My Savage Chuck Gun

[dbHunterNY]

...got pulled from the back of the safe. Heavy. Only really use it to clear woodchucks from hay fields during the warmer months. Hope to have enough time this summer to tally up 100 for the year. Problem is I'm down to my last box of BlackHills 60gr Vmax. Tried some AE FMJ just to practice and box test with but holy hell the stuff isn't a good combo. 6" groups at 200 yrds! Compared to the routine 3/4" groups at 200 yrds I get with the BlackHills. I'll be ammo hunting or getting into reloading quick. Not good.

[airedale]

That is a nice chuck hunting outfit, tough to beat a Savage like that for accuracy. Like you said it is a little heavy if you are doing a lot of walking.

 

 

Al

[grampy]

Really hope that you can find more ammo. Big difference in POI for sure. Very nice varminter ya got there! Is that a Boyd's stock or original?

[dbHunterNY]

being an all factory setup I lucked out on picking Black Hills loaded with 60gr Vmax and it being sub-1/2 MOA out at some distance.  It's pretty hard to come by though.  Managed to find a box here and there each year.  SafeAct crap of not ordering ammo online is killing me.  I can try others but it's been cheap accuracy.  The blue boxes on the table are cheaper then their factory new red box.  They're reloaded from the factory and only $35 per box of 50 rounds.

[dbHunterNY]

Really hope that you can find more ammo. Big difference in POI for sure. Very nice varminter ya got there! Is that a Boyd's stock or original?

 

original but I honestly don't care for it.  harder to be consistent with grip versus some other stock designs.  despite it's a thumbhole it's really open no obvious place your hand ends up.  I was just intending to use the FMJ's for time behind the trigger.  wouldn't hunt or sight in with them.  i'll probably never shoot a round from the box of American Eagle again pretty much useless out of this gun.  blows my mind how poorly they shot.

[airedale]

I have been told that the FMC ammo in 223 is manufactured to function and give decent accuracy in the AR type rifles many of which have a different twist in their barrels from hunting type rifles.

 

Al

[dbHunterNY]

yea mine's 1 in 9" versus 1 in 12" but I still think it should do alright with a 55gr.  just doesn't like them I guess.  might try something else around 3100 fps with the same bullet if I can't get a hold of the Black Hills again.

[dbHunterNY]

burned through 7 more rounds today.  1 round per chuck but 2 got away to live for now.  second time out but i'm now on the board at least.  feel like the gun still isn't quite dialed in and i'm rusty.  very calm this evening and i missed a couple.  hard to say brush could've been a factor both times.  we'll see.  no pictures.  maybe next time.

[dbHunterNY]

on another note i noticed my sling was torn 2/3 through at the front swivel.  i'll have to contact Slogan Outdoors and have them send me another.  lasted several years so far.  kind of surprised it was torn as it's the magnum sling that a little beefier.

[airedale]

Good to hear you are getting some action, I took a ride down to Bass pro in Auburn a few days ago and saw about a dozen chucks out in the fields, the most I have seen in some time. Keep after em!

 

Al

[Critter4321]

Really nice set up you have there, I have a Remington 22-250 its a older one shows the years but I can say it shoots straight, longest shot last year was 347 yards and that's with federal factory ammo. I have the same problem with weight of the gun since I put the bi pod on so when i walking the smaller farms 100 yrd or less shots I remove it and use the triple shooting stick makes a nice walking stick and the gun lighter too.

[dbHunterNY]

Really nice set up you have there, I have a Remington 22-250 its a older one shows the years but I can say it shoots straight, longest shot last year was 347 yards and that's with federal factory ammo. I have the same problem with weight of the gun since I put the bi pod on so when i walking the smaller farms 100 yrd or less shots I remove it and use the triple shooting stick makes a nice walking stick and the gun lighter too.

 

the Ultraflex sling I use makes the heavy gun very comfortable.  almost always do but if I don't have the bipod attached then on the fly I can split the straps to support the rifle from both shoulders like a backpack.  it's the heavier duty one but still has a small amount of stretch so it gives with each step and doesn't beat up your shoulder.  most shots I stick to 250 yards.  beyond that it doesn't take much at all to miss a chuck.  I know of another guy that uses a 3 legged BOG pod to shoot chucks.  does really well with.

[maytom]

Just curious, did you think about reloading your own? You would never run out of your favorite rounds, and they can be taylor made for your gun to boot.

