Got tired of my poor shooting with the .223 and so many runners so I bought an AR10 in .308 Got it zeroed and went out tonight and got in my spot at 5:45 as some have showed up as early as 6:15. Read until dark, then sipped coffee and ate cookies. About 7:15 I see one coming. Disappeared in the thick mesquite but then stepped out in the shooting lane about 90 yds away. Got on target, squeezed it off and the hog staggered away and i couldn't get off another shot but heard brush/limbs cracking so figured he went down. Had to walk a big loop as the creek is full and the two-track is too muddy to drive. Got about 2/3rds of the way there and the thermal scanner picked him up back in the mesquite. Walked up and he was wet, muddy, and all slicked down, but no sign of blood. Never found the entry or exit wound but both front legs/shoulders were "crunchy". Measured heart girth and length and the formula said weight was 183.6 lbs. Wish I could have driven to him and winched him on the scale as I would have bet he weighed at least 225.

Now that's the way to break in a new rifle!

First shot did the trick.

Congrats Dusty. Now for the follow ups---!

George

Could be he had enough of a shield that it sealed off the bullet holes! Being wet and muddy really make them hard to find. Way to break in a new rifle!!

Now the thermal scope is acting up and will have to go back to the mfr for repairs--hopefully.

Great way to christen the new gun! Congrats! I hope the thermal issue will be resolved for you soon.

While I am for the most part a Contender person, this little gem in 6.5 Creedmoor showed up here yesterday, and I think it's ready for a go at the piggies if they ever come back through here.

I've tried two loads, one with the 120 grain Nosler BT and the other with the Barnes 115 grain Tac-Tx (designed for Grendel speeds). I only used one powder: Ramshot TAC. Both bullets were plenty accurate from the 24" heavy barrel, but I will start out with the Barnes, which gave 2879 fps measured at 15 feet.

The target below was shot at 175 yards. I couldn't do 200 due to intervening limbs that need to be trimmed.

Now I just need a cooperative target to christen this one.

Bobby--got out of reloading several years back when my local range closed. Not willing to drive 25-30 miles to the two closest ranges although I might be able to set up a range on one of my pig spots. All the shooting might run them off and I don't want to do that.

Thermal is out of its 3-yr warranty so we'll see what they have to say. May be a new one in my future but I still have my old favorite M70 in .22-250 to fal back on. No thermal but plenty of light at both of the feeders I sit at.

bobby I am sure glad you are still kicking the tac.tx to get things done. your load for the 3030 works really well. no hog yet but yoat dog hates it! turned her inside out, almost like p-dog with hot 22-250. live well and prosper!

Bobby--scope is at the dealer being evaluated to see if it is repairable. If not, cost me $50 plus shipping and insurance and I can either get it back and sell for a .223 user, or it would be the best ever hand-held scanner although a bit big. If it isn't repairable they offer me one of their thermal scopes at 30% off. Just have to be patient until the techs get finished with it.

And, the AR is getting a new trigger--factory one was the pits--8.5# pull.

Yea...that hard of a trigger pull is not conducive to good accuracy. Hey, it's not a thermal, but if you need a scope in the meantime, I have a couple that aren't on guns right now -- and you are welcome to use either (or both) until you get the repair/replacement ironed out. One is a Meopta MeoSport 3-15x50, which has a small, illuminated dot that adjusts to a very dim level. The other is a Sig 3-9x40 with plex reticle. You'd need a shooting light for nighttime work, but the duplex in the Sig and the dot in the Meopta both show up very well. And the Meopta is good enough by itself in strong moonlight. Let me know...

Bobby, your new rig rig looks accurate and deadly.
That Nosler 120 BT shoots extremely well in the Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Grendel -- close to a half-inch at 100 over 29 grains of RE 15.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Bobby, your new rig rig looks accurate and deadly.
That Nosler 120 BT shoots extremely well in the Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Grendel -- close to a half-inch at 100 over 29 grains of RE 15.

Bill-

That 120 grain Nosler BT is hard to beat. It's proven itself time and again and has never disappointed me. As to the new-to-me rig, it's nice and certainly a shooter, and I love how the swell in the forend area allows me to steady my hold.

But I'm really not sure why I bought it. I still find myself reaching for a Contender when the need arises. Plus, I have a recently-acquired 20.5" Van Horn .270x.225 Imp (a.k.a. .270 JDJ) barrel that is longing to take a hog or coyote LOL.

I like that 6.5 CM rifle, but I may be giving some thought to trading or selling it.

Well, got the scope back--the techs could find nothing wrong. But, with an "attitude" I remounted it and headed to the range to confirm or re-zero. Took about 8-10 rounds but got it done and not glitches with the scope.

So, I have put the pigs on notice--

Good deal. I'm hoping to finish my current job in Canada and get to the central TX lease for a few days of pig hunting. I have a few good size boars showing up between 9:30pm to midnight. I'll sit out with the thermal.

A real cool function with the new Pulsar products is the motion ID alarm, when paired to your phone. If you can prop the rifle to maintain a view of the feeder, you then put it in motion ID mode, which turns off the display to save battery and it will alert/vibrate your phone when they show up and also start recording. Allows you to sleep out there all night if the weather is good.

I've found that I can get up really early to hunt or stay out really late to hunt, but I have to pick one or the other, my tired wore out self can't do both. This function might fix that.

Not familiar with that function—my scope is over 5 y.o. so that came along later. I was hoping they’d find a “not repairable” issue as then they offer a new product at 30% off and I could have a newer one. But, if this one works, I’ll be most satisfied.

Hunting anything is supposed to be a challenge between the hunter and game.

With all these new gadgets where's the challenge?

George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
Hunting anything is supposed to be a challenge between the hunter and game.

With all these new gadgets where's the challenge?

George

When shooting varmints there is nothing unfair.

If one wants to make it a challenge so be it. I love stalking pigs in the thick stuff.

If one is just trying to get rid of a pest anything goes.

For pig hunting , anything goes and it’s all fun

Got everything ready and went out last night even though traffic is light. The Montana guys killed 77 in their 4-wk stay. Found out they cover lots of ground using electric bikes that the pigs don't hear coming. Ride up close, dismount, and blast away. Their local buddy has cows on several places that they hunted plus he knows a bunch of folks who invited them in.

At any rate--nothing last night-not even deer. Went out today and mowed my shooting lanes--weeds were nearly waist high. Also ran the weed eater inside the feeder pen and inside the trap for good visibility next trip.

Mowing did nothing for my marksmanship—I can’t hit the broad side of a barn now. Missed the last 4-5 hogs I have shot at-none farther than 110 yds. I am so frustrated!!!

Went back to the same place I missed the last one and set my target at the feeder (114 yds) and took several shots off the same rest I have used or years—1.4” group of 3 clustered in the 10-ring.

Back this week and had two boars show up at 7:30, well before dark. Got set, turned the scope on, flipped the safety, settled in, squeezed it off and another miss! They circled and ran towards me and one stopped broadside about 45 yds away—bang and another miss. Night vision and AR10 are going into semi retirement and I am taking my old reliable M70 next hunt.

Only thing I can attribute my lousy shooting to is target panic—on live targets.