Spike Camp

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Topics - BB340

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6
1
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / New rifle for the stable.
« on: September 10, 2024, 09:22:11 PM »
I bought this 2nd hand .257 Wby mag a couple of weeks ago. It came with a Zeiss 2.5-10x44 scope. I worked up some loads using the 100grn Barnes TTSX and several different types of powder. And well just about every load I tried shot absolutely terrible! I'm talking 3-4+ inch groups at 100m. With the exception of AR2217 (H1000) which I manage to get one group just on 1.5 inches. To say I was extremely disappointed would be an understatement.
I hadn't cleaned it before going to the range as it looked quite clean. So anyway, I set about to give the barrel a good scrubbing with some Bore Tech copper cleaner. And when that first patch came out it was bright blue and filthy. I ran several soaked patches through it followed by heaps of scrubbing with a nylon brush. I kept on doing that until after almost 50 patches they finally came out with no sign of copper fouling. I then used some more solvent targeting leading and powder contamination. It took quite a few more patches but they then came out nice and clean.
I didn't really like the Ziess scope that was on it, so I put on a Leica ER5 2-12x50 scope in one-piece medium Leupold lightweight rings and bases. 
So back out to the range with it and it turned into quite a good shooter. The 1st and 2nd shots would always be touching or close to it but then the 3rd would shift about 1/2-3/4 of an inch of to the side. It would constantly do this. But I was happy with it as those first two shots are the main ones that count.
I was also sick of having a safe that was to overcrowded so I bought a new Spika 33 rifle safe just to put most of my Weatherby rifles in so they wouldn't be touching and getting damaged. I am very happy the way my rifles sit in there now.

2
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / I had a great hunt.
« on: May 03, 2024, 06:06:46 PM »
I have just returned home from a great hunt in one of our states called Victoria. It took a couple days of driving down there towing my Polaris ATV. I met up with my mates near a town called Orbost where they have a nice little hunting cabin set up on private property. I was down there to target one of our premier deer species, the sambar deer. One of my mates has access to great private property that holds a good quantity of free-range sambar.
We hunt them on this place by getting into a spot overlooking likely spots where the deer are to come out from the extremely thick bush late of an afternoon and feed on the surrounding cleared farmland. On our first afternoon my mate Jack and I headed to a spot where he had previously scouted out and determined some deer were feeding out in that area. So with Jack on the back, I rode to that spot on my ATV and set up behind some light bushes for concealment. There were lots of cattle around that spooked at the sight of us and bolted off into the thick bush where the deer live. A few remained in the clearing about a hundred meters from us but were very alert. So I parked my quad bike behind some light brush for concealment and we sat there quietly waiting. Eventually the cows settled down and began feeding again. After a couple of hours a sambar hind fed out into the clearing soon followed by another one. Jack said when he had been scouting the area he had seen three hinds come out here with one in season. They were then followed by a sambar stag that was a decent size. So with two of the deer there already my heart was beating like a drum as I watched through my Leica binoculars trying to pierce the deep dark recesses of the thick bush looking for a stag to come out. We patiently glassed the area as the hinds and cows feed for quite some time with no more deer coming out. The wind wasn't great as it was swirling a bit but it held good enough so we couldn't be smelt.
Sometime later I had a glance to my left and low and behold here was a great stag just standing there in the open about 130 meters away just looking up towards the hinds that were feeding! My heart almost jumped out my chest as I tapped Jack and pointed then whispered "STAG". Jack took one look and said he is a cracker and to take him. As I reached for my Weatherby Mark V LaserMark in 7mm Wby Mag we realized there was one small tree blocking my shot. Jack quietly dropped to the ground and belly crawled to the tree and slowly bent it out of my way. The stag was so intent on the hinds further up he didn't see us, so I laid the Weatherby across my shooting rack, wound the power up on the Leupold VX3 3-10x50 and settled the cross hairs on his shoulder. Just as I squeezed the trigger the stag took a step forward, but the handloaded 175grn Nosler Accubond long range projectile smacked him just behind the shoulder. The stag made a massive leap up in the air and bolted off. I watched as he hit the thick scrub about 100 yards away and disappeared into the blackness...
I was both ecstatic and worried at the same time. I knew my shot was good but was worried at how fast he had run off seemingly uninjured. We sat there for a few minutes to regroup ourselves and give the stag some time to perish. Jack thought he had seen him fall in the paddock, but I knew he had made it to the bush. So, Jack headed to where he thought he had seen him stumble over to look for blood and I headed to where I see him disappear into the bush. Jack didn't find any blood and soon joined me at the side of the bush. He found a bit of a trail and followed it in. About two meters in he found the first spots of blood, then some frothy lung blood, so we hoped the stag wouldn't be too far away. Jack followed the game trail another few meters and found the now dead stag piled up against a big tree. I was over the moon with enjoyment! My first sambar stag was dead on the ground! Jack soon came back and said he was a massive animal and had a magnificent antler rack on him too.
With the day starting to ebb away I radioed to my other mates that were sitting in another area on the property that we had a stag down and needed help in getting him out. Mark and David soon arrived and along with Jack they tried to drag the big bodied animal out. Unfortunately the stag was just too heavy, so I grabbed some extra winch rope from the storage box on the front of my quad and the boys ran the winch of my quad out and hooked it up to the deer. After several minutes winching we soon had my trophy stag out of the bush, and I finally got to lay my eyes on his magnificent rack.
We took some photos then set about caping him out for a pedestal wall mount. His antlers measured 29" on one side and 27 & 3/4" on the other. It was a fabulous head especially for my first sambar deer and will be hard to beat.
With our mission to get me a stag done and dusted on the first day we just hung about camp for a few days then went and done some fishing. First up we went to an estuary where we targeted bream and golden eye mullet. We all scored some great fish and had a big cook up of them that night. The next day Jack and I went to a river not far from camp where we were to try to get another first for me and that was to catch a black bass. On only my second cast a big bass nailed the surface lure I was casting and put up a great fight on the light tackle.
So that was a great way to end what was a fantastic trip with great mates in a wonderful part of Australia.           

