Yesterday afternoon UPS delivered a new .257 Roberts barrel for a short action I have been hoarding.As soon as I get it screwed in and head spaced I will "blood" it on a field lion.I think it will cause good JUJU.I'm thinking V-Max is the way to go.

What a lovely combo !!!!!!!! anew rifle is like having a new son you gain great plesure watching as it progresses and nothing beats that first long range kill. That makes you sit back and tink how the hell did I hit it that far out??????? I say good hunting and may your shots fly true

I have one of those Kickback, #1 that has seen a bit of work. My intention when purchased years back was a deer rifle for the wife. "It's too heavy!---It doesn't hold enough bullets!---It kicks too much!---I never heard of Ruger, I want a Winchester!" Well, she's gone, the rifle is still here. That's loyalty for you. Fact is I have several Rugers that are content to hang with the other riff raff in my locker.

Well, to get to the point, I spent several years trying to make it shoot deer rated bullets to no avail, groups of 2.5-4" being the norm. Then one day I tried some Sierra 90 gr BTHP loads as a lark, and the results were tantalyzing to say the least. Natchez sent me a box of 75 Vmax's and 85 BT's and off too the range we went.

Couple of oddities along the way. I found that ultimately the VMAX was capable of being driven at higher velocities, but at an equal charge level the BT's were faster, and consistantly more accurate. I suppose it has something to do with bearing surface or some such. H380 and RX15 were the powders du jour for me, ultimately I settled on RX15 due to lower ES data from the Chrony. Accuracy is a relative thing though, for I did fire a group of .77" for 22 shots with the VMAX load using H380 in a time span of about 10 minutes, starting with a cold barrel. Never tried it with RX15, don't see the point. IIRC the charge for my favorite load is in the upper 40 grain range, OAL right around 3", Fed. 210 primers...

BTW, I have empirical evidence that BT's are effective on crats at 400 yards when launched at 3400 fps, give or take. I've made 'em go faster, over 3500 fps actually. Trickled over the 3600 FPS barrier one day with the VMAX but extraction was not proper so they cruise at about 3500 fps which gives them no advantage over the BT. I am left to wonder why I would want a .22-250 when ballisitics are considered. Neither is a high volume cartridge...

Dan

Pres., TYHC

www.Ned.RobertsNI

Dan I love it when you talk dirty.I'm a little slow on the rebarrel job.Will get to it at the end of the week.

Only 3400 to 3500 with an 85 gr bullet! I know that is more or less normal but it seems slow since my 300Wby spits out a 180 Bronze Point at 3350. It is a very early Mk5 with Magnaporting and the recoil minimal. Just a random thought! derf

Jeez derf, I didn't know you hunted varmints out there in the Rockies, or the Cascades, or whatever bumps ya have... If it weren't for all the powder and noise I'd have one of those too. Excellent Lap Lynx tonic I'd guess. Well, half the bullet, half the powder, whaddya expect? There's a guy out of Pennsylvania by the name of Darryl Cassell that shoots .338 SMK's at about 3200 or a bit more with a .416 case that's been bent a little. 40" barrel....the Darryl Barryl . He's pretty scary good with the thing.


Dan

Pres., TYHC

www.Sharps.VarmintBuster

Gophers Are a bit scarce here on the coast and one has to go into the interior or further north to get in to decent huntable numbers BUT the tree rats are numerous and also provide a fine "red mist" effect when encouraged to do so. derf

Got the "Bob finished tonite got to work on loads tommorrow.Pa Wolfer and I took a break from working on Ma's new chicken coop(a 12'X60' Monstrosity) and shot some gophers with the .223.Used 50 gr.V Maxs,as usual.Pa did most of the shooting.He had a string of 11 straight going before he missed.Whacked one at 337 yds.Paced off from the portable shooting bench(truck hood) to the carnage.We will soon get to shoot "baby gophers".