Hello from SJ/Kelseyville, CA

[Redmt]

Oak Stone looks like a great prep course covering all the basics. For everything they are covering it should be a 2 day class. There's lots of contingencies when prepping an animal when it's killed outside of controlled conditions. For instance a clean ear shot animal is easier to deal with than one shot directly back to front and everything inside is bloody spaghetti!
Come fall the piggies should be back in the neighborhood. If they come through in numbers I'll let you know.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Oak Stone looks like a great prep course covering all the basics. For everything they are covering it should be a 2 day class. There's lots of contingencies when prepping an animal when it's killed outside of controlled conditions. For instance a clean ear shot animal is easier to deal with than one shot directly back to front and everything inside is bloody spaghetti!
Come fall the piggies should be back in the neighborhood. If they come through in numbers I'll let you know.I

Was very helpful for me. They did talk about getting it gutted as quick as one can and get it on ice ASAP.

Is that a .22LR you're using for the head shots?

 

[Redmt]

5.56/.223 Mini 14 with Barnes ttsx.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

5.56/.223 Mini 14 with Barnes ttsx.

Nice, I have a 5.56 I don't use. I have some 210 barnes TTSX loaded in 8.6 blackout.

I agree on the head shot, seems a lot of people intentionally shoot for the head on pigs to spare meat.

 

[Redmt]

The 8.6 on pigs would be a kill only cartridge I think. It would make a 150# pig FUBAR with a chest or engine room shot. The 5.56 gets them just as dead with the same shot placement. Keep in mind that I'm not a hunter by the true sense of the word. I kill nice cute little furry animals to eat. The more meat to salvage the better.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

The 8.6 on pigs would be a kill only cartridge I think. It would make a 150# pig FUBAR with a chest or engine room shot. The 5.56 gets them just as dead with the same shot placement. Keep in mind that I'm not a hunter by the true sense of the word. I kill nice cute little furry animals to eat. The more meat to salvage the better.

I also have 2 x 300 blackout pistols as well. Me thinks this would be good on pig and could probably get head shots. A head shot with an 8.6 blackout would destroy a pig, IMO, or at least destroy the head beyond recognition. My latest 300 blackout pistol weighs 6.5 lbs. with a red dot. I plan to use a 1-4 LPVO on it, so figure about 7 lbs. The 8.6 blackout with a 12" barrel, 1-4 LPVO is right at 10 lbs. I will shoot both supersonic when hunting, unless Captain Hairdo allows suppressors at some point. Using a suppressor is very attractive to me, but currently we can't get NFA items even if we want in California.

 

[Redmt]

The lowly .223 with factory poofy loads is more than you need.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

The lowly .223 with factory poofy loads is more than you need.

I see Barnes has some Tipped TSX in 55 grain .224, that would probably give a nice dirt nap to a pig.
Thing is I wouldn't want to take a bear with a .224, or even Elk or Deer.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

The lowly .223 with factory poofy loads is more than you need.

You got me to dig through my uppers and I found a 24" Kreiger match barrel with no muzzle device, I think it's a 1:9 twist, possibly 1:10, I can't see at night with the flashlight. I found 85 cases of once fired BHA brass. The guy I bought the barrel from bought it at Creedmoor sports, this was the first match barrel I bought. It has a little book to keep track of the rounds shot through it.The guy told me it didn't have a fast enough twist to shoot 77 grains at the time, and why he was firing 69 grain, so I stuck with 69. I did learn about crimped primers with LC brass the hard way...hence the Black Hills Ammo brass. I have everything I need to reload 223. I was looking at some Barnes TSX 62 grain, says they will run in 1:9 twist or faster. I haven't shot this barrel for about 10+ years. This barrel only has about 400 rounds through it. 200 by the previous owner and 200 rounds by me. I moved to 308 at that point.

What do you think about this upper? I don't have any copper bullets but could get some easy enough. I remember it shooting pretty good groups. Not as light as my 300 blackout pistols, though.

 

[Redmt]

You are way over my head at this point. I'm limited to doing a little trigger work or swap out. Fitting new stocks and minor torque tweaking on them. I do custom reloading for mine and a few friends bolt action hunting rifles . When I have friends hunt here with me I limit rifles to 6.5 caliber bolt action. The 6.5 for most cases is overkill as most shots are 100-150. If I'm hunting by myself and after a troublesome herd of pigs then I'll use a Mini 14 with 55 grain TSX or TTSX depending on what I have loaded at the time. I have a bolt action .300 BO. It doesn't have the 150 yd kill accuracy that I'm happy with. Most shots are split second decision to accurately make a shot. Figuring drop/yardage/windage etc. doesn't happen. It's a see it shoot it or loose it type hunting.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

You are way over my head at this point. I'm limited to doing a little trigger work or swap out. Fitting new stocks and minor torque tweaking on them. I do custom reloading for mine and a few friends bolt action hunting rifles . When I have friends hunt here with me I limit rifles to 6.5 caliber bolt action. The 6.5 for most cases is overkill as most shots are 100-150. If I'm hunting by myself and after a troublesome herd of pigs then I'll use a Mini 14 with 55 grain TSX or TTSX depending on what I have loaded at the time. I have a bolt action .300 BO. It doesn't have the 150 yd kill accuracy that I'm happy with. Most shots are split second decision to accurately make a shot. Figuring drop/yardage/windage etc. doesn't happen. It's a see it shoot it or loose it type hunting.