3
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / I found this interesting.
« on: April 11, 2024, 04:39:52 PM »
I know a lot of you don't like Ron Spomer but thought you all might enjoy this like I did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CrUIxNS0fE&t=904s

4
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / Wonder what it is?
« on: April 09, 2024, 03:48:02 PM »
Here is a screen shot from Weatherby's Facebook page. Something new coming on Wednesday...

5
Rifles / Newest purchase
« on: February 27, 2024, 03:14:48 PM »
I just bought this Mark V SVM in 22-250 the other day. Topped it off with a Meopta 3-15x50 scope. Going to run some Winchester 55grn Ballistic Silvertips factory ammo through it as I don't have my reloading gear set up after I moved. Just waiting on a cool day to head to my range.

6
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / Moving on...
« on: October 23, 2023, 02:32:24 PM »
I have been living in my current house now for 17 years and have been wanting to move for the past 10 or so of those years. But I wasn't in a rush and was waiting for the perfect place to come on the market. Well that has just happened and I should be signing the contract this week. (Hopefully I haven't jinxed myself lol)
It is a color bond constructed 5 bedroom 3 bathroom place with a massive lounge dinning kitchen area. Big enough to house all my hunting trophies in there with me. Then there is a big 30m-12m shed with a spray booth and other accessories in there. This all resides on a rough bush block of 44 acres with a small creek running through it. I will try and pop some pics up but we all know how fussy this site is with them lol.

7
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / Major price difference...
« on: September 07, 2023, 11:03:52 AM »
I went onto Weatherby's website and used the "Customize your model" feature to have a .378 built. I chose right hand action, AA walnut gloss stock (they don't do a non-gloss stock), Matte receiver, blue jeweled bolt, checkered bolt knob, curved trigger, matte blued barrel, matte blued muzzle break, Kudu engraved floorplate, and open sights.
The price came out as US$4149.00.
So, I had my local firearms shop get a quote from the Australian Weatherby importers Tasco Sporting Agency aka TSA. They came back to us with a figure of AUS$9435.00!!! That is more than double the price.
I looked up the latest exchange rate and it is US$1.00 equals AUS$1.57.
Using that exchange rate, the price comes out as AUS$6503.24. Then I understand there is shipping costs, TSA and my local Gunshop adding a fee and things like that, but would it be $2931.76 worth???
The .416 Wby mag I bought not too long ago only cost about AUS$7500.00 and it had more things on it like the action and barrel being engraved with gold filling in spots. I wanted this .378 engraved too so it was a matching pair, but Weatherby no longer offers that accessory unfortunately.
I really wanted this rifle configuration but am not going to pay more than double the price. I feel TSA may be price gouging...
Here's a link to Weatherby's website showing my configuration. For some reason it never saves it with the open sights added.

https://weatherby.com/build-your-own/configure/7976/?edit_config=64b28c273e248

8
Crazy has been a constant companion, hunting partner and best mate for the past 17 years. But old age and cancer finally caught up to my little buddy. I am totally heartbroken at the moment and feel empty inside. Crazy was a fearless little bugger that would go toe to toe with and pig, goat or scrub bull. He had some quirky habits that I know I will never see in another dog as long as I live. I had his body sent off to be cremated and then I am going to spread his ashes over the hills we have hunted together since he was a pup.   

