Well, guys, my goal was to do something different this time, and that was to find and stick with ONE load for this barrel. Since it was a 1:8, I wanted to see what the heavyweights would do out of this 26" Contender barrel. There were several loads that did extremely well, but I finally settled on the Hornady 75 grain A-Max Moly, Rem 7 1/2s and 24.5 grains Re-15. The load is moving along at 2900 fps and has over 1000 ft. lbs of energy at 200 yards, which sounds unbelievable for a .223 (I had to look at the charts twice to make sure I read it right).

I think this one is going to move well up on my coyote hunting "favorites" list. I generally like a little more punch than a .223 offers, but with this bullet (and the way it expands), I think I have just the ticket for any 'yote out to reasonable range.

The last group I fired with the barrel was 1.408" for 3 shots at 300 yards, and this was with only 12x of magnification.

I picked up this barrel off the AR classifieds, and it is the 4th VVCG barrel I have had the pleasure of owning. These guys certainly do build 'em right...

Mike-
I hope to go out tomorrow morning. I planned to do that today, but when the alarm went off at 4:30, I woke up to an awful sinus headache. Took some medicine and went back to sleep. (It takes a pretty bad headache to keep me from hunting. A couple of years ago, I hunted the morning after the doc told me I had bronchitis. And I got 2 nice hogs...)

Bobby, how far is Shiner TX from College Station as I'm going to Texas A&M this fall for a couple of weeks training?

Tommy-
If I remember correctly from the bridal I shot there last year, it was something on the order of 2 hours and 15 minutes. Maybe we can get together and swap a few lies or burn some powder.

Bobby I will either drive down or rent a car while I'm there and telling a few stories (Texas style) sounds good burning a little powder sounds great but can't bring anything since school and my employer forbids anything worthwhile.

Tommy-Sent you a p.m. with some info

Mike-
I was a little luckier with the hogs. It was bitter cold that day (that sounds SO good with the heat today!), so I field-dressed 'em on the spot. I did have to drag the one I got in the morning to a better spot, and that 30-40 yard haul felt like it was going to kill me!