by Rod_outbak » 06 Aug 2018, 7:32 am
I went out yesterday sunset; it's been over 10 days since I last pokked grasshoppers, and I'm getting a little fretty.
Given I have been away, I havent had time to load up some more 125gn SST's for the Ruger, so I was making do with the 150gn Nosler Ballistic Tips; shot from the Rem 700 VSF .308. This rifle, which I call my Exploding Rabbit Gun (ERG), is in a TAC-21 chassis, and is still one of the most consistently accurate rifles I've ever used in my life.
[Since I loaded these BT loads up about 12 months ago, I have tweaked my reloading process, and so I'd like to fire them off, and re-do them.]
It's been a while since I've done much pokking with the Rem 700, and I've gotten very used to the configuration and handling of the RPR. But, despite the ERG being large, cumbersome, and a lot more bitey to shoot (no brake), I am yet again impressed with how it just reaches out and touches things at long range.
This rifle was the one that taught me that shooting beyond ~150 metres isnt some weird voodoo magic, but easily possible even by crappy shooters like myself.
Quite a few grasshoppers died yesterday; under the illusion that 250 metres bought them some form of immunity....
Nyet...
I'm pretty sure my sunset tally was around 22 grasshoppers, for roughly 25 rounds expended. I would have kept going, but I ran out of daylight, and the last 3 grasshoppers were nailed using the driving lights on the ute. Best guess the average target was around 170 metres, so I'm happy with that. VERY satisfying to see the grasshoppers fold up like they are a sack of spuds.
Excluding game like deer(which I dont get to see), I reckon the 150 BT loads have been one of the most consistent and predictable loads I've ever made up. They arent overly affected by wind, and hit hard. I've not noticed the BT projectiles being anything other than really effective. I dont load any SP rounds any more (the amount of lead they throw around when rattling around in the ammo-case in the car doesnt appeal to me), and while I use a few other Sierra projectiles, I dont use any of the Game King range. If I had seen an all-copper pill that opened up effectively on smaller game, I'd be using them a lot more, but many of the copper projectiles need to be trialled to see if they work, and I simply dont see enough of them in my LGS. So, I mostly use Ballistic-tip-style projectiles, and some of the HP varmint projectiles.
A couple of the grasshoppers last night were freaking huge, and the 150BT hits them REALLY hard. Overkill for grasshoppers in general, but the consistency in their performance, is hard to beat.
[Apologies; diverging a bit from the original topic, but kinda relevant...]
Cheers,
Rod.
---------------------
Sharing the extreme love with cats in Outback QLD