"Humble Henry" gettin' ready for PD safari.

[RGRobinett]

Al Nyhus and I are taking The Humble One prairie dog shootin' again - been about 4, or, 5 years since the last sojourn in WY. Humble acquired a pair of X-caliber barrels, which he promptly fit & chambered: one for .20Vartarg, & the other for .20 Practical. These are his initial fire-form targets, using LAPUA brass, from the .20 Prac. These are no-turn neck deals. The velocities seem a little slow, but the barrel certainly shows some potential. I've advised him to F-F on the PDs! The VarTarg wasn't exactly a dog either! RG

 

[Eddie Harren]

You and Al get to have all the fun. Just being in the same area with Henry is a HOOT!

 

[JimPag]

Al Nyhus and I are taking The Humble One prairie dog shootin' again - been about 4, or, 5 years since the last sojourn in WY. Humble acquired a pair of X-caliber barrels, which he promptly fit & chambered: one for .20Vartarg, & the other for .20 Practical. These are his initial fire-form targets, using LAPUA brass, from the .20 Prac. These are no-turn neck deals. The velocities seem a little slow, but the barrel certainly shows some potential. I've advised him to F-F on the PDs! The VarTarg wasn't exactly a dog either! RGView attachment 1004392 View attachment 1004393 View attachment 1004394 View attachment 1004395 View attachment 1004396

Randy. Just make sure Henry remembers where he is and what he's there for. You don't want him to start setting flags. He'll be alright.

 

[Tommie]

How will you hit prairie dogs with those terrible guns?

 

[hogpatrol]

My 11 twist loves the 40 BIBS but negatory on the Lapua brass. It sucks compared to plain jane Remington range brass in MY no turn rifle. I'm at 23.7 with N133 have gone higher but accuracy fell off. I tried the 205m and BR4s, negligible difference in the two. I'm jumping them .010. Next best bullet is the 39BKs. Have to drag out the magnetospeed SD card but IIRC, velocity was in the neighborhood of 3650.

Just checked, velocity average five shots was 3636, 24" barrel. You will knock the snot out of those PDs for sure.

 

[17VLD]

Sounds like an awesome time will be had by all.
Can't wait to try out the 40 BIB's I got from a guy named Al.
Bet they shoot ok out of the BAT SV in 20 Duster.I bet you will be amazed how far you can take pd's with the 20VT.
Matt

 

[RGRobinett]

Henry experienced a slightly rough start with the Prac. & once-fired .223 LC braas - he was wanting to be cheap- -the LAPUA brass cut the average F-F group size in half. I believe he'd have done better following annealing/drawing-back - he was observing a lot of spring-back with the 1-F cheap brass.

I finally got the VarTarg FF/initial powder test pics - will post those later - he went right out of the gate with LAPUA .221FB brass and will not regret it.

Jim, and Eddie - yep "Humble" IS a HOOT! And, the second best shot on the safari!
We're going to have enough time to, "learn 'im to go Western", and livive without the pink flags this time! That last trip was 2012 . . gettin' old(er) fast. RG

 

[redrockranger]

Forget the Lapua brass. LC 09 and such works just fine in the 20 Practical.I doubt you will know the difference other than in your wallet.

 

[RGRobinett]

Here are the pics of Henry’s first outing with his 20VarTarg/X-Caliber barrel - in all, he shot six 3-shot groups (100Yd.): two with each of three powders: AA2200; H-4198; IMR8208XBR.
With each powder, Humble used a starting charge weight, and then, added 0.3 Gr. for the second group - he was just doing a quick comparison - looking to see if there would be a BIG difference in any of the options. All were loaded with the bullet 0.010” off the lands. It appears that, as with his 20Practical, the fire-form loads will prove adequate for dispatching prairie dogs.RG

 

[RGRobinett]

Could post only 5 pics - here's the sixth VarTarg group.

 

[Uthink Uknow]

Could post only 5 pics - here's the sixth VarTarg group. View attachment 1004546

 

[Uthink Uknow]

I'm going out there this weekend and issuing ear plugs to the rodents. They were complaining about all that talking last time Henry was out there.

 

[tclaunch]

Humble Henry cross fired on my target at Piedmont way back when. I let them score target and didn`t re-shoot cause it was plain where the 2 groups were. He was so embarrassed, he apologized umpteen times, I knew then he was a good as gold fellow. Rag him for me....jus a little.....

