Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Experiences and effectiveness in hunting with the 204 Ruger.
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Rick in Oregon
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Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by Rick in Oregon »

It's finally "springtime" (somewhere), and the EORFS crew got out for a few days to our favorite ranch for Skippy's flying lessons. Our rancher friend told us the rats had a late hatch last year when the alfalfa was too long to see the little buggers, so an entire generation went underground last summer, to awake fully grown and hungry. We were told to "kill 'em all!".

Gary (Captqc) came to the shoot with new caps for the crew and alot of new toys for himself. He really loves this stuff!

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That's my 11 twist 204, the "Silver Princess of Death" with some Nosler 40's loaded into Nosler brass with 25.1grs of 10X ready for Skippy and his pals.

Day One was so cold and windy, we had to resort to "Drive-By" shooting with our 22's out the window of our little SUV (great for gas sharing). Window bags make hits much easier:

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One of Captqc's new toys.....I'll let him tell you all about it (the optional supressor sure came in handy around The Rat Hilton with subsonic ammo......):

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The second day dawned cold but sunny with almost no wind....about perfect. Here's a shot of my "office" that morning, desk and credenza :lol:

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Alot of stuff to properly care and feed volume shooting 204's, eh?

My Cooper ("Rosa") got the nod first. Here she is ready for work that morning:

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The fields were barren with no crop yet showing. The rats were hard to pick up next to all the brown, but they stood out like horse apples on the flat ground. It looked like we had moving horse apples everywhere when we first got into the field, with about 300 of them showing in our field of fire.

Here's Dan (Rat Force Once) launching Skippy with his Rem M700 204 and his handloads:

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And the resulting grin:

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Here's one of Dan's doubles....'Skippy and his cousin did a double launch together:

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We each fired about 100 rounds of CF's at this sitting. It looked like a battlefield when we broke for lunch. On one bank, the action was hot right between 250 to 350 yards, and without any significant wind, the shooting was a morning to remember. :wink:

END OF PART 1
Semper Fortis
Rick in Oregon
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majcl5
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by majcl5 »

I cant wait till next trip YA!!
May Your Barrels Be Hot & Your Smiles Plentiful
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remy3424
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by remy3424 »

Great looking equipment and great pics......just wish I was in them!!!!! Nice job. Is that 11 twist the ticket for 40 grainers?
Take a kid to the range, both of you will be glad you did. remy3424
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Rick in Oregon
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by Rick in Oregon »

remy3424 wrote:Is that 11 twist the ticket for 40 grainers?
Thanks remy, and 'yes', I believe the 11 twist is about right for the 40's. This rifle was built just for the 39SBK and the Nosler 40BT. It also shoots the 40 V-Max very well, but too slow in my barrel for some reason. Here's how it does with the Nosler 40's (the flyer was a blunder on my part.... I don't shoot much paper, mostly just rats):

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And with the 40gr V-Max:

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I think the factories would have made this caliber better by making the 11 twist the production standard twist instead of 12, as many 12 twist rifles won't shoot the 40's well at all. We know it's also a length of projectile issue too; more the reason for the 11 twist IMO.

One thing I DO know: My 11 twist shooting Nosler 40's in the rat patch is Skippy's worst frightmare! :eek:
majcl5 wrote:I cant wait till next trip YA!!
ROGER THAT!
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Rick in Oregon
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TD-Max
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by TD-Max »

OK Gary what's the new toy with the thumbhole stock?
Sako VLSS Set Trigger in .204 with Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x50 LR
Sako VLSS Set Trigger in 22-250 with Swaro Z5 5-25x52 BRX and turret
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Rick in Oregon
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by Rick in Oregon »

TD-Max wrote:OK Gary what's the new toy with the thumbhole stock?
Be sure to ask him about the "companion piece" that goes with the new toy(s)........ :wink:
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by TD-Max »

I don't have all the fancy stuff on mine, but is that a 10/22 sunk deep into the wood?
Sako VLSS Set Trigger in .204 with Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x50 LR
Sako VLSS Set Trigger in 22-250 with Swaro Z5 5-25x52 BRX and turret
Sako Stainless Synth in .260 with Swaro Z5 3.5-18x44 BRX
Ruger MKIII 678GC with Ultradot Matchdot
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by Captqc »

TD, that's just your standard Ruger 10/22! :lol: Well the receiver anyway! I got a wild hair this winter and ordered a few items to doll up the old girl. The barrel is from Tactical Solutions, the scope is a Leupold Rimfire, the stock is from Boyds. The "other" toy Rick is refering to is my new supperssor which can either ride on this rifle or on my Ruger Mark III with a Tactical Solutions barrel. When you use sub-sonic ammo it's wisper quiet. Life is good! :D Gary
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by majcl5 »

Nice pattern Rick . you seam to use rl-10 alot i have never tried it. I have always used h4895 have you compared the two ? or did you just have success w/ it.
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Rick in Oregon
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by Rick in Oregon »

Mark: When the 204 first came out, I had a conversation with TK, and he told me in his opinion, 10X gave the best of both worlds in terms of velocity and accuracy in this caliber. I started using it in my Sako and it worked so good with both 32's and 39SBK's, that I saw no reason to dink around using up the barrel trying to find something that may beat it by .010" at 100 yards, but I'd never see any gain in the field, so just stuck with 10X and went and killed a mess of rats and rock chucks.

I've got some H4895 on the shelf, and someday, maybe if I'm bored (uh huh), I may try some. ;)

Oh, no offense, but I'm of the understanding that shotguns shoot "patterns", and rifles shoot "groups". :D
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by majcl5 »

Ya your probably right i have probaby said both terms.
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by acloco »

Beautiful...just plain beautiful.

With ANY luck, I will be about in the field on Friday. :)
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by majcl5 »

Hey Rick were do you get your Rx10, does spotsmans carrry that one or do u go online. i would like to try a pound just for giggles. When are you heading over againn? May next trip is next weekend its just gonna be a weekend trip for me my son can only get the weekend off. I was h oping for a longer trip but such is life
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Rick in Oregon
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Re: Skippy Flies AGAIN in 2010! (Pics)

Post by Rick in Oregon »

Mark: I get my 10X from either Sportsmans Whs (now Wholesale Sports), or from the Nosler Pro Shop. We're heading out for some fun with Skippy purty soon now. PM sent......
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