Well I have been watching and keeping track again this year and it seems that as of August 14th all the Gophers have ceased above ground activity for the year! I live in SW Montana at 5,400 feet elevation and in my local travels over the last 5 days I have not seen any Gopher activity above ground. This summer hibernation is called estivation (or also spelled aestivation).
Last year (and in previous years) I thought above ground activity stopping was closer to August 1st than the 14th (when it ceased this year). It was hotter this year though and with even less summer rain than in the past. But whatever the reasons they are down and it will be a long wait for the prolific little Varmints to reappear next spring!
Looking at my ammunition shelf just now it appears I got to unload 5 1/2 of the Federal Hollowpoint 550 packs this year - all on Ground Squirrels! Thats 3,000+ rounds through my main Gopher gun alone this year! Its a Ruger 10/22 with a Lilja heavy barrel and a couple new internal trigger and buffer parts only in it!
I am beginning to feel sorry for the nifty little Deluxe 10/22 I bought many years ago. I put 4,000 rounds through this Rifle two years ago and last year I lost track as I changed ammunition mid year. Probably about 2,500 to 3,000 through it last year!
I am going to have to guess at the total through that Rifle and barrel but it surely is more than 15,000! And maybe 20,000! How long do those little aluminum (?) receivers last! Other than a stovepipe jam every 10 to 20 rounds with it the Ruger just keeps humming along with real good accuracy and holding its P.O.I. from day to day!
Anyone have any thoughts on the lifespan of a Ruger 10/22 action?
Maybe I will keep an eye out for a steel action Volquartsen 10/22 this winter?
Maybe I am a worry wart?
My thanks to the Hunting Gods for a great season on the Ground Squirrels! There seems to be more of them every year!
Another thing I will be on the look out for this winter is Remington 17 HMR ammo for sale cheap! I brought on line a new Ruger 77/17V in 17 HMR this spring and it is just a wonderful performer in the Gopher fields (and Prairie Dog towns!). The ammo is a bit pricey but has been coming down around here lately! I went through about 400 rounds of it on Ground Squirrels this year and another 200 on Prairie Dogs, Rock Chucks, Badgers, Skunks and flying Varmints! This caliber is going to be around for a long time! Super performer lethality wise and very accurate!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Varmint Guy,

Interesting, I was listening to a Doctor here in town at the range talking about his 2 10/22s.

He and his son go a lot over to central Oregon and do ground squirrels over there. They both shoot 10/22's. He has been keeping track of the packs of ammo he has used over the years, and he indicated that his has over 50,000 rounds down the barrel, and same for his son's.

He also indicated that it is still as accurate as when he first got it. ( so so, but gets the job done he bought it for).

VarmintGuy: Forgive me straying a little off topic but how did your Ruger 77/17V perform out of the box. Did you need to do any 'nips' or 'tucks' to get it performing as you wanted it to?

I don't want to stray off topic either, but I am wondering about the Ruger also. I have a Ruger 77/22 in .22 mag. I have only put a couple hundred rounds through it .. but I had to replace the trigger with an after market trigger from Brownell's. The factory trigger was way too heavy. You said you shot larger critters with the .17... how did it perform? With the buffers installed... I think the 10/22 may outlast you...I also agree.. I was never able to get super groups out of my 10/22 but it was good enough to shoot P'dogs, squirrels, and such with it. Let's hear more!

