GHD: Wow! Thats some great shooting! The wind must have really been calm! Its been a long time since I had more than one Rifle shoot so well on the same day! Good for you and the care you obviously took in setting up those Rifles and finding great loads for them!
I clicked on the colored group numbers in your post and thought I would be going to a picture site - but no it went to a write E-mail format. I am not sure if that was your intent!
My good friend from Maple Valley, Washington and I finnagled a really good deal on a Remington 700 ADL (fiberglass stock) sporter in 223 Remington year before last. That Rifle shoots incredibly well! I have shot it in the field and seen the groups it produces! It shoots way better than the relatively low price would lead one to expect!
Yeah that might be a plan. What a great carry Rifle a 204 Ruger in Remington 700 ADL configuration would be! Do a trigger job and go Varminting!
Thanks for the info on the SS Ruger #1's. I have an old Honda 90 in great shape I may sell to get one of the Ruger 77V/204's. Yeah thats what I will do!
More later
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

WOW - WOW is all I can say this afternoon! The first wow is about the wind quitting here in SW Montana long enough for me to shoot 25 rounds through my recently purchased Remington 700 Classic in 222 Remington!

And the second wow is for how well the little Classic shot!

Last December I was at a Gunshow in the Seattle, Washington area when I bought this Rifle from an elderly gentleman who had purchased the Rifle new and claimed to not have shot it much. My inspection with a Siebert chamber/bore insection tool and thorough going over of the Rifle led me to believe him. I bought it and mounted a Weaver 4X16 (V16 Model) scope on it. I have been waiting since just after Christmas for a break in the wind to be able to shoot this nifty little Rifle. A trigger job was done on the Rifle before I bought it and it is crisp and light!

I loaded up 20 rounds to begin load testing with. I made ten rounds each using AA 2015 powder, Winchester brass and Federal 205M primers with one lot of ten of them I used the Nosler 40 gr. Ballistic Tips and the other ten used Sierras 40 gr. Blitz King bullets. After getting it on paper and fouling the barrel this morning with old 222 rounds, I began the test with the Sierra ammo. It produced two very nice 5 shot groups at 100 yards of .613" and .558" (average .585"!) I was sure this surprisingly good performance with the Sierras would not be beaten by the Noslers - but I was wrong. The Noslers gave me two 5 shot groups of .571" and .524" (average .547"!). To say I was happy with todays load test results would be an under statement! The .571" group made with the Noslers by the way had 4 shots in an amazing .260 one hole grouping! That group will go on the wall of my loading components locker with many other groups I have shot under the category of "Famous Fliers I Have Shot"! I use this wall of "flier reminders" as a form of self flagellation and humility! I keep my good groups in a drawer away from public scrutiny! I don't know why I do this I just do?

Anyway - I have yet to own a 222 Remington Rifle that has shot poorly or even just "fair to midllin". They have all shot real well to excellent!

Another part of todays test report will be on the Weaver 4X16 AO scope I bought for this Rifle. This Weaver was originally purchased by me about 5 years ago. I purchased several of them at the time on a wholesale deal and sold it to a friend for what I paid for it. $200.00 cash. I then bought it back from him in December just past as he had not put it to use as yet. I got it for the same price I sold it to him for. I have two others of these fine scopes on Varminters and have been very happy with them. I like the Du-plex crosshairs in them with the pretty fine crosshairs and small Duplex opening. I use this opening for ranging and winding estimation in the field. The Weaver needed to be moved only 1 1/4" to the left and 4 1/14" down from my bore sighting job to where I wanted the test ammo to print. I moved the 1/4" horizontal adjustment left 6 clicks then back to the right 1 click! At the same time I moved the vertical adjustment down 18 clicks and back up 1 click. Then I fired another round of my fouling ammo. That shot was centered in the orange 1" circle of the large target I was using for the fouling ammo to get on paper! In other words the Weaver 1/4" click adjustments worked perfectly! These Weaver 4X16's are well worth the money if you can get an inside deal on them! This Weaver is the matte finish but it is not to matte-ey as it looks very nice on the Classics high gloss action! I used an old but still unused set of Redfield bases and rings to mount the Weaver onto the Remington with. The rings are from the era where the ring screws are installed from underneth or the bottom side of the rings! They are a pain in the ass to mount but look nice once done. If you remember these rings I am sure you remember cussing them just as I did when I mounted them. Speaking of older stuff. I had a set of RCBS old (green cardboard box) but also still new and unused 222 Remington dies laying around. They were marked 1968 on the top of the dies. Anyway I have been on a Redding die kick for about 6 years and I had planned on buying a new set to go with this Rifle. I had been spending money like a drunken sailor in December so I decided to hold off and just try these "old technology" dies for this Classic. I am glad I did. I made up the test rounds in late Decmember and could not shoot til today. About a week ago I was bored and I put all 20 of the test rounds on my NECO bullet comparator tool. 10 of the 20 rounds had runout of .001" or less! Several of the other 10 rounds went as high as .0035" but many of them were as concentric as .002"! Not bad for "old" dies and unfired brass!

