My ridiculous 10/22 build..

[Jay]

The new rifle started putting in work this morning.

I have had a bit of a problem with ground squirrels on the farm. They are very destructive. Digging holes and tunnels and they are known to get in vehicles and chew up wiring and stuff. So I try to keep them cleared out as much as I can. And they give me fun targets to shoot at.

This morning, I saw one run across my back yard area. It went into some piled up tree stumps. I got the rifle and tripod set up, spotted it and got it first shot. 62 yards.

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I waited for a bit. A lot of times when I see one, there’s more. The second one jumped up on an old empty propane tank at 100 yards. I misjudged the holdover, since I’m sighted in for 50 yards and haven’t doped it at 100. Also, I didn’t check ranges until after I was done. I repositioned and waited. It came back out, this time 90 yards. Hit it. But it made it back into the cane where I couldn’t get to it. The blood splatter and trail said it was dead.

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The rifle is really handy for stuff like this on a carbon fiber tripod. Nice and light.

[PFD45]

Very nice rig!
Cool that you get to put it to use.

[Diver43]

The new rifle started putting in work this morning.

I have had a bit of a problem with ground squirrels on the farm. They are very destructive. Digging holes and tunnels and they are known to get in vehicles and chew up wiring and stuff. So I try to keep them cleared out as much as I can. And they give me fun targets to shoot at.

This morning, I saw one run across my back yard area. It went into some piled up tree stumps. I got the rifle and tripod set up, spotted it and got it first shot. 62 yards.

E547459E-4DDA-4C15-9F03-B62736EE3B04.jpeg

I waited for a bit. A lot of times when I see one, there’s more. The second one jumped up on an old empty propane tank at 100 yards. I misjudged the holdover, since I’m sighted in for 50 yards and haven’t doped it at 100. Also, I didn’t check ranges until after I was done. I repositioned and waited. It came back out, this time 90 yards. Hit it. But it made it back into the cane where I couldn’t get to it. The blood splatter and trail said it was dead.
243D16C7-6653-4B65-89EF-37EC0F80755F.jpeg

The rifle is really handy for stuff like this on a carbon fiber tripod. Nice and light.

Are those desert squirrels good to eat?

[Chiro1989]

Nice. Do you just leave it mounted on the tripod for squirrels of opportunity?

[Jay]

Are those desert squirrels good to eat?

I’ve never had the desire to clean one and try it..

I lost count of how many I’ve shot quite a while back, but was above 50. The new count is at 31 with these two. So north of 80 squirrels in around 18 months.

[Jay]

Nice. Do you just leave it mounted on the tripod for squirrels of opportunity?

When I’m around the farm, pretty much. It’s either on the tripod in the shop, or the tripod is outside and I have the gun with me so I can lock it on and go. Otherwise, it’s in the safe.

I also get skunks, raccoons, coyotes and fox on occasion. So when I’m around, I like to have it handy. This gun was meant to mostly take the farm chores from my Savage MKII, although I’ll still use it. Have one in the shop and one at home.

[Chiro1989]

I was wondering how you deployed it quick enough to get a good look with the tripod, carry on

[Jay]

Most times, what gets these squirrels is curiosity. They’ll run. I watch where they go. Their curiosity makes them come back out to see what’s going on. By that time, my gun is set up and ready. They’re done.

Like I mentioned, I’ve shot 80+ of these things, just on my property. They’re fun targets.

They’re smart, but they’re stupid.. as long as I have my gun ready to grab and see where they went, pretty much done.

[Jay]

The second squirrel I shot today, I missed at 100 yards. I moved, got to 90 yards. Curiosity killed it. It came back out in almost the same spot. I was set up and had a better idea on my dope.. curiosity killed the squirrel.

[T'owd Mon]

Thanks for the advice Jay. I know the rifle was owned by the person who owns the gunshop but was hardly used. It had been worked on by a Gunsmith, no deceased, who was a bit of a rifle fanatic so I suspect that many improvements were made. I will check it out to see how the trigger feels and maybe consider your option. Thanks.