Special Varmint Rigg's Let's See EM! and Tell Us Why? Not Favorites, but SPECIAL!

[snert]

Superior of Dryden 22 PPC (Pindell spec), Clyde Hart barrel, chambered, barreled, and smithed from 222 BF to PPC by Fred Sinclair (his personal rifle) painted by Becky Sinclair, stock by Chet Brown/Lee Six. I use it for groundhogs....
Very special

 

[ELR LVR]

Accurized Ruger No. 1
.17 Hayes Jet
Canjar Set Trigger
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It is special because it was one of my Dad's Varmint Rifles he had built.
and even more so because supposedly (even though some people may have already been wildcatting this round) my Dad got credited for the development of the cartridge and named after him... as noted on the Neil Jones Invoice for the Custom Dies he had to have made. I doubt Neil Jones would have done that if it had already been documented by somebody else.
(Them was some expensive dies even back in '94)
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I never thought about it yet until now but just googled it to see if there was any documentation and found a Post from 2009 from the Varmint Hunters forum about someone else having the same chambering.
My dad never even owned a computer or cell phone so I know this wasn't his post lol
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Bullberry 17 Jet

I'm going to look at a Contender barrel in 17 Jet. Unfired, no brass or dies. Has anyone had any experience with this round? For some reason, it caught my attention. I've tried calling Bullberry, but get busy signals for days. Have found references for 17 super Jet, etc.

www.varminthunters.com

Of course I have a 17 Hayes Jet!

The Hayes Jet is just a slighly shorter than the standard 17 Jet. Using a 25 gr Hornady JHP It chrono'ed 3710 fps with 17.5 gr of AA 2215 BR & grouped .178" as my best group. Mine is a Ruger #1.

Brass is easy to make. Get the neck started with the Bullberry double ended neck forming die, full length size and fireform. The practical advice is that if you don't have a crying/dying need for a rimmed case 17 cartridge, just go with the 17 Fireball. I built my Ruger in the mid '90s when there was no 17 Fireball. Of course practical has nothing to do with wildcatting so just knock yourself out.
Hope this helps some of you guys spend your money.

 

[snert]

Arisaka 220 Swift (prior to rebarrel by Hart) I bought it for $400 with a Lyman scope. Special because a good friend owned it, sold it to me. The only good rifling was in the last 7 inches of barrel, but I killed groundhogs at over 600 with it. I have no idea how! Has my first scope on it...1979 Weaver T10 I bought new when I was 14. It crushes groundhogs and I had another barrel in Swift put on it just because this old closet find (The Swap Sheet) has made many great memories and embarrassed multiple guys with custom modern varmint rigs. I call it "the Pig". She is 17 pounds of Blued Steel, Stainless polished barrel, steel scope and walnut. Hart's told me it was the only Arisaka they ever did, and that I was crazy to do it. But it shoots 1/4 inch, so I don't know how crazy that is! They do amazing work in Apulia NY.

 

[swd]

My Hyper Single ser.# 002
View attachment 1633249

Butch, what’s this beauty chambered in?

 

[butchlambert]

Butch, what’s this beauty chambered in?

257 Roberts

 

[Gabe22BR]

View attachment 1635101
Superior of Dryden 22 PPC (Pindell spec), Clyde Hart barrel, chambered, barreled, and smithed from 222 BF to PPC by Fred Sinclair (his personal rifle) painted by Becky Sinclair, stock by Chet Brown/Lee Six. I use it for groundhogs....
Very special

Where’s the 20VT ??

 

[snert]

Where’s the 20VT ??

I didn't have any good respectable photos of it.

And the special part is a secret. But I love it.

 

[Ackman]

Here is on of my “squirrel rifles” it started as a R700 varmint special in 222, that was new to me in the early 90’s. I restocked it with a used Mcmillan HBR stock that has worked great from out custom made pivot benches

I wore it out with AA 2015 and 50 grain TNT’s, rebarreled with a LV contour shilen in 222 and shot another 7500-8000 rounds from that barrel. The barrel was toasty and my batch of brass was also done.

I went with a Bartlein 12 twist in 221 FB on it this time. I still have some 50 grain TNT’s left and they shoot .5 MOA so I will be shooting it with those on the next trip.





