243 is to large. Wink!

sdakotaguy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2014
Messages
107
Location
Eastern South Dakota
Admitted to myself last year about this time that the 243 is just to large to fit in one of my favorite micro action rifles. See The 204 Ruger introduced me to the CZ 527 action & I have always liked that little Mauser action. Though I grew up with a 6mm Remington which would have been enough gun for anything I have hunted over the years.

Well they did chamber the CZ 527 in 7.62 x 39 & more recently in 6.5 Grendel. Both fine cartridges in the right application I am sure. I own both & have liked the 6.5 Grendel just fine. Though I wanted the flexibility of a little lighter bullet while still maintaining a decent BC.

We are in luck as Hornady recently commercialized the 6mm ARC with a fast twist that looked very appealing to me. Gave Pacnor a call about this time last year to see if they could spin up a drop in barrel for the little 527. Initial answer was I do not think we can offer that. Though with little deeper digging They realized this in fact was one of their new offerings.

Well next I asked about a 7.5 twist 5 groove & low & behold that was going to be a new offering for them. Wasn't long & I had a 22" light contoure barrel on order. Late last summer the barrel finally arrived. My 1st custom barrel. What can be said other than there were no disappointments. Yes acquiring brass & bullets was a bit of a challenge.

By hunting season I had a few loads worked up for factory brass as well as fire formed brass made from Lapua 220 Russian. Settled on 2 bullets I was quite pleased with & chose the inexpensive pulled 95 GR Gold-dot type bullet for opening day of deer season. The expansion characteristics of that bullet had me sold on a bullet that would really hold together & shoot quite accurate.

Well opening day I passed on a small half rack buck. Following morning an extremely tall racked buck came in to the public ground parcel I was hunting. Only thing the wind was all wrong to make a move on him. The area he was heading for was an area I termed the buck nest the previous day when walking through the area it was full of fresh rubs scrapes & near ideal bedding area. I was fairly sure he would bed down for the day in the nest.

Went home for lunch and switch loads to the heaviest flattest shooting hunting bullet for the 6mm ARC. after lunch I stoped out at the rifle range & re zeroed the rifle with the 108 grain Elite hunter & was satisfied with a bit less than .75 MOA & spot on.
Back in my hide essentially stump sitting by 3:00 that afternoon Wind was cold & blowing hard out of the NW. until around 4:30 she started to die down. As the crow flies my stand was roughly 300 yards from where mr tall tines would have bedded down for the afternoon. As the wind started to fade The Blue jays could be heard calling out in alarm I expect as the buck began to make his way out of his nest. Roughly an hour before sunset I was busted by a buck that seen me before I seen him. He snorted & ran off.

To be honest I was discouraged confident the days hunt was over with having been busted, but then I noticed a large bodied deer heading out & around a slew bottom pretty much away from me.

]
 
Well as the brute stepped out of sight working around the slew bottom I opted to close the distance & see if he would do the same as he rounded the bottom cover. All this time the sun is setting & wind is dying down. Found myself as far as I felt comfortable going forward & in a small willow like tree. To my surprise as I snaked myself up in the willow like tree, an extremely solid rest was developed. The buck came into sight again continuing to close the distance.

Eventually he presented his full body Put his head down to sniff the ground at 254 yards per a range finder. The cross hairs were placed high the front shoulder the CZ 527 trigger was set & as things settled in solid, the trigger was touched & nothing happened. The trigger failed to fire:) Re set the trigger & settled the crosshairs again. This time when the trigger was touched there was a mild crack of the rifle going off & a thwap crack as the bullet impacted to be heard.

To my astonishment he was down & out right there. I had a deer cart back in the vehicle 3/4 of a mile back. By the time the cart was retrieved & I was back to the downed deer it was good & well dark.
Was getting really late by the time the deer had been dressed out & towed back to the rig time was near 9:00 pm. Good fortune was to be had as there was an approach I was able to back the pickup tailgate to, that placed the tailgate a bit lower than ground level. After he was properly tagged the cart was Just wheeled into the back of the rig with Tall tines on it. Secured everything forward & headed for home.

