Never Ending Battle....The war starts anew!

[JWFilips]

Hi Guys,
I was going to post this in the hunting with cast bullets section ( but that would be a lie) But it was with an all lead bullet!
Looked out the bathroom window today as the sun broke through the gloom....Sun has been seldom seen in NEPA for some time. Looked up at the back of the property and saw one of my outdoor kitties making a dash for the house...I thought that strange but then I see this huge woodchuck come out of the woods and quickly cover the 200 feet + to our house . His Tail high in the air ! He was angry!!! Never saw this long of a display of aggression in my life by an old "Gundsow"!
He was following the cat to the patio.
I quickly got my 22 and dropped the clip of "HP Fox getter loads" on the floor and grabbed me my trusty CCI Subsonic segmented rounds. ( I am in the outer edge of suburbs but still noise is not a good thing around here). I fumbled to get the round in the chamber without the clip in the rifle...looked out the window to see him at 25 yards in full aggressive display ( again this was most strange) Yelled to my wife that I was going to make the shot from the bathroom window...opened it an he went up on this hinds. I think I was looking at the largest chuck I ever saw...and he had no fear at all! A huge red haired male. Steady rest ..the window sill! The heart /lung area ...Pow!
He made a be line for the driveway. Never saw one move after a hit like that with those segmented bullet! Closed the window put the rifle away & went out to see where he was. He got about 20yds before piling up in the Vinca at the edge of the driveway.
Biggest chuck I ever got!..... easily went above 20 lbs!

Each year on my property I harvest and/ or trap and relocate about 20 of this critters!
Major destruction to any important vegetation/ gardens not to mention structure /foundation damage!
If he was a few year younger he may just have made the pot! But his age and aggression spoke loads for the quality of his flesh! He was a mean tough one!
Jim

 

[Brad]

I have a 32-20 that shoots a 120 RNFP very well with 3 gr of Trailboss. Runs 750 fps or so. Would be good in cases like yours.

Wonder if you have a 30 cal rifle that would let you load a light, flat nosed bullet wi a small charge of fast burning powder to give 1 K fps or so.

Big Chuck.

 

[JWFilips]

Brad,
I took a Large marauding raccoon about a month ago with my 35 Rem 336 marlin with 5 gr BE and a 125 grain TC lead bullet.
That too was large easily 30 lbs so I knew I need something bigger then the 22.... it was a bit louder but it was dark outside so "I think it was a kid with a firecracker" I have got my 30-30 and 35 down to really light loads ( 3 gr BE) but still never sure they are quieter then the 22 subsonics

 

[Minute Of Berm]

He was probably trying to outrun his shadow..........

 

[Josh]

We grow em big here in PA, I love sitting over a field or 4 all day to bag a few chucks. One day I shot 3 chucks at the range of all places, they just moved in and then got shot out. Nice chuck, that is definitely a big hog.

 

[Missionary]

Well done JW ! Probably saved all sorts of cats, plants and vegetables from that pest.

 

[Rick]

Good thing your not in central TX (Abilene area). Have a friend there that's having big problems with rabies this year. Just got results back from a skunk, it was positive for rabies and now they have a new litter of puppies in quarantine. Docs are giving him & his wife shots but I need to get more info on that. Several critters in the last few weeks they trapped or shot has tested positive. Big problem and not good for the goat ranch.

.

 

[Ian]

I'm sure your kitty was grateful!

As for the noise, registered suppressors are legal in PA.......

