Dartmouth Egg Shoot

[jo191145]

Howdy Folks

Just got back from the Dartmouth Egg Shoot. Still got guns on my mind.
Thought some of you might like to know. My Savage 204 did not let me down. It brought me home the trophy for 300yds factory. I can't for the life of me remember the score but I think I whacked 15 eggs with 18 shots. Not too bad for no wind flags and 24oz of coffee on the drive in. I need to learn to drive two hours at five am without java. I shook like a leaf all day but I sure love my morning cup of joe..
At 200 yds I came in second and blew it in the shootoff against a Savage 223. I take full responsibility for that. My bad.
My Win 748 load sure showed potential on the sighters with some fliers. At 200 it was doing some bugholing but would throw one out from time to time. POI shifted between relays but thats always been a common occurence for me. The barrel sure did not seem to want to shoot cold. Hot was best.

I did use a different lot of untested 748. Just had no time to try it and not enough powder of the original lot to load up 100rds. I brought home 19 loaded rds. Without flags sighters are the only way to keep track of conditions and I'm not shy.

I remeber RIO stating he shot 98 Ground Squirrels in a row with a (223 AI I think) out as far as 350 yds. That my friends is one heck of an acheivement. Applause inserted here RIO.

Off topic my Savage action VLP stock with a third hand Pac-Nor 6BR barrel won the 200yd custom event.
I consider this the toughest event to win. Five shooters made it into the shoot off with a perfect score of 15 for 15. Really not to hard for customs with a halway decent load. We then shot five more eggs laid down so they're exactly round. Still not that difficult.
We then moved on to 45 ACP brass. It was here I had difficulty. My Docter Optiks 8X25 scope was having difficulty seeing them in the late afternoon shade with a grass background. I was told originally I was shooting at paintballs but could'nt tell the difference.
Luckily I only had to hit three of them before the competition fell by the wayside. We never got to the paintballs.

After shooting 7 hrs straight and 174 rds of competition in three different rifles today I can tell you this much. I'm exhausted. Good night folks and God bless the 204.

[Hotshot]

Great job jo, thanks for the report.

[acloco]

WOOOHHHOOOOO! Ringing the winning bell for Savage AND 204's!!

[Ray P]

jo191145 ............Way to go on the egg shoot. I always wondered how the the 204 would do at an egg shoot. You did it! Congrads and good good shooting!
Nice write up........ thanks!
Later
Ray P

[204Shooter]

Ha ha! That's cool. I think you just prompted me to go kill some eggs. I have never shot an egg before but am sure interested to know what happens!

Way to go and congrats!

[Captqc]

Were those white or brown eggs? If they were brown that would be like looking for a sage rat head poking out above the crop. Not an easy thing to do. Sure sounds like you had a good time. Gary

[jo191145]

Thanks for the congrats folks. If you all are anything like me you enjoy hearing tales of the 204 triumphing in competition against many other excellent cartridges.

Captain, They are white eggs. They used to paint them orange a few years ago in an attempt to make them easier to see for folks with modest powered scopes. I think they determined Orange gets a little funky optically speaking when mirage comes into play. Brown would definately be harder and scope quality would become a big factor I think. Might just become a competition of scopes over accuracy. And Yes I always have a blast.

204 shooter, Eggs are pretty fun reactive targets that do not need to be cleaned up afterwards. I shot 66 eggs myself. I'm not sure how many they go through altogether but it must be quite a few. I've been told theres a few local yotes that come out and feast on the remnants that night or even the next day. hint hint

I've always shot Bergers in my 204 at the shoots. Not the best choice for vaporizing light mass targets but accuracy comes first. I was running the 35's at 3950 fps. Any solid hit gives a pretty good show. The egg never feels a thing. I promise.
My bet for best vaporization would be 32gn Sierras at warp speed. Maybe the Varmint Grenades too.