Thanks

British & Bill22250: Oh I will gladly relay my experiences with the Ruger 77/17-VMBBZ. This is the 24" heavy barrel stainless bolt action laminated stock model in 17 HMR!
Wow - just WOW! I love this Rifle and the way it shoots and the cartridge is very lethal and accurate!
My Rifle came from the factory with a pretty acceptable trigger. That amazed me! It was 3 pounds 15 ounces and had the tiniest amount of creep! I shot quite a few excellent groups with it though before I changed over to the Volquartsen trigger sear and spring ($30.00 from Midway).
Those groups by the way include testing of all three brands of 17 HMR ammo - Remington, Hornady and CCI. The Remington shot the best in my Rifle but all three brands of ammo shot very well indeed. I have been very careful to only pick days to take it to the range when its nearly dead calm. The Rifle has yet to shoot a 5 shot group at 100 yards of more than 1.000"! Its best group to date was shot with the original trigger and it measured .502" for 5 shots at 100 yards! I am absolutely thrilled with that performance from a rimfire!
I have a straight 15X Weaver K15 scope on it now and it has worked very well all spring and summer for me! I may get a new scope for winter predator calling and night spotlighting. Something like a 4X16 Sightron or 6X18 Leupold.
I have killed so far Rock Chucks, Jack Rabbits, Prairie Dogs, Ground Squirrels, Cottontailed Rabbits, large black flying Varmints, a Badger, a Skunk and some other flying Varmints with it.
The Badger was a large male and was killed with one shot at a Leica lasered 172 yards! I was shooting Ground Squirrels when this big boy popped up out in the field and was lying in the mouth of his den or an enlarged Ground Squirrel mound! He was looking straight at me and I struck him right in the Adams Apple area (if Badgers have an Adams Apple!). The Badger died right their instantly (Remington ammo). This was a large male Badger I am guessing 17 pounds (I have pictures). I went out and retrieved this Badger and lasered back to my VarmintMobile and the Leica gave a reading of 172 yards! The VarmintMobile was hood on toward the Varmint field and I was standing when I shot on my tailgate using a full set of sandbags as a rest on the top of my canopy. Adding the distance from the grill of my extended cab VarmintMobile to the area the Rifles muzzle was located at the shot I am calling it an even 175 yard kill on a large and difficult to stop Varmint! I was impressed! I give credit to the excellent accuracy of the Ruger and the lethal Remington V-max style ammo! After I had posed for several pictures back at the VarmintMobile my partner recommenced harvesting Ground Squirrels with his Ruger 77/17 VMBBZ. He uses the Hornady ammo in his and has a Weaver V-16 scope (variable 4X16 power) on it. What do you know but up out of the ground comes another large male Badger! He killed it also with the 17 HMR! His Badger is at the taxidermist being made into a rug!
Back to triggers. My conversion to the Volquartsen sear and spring brought down the weight of pull to 2 pounds 0 ounces! No creep and VERY pleasing to use. My friends Ruger 77/17 came from the factory with a trigger pull of 3 pounds 2 ounces! It has no creep and he has decided to use it as is.
The largest Rock Chucks I have killed with my 17 HMR have been 5 to 6 pounds not the real big ones that sometimes present themselves. But the Chucks were all taken with one shot at ranges out to 125 yards.
The things I am impressed the most with about the 17 HMR is the flat trajectory, excellent accuracy and lethal (explosive?) bullets! Due to its speed (2,650 FPS) it also bucks the wind way better than any other rimfire!
I have shot about 700 rounds through mine so far and have had no problems or disappointments at all!
Might I suggest this site for you to go to and research more on the 17 HMR - rimfirecentral.com
they have a robust section on the 17 HMR's! Read back and get an eyeful of the outstanding groups people are shooting with various models of the 17 HMR's! One especially great shooting 17 HMR was a Ruger 77/22 Magnum until it got a new 17 HMR barrel from .... I forget now but it shot a .368" five shot group at 100 yards and the same Rifle shot a .600" group at 100 yards with 4 shots in .198"! This is a pretty new conversion but the guys is sure happy (pictures of groups included on that posting).
More later - let me know if I can help!
In review of your posts inquiries I add - the only changes I have made to the factory Ruger 77/17 was the trigger parts from Volquartsen.
Good luck if you decide to try one!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have a Ruger 10/22 Deluxe that received a full length bedding job, a Power Custom trigger/sear kit and an old Weaver k2.5. Shoots .5" at 50 yds all day long, no stovepipes. I KNOW it will outlast me. JMO but too many people spend too much money on the 10/22 trying to make them shoot. I've done two like this and they both shoot the same, just with different ammo. Mine shot 1.5-2" prior to the work. Know a few others with similar experiences.

In the hall of fame for firearms the 10/22 is a lock for top 5! My father bought one in 1975? Ther is an untold # of bricks of ammo through it, can still hit aspirins at 50 yards. (excellent target practice and fun BTW - ritz crackers are good too!). I think the 10//22 is the mustang of rifles EVERYONE makes something for them.

I have never owned the 77/22 andI have a question-is the barrel attached to the receiver like the 10/22? and if so could you attach the 22 mag barrel to the .17 hmr rifle? Would make a neat little switch gun .

Andrew

I have had a 10/22 for over 15 years. Considering what I did to that poor rifle (never cleaning it, using it to hit a few raccoons that didn't seem to get the hint etc), it still shoots like the day I first got it.
A guy I work with has an old 10/22 from his wife that he got just before they got married. 30+ years and God only knows how many rounds, it still functions and shoots accuratly. Can't say the same about my Dad's Nylon.