[dbHunterNY]

Just curious, did you think about reloading your own? You would never run out of your favorite rounds, and they can be taylor made for your gun to boot.

 

I have I've picked up reloading dies and shell holder.  I've also picked up components of CCI small rifle primers, couple cans of Varget powder, and 53gr Vmax bullets with a slightly better BC.  Enough to load probably 600+ rounds.  Reloading for me is still further out though.  I need time/loaded ammo to allow me to start reloading quality rounds.  first ones I'm sure I'm bound to make mistakes and they might not be as consistent.  I was up in Kittery ME not long ago and picked up some 55gr Vmax loaded by hornady.  that seems more available.  might shoot a bit better than the bulk pack AR rounds that I thought I could use for practice and verifying scope tracking at some point throughout the season.

 

this weekend i'll have time to test the new ammo probably in between finally getting out to do some turkey hunting.

[dbHunterNY]

So this Father's Day evening the wind was practically nothing. So I decided to try some other ammo I picked up, hornady super performance 53gr. Seemed to shoot MOA at least with POI down and to left from my regular Black Hills stuff. Spun the turrets to get it centered on the bigger dot. As a control to make sure the barrel wasn't getting warm/walking or anything else, I returned turrets to zero and sent some of my regular Black Hills 60gr ammo into the top left dot. US Quarter there for size reference. Target was at 200.1 yards. Really need to just find more of the Black Hills ammo some where. Tough to find though. Down to 20 rounds of it left.

[airedale]

Your rifle is liking those 60 gr bullets used in the Black Hills ammo, you should be able to come close to duplicating that load with a handload. Copy everything as close as possible using the same bullet, set your seating die to the factory Black Hills cartridge and pulling a bullet on a factory round and weighing their powder charge. With a bit of experimenting you will get pretty close and might even out do the Black Hills ammo with some tweaking.

 

As for the Hornady bullets,  personally never had much luck getting exceptional accuracy out of their 53 gr match bullets, the Sierra 52s and 53s match bullets always performed the best accuracy wise in my 22 cal varmint rifles. They are not an explosive bullet but they open up well enough for clean quick kills.

 

Al

Edited June 20, 2016 by airedale

[dbHunterNY]

Your rifle is liking those 60 gr bullets used in the Black Hills ammo, you should be able to come close to duplicating that load with a handload. Copy everything as close as possible using the same bullet, set your seating die to the factory Black Hills cartridge and pulling a bullet on a factory round and weighing their powder charge. With a bit of experimenting you will get pretty close and might even out do the Black Hills ammo with some tweaking.

 

As for the Hornady bullets,  personally never had much luck getting exceptional accuracy out of their 53 gr match bullets, the Sierra 52s and 53s match bullets always performed the best accuracy wise in my 22 cal varmint rifles. They are not an explosive bullet but they open up well enough for clean quick kills.

 

Al

 

yea right now I've got varget and 53gr Vmax bullets that were on sale.  might still pick up 60gr though.  I've got enough to load probably 600 rounds.  big fall back though is that I'm still working on getting all the equipment.  just other priorities to spend money on are slowing things down.  I figured I'd match the same OAL but for powder I'm not sure I can do anything different than work up a load the normal way.  If I get the same bullets I could maybe match the velocity printed but they probably aren't using the same powder.  they might even have a blend I can't get.  pretty much inevitable that I'm going to have to reload for it.

[airedale]

When it comes to the powder you will have to do some detective work, loading manuals will point you in the right direction to the favorite powders for that case along with online searches. A chronograph is also a good tool because you can check and match bullet speed, if the reloading bug bites you it will be a good tool to have.

 

I have loaded the 222 Remington mag for many years, a case very similar to the 223 that holds about  gr and a half or so more powder. I have got outstanding accuracy with IMR 3031 25.5 grs and a 52 or 53 Sierra match bullet. I am just getting started loading the 223 and I am going to try the 3031 with the Sierra bullets first backing off slightly a gr or so with the powder, it should shoot pretty good.

 

Al

 

Edited June 20, 2016 by airedale

[dbHunterNY]

It looks like all is well again. Unless you're a woodchuck. Another 250 rounds should give me two or so more years.

shot four more chucks over weekend. Soon I would've ran out. Not now.

[grampy]

Nice! Nothing like having a good supply of what your rifle likes best! Now go get some chucks!