Was disappointed that lighting did not allow a photo in the field. The photo below was taken the next day.




IMG_3869.JPG
 
Last edited:
Had to have the deer tested for a cwd survey as this county had a captive female elk diagnosed w CWD 3 years prior. Little better than 2 weeks later I was given the CWD results via a phone message. This deer was negative. Called the conservation officer back to inquire on if any wild deer have tested positive in this unit. Couple days later I received the somewhat comforting response that no deer thus far have tested positive for CWD.

Lot of reasons for concern that deer hunting as we have known it may be in jeopardy in years to come. All the more reason to feel very fortunate for opportunities like this.
 
Well as the brute stepped out of sight working around the slew bottom I opted to close the distance & see if he would do the same as he rounded the bottom cover. All this time the sun is setting & wind is dying down. Found myself as far as I felt comfortable going forward & in a small willow like tree. To my surprise as I snaked myself up in the willow like tree, an extremely solid rest was developed. The buck came into sight again continuing to close the distance.

Eventually he presented his full body Put his head down to sniff the ground at 254 yards per a range finder. The cross hairs were placed high the front shoulder the CZ 527 trigger was set & as things settled in solid, the trigger was touched & nothing happened. The trigger failed to fire:) Re set the trigger & settled the crosshairs again. This time when the trigger was touched there was a mild crack of the rifle going off & a thwap crack as the bullet impacted to be heard.

To my astonishment he was down & out right there. I had a deer cart back in the vehicle 3/4 of a mile back. By the time the cart was retrieved & I was back to the downed deer it was good & well dark.
Was getting really late by the time the deer had been dressed out & towed back to the rig time was near 9:00 pm. Good fortune was to be had as there was an approach I was able to back the pickup tailgate to, that placed the tailgate a bit lower than ground level. After he was properly tagged the cart was Just wheeled into the back of the rig with Tall tines on it. Secured everything forward & headed for home.

Was disappointed that lighting did not allow a photo in the field. The photo below was taken the next day.




View attachment 321745
Nice story.Nice Buck.Not much width.But VERY TALL TINES!!! CONGRATS.
Now what was the deal with the trigger. Lady Luck Smiled on you with a second trigger set Congratulations.
 
Love those brow tines! Bet his rack looked like a tower in the field.

Yea I think I have seen some pretty nice deer over the years. Though when I first seen him at 650 yards that morning on private land my jaw dropped. Id say as much height as I have ever seen and yes it would be cool if he was a fair bit wider. Not that I am at all disapointed mind you.

As for the set trigger not functioning first time around, I find it has been my experience that this is more likely to occur when the trigger is set lighter & more common in the cold. I considered just bypassing the set trigger though patience and going with the flow allowed things to come together in fine fashion.

Thanks for the congratulations, all!
 
Early in life I had developed a flinch. Working through a few CZ 527's with an unreliable set trigger along with the lower recoil has gone a longways towards allowing the flinch to give up its ghost. When the firearm goes off & you flinch, the flinch is easy to overlook. Though when she surprisingly fails to fire & you flinch there is no missing that fact.:)
 
So, Am I a rare creature here that really apreciates the eficient capability of the 6mm ARC? I have been wanting for a fast twist Efficient rifle with a fast twist to fully take advantage of the heavier bullets for a lot of years now. Seem to recall entertaining this with the BR proud years ago & was shot down again & again.

Never owned a 6BR though I am shocked how well this ARC chamber is doing when compared ti the 6mm BR.
 
So, Am I a rare creature here that really apreciates the eficient capability of the 6mm ARC? I have been wanting for a fast twist Efficient rifle with a fast twist to fully take advantage of the heavier bullets for a lot of years now. Seem to recall entertaining this with the BR proud years ago & was shot down again & again.

Never owned a 6BR though I am shocked how well this ARC chamber is doing when compared ti the 6mm BR.
I love my 6mm ARC. I shoot it out to 1200 yards.Its done pretty well for me,And Ive got another one that a gas gun.It does good out to 1000.Ive not tried it any farther yet but Im going to.I like the 108 Hornadys best in it
 
Top