 

[RGRobinett]

My 11 twist loves the 40 BIBS but negatory on the Lapua brass. It sucks compared to plain jane Remington range brass in MY no turn rifle. I'm at 23.7 with N133 have gone higher but accuracy fell off. I tried the 205m and BR4s, negligible difference in the two. I'm jumping them .010. Next best bullet is the 39BKs. Have to drag out the magnetospeed SD card but IIRC, velocity was in the neighborhood of 3650.

Just checked, velocity average five shots was 3636, 24" barrel. You will knock the snot out of those PDs for sure.

Humble experienced some chronograph issues: first, he shot the MagnetoSpeed bayonet! Besides HIM, who could do THAT?!!? I suspect that the velocities registered are close to 200 FPS short of reality - local pal, Mike, runs his Pracs at about 0.2 Gr. less than your charge weight, and his reliable Oehler says just short of 3700 FPS at about 15'. Mike advise that if he goes over 23.6, with his [N-133]Lot, groups open - similar to you experience. Humble fired all of these groups @ 0.010" off just touching.

So, I believe Humble's second chronograph (don't know brand) produced bogus, though consistent velocities. It cost HIM $176 to replace the bayonet - WOW, I'd have thought they'd have had an IDIOT warranty - then, he was afraid he'd shoot it again! Thank goodness, my idiocy has not reached that low level yet! BTW, compared to both Mike's and my Oehlers, my MagnetoSpeed runs very close to, "right on"!

Am I out of touch, and, that next 0.6 Gr. of n-133 produces almost 200 FPS??!!?? I haven't seen that via my .204R, or, 20BR barrels. I did,with the 20 Cals., learn, the "hard way", about increasing in 0.5 Gr. intervals!

In the end, I'm betting that even HIS velocities are anemic, the prairie dogs won't know the DIFF!RG

 

[hogpatrol]

Am I out of touch, and, that next 0.6 Gr. of n-133 produces almost 200 FPS??!!?? I haven't seen that via my .204R, or, 20BR barrels. I did,with the 20 Cals., learn, the "hard way", about increasing in 0.5 Gr. intervals!

In the end, I'm betting that even HIS velocities are anemic, the prairie dogs won't know the DIFF!RG

The following pertains to load testing with the small calibers. I don't move up more than .2 including with the .223 Remington. On the really tiny stuff, .1 grain. For an example, in a .17 Fireball, I've gone from smooth bolt lift to pierced primers in .2 grain.

Additionally when switching powder lots, I'll initially load three backed off at least .2 grain from the previous proven load and shoot them before doing a large number of rounds. It pays to sneak up on these smaller capacity cases.

 

[Carolina Hillbilly]

RGRobinett......Maybe you could talk Ol' Humble into joining our group here......He's about the most knowledgeable guy in my area, but I've not seen him at the range for a little while. I miss that guy.........

 

[SmokinJoe]

Humble Henry is well coached on the 20's, believe me.

 

[RGRobinett]

Humble Henry is well coached on the 20's, believe me.

Talk about help - Joe, thank you for your assistance regarding the 20VarTarg.

Regrettably, I am still checking the mail - every day - have been expecting the reamer since before Christmas . . . maybe today! Per you recommendation, I scored a pair of the X-Caliber barrels (1:11" & 1:9"), but, for "back-up", also bought another PacNor 1:11", as they have all been great shooters, but thus far, only .204 R, & 20BR (the latter is unbelievable in a rockchuck colony!).

I am so desperate, that I'm about to pack one of the X-Cals and send it off to Humble, and have him mistreat it the same way he did HIS! I'm told that HE just grips the reamer shank in a vice-grip, turning it occasionally, as he taps it in with a ball-peen hammer. Have you witnessed this?

More seriously, it appears that his VarTarg reamer is, at least, ok. Further, I'm impressed with the X-Cals - two-for-two, "right out of the gate"!

As we discussed, my VarTarg project is for another purpose: based upon Humble's results there's hope.RG

 

[pmg]

RG any word on those dies for a 50gr. bullet yet?

 

[RGRobinett]

RG any word on those dies for a 50gr. bullet yet?

Regrettably, still no word - it seems that I lived (survived) to wait! As with the chamber reamers, I've been looking for the dies every day, since forever . . . remain stuck on 40 Gr. max. weight.RG