December 7 was our coldest day in Dallas since last winter, and I figured with a low of 22-degrees that the hogs would be out moving.

I started just after it was light enough to see and still-hunted up wind for about an hour and a half when I heard the crunching of leaves coming my way from out of a draw.

This guy was making the crunching sound and appeared about 30-yards in front of me.



Not 20-seconds after walking up on him, I hear his girlfriend coming up the same trail out of the woods. We saw each other about the same time, and she ran a half-circle around me stopping about 70-yards away to look back.



I keep moving slowly up wind and about 30-minutes (and 100-yards) later catch this one about 50-yards away rooting behind a cedar bush.



Toothy, he was.



With this much activity this late in the AM, I decided to keep going. An hour later, I caught this nice boar sunning beside another cedar bush.



It's about lunch time now, and I'm thinking that I probably should get to the office and get some work for the day.

Started back to the truck and walked into another bunch of hogs. This one had a big sow and several 150-ish boars. I was about to back out and go around them when the sow saw me from about 10-yards. I couln't have any witnesses, so down she went (no photo.)

I'm about 100-yards from the truck now and run into another bunch about half way there. Fortunately for them, I was shot out for the day.

PS - I highly recommend the supressor.

Wow! Great cutters! Congratulations!

Congratulations on a great day in the woods.

Awesome day of hunting!

What caliber is the rifle? Load?

You had a heck of a morning! Congrats!

Now tell us a bit more about the load and the terminal performance...

The rifle is a 308 Win with 16.5" barrel, and I'm shooting 168gr Hornady A-Max bullets at 2500fps over (I can't remember exactly how much) RL15.

The 165 Nosler ballistic tip was my prior bullet of choice in this rifle, but I bought a box of the A-Max and found that that the rifle liked them a bit better for accuracy.

I realize the A-Max is not exactly a "hunting" bullet, but I usually shoot for the ear/neck and am a bit more concerned with accuracy in this rifle. After I shoot these up, I want to try the 165 GMX.

Very cool!

The 165gr Ballistic tip was the most accurate out of my old Savage Model 10FP in .308. I should have tried the A-max out of it. (Should have kept that gun as well)

Nice productive hunt.

I sure would like to know more about the rifle, and the stock, and the make and contour of the barrel, etc. That looks like a real effective hunting tool. I can't see what action that is, whether it's a Remington, or a clone, or perhaps a Winchester short action, or whatever. I like the bottom metal, and I like the stock pattern. One thing for sure, that's no ordinary rifle.

Thanks for such a great post. It's very inspiring to us who can't be out there right now.

KB

Wow - what a day! Congrats!

I'm with Kabluewy - need more details on your shooter...and what suppressor are your running?

I have used this rifle a lot more than I anticipated, and I would do some things differently if I had it to do over again.

It began life as a NIB Rem 700 5R which has the "sendero" contour. I sold the HS stock and bought a McMillan HTG (same as the M40.) The HS stock had too short of a grip for me.

Bottom metal is the now discontinued and hard to find Williams SS Oberndorf style.

I sent all of that off to Alex Sitman at Masterclass stocks, and he pillar bedded it for me.

Sent the stock back to McMillan, and they painted it (bought it unpainted.)

Rail is titanium and came from Murphy Precision.

The suppressor is a GemTech Sandstorm. It's made of titanium and worth the weight savings in my opinion.

Which is really my only complaint about the rifle... with scope, suppressor, etc, it weighs nearly 10 pounds loaded. That doesn't seem like much to tactical shooters probably. To me, however, that's med-heavy double rifle weight and too much for a 308.

Unfortunately, the only real way to save any additional weight is probably with a carbon-wrapped barrel and to lose the bottom metal (ADL style), but that's not really practical with a 700 (IMO.)

Yes, it feeds (most of the time), but not like a CRF action does.

If I had it to do over again, I'd go with a short Model 70 (CRF).
> Carbon Wrapped barrel.
> McMillan "Edge" filled stock.

I could save about 2-pounds with those options, but they add to the expense considerably.

Sight wise, I have a 3-9x40 Trijicon on it, and I also use an RMR on it for hunting in the woods.

This rifle consistently shoots half an inch (5-shots). I just wish it were 2 pounds lighter.

Anyone in the market for a 16.5" in .308???

Thanks for the info. I always like to learn something from other's projects.

Awesome rifle - awesome scope.

I researched a little further and found this article on the 700 5R: http://www.snipercentral.com/milspec5r.phtml

So, I'm thinking that you just had the factory barrel cut back to 16.5".

Weight - ah weight. It's always a balancing act. For example, I couldn't choose to loose the bottom metal. I just like the looks and function too much to go with a blind magazine. I also haven't grown to like the DBM.

I agree with you about the M70 Winchester (or FNH) short action. Certainly, in this thread, I don't want to start a debate of the 700 actions (or clone), but I'll just say that I really dislike them, and would buy practically any alternative before owning a 700 or clone. I would buy a Howa before a 700 any time, for any purpose. It's a personal preference, and I know many don't agree, and are satisfied with the 700. That's ok.

Lately, my interests in rifles has shifted toward something like you have shown in this thread. Something compact, handy and accurate, and suppressed. As a walkabout rifle, yes, something lighter than 10 pounds would be nice, but the rifle you have is certainly sturdy.

It's something fun to think about.

On the weight and cost thing, I have given it considerable thought. I'm not a tactical person, so in dreaming up the assembly of a custom rifle, I think more sporter than tactical. It's an interesting additional and significant factor, when considering the suppressor. That really drives most if not all the other choices. There's OAL, barrel minimum length, weight, choice of cartridge, cost, and other factors. Also the cost and availability of the suppressor is very significant. As I understand it, a can for the 308 is more readily available than any other caliber choice, except perhaps the 223, but let's not go there in this thread.

At this time, I'm considering the merits of the Encore platform. That solves many problems, but introduces one, which is the fast second shot is forfeited. It does solve the problem of weight, cost, OAL, handiness, etc. Another thing, it opens up the possibility of using a 16" 45-70 barrel, subsonic, suppressed, without sinking a fortune into the project, and switching to a 308 on the same frame and stock is easy. Cans are readily available for both the 308 and the 458 SOCOM. I figure that a suppressor for the 458 SOCOM should be near perfect for the 45-70 as well.

KB

"cans".....y'all are sooo lucky!

Nice pigs, nice rifle, and good story. Thanks for sharing.

Later....

Well done great shooting.

Actually at 10 lbs, with a fat barrel and a "can" that is not bad weightwise.

A Plastic stocked Mod 7 with the can, would be 2 pounds lighter.
The skinny barrel would save a lot of weight, and the factory plastic stock is also a lot ligter than a McMillian. [Let the record reflect that the McMillan synthentic stocks are the best]...

You would most likely have a 1" to 1.5" rifle, but it would be at least 2 lbs lighter.

I do not think the coyotes or pigs would know the difference.

My set up is a Sauer 200 cut to 17 in with a YHM TI can its light and gets the job done. Well done!!!

Ed