first Crow with new rifle!

[Neil S.]

Hey all! I've posted here a few times and am a frequent visitor of the site. Of you have helped me with some reloading issues and I finally have a load worked up that gives decent accuracy! Anyways, this morning I got up, ate breakfast, and was going to start organizing some things for the move back to college this weekend when I noticed some black dots over by the pond. (I am fortunate enough to have parents who own a 190 acre farm/orchard with plenty of space for shooting ). So I got out my rangefinder and savage 12FV, attached my new Harris S-25c bypod, and stepped outside. To my supprise the crows paid no attention (they are usually very alert while around our house with me and my brother around....). I sat down with my back against the house and ranged a couple of birds at 250 yards, and noticed that there was hardly any wind. I know that my round drops 4-5 inches at 300, so I waited for one to present itself, aimed maybe half an inch over its head and triped the trigger. After the rest flew off all I could see was a large black feather sticking out of the grass. My brother immediatly came out and we hopped in the truck to check it out.......

and the exit wound.....

I lazed back to the house, 241 yards! That may not be very far for you rat shooters out t here, but I was tickeled. Farthest kill to date! I found this piece of its wing about 10 yards away:

This truly is a great round and rifle! Can't wait to take some coyotes with it this winter!

[Neil S.]

O and I almost forgot. Round was a 39 BK, win preped case, 25.1 gr. RL-10x, and rem 7 1/2 primer.

[Captqc]

Neil, 241 yards on a crow is a fine shot! We rat shooters brag about shots from 10 feet to 600 yards! On the flip side I can't say in mixed company what we say to each other when we miss the "easy" shots! Thanks for the post! Gary

[futuretrades]

On the flip side I can't say in mixed company what we say to each other when we miss the "easy" shots! Thanks for the post! Gary

Hey Gary, all of us rat shooters know that we never miss the "easy shots" ! Say less than 300 yards Ya right!

Great shooting Neil.
For some reason, birds are way harder to hit than skippy, at least for me. Gary knows how much I like shooting crows and magpies!

[Rick in Oregon]

Ha! I can think of more than one lucky magpie that has an interesting crease in their feathers in various places on their feathery bodies, the creases are always about .204" or .224" wide. Some of those little buggers acutually can "feel" crosshairs, I swear! The actual body/target mass is about 1.5" square me thinks.

'Course, I can also think of some black and white "feather showers", left over from some very memorable direct hits. The best effect is the two wings floating down through the air, criss-crossing all the way to the ground when said flying rat is shot from a tree at range with a poly-tip. Great effects! Gads, I love high velocity bullets!

Neil: Nice work with the new rifle! Now baptised in varmint blood, it should now serve you well.

[assailant]

oh thats just brilliant! i am still hanging out to shoot a crow... horrible beasts. good job