Finally....a break!

[OldTurtle]

Rick, I'm kind of jealous about you having a little snow....Momma Turtle and I went to FL for three months to escape the MO Winters and wound up with better weather in MO than in FL...Love those Coopers, but out of my budget...I'm sure that your new ride will create the same attachment as the red one, given a few more trips to the Skippy fields..

[ddwaite]

Hey Rick. What are your front and rear rifle rests in the pictures. New to bench shooting and trying to put together the best and steadiest combinations.

thanks

[Gube]

Nice "teaser" Rick. I won't be able to head out until July or August due to a busy work schedule . I do have some pics from last year that I hope I can get posted as another "teaser" for you guys. Keep the stories and pics coming!!

[Rick in Oregon]

Hey Rick. What are your front and rear rifle rests in the pictures. New to bench shooting and trying to put together the best and steadiest combinations.thanks

ddwaite: Well, first off, welcome to the forum. If you shoot a .20 cal rifle, you've found THE place.

For my live varmint bench shooting, I'm set up with a Sinclair All-Purpose Front Rest, and a Protektor No. 13B rear bag all mounted on mly BR Pivot Lite field bench. You can spend alot less or alot more on this stuff, but this is what has worked for me for a long time. The rest is all stainless steel and U.S.-made powder coated castings, will adjust from narrow forend hunting rifles, but opens wide enough for 3" wide forend BR bench guns . The thing should exceed my expiration date. (Sinclair Intl has both items in stock.) I use this setup for both live varmint bench shooting, and for work at home like working up loads when chronographing.



Pic taken last spring during a hot rat shoot here....My Cooper M21 VR "Rosa" in 223 Rem perched atop my bench, cooling her barrel between strings resting on the equipment described above.

Rick, I'm kind of jealous about you having a little snow..I'm sure that your new ride will create the same attachment as the red one, given a few more trips to the Skippy fields..

OldTurtle: Well bud, the snow's gone now, and we're about ready to hit the rat patch once again (but don't ya just hate it when "home" has better weather than the "vacation destination"?). We're all just hoping snow won't be in the equation this time at the ranch. Oh, and the new rig is working out excellent....amazing what 30 years of technology brings to the table, not to mention the "comfort factor".

Gube: Gads, by July/August, all our grass rats are already down again. Good thing your northern rats stay up a tad longer. And on those pics to post.....we don't mind your re-runs at all! Good stuff there, my friend, post away. With any luck, we'll have another adventure to post in another week or so also. In the meantime, good luck out back with the "meatsickle"!

[ddwaite]

Rick, thanks alot for your feedback. It is appreciated.
p.s. find this 204 website very informative. Especially for a rookie like myself.
Thanks to all.

[Guy M]

Rick - beautiful rifles, those Coopers. Dang...

I understand about the old truck. Sold an old full size Chevy Blazer with winch, 33" mudders and an Auburn limited slip about 11 years ago. Still see it around town now and then. I'd bought it brand new and had set it all up myself. Dang I liked that thing. Problem was, I really needed a pickup. So, sold the ol' Blazer and bought a used Dodge truck, which somehow I've now had for 11 years anyway. Time marches on. I like this one as well, better all-around vehicle than the Blazer was, but not as good in the boonies.

Weather is great here today. No sage rats though. Seeking rock chucks...

[RAMOS]

Easily the nicest day here for 2012 to date. North Central Oregon.

[Rick in Oregon]

Yippers, a decent day here too....finally. The outlook looks decent for an upcoming foray into the rat patch too....we'll see how that one goes.

Guy, yeah,.....Coopers. The Cooper Curse is rabidly contageous. Those three will see some action very, very soon with their new triggers......exciting. It's also amazing how many guys I've talked to have had such strong connections to a favorite old truck (or car) over the years lately. Only after selling/losing a personal treasure does a fellow fully understand the tugs we get when she's gone.....worse if we see it about from time to time. I've got to keep telling myself how happy I am.....how comfy it now is.....remember those roll-up windows for 37 years?........

The day Big Red left......the two had a brief 'bonding session' together....



Time to break-in the new rig with a bonaroo rat trip......my racher buddy told me today there's beaucoup rats showing themselves too.....time for a visit to the ranch to see Big Red and "entertain" Skippy......how much better can it get?

[futuretrades]

Hey Rick, hope your weather is better than what we are getting and are expecting for the next 3 days or so. Last couple days, the sun was out, but the wind was up to about 40mph. I am still having problems with loads in my Cooper 20VT. Any loads above 17.5 gr. H4198 or above 17.0 gr. RL7, my Cooper just does not like! 17.5 gr RL7 and I get very stiff bolt and primers are flat. Cannot get velocity above 3350 fps even with these loads. I am inclined to think a head space problem with my die set up (as per Reddings recommendations for adjustments). Have now reset FL die and my bump die to within .0005 just to set the shoulders back this much for extraction with slightest resistance.

[Rick in Oregon]

Kevin - The weather should break to an acceptable level out east during our deployment, so hopes are high...... (yeah, we'll see......) There appears to be no shortage of squirrels, that's for certain.

As for that VT.....have you checked the loaded case neck dimension w/bullet to make sure you're under .232"? Overall case length 1.840" or thereabouts, both to avoid the dreaded "chamber crimp" effect. With that rifle, you should easily be able to get to 3,600 - 3,700+ fps with the 32gr bullet.

Have you also tried various brands of 32's to see if it's a bearing surface issue with one particular bullet? Seems wierd.....have you talked to Mike Hudgins at Cooper about it? I know you want that puppy up and running properly for the upcoming sage rat season about to kick off.....