Oddly enough my 14 twist 6BR stole the show in the effects department. I was the only custom shooter using Varmint bullets. 58gn V-Max at 3550 fps. I had quite a few people come up behind me while shooting and tell me I must be hitting them dead center because they were hearing the thwack and they simply ceased to exist. I could even hear it myself but thought I was crazy until others mentioned it. I've never heard an egg die in the three years I've been going.

After the shoot was over the "egg crew" who remain behind a berm but can watch the eggs get killed all told me the same thing. They said my eggs died with an explosive thwack and vaporized while the other folks shooting match bullets simply broke and splatted. They were quite pleased with the show.

They could'nt find my "range trophies" either. The three pcs of 45acp brass I shot were no where to be found. They promised to search better the following day and award me with them at the next shoot if they turned up.

Explosive effects on the egg is more than a show, its a strategy. The more violence downrange the better the chance of getting a freebie ( two eggs broke with one shot) It sure does'nt happen often but I did get one Sunday with the BR. The fact they're cheap is nice too!

[Hawkeye Joe]

Way to go with that ugly rifle. Did they let you shoot Ostrich eggs because you brought such a hideous stick to the event?? Sounds like you had lots of fun. Don't tell me you won another 50% off a new Savage?? And don't forget to drink a couple barrels of Jo before you shoot your postal targets




Edit: Hideous stick = rifle
With my luck your wife came along

[jo191145]

Hawkeye
Mount a NF 12X42 on top a VLP in 204 and its amazing how pretty they become.
No 50% coupon this time. I blew the second shot in the 200yd factory class shootoff between me and one other guy shooting an ugly gun. Ok by me. Its his first win and I still have a ugly gun coupon kicking around here somewhere. No desire to hog them.

Rumor on the bench is next (last shoot) month the award for factory 200 will be the ugly gun coupon and a 50% coupon from Sierra for up to $5000.00 worth of bullets. I personally don't shoot Sierras but that coupon might fetch a nice chunk of change on the web. I might have to try a touch harder at 200 yds Oct 19th
sssshhhh this is only a rumor at this time and subject to change but I'll bet the "custom" guys are dusting off they're old ugly sticks. I'm thinking I'm gonna need more ammo as the shootoff could go on all night.

Personally I think the Sierra coupon should go to the custom class as factory shooters already have the ugly gun incentive and they're the type of folks to spend $2500 on a big box of bullets. This would effectively put me out of the running cuz I can quarentee these guys will NOT let the NEW guy win again but I still think its fair.

Come to think of it Mike I can't recall any factory class event being won by anything but an ugly gun. Go figure. Admittedly the benches are fully lined with ugly guns which puts that stats meaning in question.

Now if you can get your Predator to shoot half as good as your LRPV it might be a good time to make the long haul. Predator= factory. LRPV= custom. Sorry but thats the rules.
It would put you in good steed which ever way this rumor pans out. If your LRPV is still shooting the way it did when your earned the "Big Dog" title you should be serious competition even in custom class. Something to think about.
I'm getting quite used to losing to 204m members and have no qualms about doing it again
Yep, still havent shot my postal targets and my optimism is down but I'll get to it shortly. There will be coffee involved. Let the chips fall where they may, I really don't have the time left to start over and coffee is an intregal part of the morning.


My ex is quite thin but even I would'nt call her a hideous stick

[Hawkeye Joe]

Jo
I still have to live up to a challenge my 300 yard prone match buds put on me. 40 rounds in the 2 inch X ring in during a match! 20 rounds in 20 minutes, score targets then 20 more in 20 minutes. All from the prone position. Well, I accepted the challenge and will be shooting my LRPV in the last match of the season. My best to date is 28 in the X ring with a bipod and NO rear rest. For some reason, I never shot any other rifle but my AR in the 300 yard belly match. This October 5th the LRPV is getting the nod. I'm sure I'll "get er done" if it's not windy.. I just might might move my NF to the LRPV for the day . MORE POWER ARR ARRR ARRR ARRR..