Didn't mean to confuse you. I mentioned the Black Hills Ammo brass as it is match brass that wasn't crimped. As you may know there's a lot of Lake City military ammo at most ranges and many people reuse that. I do have a Dillon swage which removes the crimp nicely, but I feel it's easier to buy match brass. Surprised on the 300 blackout at 150 yards. I suspect you don't have the gas at it's optimal or that you may be shooting subsonic. Also, the Remington ammo that is available for supersonic is not optimal either. I found that the gas was a difficult piece to get right on 300 blackout. Remember it is limited on powder per the case, and there's a lot of factors including seating depth as it effects the pressure/velocity.

The short reply should have been, "Yes, I have a 223 upper and all the reloading components I need including dies and gauges, but I need to get some copper bullets to hunt with, those I don't have.".

 

[Redmt]

There's no confusion. I guess I might have said I'm not into building firearms. It's not my thing.
The .300 BO is with converted brass by me. I don't get range brass there's no range within 75 miles except the range the SO uses down near you.
While I have some factory ammo , I haven't bought any for maybe 20+ years. I have several factory ammo calibers that are given to me from friends.
I have a pretty good natural point of aim so taking calibrated shots figuring drop, windage etc. isn't something I do. At the distances I normally shoot it doesn't really matter.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

There's no confusion. I guess I might have said I'm not into building firearms. It's not my thing.

Ah, yes that is one distinction, I have only built my own firearms. They still are not cheap to build, it's all the accessories that cost the $$$s.

My next challenge will be bolt actions. On the left is a blank and bolt for a 375 CheyTac and the blank on the right is a short action traditional rem 700 clone. Both blanks are stainless and EDM'd rather than broached. The square blank will be a tactical style. The short action can have interchangeable barrels for 308, 6.5CM and 8.6 blackout. I have 4 blanks and 3 PTG bolts. That is not my short action bolt, that's an original rem 700 bolt.

 

[Redmt]

Nice. I'm going to venture a guess that your lathe and mill are a bit higher in quality than mine! I'll also guess that your abilities are a bunch better than my caveman abilities.
I have reached the level in my shooting abilities that a fine custom built rifle wouldn't improve my accuracy. I put most everything in 1" at 100 when everything is right. That's plenty good enough for me. I'm after furry animals and not trying to kill paper (or steel) at 1000.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Nice. I'm going to venture a guess that your lathe and mill are a bit higher in quality than mine! I'll also guess that your abilities are a bunch better than my caveman abilities.
I have reached the level in my shooting abilities that a fine custom built rifle wouldn't improve my accuracy. I put most everything in 1" at 100 when everything is right. That's plenty good enough for me. I'm after furry animals and not trying to kill paper (or steel) at 1000.

I agree, I mainly want to hunt and put meat in the freezer. I would also like to get a bear rug to hang in the home I'm building. I think for me that's what it gets down to, I like the build $#!T. It means more to me that I build something myself, but try not to let it bog me down. I have 4 lathes and 2 mills. I have a Rivett 1020F and a Deckel FP1 mainly, but have 2 South Bend Heavy 10s, and a South Bend 9A. I have a 2nd mill also, plus an entire metalworking and woodworking shop. My plan has always been to spend more time on gunsmith work after I retire. Well, it's getting to that point about now...although I have a shop and log home to finish...

 

[Redmt]

Let me know if you want some black walnut, or if you need some logs milled. I have literally tons of black walnut and a 30" bandsaw mill that can handle 19'.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

I would love to get some walnut. I do have a sawmill of my own, it has a 30' custom bed on it.

As you may know, there's a lot of walnut orchards around lake county, it has always been one of the crops up there, along with pears. However, most of those walnuts are grafted and have English bases with fruit walnut on top for the nuts. There is not very much long/straight wood to be milled on those.

I sent you a PM.

Alan



This is the log home shell, it's located in Morgan Hill at a yard I rent. It is going on the home foundation. It is 28'x32'. On the left side there are 2 sets of french doors that look out over the lake.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Some progress, but doors are not fully operational yet. The top tracks need to be added still.

 

[Redmt]

Looks pretty nice!

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Last week I was up at the lake, I have never seen so many bucks on my property. Every single one was a buck, there were at least 6-8 inside the shop...If you look close at the first pic, there's a 2nd one on the far wall in the shop, but there was about 6-8 of them.