View attachment 1630338

Looks familiar..............my 40X / 22BR

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

1970's vintage Remington 700 Varmint Special chambered in .222 with a Unertl 15X. Everytime I look at it, just takes me back to a special time in my life when I was a young man...

View attachment 1630428

great rig still in 2025.

 

[dvraa]

Not a very good picture but these are my varmint rigs. The revolver is a BFR with a 10" barrel chambered in 45/70. It's loaded with a hard cast 365 grain w/gascheck Ranchdog bullet over 32 grains of 4759. It's kIlled 7 coyotes so far, it's VERY accurate!
My new rifle features a Dumoulin action, a 27-3/4" Bartlein barrel chambered in 25/06, a Jard 5oz trigger, Bell&Carson stock, and a Bushnell Pro Match scope. The 70 grain Blitzkings shoot a one ragged hole group at a 100 yards. I haven't had it long enough to really get other loads dialed in yet

 

[Gabe22BR]

First blood

 

[Ackman]

This one's special. Doesn't look like anything special, just a 22-250AI in a McMillan stock. What makes it special is the Walther barrel.....14tw, chamber 0 freebore. First 35 rounds were finding a fireform load, and cleaning afterward yielded NO copper/blue on patches. 2nd 45 rounds were on pd's and again NO copper afterwards. Third time out was also shooting pd's, fireform load, and after 90 rounds the first patch had only the faintest hint of blue, and after that first one nothing.. These weren't pussycat rounds.....fireform load was a 50BT @ 4113, cooking right along. With formed brass those 50's are over 4200. And the barrel just doesn't copper. Plus, after over 1000 rds fireforming and with formed cases, the throat has grown less than .005". I'd never have expected that. Best barrel I have.

I shoot only 50 ballistic tips and RL15 has been the best powder with light bullets in the 22-250 case, both std and AI. The 39gr. load is what I shoot. Next node is 42.2 but there's little bit of bolt resistance.

Target shot off the truck tailgate. Parke sideways to wind wiich is hitting it broadside, gusts to 11mph. Not the best conditions, but a very nicely accurate rifle which has been just poison on countless pd's and chucks. Very special to me.

 

[Hotshot]

A traditional combination. Pre64 model 70 in 220 Swift. The stock is McMillan in Winchester Marksman configuration. Scope is a Leupold/Premier with dots out to 500 yards. My Dad bought this rifle in 1947 and it has had 8 barrels over the years. I don’t know how you can get more special.

 

[Bugger Picker1]

I'm not a snob, but I've found it no more expensive to have mine built, or at least acquire them that way! I find I always get my money back this way when I decide to go another route or if I tire of them. This one is special, inexpensive, and versatile. Savage Axis, had it trued with the firing pin bushed, and put in a laminated stock made from Luan by my gunsmith. But it is one rifle I will not sell. I might add to it, as I have done once, but it will be here even if I don't use it anymore.

I had an old 27.5" 6mm AI Pence barrel I took the entire throat out of 30 years ago and had setting in the safe for 25 years. This was a barrel made by Ron Pence, a good friend. I had about 1200 very hot varmint rounds thru it when I parked it, as I could no longer get the copper out of it in one cleaning session, besides, the accuracy was down around .6" and no longer acceptable.

I decided with the help of my gunsmith Fred, to try an inexpensive way to see if it would once again rulethe varmint fields in NW Ohio. So Fred had a Laminated stock blank he had glued up out of baltic Birch luan.In the white, and inletted for a short magazine Axise. I say short mag, as the Axis is one size fits all, the ghost lug on the bolt, and the stock is what determines long, or short. This was white as snow, and hard to stain, as the pores don't accept stain well at all, but since had no money and just time in the unfinished blank, I got a great buyt on it! A needed requirement to see just what I would end up with.

Fred thought after scoping it, about 4.5" of throat was gone, with some aligator back running a bit further, and if we got beyond that, the barrel still had some good days left in it. So he cut 5" off the breach end and fitted the HV tapered barrel to the Axis and cut the new chamber for a no turn 6mm BR. Man what a tack driver it came to be once again, At 3500 fps with 62 grain Bergers rode hot with H322 it will shoot in the .3's when I do my part. Not shabby for a barrel with over 1200 loads that was totally shot out 30 years ago!