 

[JWFilips]

Judging by his aggressive nature and no fear of me...could a chuck get rabies??? They are plant eaters ( funny that was the first thought in my mind when I saw him running or our house!)
Ian,
I know my FFL guy has a few ...it does take 6 to 8 months. I alway wondered if there was a quick magic tube that could be made I use to make things like this when I was a kid for my daisy target special BB gun with paper towel tubes & insulation Unfortuntely I really needed on the spring!... not the muzzle

 

[fiver]

well brass grommets for tarp corners fit inside a piece of 1" pvc pretty closely.
I'm just throwing that out there..
I may have even linked a video showing things a little more closely in a quieter thingy thread here somewhere.
[coughIan'sthreadcough]

that's a pretty good sized one we have the ones with yellow stomach's here and the males have a subdued orange/brown color when they are little they turn more brown and then they get brighter again when they are older.
sometimes I mistake them for a fox crouching or laying down if I see them in a field.
and man their skin is tough I have tried cutting their tail off a time or two and ELK skin has nothing on them.

 

[Ian]

I need to do a writeup on my builds. Problem is, I'm too busy using them to pull them apart and take pictures of the guts. Next time my .30-cal gets loaded up real bad I'll tear it down for a good cleaning and take pics.

Jim, if you want some 220-grain bullets with deep hollow points to try in your .35 Remington I have a few I could ship your way. The really heavy bullets can be loaded to just above the point where they stick in the barrel, are pretty quiet, and still hit like a truck. Maybe I'll work up a load and see how quiet I can get them and find out if it's even worth the trouble. You'd love the 76 grain gas-check bullets I've been shooting in .223 with a silencer, all my pellet guns are louder and it will blow through a lot of lumber. Keeping the velocity well under 1K fps makes a dramatic difference in the volume of the bullet flight noise.

 

[JWFilips]

fiver, I have barked tanned a number of ground hog hides (scruffy hair on) and have sewn them up in to some nice small day hunting pouches over the years.
Makes one really tough leather!
Ian, so the key is a heavy bullet with light charges (?) during the summer months my shots can range out to 65 yds to my garden....It would need to be fairly accurate. I guess 5 gr of Bullseye with a 125 gr bullet may be pretty fast and loud

 

[Ian]

I think the heavy bullet/light charge is the best way to get muzzle pressure to a minimum and still have useful energy. The idea is to use up all the powder energy and heat as soon as possible in the firing cycle and let inertia carry the bullet the rest of the way down the barrel. Quickload could help make predictions here.

 

[Brad]

Jim, I have Quickload. If you want PM me and I can let you know what info is needed.

 

[Ian]

I think I'm going to finally buy it myself. It would be an endless source of entertainment, at the very least.

 

[Josh]

Quickload is on my list of things to buy but it always gets bumped down.

 

[Ian]

Yep, has been for me, too, but this morning I said screw it and just now placed the order. Probably would have paid for itself a few times over if I had gotten it a few years ago.

 

[Josh]

It will definitely change how you approach the SWAG method, it took me a while to buy the cast bullet design program, but it really is great. I will get QL at some point, I just don't know if it will be before all my other projects lol

 

[JWFilips]

Wish it was also Macintosh based....If so I may have jumped on it!


OK I don't have titegroup But I have Bullseye ( And Red Dot which some charts call faster) I got some of the NOE 230 gr FP RD's that Ben sent me to try in my .358 Win I could grab some & try in my 35 Rem Marlin....Maybe with 3 gr BE They are sized .359 & I know my Marlin like .360's but they are gas checked.

I got to get my arsenal up for the summer! Growing a bunch of 18th Century "Heritage" vegetables and some very rare chillies! Can't afford any GH munchers!

I'm an avid Organic gardenist & Love to grow some of the most rare Vegetable plants every year...& at about 20 "Gundsows" a summer in my yard it is really an on going battle!
Jim

 

[fiver]

unnhhh that slow twist in the 35's may pose a slowness problem.
I wish you were closer I'd loan you my 300 b.o.

bulls-eye will do the job at the slow end.
I dunno if you can go quiet enough [slow enough] for anything more than end of barrel distances though.
I'd try 1-2 at 4 grs. to see what happens.
3 of 700-x is well,, it's unstabilized in my 7 twist 300.
I have to use 3.5 and a rifle primer to stay above the line.