9
So I had a pretty good trip up the Northern Territory a few weeks ago. I was hunting on a property called Dorrisvale. It is a 1,000,000 acre property that sits on the Daly river some 180km from the nearest town. I managed to take a nice size water buffalo late in the evening on the 3rd. He was no record breaker but we spent 3 days in hot 37 degree heat looking for bulls. I could of shot a very big horned buffalo on the first day and the first hour of hunting. We had just driven out of camp, down along the first creek and there he was just standing there looking at us from around 50 meters. It would of been an easy shot but I felt I hadn't hunted him so just passed it up. So we spent the next 3 days driving around glassing for bulls, we sat on waterholes in the heat of the day waiting for the buffalo to come in for water but nothing was found. In the late afternoon we drove to the front of the property about an hour from camp and turned off down an old track. Not far down we came across a bull in the long grass feeding. He wasn't one bit concerned about the vehicle noise and just sauntered along feeding away from us. The grass was way to high for me to get out and in my wheelchair so I had to stay in the truck and try to get a shot at him. We slowly picked a path through the tall grass and lightly scattered trees. All the time this buff kept his head down and continually walked away from us at an angle. We eventually got to a spot where I could get a shot as he walked through some smaller grass. He was facing away on a 3/4 angle so I aimed behind his front leg and lining up to break the offside shoulder. Once the crosshairs of the 3-10x42 Swarovski settled on the spot I touched the trigger of my Mark V Euromark chambered in .375 Weatherby. The 300grn Aussie made Atomic 29 all copper projectile hit exactly where I was aiming and zipped through the big bodied bull and smacked into his offside shoulder breaking it as I had hoped. He humped at the hit and ran off for around 20 meters, turned around and fell over dead. We gave him a minute before driving up to him . With the light almost gone we didn't get many photos as my partner forgot the flash for her camera. The boys soon had him caped out for a shoulder mount and we headed off back to camp.
The next day we again left camp in the early morning to look for either a bigger water buffalo or a nice scrub bull for me and any pigs for my girlfriend Jaz to shoot. We came upon a mob of sows and suckers feeding along a creek bed and Jaz picked one out taking it with one shot from her vanguard Camilla in .243. After a quick photo we headed off again only to disturb a wild dog that was sleeping in some of the thick grass. Jaz wasted no time and smacked it on the run with a handloaded 80grn projectile. Another quick photo session and we left the calf killing dog there and continued our hunt.
We were driving along a rough track when two scrub bulls (wild Ox) walked across the track in front of us. As soon as I seen the one with big horns I knew he was what I was after. We had to move fast and my guide swung the vehicle off the track and parallel to the big bull. He was side on and slowly picking his way through the trees. I soon found the point of his shoulder and took the shot. He was hit well and started to stumble off. Reloading the big .375 I sent another pill into him. He remained on his feet for only a few seconds the tumbled over. We drove up to him and he was still alive but unable to stand due to broken shoulders. I gave him one more and we had out trophy scrub bull in the bag. Plenty of photos were taken and then he was caped out for a shoulder mount.
On the 5th and last day of my hunt we headed out to one of the furthest parts of this property which was about 3 hours drive away. We were looking for a bigger water buffalo or another scrub bull for myself and some boars for Jaz. It was a very long hot day and Jaz got another sow but missed the shot at a boar. I also shot a wild donkey to use as pig bait. We did see a couple of bigger water buffalo for myself but they were very skittish and we couldn't get in position for a shot.
But that didn't bother me too much as I had had a great trip and we were happy with the trophies I had shot.         

10
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / Any loan sharks on here?
« on: July 12, 2022, 05:51:08 PM »
So this just came up for sale down here. I don't have enough money at the moment to buy it. So I was wondering if any of you guys on here would lend me the cash to buy it?? You know I'm good for it..  ;D  ;D
Or alternatively does anyone want to adopt a 43 year old son and gift it to me as a present??

https://usedguns.com.au/gun/456443/

11
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / Finally got it.
« on: April 09, 2022, 07:10:59 PM »
Well here she is. My new Custom shop Mark V in .416 Wby mag. It was worth the 9+ Months wait.  :)
The stock is nice but I have already decided to get an exhibition grade stock made in matte finish. But she will do for the time being. I popped a spare VX3 1.75-6x32 in Leupold QR rings on it. But feel I would like to use the open sights when I take it to the Northern Territory down here after water buffalo and scrub bulls in August.

12
Around the Campfire (General Discussion) / Nyala mount.
« on: February 18, 2022, 05:43:34 PM »
My taxidermist dropped off my Nyala mount a couple of days ago. It looks great. It still has a full baboon mount to go in the tree yet.
I shot the male with my .460 Wby and my missus took the female with my .257 Wby.

13
Other Big Game / Pig
« on: February 18, 2022, 05:36:46 PM »
I popped out for a hunt this morning and knocked over this boar with the Vanguard Hog Reaper in .308. A single handloaded 150grn Rem Corelokt behind the ear done the job.

14
Rifles / She ain't a Weatherby but...
« on: February 06, 2022, 05:40:47 PM »
I just bought this new Tikka T3 Varmint in 6.5x55 SE. Topped it of with a Leupold VX3i 4.5-14x50 CDS with windplex reticle. Going to try these factory ammo first and if they shoot good I will probably stick with them.

15
Accessories / Just ordered.
« on: January 12, 2022, 11:04:13 PM »

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 6