I tried to stain it with light walnut stain, which was very Blotchy! Then I got an idea, the Black Walnuts were dropping in my back yard, They stain anything they touch, so I goy the cut blank from the But when I cut it and installed the pad, so I tride one of those dark dead rotting ones, and way to dark and dirty looking, Then a green one, it made it yellow? Finally I found one that was just turned enough to be yellow, with some brown spots starting to show,,,, PERFECT, at least to me what I wanted.
View attachment 1625031
Persistence prevailed
View attachment 1625030

Fitted with a 6-20 Zeiss Conquest w/a Z Varmint recital, and amazing varmint reticle, easily calibrated to most any bullet speed combo for dead on aiming points out to 600 yards, and it works!! It was reasonably priced from a retired Zeiss rep? No questions asked!
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Then two years ago, I acquired, quite accidently, another Pence hand cut rifled barrel in a 1-9 twist .17 cal. Ron hasn't built barrels in over 25 years now, and the .17 mach IV was his favorite varmint rig. So when I found this on a Panda action, Shilen TT, and McMillan Graphite BR stock, a total cluster flop that had been road ridiculously hard it was a 24" Javelina. I bought it all for 500 bucks.

I took the barrel to Fred and had him give it the same treatment, since we had no way to scope a 17 barrel, I rolled the dice! I decided this was also in a heavy Varmint taper to cut it the same, 22.5" and chambered to the 17 Mach IV, and make the Axis a switch barrel, 6BR 17 Mach IV, the lord seriously moves in mysterious ways!
View attachment 1625035
View attachment 1625033

That target was the first day out with the 17 Mach IV barrel, and said wow, were done with load development! I shot 4 different loads, all three shots, and none over.4", that largest was running a solid 4200 fps, way more than I need in a .17, and not interested in eating up an antique barrel I can not replace, since Ron won't make them anymore. it has never shot over .25" at 100 yards @4000 fps with some change, and I won't take the time to try and squeeze more out of it. If I played with neck tension, seating depth and load a bit, that 4200 fps load be be as good as this 18.0 grain load @.25 moa. But for no work, on day one just seeing what was safe loads for this gun, I ain't wasting time tuning for what might be just a tad more meaningless accuracy. hell It's a 200 yard caliber, and I don't need anything else.

This rifle wears two barrels Made By a true craftsman, by hand, other than deep hole drilling. hand lapped then Hand Rifled. But 25 years ago, a little longer, but me or he can't really remember the day he last used his hand built from scratch barrel table! I have 3 of his barrels total that I will not part with, and today, only hunt with them. I don't want new loads, and don't want to waste this on paper. I want to enjoy them till I can no longer squeeze the trigger on a rifle. I hope that is decades away?

I pretty much agree with your theory. I have owned 3 older benchrest rifles that were sleeved Remington's. One was a PPC that I had rechambered to BR one was A 6BR when I bought it. One without a barrel. All in 3" wide bench rest stocks. The 2 BR's were high round PPC's but would shoot 5/8" groups consistently, Not good enough to win matches but better than most Varmint rifles. Yea, before you start, I have shot some bug holes with all of them 22-250AI included I am talking day in Day out no wind flags, Just sit down and shoot. You lie to your friends and I will lie to mine. Let's don't lie to each other. There is a book "Bench Rest Shooting Primer" by Dave Brennan, On the cover is a guy shooting a nicely Painted Bench Rifle with a sea of wind flags in the back ground. The Shooter is Jim Meyers. The rifle is an XP-100 sleeved in a homemade purple anodized sleeve. I bought that rifle from Jim. In today's market blue printed Remington's are not worth the expense of the action and machine work but, I still upgrade what I already own.

 

[kevin nevius]

My brother got me hooked on the shooting sports as a kid hunting chucks in the bean fields of NE Ohio, and I am so grateful - he is gone now, but the awesome memories remain!

I decided to prep a gun for 2025 for some LR chuck hunting and FTR competitions. It's a Fullbore Panda on a handmade stock - built for the 2015 World Championships (I was a member of the US Palma Team). It's a 223, setup for 90 grain Berger VLD's using a 7 twist Benchmark barrel. Preliminary testing is sub .300" @ 100 yards consistently with no real load development. This load was 2775fps at the muzzle, and still north of 1400fps at 1000 yards.

Not sure how special it is, but my son and I are looking forward to finding out!