SmallCaliberCentral

I finally got my hands on it today! It came with 100 pieces of formed brass, 24 of witch were loaded with 32 gr sierras and H4198. The previous owner took very detailed notes, and the gun came to me with 176 rounds down the barrel (many of which impacted crows, apparently ). The trigger was adjusted VERY LIGHT! Like a good bench rest trigger. It was easy to adjust to my liking, light and crisp but not dangerous. After aligning and lapping a set of leupold low rings, I mounted a VX-3 6.5-20 LR VH reticle nice and low to the bore . My father and I took it to the bench with the 24 loaded rounds:







This has got to be the finest rifle I have ever held. It shoots pretty good two:



Three out of four groups can be cover with a dime . With some load development I am sure it can do better. After sighting it in, I decided to try and thin out some grey squirrels on my parents farm. I like the sling swivel stud on the forearm, it doesn't get in the way on the bench rest and allows use of my harris bipod:



Even with the varmint barrel (24"), this gun was not too heavy to carry around. I find that it handles very well, even for offhand shots (if I ever need to take one). I was walking along the edge of one of several fields on the property when I saw a large grey squirrel dart into a hole in a tree about 50 yards away. By the time I had sat down and got the bipod legs extended, he decided to take one last look. He popped his head out,right into my cross hairs . Here is a picture of the hole after the shot:



Looks like the 32 sierra did quite a number on him! I came back with a step ladder to retrieve him, but the hole was so deep I couldn't even see him. I saw no damage on the bark of the tree from the bullet, a testament to its explosiveness. Here is a close up of the carnage:



All in all it was a nice day with a nice rifle. Now its time to start working on the 200 pieces of new remington 221 FB brass I have!

She's a cutie...

She looks a cracker mate, I almosst bought a Cooper........but went down the route of a custom.

That was a crackin read fella, with some great pictures as well, Keep them coming and keep us up to speed on how you get on with her mate

ATB


Steve.

she's a beauty.........eventually I will own a Cooper.......probably a 204

Beautiful gun, and looks like it really shoots. I'm having a lot of fun with my Mdl 21 Cooper in 20VT also. RL7 seems to shoot just a little smaller groups in mine, and I'm using 32 gr v-max also. Keep us posted on further groups and loads. Guess the pics of the "squirrel", or what's left of him says it all!

Neil: Gads that rifle looks familiar.....

Lookin' good for sure, but I'm betting your local squirrels will feel much differently; I know one that did. Once you get some more rounds downrange, you'll love that little VarTarg even more. Once you get it out into the rat patch, it will have to be pried out of your hands....really. With a nice 204 and a 20VT, a guy could do 99% of all varmint chores, but what fun would that be?

Keep us up to speed on how she shoots and what she likes to shoot well. Your local varmints are really going to hate your new toy.

Rick- You certainly influenced some of my choices . Perticularly, Leupolds M1 elevation turret! When I laser a target and dial in the turret, I am so confident in the shot. Turretless scoped rifles feel like they lack there full potential.

As for the 20VT, its a winner!!! The recoil is nil, but it has a surprising amount of "thwamp!" at the other end! It compliments its "big brother", my 11 twist 204R shooting the heavy pills, very well. My 20 pieces of 221 FB brass have been formed, annealed, primer pockets and flash holes uniformed, and I am halfway through neck turning them. The work is half the fun!

Neil: Yeah, my wife sez I'm a bad influence on my friends.....some of their wives must hate me.

Out in the rat patch, that M1 elevation turret will really come into play. With a good laser rangefinder and good loads for that VT, prairie rats sitting out there on their mounds at 500 yards are in danger of becoming red mist, as the little screamer is not far behind a 204R in terms of velocity. In no time, you'll be singing the merits of "Dial-A-Rat" as they perform aerobatics for your viewing pleasure. Shooting 200 yard .241" groups now, I'm saying you're dialed buddy.

But TWENTY ROUNDS? Best get to work bud......I'm working on another 100 R-P 221FB cases right now for mine; that will give me 550 cases for the little rifle. When the rat action is hot, the last thing I want is to run out of 20VT (or any other) ammo during a sunny spring day in the alfalfa patch. Come spring, we'll have Nosler/Norma 221FB brass to work on......finally!

Glad you found the joy of the 20VT. I wish I had jumped on it when TK bugged me back around '99 to build one. He told me "you don't know what you are missing". He was right, it's a sweet little round of the First Order. Best of luck with yours in the upcoming rat season.

Rick- My bad, I ment 200 cases!!! Plus the 100 prepped cases that came with the gun, that makes 300 cases for this little squirrel popper. For me, that is quite a bit! I think all the work is going to pay off on the target. Unfortunately, here in vermont all we have are tree rats and the occational woodchuck. My typical varmint of choice is the crow , and they like to hang out in fields and treelines (safety permitting) quite a ways out, hence the turrets. I am also hoping to test the effectivness of a 34 CRT on a bobcat this winter (with the 20VT)... Also to be clear, it was Keith in Ga that shot that little 200 yard group. Don't worry though, I will be trying to duplicate it shortly!

[quote="Rick in Oregon"]Neil: Yeah, my wife sez I'm a bad influence on my friends.....some of their wives must hate me.

Don't worry Rick, she pretty much stays on the west side of Mt. Hood! Captqc

Nice rifle....Good caliber.....Great shooter.....Good trigger.

Just a follow up guys. After forming and fully prepping my brass, I was finally ready to test some fire form loads. I loaded two fowler rounds and three five shot groups with 32 sierras and RL-7 (17.4, 17.5 and 17.6 grains). It was getting into the evening when I finally got out to the range and light was fading fast. Here are the results:



Lets take a closer look at that group on the left...



No camera tricks here folks, that is a .135" five shot group !!! This gun really shoots. All charges were trickled, and weighed with a new Redding beam scale. Standard deviation was 12 fps . At 3300 fps, this load wont be winning any races, but I just might be able to live with that for a fire form load. Groups were fired from left to right, and you can see how the worsening conditions (and my exited self) caused groups to open up. By the third group, my chrony didn't have enough light to work. More testing needs to be done, but I am seeing some major potential in this rifle! Many thanks to those that have helped me with this project.

Wow...what a Beautiful and straight shooting Rifle,love that low sitting scope for sure...all You need now is a Coyote running across that wide open Field?