powderbrake
Gold $$ Contributor
I just returned from South Dakota where we hunted prairie dogs on both state land tribal land. A buddy and I were in my Tahoe, and two other buddies were in their SUV. We hunted a Sunday and Monday on Tribal land, then Tuesday on State land. We relaxed on Wednesday and Thursday and then we hunted with my friend's son and daughter on Friday and Saturday. We have all hunted pd's together for about 10 years and my friend and I have hunted together for about 15 years in South Dakota.
As the title suggests, I had a new rifle and a new table for this hunt, as well as a newly rebarreled 22-250.
My new gun is in 6mmBR. It has a Stiller Predator V action with 20moa rail, single shot, right bolt, left port. It has a Krieger 28" #18 contour barrel with 1:8 twist, pillar bedded into a McMillan A3 stock with adjustable cheekpiece, Jewell trigger, Nightforce NXS 8 X 32 scope in Nightforce rings. I am shooting an 88gr Berger Varmint bullet, over 31.7 grains of Varget. This gun proved to be deadly on the dogs. The first morning ( when the dogs were close, 150 -250 yards), I hit 43 out of the first 50 shots. In addition, the barrel cleans up very quickly with Bore Tech Carbon cleaner and Cu 2 copper remover.
In the gun pic, I have inserted a spacer under the cheekpiece so I can return it to the exact position after cleaning, as the bolt cannot be removed until the cheekpiece is dropped.
As to the table. It is one that is sold by Custom Metal Products llc. I designed the table for the company (my son's company) after using several different tables over 30 years of PD hunting. I believe this table is superior to others on the market, both in rigidity and smoothness of rotation. The top is a unique shape which gives room where it is needed (the two elbows) and cuts off areas that are not needed, to reduce wind buffeting. The fit of the square tube joints is extremely tight, as is the long pivot bearing tube, and the machined mating surfaces of the Bronze thrust bearing make for easy rotation. When you get a sight picture it is rock steady.
Here is a link to the table.
https://www.custommetalprod.com/sho.../product/326-precision-varmint-shooting-bench
Note the seating position is very close to the center of rotation, so there is no wobble as you swing around to follow a p dog. I padded the seat with some foam rubber and vinyl.
You can see my equipment. A pair of Leica rangefinding binocs, a kestrel windmeter, a telescoping antenna with a piece of light yarn as a wind direction meter, an iPhone running Bulletfight Ballistics. I always range and check the wind on each shot and let the program give me the clicks. I use a target dot on all my scopes and I twist the knobs on each shot and do not hold off. Some of the other guys use Applied Ballistics.
Here you can see the room allotted to my right elbow, it is very comfortable, and you can lean your body into the table for a very steady and secure sight picture.
Here you can see there is plenty of room to support both elbows when using the binocs
Here is the shape of the top. It is made from very rigid 13 ply Baltic Birch plywood, and can be flipped over for left handed shooters. I have drilled shall holes in the top, so my front rest always drops into the same spot. The wind antenna is held on by a magnet, as I recessed a small piece of steel into the top. The top has space where you need it and is cut off where you don't need it.
It was a great hunt, I shot about 450 rounds of 6mmBR and about 150 rounds of 22-250. Outside of the first 50 rounds, I did not count actual hits. The 6mmBR is a great gun for prairie dog hunting. I had been shooting a 55 Gr Sierra Blitzking in my 22-250, but wanted something that would reach out a bit further, so I went to the 6mm, with the 88 grain. As it turns out, on this hunt we did not have a lot of longer range dogs. I hit a few at the 450 to 500 yard ranges, and missed a few a bit farther out.
I did notice that I was missing them high on the last two days, when the temperature was 96 to 100 degrees. In spite of Varget being an "Extreme" powder, I assumed my velocities were pumped up by the 40 degree temperature increase over my zeroing temperature. Next year I will take my Magnetospeed with me and check the velocities if it gets a lot hotter.
A great hunt, and I can't wait until next year.
As the title suggests, I had a new rifle and a new table for this hunt, as well as a newly rebarreled 22-250.
My new gun is in 6mmBR. It has a Stiller Predator V action with 20moa rail, single shot, right bolt, left port. It has a Krieger 28" #18 contour barrel with 1:8 twist, pillar bedded into a McMillan A3 stock with adjustable cheekpiece, Jewell trigger, Nightforce NXS 8 X 32 scope in Nightforce rings. I am shooting an 88gr Berger Varmint bullet, over 31.7 grains of Varget. This gun proved to be deadly on the dogs. The first morning ( when the dogs were close, 150 -250 yards), I hit 43 out of the first 50 shots. In addition, the barrel cleans up very quickly with Bore Tech Carbon cleaner and Cu 2 copper remover.
In the gun pic, I have inserted a spacer under the cheekpiece so I can return it to the exact position after cleaning, as the bolt cannot be removed until the cheekpiece is dropped.
As to the table. It is one that is sold by Custom Metal Products llc. I designed the table for the company (my son's company) after using several different tables over 30 years of PD hunting. I believe this table is superior to others on the market, both in rigidity and smoothness of rotation. The top is a unique shape which gives room where it is needed (the two elbows) and cuts off areas that are not needed, to reduce wind buffeting. The fit of the square tube joints is extremely tight, as is the long pivot bearing tube, and the machined mating surfaces of the Bronze thrust bearing make for easy rotation. When you get a sight picture it is rock steady.
Here is a link to the table.
https://www.custommetalprod.com/sho.../product/326-precision-varmint-shooting-bench
Note the seating position is very close to the center of rotation, so there is no wobble as you swing around to follow a p dog. I padded the seat with some foam rubber and vinyl.
You can see my equipment. A pair of Leica rangefinding binocs, a kestrel windmeter, a telescoping antenna with a piece of light yarn as a wind direction meter, an iPhone running Bulletfight Ballistics. I always range and check the wind on each shot and let the program give me the clicks. I use a target dot on all my scopes and I twist the knobs on each shot and do not hold off. Some of the other guys use Applied Ballistics.
Here you can see the room allotted to my right elbow, it is very comfortable, and you can lean your body into the table for a very steady and secure sight picture.
Here you can see there is plenty of room to support both elbows when using the binocs
Here is the shape of the top. It is made from very rigid 13 ply Baltic Birch plywood, and can be flipped over for left handed shooters. I have drilled shall holes in the top, so my front rest always drops into the same spot. The wind antenna is held on by a magnet, as I recessed a small piece of steel into the top. The top has space where you need it and is cut off where you don't need it.
It was a great hunt, I shot about 450 rounds of 6mmBR and about 150 rounds of 22-250. Outside of the first 50 rounds, I did not count actual hits. The 6mmBR is a great gun for prairie dog hunting. I had been shooting a 55 Gr Sierra Blitzking in my 22-250, but wanted something that would reach out a bit further, so I went to the 6mm, with the 88 grain. As it turns out, on this hunt we did not have a lot of longer range dogs. I hit a few at the 450 to 500 yard ranges, and missed a few a bit farther out.
I did notice that I was missing them high on the last two days, when the temperature was 96 to 100 degrees. In spite of Varget being an "Extreme" powder, I assumed my velocities were pumped up by the 40 degree temperature increase over my zeroing temperature. Next year I will take my Magnetospeed with me and check the velocities if it gets a lot hotter.
A great hunt, and I can't wait until next year.
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