Well, my beloved 7mm Bullberry has been feeling like the forgotten stepchild as of late as I've paid much more attention to a couple other barrels. And for a few months, it didn't even have a scope on it, but a recent black Friday sale changed that.

I picked up a Meopta Optika6 3-18x56 with the illuminated 4C reticle and got it sighted in just days ago. It's not what I'd truly consider a dedicated moonlight scope, but last night -- even with strong cloud cover -- it proved that it was up to the task and allowed me a shot on a 165 yard target under rather tough conditions.

I used my established load of the 120 grain Ballistic Tip driven at 2651 fps by LVR from the 20 1/8th inch barrel. The hog was on the move but not in any big hurry, so as soon as he was broadside and slowly moving parallel to my location, I put the small illuminated dot of the 4C reticle where I thought it would do the most damage and touched off a round.

I felt good about the shot but had no audible feedback from impact. I saw nothing moving but didn't see the hog, either. So I rounded up one of the twins (Andy), and we drove the tractor down to where the hog stood when I fired. Andy looked down at his feet and said "it looks like he parted with his innards right about here." Sure enough, there was a long spray of frothy blood and even a couple of tiny bone fragments. Shining the light directly ahead, the hog was stretched out on the parched grass and definitely down for the count. From the point of taking the bullet to where the hog dropped, the ground was painted red -- a blood trail anyone could have followed with ease.

The 120 grain BT performed as perfectly as it could have, breaking a rib upon entry, wrecking the lungs and taking out 2 ribs upon exiting. It did not touch the heart but did significant damage to nearby plumbing, resulting in the chest cavity being filled with blood (as were my left shoe and sock from being too close when the hog was being loaded!).

After loading him, I asked Andy how far from the spray to the hog. He said 20 yards. My guess was 18, but we'll go with his 20 since he was the muscle-power needed for the heavy lifting and even took the photo of the hog with my little rifle.

The entry tight behind the shoulder:




The exit:

That is quite the exit wound. Another night time success. What do you consider the best scope for the nighttime shooting you do the most? Be Well, Packy.

I've tried just about everything out there, from the S&B Klassics, Zeniths and Polars to the Zeiss Victory, Varipoint and Victory HT series along with Leica, Swaro, Meopta and Trijicon -- and even had both a 72mm Zeiss and Hensoldt here for a short while (did not own those 2!).

None of them are perfect. But for my usage, the optics that offer the very best performance are Docter Classic, Basic and Unipoint and now the Noblex N4 Vario. The N4 is only available in Europe right now, but I talked Noblex into selling me one -- and I just got it yesterday. It is the same as the Basic series, though the website notes a couple changes/improvements (they were not changed on my 2.5-10x50, though).

If I could not have the Docter scopes, the S&B Polars would be my 2nd choice.

By the way, after they switched to the Noblex name, I got lucky on the Docters and found them on major clearance pricing, paying less for 3 new scopes than the price of a single Docter V6.

Also, for one that is often available as a demo at a nicely-reduced rate, the Zeiss Conquest V4 3-12x56 with #60 reticle (made in Japan) does extremely well and certainly bridges the gap between so-so scopes and the expensive alphas.

The Meopta Optika6 3-18x56 that I used last nice is very nice and has unbeatable resolution for its price range (649-699 depending on the store). But it will likely be in the classifieds before long as I don't see myself keeping that one. I just don't see myself benefiting from the 6x zoom range and 18x on the upper end. I'd much rather another 2.5-10x50mm or 3-12x56 Docter or Noblex.

From the top: 2.5-10 Noblex N4 Vario with 4-0 reticle, Docter Basic 2.5-10x50 with 0 reticle and Docter Unipoint 3-12x56 with 4-0 reticle

Nice pig Bobby! They do look better when posed.( as much as a pig can!) I got the scope mounted and sighted in on my son's rifle. He has been busy so has not picked it up to try yet. Any progress on your lights?

Thanks to George (georgeld), I now have 2 as he recently sent me a solar-powered setup and my wife gave me an early Christmas with another set.

Everything is ready to go except now to wait for the feeder to be empty. We'll be moving it about 100 yards or so. There's a dead tree with only a couple limbs left on it, and this works perfectly for mounting the lights and the solar panels. The limbs are spread enough that the lights are angled to give the most possible coverage. All of that is actually ready...just waiting on the feeder which -- due to my lack of thinking and planning ahead-- we just re-filled.

Good reporting and good shooting Bobby! You should really be writing for several of the hunting and shooting magazines. You just can't buy experience.

God Bless, Louis

The detractors of Ballistic Tips say they will blow up on the skin. They're right. They just don't say the skin on which side.

Bobby:

IF you have them up now and working.
How about sharing a picture of the
setup. Getting them working ahead of
time should shorten the "breakin
period for the hogs".

Glad you got two in case the hogs knock
the tree down. HA!

Nice pose on this one. I'm not much for
thumbholes, but, you sure have some
colorful stocks. And do some fine shooting
with them.

Thanks for sharing. Did you weigh this one?

George

George- We will definitely get a picture but might wait till the feeder is over there to give some perspective. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to tell how the lights work since the ground is very flat there. Bev already had one ordered for me, saw the one you sent and decided to let me have my gift early so I could get them both up and running. Anyway, I'll get Andy to do a slow-shutter exposure off his tripod one night and will send it to you and post it as well.

Andy did the pose and the picture on this hog. That's why it is so much better than when I just leave them flat on the ground, etc. I was pretty useless other than driving the tractor and holding a flashlight, etc. LOL.

The TH stocks just seem to fit me very well, and it's what I prefer. I do have one with a traditional ambi stock, but I much prefer the feel of the TH. The conventional stock is on a 22" Van Horn barrel in 6.5x.225 IMP. I hope to bloody it with a hog before too long.




The fireforming loads (the 2 on the edges of the photo) with 120 grain Ballistic Tips are exceedingly accurate and have enouygh punch for hogs or deer. The on on the top center is formed brass loaded with the Speer Gold Dot Bonded bullet designed for the Grendel. It's the recovered bullet in the foreground. I'm drawing a blank on the impact speed of the recovery from test medium but want to say 1980 fps or thereabouts.

Forgot to say: we did not weigh this one. My estimate is that he went 120-125 or so.

Bobby, another fine harvest and a great write-up. Your T/C Contender rifles sure are performers!
P.S. That George feller sure is a nice guy, isn't he?

Bill:
Thanks for the endorsement.
Sure not what my kids and ex and
a few others have to say though.


George