Well my spirits are lifted and I will be using the Nosler 40 gr. Ballistic Tip load in this nifty little walking Varminter! I can't wait to get it bloodied here on some Ground Squirrels.

Speaking of which on the way home from the range today I saw in one field - Antelope, Ground Squirrels, Golden Eagles and a field lion (feral cat)! I wished I had some ammo left over as I would have christened that Rifle right then (no Redial I would not have shot the Eagles I think I would have opted for the Ground Squirrels!)!

Aaahhh all is well in Montana!

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy

Is that the V16 Weaver? I've been checking them out along with the V24 and the Grand Slam. I assume you like it. Ever looked thru a V24 or GS. Your opinion?

Scott

Hello Varmintguy,

I've never met a deuce that wouldn't shoot well. I have two of the little sweethearts. They're my morale boosters.
I don't know how much you can improve on those groups without going to a higher powered scope. The caliber seems to shoot almost all powders and bullets well. Surprisingly enough one of my better groups came with the Nosler 55gr. Balistic tip, a .216" (5 at 100yds). I get my best accuracy with the Sierra 52gr. HPBT. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

VG, Sounds like a keeper for sure.....hard to find a 222 that isn't! Sounds like the Montana varmints are going to have a hard row to hoe with that one around! GHD

ScottinPa: Yes that is the model of scope I have - the Weaver V16. I should have listed it correctly originally. I really like them and like I said if a deal can be found on them I endorse buying them. At full retail I think there may be money spent better elsewhere.

Yes I have seen and looked through the V24's but only at gunshows and gunshops. Nothing done with them in the field at all.

Good luck if you are looking for one.



Cal: Amazing group that you produced there, and with Varmint bullets! Good for you! Any particulars on that Rifle you can share with us? Make, model, scope power etc?



GHD: Yes its just about time to lay down my reloading press handle (mine on my RCBS A-2 is removable for stowing out of the way) and get after the Colony Varmints! I am seeing more and more Ground Squirrels each day now. But still the large numbers are not active at this elevation yet (5,400').

Soon though!

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy, It was nice and still here this PM and about 60 degrees!! Couldn't hep myself! Had to go shoot!! Took the VLS 6mm out to try to duplicate what it did last week! I can live with .571@ 400 yards!!! That was the best group and a couple more around 1"@400!! (the .571 was 4 shots with the 5th opening it to 1.099!! I'll live with that too!!!) The 222MAG was also certified for the short stuff...300 yards! It could only do .296@200 and .563@300 so I reckon it's ready!! The Marlin VS in 17HMR fell off a bit today!! Only .830@100 with the Hornady ammo!! Must need cleaning or something!! The Savage Striker 17HMR with it's little cheapo NC Star 7x scope did 1.5 and 2.1" with the Remington ammo so I guess I'm about ready for the varmints to appear!! All in all a good day at the bench!!! Now I need a few hundred 6mm brass and a few hundred 87 grain VMax's and a few hundred 40 grain BT in .224 and I'll be ready!!! The .204 Ruger will hit about the middle of the season and then we'll play some more!! I've already got 100 round of the stuff to play with...just waiting on the rifle! There are 3 Ruger #1's on one of the auctions already! Lowest price for the SS #1 was $642.00 and that was last night!! Still had 9 days to go on that auction!! Another guy had a SS#1 for $779.00, BUY It NOW and still another had a blue, wood stock for opening bid of $995.00!!! Talk about playing the game!!! I'll wait for the Remington ADL Synthetics with 24" barrels for $379-419.00!!! Gaurantee you that I'll outshoot some of them high dollar guns (give me a week with it.... NO!!! I'll take the bet out of the box!!!!against the Rugers!!!!!) GHD