where raising the cats and letting them bread out of control. It turned out to be a great hunting spot for coyote that had moved in to feed on the cats the cats can breed fast enough to feed a large pack of coyote. I hope you plan on reloading for your rifle the 204 is a great round. I also night hunt and have found the new lights to be a great inprovement on the old. You should try red lenses on them.