What kind of varmint rifles do you have?

[Krusty]

I'm not going to say what kind of rifle I have.
When I posted in the deer hunting thread, I was told I need to replace it "with a good rifle".

I didn't come here (just) for the abuse. LOL

A piece of advice, for anyone who wants it... never tell a guy his wife is ugly, his kids are stupid, or his firearm is a POS.
It's just plain rude. 

Krusty

[Krusty]

P.S.

Here's a target I shot with my "no good" rifle;

Three shots, @ 50 yards, open (iron) battle sights, with a load my rifle likes...



Krusty

[Ray]

I'm still checking out ammo on my new varmint killer CZ 527 in .223 with a Leupold 4x12x40 AO.

We loaded up some Hornady V-max 40 grain .224 with Hodgdon Lil Gun in Remington Brass.

I can get under 1.5 inch groups regularly at 100 yards and sometimes on top of each other or intersecting holes. When I move out to 200 yards the best I can get is 1.5 inch groups but usually 2-2.5 inches. I need to work on my shooting I'd blame it on something besides myself but I don't believe in that yet. Hehe.

I saw some fellows on another forum that were getting way better shot groups than I was with a similar model. I was wondering if those people shoot with fancy rifle shooting rests or are they just plopping their rifle on some bags and going for it (which is what I do).

One of my partners has a Cooper in .22 Hornet. That thing is like a shiny, fancy, accurate toy. I wish it was mine....

[Krusty]

Ray,

Do you know what the twist rate is on your .223?
And do you know how heavy your trigger is set?

Another load to try is the 50 gr V-max, driven by Varget (I can't remember how much off the top of my head).
Also try the Remington bulk .224" SPs, I dunno anybody who's gun doesn't like them.

You'll find that the AO scope is awesome for static shooting, non-moving targets at constant distances, but in hunting situations you end up rarely having clear focus of "everything" all at once.
Even for diggers, you'll have to make adjustments a lot.

I have one that's been retired to the bench/target .22lr.
 
Krusty

[Ray]

1:12 Twist

Not sure about the trigger. Whatever the factory gave me. I am used to heavy triggers and I feel really good with the way it is now. I don't plan on tuning it much or at all as it seems to have caused some strange side effects for other people when they have done so on this rifle. Or so I have read anyway..

I like the AO scope. It's always nice to see the critters' lips curl back after getting hit. It seems to be just fine for shooting at very small targets. There's always infinity which is what all the other scopes without AO are probably set at anyway... I have a couple of other scopes which are not AO models... Although it was not the critical selling point for me I managed to get it for the same price as one without this feature.

I'll consider trying out some new loads in a few months. I believe I have another setup which is only slightly different next time around with Alliant Reloader 10. Thanks for your suggestions.

[Krusty]

Ray,

A 1:12 twist is in the middle of the road, not as fast as 1:9 or as slow as 1:14.

Your rifle will probably shoot mid-weight .224 bullets best.
Leave the 30-40's for the smaller faster twist chamberings, and the 60-70's for the larger slow twist chamberings.

The mid-weights are well contructed when compared to the lighter, and should have significantly less "splash" problems on mid-sized game.

The bulk bullets I mentioned before are very tough, maybe a little too solid for diggers, but again one I highly recommend for predator calling or plinking.

I'm suprised to hear that about the CZ trigger? I would expect it to be one of the more "servicable" triggers you can get on a production firearm.
DJ's Pawn and Loan, in Bothell, has a good smith working there. He does most all of our trigger work, and we've been very happy with his work.

Krusty

[Ray]

I have also shot some remington ammo out of it and it is no more or less accurate than the hornady loads we put in there. Those were 55 grain bullets. I believe 40 grain is just fine for shooting sage rats and squirrels.

As far as the trigger is... the way I feel about it is that it is working just fine. If it isn't broken don't fix it is my policy on that one. I'm sure it can be tuned just fine. It's unclear what other people were doing to theirs..

There is a fellow who is a friend of a friend which has the same exact rifle as I do. I think I will go share some notes with him on reloading tips as well.

[Krusty]

Ray,

The 40 grainers should do awesome for that size game, but unless you spin them faster, they will not be as stable or buck the wind as well.

The only reason I mentioned the trigger is, I thought it might help reduce the size of your groups (bedding the action is the other thing I'd advise).

Nowadays triggers come from the factory with "lawyerized" settings, and a slight reduction in weight (not to the point of being touchy) will take you to the point rifles used to come off the shelf with.

I recently tried a trigger on a new rifle, and it broke one of my biggest rules on triggers... "you should not be able to lift a rifle by the trigger."
At a little over 7 pounds, it was a detriment to proper shooting, encouraging "jerking" on the trigger (and requiring a hard enough jerk to upset point of aim and your grip).
Many off the rack rifles fail the pick-up test.

Krusty

[littletoes]

Krusty, I think you might have gotten it backwards, you need faster twists for longer heavier bullets, not smaller bullets. You see, the heavier/longer bullets need the faster twist to stabilize, and smaller bullets, used with faster twists have the probability to come apart, usualy inside 50 yards. Most light weight varmint bullets have very thin jackets, and can't take the faster twist.

AO (Adjustable Objectives) can be "adjusted" either frontwards or backwards, but if you have the Side adjustment, you need to always adjust from Infinity to the target. This ensures proper paralax. Just something to know....
 

[Krusty]

Littletoes,

Yeah, I did get it backwards.

Geeze, egg on my face' eh? 

You're right a longer heavier bullet (or even a longer lighter, in the case of a solid copper bullet) needs to spin faster.
Because of it's shape, like comparing a top to a pencil, the longer bullet has to spin faster to stabilize.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Backwards or frontwards, though, I am gonna stick to my advice that Ray should stay in the mid-weight catagory with his choice of projectiles.

Krusty

[littletoes]

Well, no prob, maybe you can help keep the egg off of my face. I seem to apply it heavily at times! 

Mid weight bullets won't wear out the firearm like the heavies anyway! 

Always look at the good side I say!