Long range chucks :-)

Idgunner

Idgunner

Well-Known Member
LRH Supporter
Joined
Sep 29, 2014
Messages
194
Location
Pocatello, Idaho
Finally was able to take the neighbor kid (he's 30 but in school) out for a day to shoot chucks. He's been studying hard for the past several years and needed a break. I had him shoot one of my 223s that's loaded with Sierra 77gr TMKs. My Kestrel is programmed for that rifle/load and the MV is trued up to 900 yards. Once he settled down and got used to the trigger he popped six chucks in a row at 485 yards and was jacked. He told me on the way down to the farm that he thought 200 yards was the max for a 223. Made me happy to see that someone besides me can shoot my rifle and experience extreme accuracy.

I also took along my 25-06 that I've been working on for the same purpose. It's a Savage BVSS that I epoxy bedded the action into a Choate Tactical Custom stock and mounted a Nightforce NX8 4-32 X 50 scope onto. It also has an Erik Cortina Tuner/Break on the barrel. I load it with Berger 115 VLDs and it is sweet to shoot.

We spotted two chucks at 657 yards so I got that rifle out and dialed in the solution from my Kestrel. Got both chucks. The second one was laying flat out on a rock and went a couple of feet in the air with miscellaneous body parts going everywhere. I'm hoping that I will have an opportunity to get one at a longer range before they all go to ground for the season. (rock chucks hibernate early in the summer when their forage dries up)

It was a great day.
 
Awesome story thanks for sharing. I used to stop Pocatello all the time for sales calls and it would kill me to see all the chucks around. Probably my favorite type of hunting. What are the specs on that 223 77 TMK load? What's your experience as far as useful range? TIA
 
xsn10s said:
Awesome story thanks for sharing. I used to stop Pocatello all the time for sales calls and it would kill me to see all the chucks around. Probably my favorite type of hunting. What are the specs on that 223 77 TMK load? What's your experience as far as useful range? TIA
Click to expand...
21.8 gr of AR-Comp over CCI-450 primers. 2796 fps. 26 inch 8 twist barrel. shoots 1/4 moa.

I've killed chucks with that rifle out to 621 yards in no wind conditions. MAX effective range with wind is about 450 yards. baby chucks out to 377.
 
Idgunner said:
Finally was able to take the neighbor kid (he's 30 but in school) out for a day to shoot chucks. He's been studying hard for the past several years and needed a break. I had him shoot one of my 223s that's loaded with Sierra 77gr TMKs. My Kestrel is programmed for that rifle/load and the MV is trued up to 900 yards. Once he settled down and got used to the trigger he popped six chucks in a row at 485 yards and was jacked. He told me on the way down to the farm that he thought 200 yards was the max for a 223. Made me happy to see that someone besides me can shoot my rifle and experience extreme accuracy.

I also took along my 25-06 that I've been working on for the same purpose. It's a Savage BVSS that I epoxy bedded the action into a Choate Tactical Custom stock and mounted a Nightforce NX8 4-32 X 50 scope onto. It also has an Erik Cortina Tuner/Break on the barrel. I load it with Berger 115 VLDs and it is sweet to shoot.

We spotted two chucks at 657 yards so I got that rifle out and dialed in the solution from my Kestrel. Got both chucks. The second one was laying flat out on a rock and went a couple of feet in the air with miscellaneous body parts going everywhere. I'm hoping that I will have an opportunity to get one at a longer range before they all go to ground for the season. (rock chucks hibernate early in the summer when their forage dries up)

It was a great day.
Click to expand...
Good shooting my friend!
 
RckyMtnRutt said:
Yeah can i be your neighbor too?? Sounds like a good time and you got the guns dialed!! How is the cortina brake?? Worth it?
Click to expand...
Yes the EC Tuner/Brake does a very nice job. I still need to fine tune the barrel tuner but obviously it is dialed well enough to hit a small rock chuck at 657 yards. The brake allows me to stay on target to watch the bullet impact which I've not been able to do. This rifle with the factory stock jumped so bad that it would knock my cap off every time I fired it. Now it hops a bit but at these long ranges I have plenty of time to re-acquire the target. Very nice machine work on those brakes.

I have a pair of 223s that are almost identical and both shoot the same way. Any chuck under 500 yards is not long for this world. Now the 25-06 will stretch out beyond 500. Fun times.
 
I've used those STMKs in that rifle for a few years now. Killed three in a row one morning at 621 yards. longest shot that I hit a chuck was 905 yards. Not going to use that rifle past 500 yards any more. The 25-06 with the 115g Bergers is my 500+ yard gun. You are right about the TMK being very effective on chucks.
 
Idgunner said:
I've used those STMKs in that rifle for a few years now. Killed three in a row one morning at 621 yards. longest shot that I hit a chuck was 905 yards. Not going to use that rifle past 500 yards any more. The 25-06 with the 115g Bergers is my 500+ yard gun. You are right about the TMK being very effective on chucks.
Click to expand...
I want to build a 260 AI using a 123 gr eldm for chucks over 500 yards.
 

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