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I think thats a great idea Tom...

What spirned me a little about the whole "hog" issue was during this last weekend, I was flipping though the channels up at our property, and saw some hunting/outdoor program showing this guy up in Arkansas or somewhere working his way to a "stand" where he was going to shoot some ferrel pigs from...

I have never in my life seen a poorer shot (blatant gut shot) from a hunter in my life...He had a pretty nice looking .270 that I even believe would have worked real nice on a thick hog...If the shot had been placed better...

And to think they actually taped, then broadcast it to boot...

I guess that why if I ever have a shot, it better be a good clean one, or I don't take it...But thats just a personal conviction...Which when presented with a situation that warrants a modification to that idea...I can certainly adjust...But I don't have to now...

But that handload absolutely looks to be the right one for that situation...

The .223 I use are not handloads, but production stuff from "PMP", that South African stuff that came out a while back...I think I still got a case of it somewhere in the house... It'll do in a pinch...

If there was another thing I need to get up to speed on its "reloading"...

gigag04 wrote: I'm thinking about swapping the Std. lower parts kit for one with a 2 stage trigger, especially if I may compete as oppose to just shoot hogs.

I plan on ordering this in a month or so.

-nick

That looks to be a great spec to me...And for that price...Bay-ute-tif-ful!

The one thing I just found out this last weekend (Father's Day) is that unless you really have a good shot on a "hog" (ferrel or javelina)...A .223 to me is not a high precentage "insta kill" on something above 50-60 lbs...

I am not much of a hunter anymore...I will of course do so if I must...And I can do it very well when I need to...

My experience with these ferrel hogs is that they really have a tough "kill zone" on their bodies...I have a cousin who shot one last year on our property that took a .308, and ten minutes later got up and trotted off like nothing happened...And that shot, he said, was right behind the shoulder...

FYI, the reason we are shooting these hogs is not for sport, we are trying to cull a large multi-property "ranging" herd that is seriously damaging our land up there in N.E. Texas...

And if I had a .50 Barrett, I would use it on the "big ones"...

My 30.06 BAR Sportsman, is my hog culler of choice...And a Ruger .44 is my "cu-de-gras" (spelling??? echhh!)...

But this is all just my opinion concerning the use of a .223 for hogs...I think it is not a very good caliber of choice for these types of animals...

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

stevie_d_64 wrote:I figure Charles might be nice enought to allow us to get into PSC (nearest decent gun range) and loose a few downrange...hint hint #2...(I think he's ignoring us...hehe)

I wouldn't do that! I've been working on the Texas State IDPA Championship since Thursday. We set up most of the scenarios then, finished them today and the match staff shot today. The bulk of the match is tomorrow.

When you do folks want to shoot at PSC? I can bring you in as my guests.

Chas.

Oh, I know for a fact you've been busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest over there...

Wish I couldv'e helped...Work has got me tied up...

I'll be coming to the next IDPA match in July...mmmmm toasty! hehehe

gigag04 wrote:What does the $1200 account for?

-nick

Mostly the name...A heavy (non-fluted) chrome-moly barrel, milled assemblies, not a cleaned-up "molded" lower assembly...

Pretty much the rest of the big name suppliers offer the same kind of craftmanship...

I've put about 3 cases through it...Kinda a light load if you ask me...Just haven't had much time to play with it...

I've been hard pressed to have a single failure to fire, or other cyclic failure...Not one feed problem (out of battery) at all...

It may be a dealer markup as well...But I think you get some reliability with the $400 you pay for, for something right out of the box...

My biggest thing with it is that I know it'll be there when I need it...And it'll have the performance I am familiar with, that makes it worth it...

The next rifle I do get will be a durable, accurate, long range, at at least .308 or better...Something I'm not going to be worried about getting a scratch on...

Bushmaster is pushing some .308's that are peaking my interest...

But that reality is a way off...

Stevie_D's nearest cross street would be Beltway 8 and I-45 south (Gulf Freeway)...Thats on the far S.E. side of Houston...

I figure Charles might be nice enought to allow us to get into PSC (nearest decent gun range) and loose a few downrange...hint hint #2...(I think he's ignoring us...hehe)

BTW, you'd be spending, minus optics and other fancy shmancey stuff, about $1200...The EOTech cost me about $300 (heck, I forgot exactly)...

gigag04 wrote:I've recently been getting a wild hair to get into the ar addiction.

Rock river arms seems to have some nice setups, but since I love to customize and tweak things I've been thinking about building one up.

Is building one up with my own custom parts cheaper and funner or is it a headache until I figure it out?

Anyway have an ar near that bryan/college station area that i could meet up with and check out?

thanks,

-nick


PS - I've been on http://www.ar15.com forums and its too much for me, I can't speak the language yet. I know the parts themselves, but all the different mfgrs - I'm not that fluent yet so personalized answers are easier

Yes, building one up from parts is a bit cheaper...You'll gain a better knowledge of the mechanisms within the firearm...A better appreciation for it...

But if you can't wait, there are deals out there to be had...

I will not tell you which direction to go as far as a maker of a complete package...Rock River, Olympic, Bushmaster, Colt are the big manufacturers of the M-4 "AR" type rifles...

I wanted a compact "carbine" style weapon with a heavy-duty barrel and the "A3" option to interchange the "iron sight handle" with a "CQB" type optics package...I got it tricked out with an EOTec 511 holographic sight...Works like a champ...

I still have some thing I want to do now that the AWB is gone the way of the DoDo bird...Collapsable buttstock, tactical pistol grip...Some minor things that are easy to do, then I'll be content with it...

Till I get the urge again to risk divorce, by wanting to get another rifle...

A trip from College Station to Houston is not too bad, if you want to try one out that is configured this way...Gives me an excuse to get out and shoot...

Mr. Charles Cotton might even sneek us into PSC to go do this...hint, hint...

BTW, mines a Bushmaster A3 "Shorty"...circa 2000...