Rick in Oregon
Gold $$ Contributor
The Pacific NW has been hammered by storms off the Pacific lately. We managed to squeeze in a few days at the ranch for some quality ground squirrel shooting in between storms last week. As we imagined, it was a bit of a mud bog, as we've had beaucoup snow this winter, followed by copious amounts of rain. No matter, the rats were out, and so were we.
Our rancher buddy was kind enough to park his equipment flatbed trailer at the edge of a rat infested field for us to set our benches up on; perfect elevation for quality rat shooting.
The view from my bench:
From past experience, I took fewer rifles than usual, as I got tired of taking six or more rifles and bringing home some of them un-shot. Too many targets, too little time....a good problem, right? My Cooper VR M38 in 20VT saw most of the action. This puppy shoots lights out to as far as I can see the little buggers.
Another rifle that seldom sees action off the bench is my little Browning 1885 Low Wall in K-Hornet. Shooting the 30gr Barnes Varmint Grenade over 13.5grs of 1680 at 3,350 fps was a joy. I normally use this rig for casual rock chuck walkabouts here, not bench work.
The little K-Hornet scored hits just shy of 230 yards on squirrels, and the effects of the little 30gr VG on squirrels was quite "vivid" to say the least.
A small area at the base of the large logs/posts at the end of this field was lasered at 283 yards...no big deal, but for some reason, this location was virtually loaded with squirrels. I'd launch one with my VT, and six more would appear scampering about. Just enough time to eject the fired case, reload a fresh one, acquire the rat and squeeze another one off. I'm thinking about 30 rats died there.
My buddy Dan put away his M700 223 and hauled out his "special chuck rifle".....Defiance 338 Lapua for some fun with a very shy rock chuck at 686 yards on the rock bluff above us. Dan is a "fun guy".....
Before dinner in my trailer, followed by some great "guy movies" (Den of Thieves, Sicario I & II), it was tailgate cleaning of the VT; don't want to stink up the living space.
Better weather is finally on the horizon, so the brass is in the tumbler, components on hand, Skippy the Flying Squirrel WILL fly again!
Our rancher buddy was kind enough to park his equipment flatbed trailer at the edge of a rat infested field for us to set our benches up on; perfect elevation for quality rat shooting.
The view from my bench:
From past experience, I took fewer rifles than usual, as I got tired of taking six or more rifles and bringing home some of them un-shot. Too many targets, too little time....a good problem, right? My Cooper VR M38 in 20VT saw most of the action. This puppy shoots lights out to as far as I can see the little buggers.
Another rifle that seldom sees action off the bench is my little Browning 1885 Low Wall in K-Hornet. Shooting the 30gr Barnes Varmint Grenade over 13.5grs of 1680 at 3,350 fps was a joy. I normally use this rig for casual rock chuck walkabouts here, not bench work.
The little K-Hornet scored hits just shy of 230 yards on squirrels, and the effects of the little 30gr VG on squirrels was quite "vivid" to say the least.
A small area at the base of the large logs/posts at the end of this field was lasered at 283 yards...no big deal, but for some reason, this location was virtually loaded with squirrels. I'd launch one with my VT, and six more would appear scampering about. Just enough time to eject the fired case, reload a fresh one, acquire the rat and squeeze another one off. I'm thinking about 30 rats died there.
My buddy Dan put away his M700 223 and hauled out his "special chuck rifle".....Defiance 338 Lapua for some fun with a very shy rock chuck at 686 yards on the rock bluff above us. Dan is a "fun guy".....
Before dinner in my trailer, followed by some great "guy movies" (Den of Thieves, Sicario I & II), it was tailgate cleaning of the VT; don't want to stink up the living space.
Better weather is finally on the horizon, so the brass is in the tumbler, components on hand, Skippy the Flying Squirrel WILL fly again!
