My first Woodchuck this season

[LaOtto222]

I shot my first woodchuck of the season today. I popped him with an old Contender with a 23" barrel in 221 Fire Ball. I was not a long shot and laid him right out. I could not find the entrance hole and there was no exit hole. I really like the 221.

[Grumulkin]

Cool!

There is one living under my porch that I hope to put on ice soon.

[LaOtto222]

I had seen this one every day this week, but today was the first time I got a shot at it.

[221fireball]

where did you get your barrel and what loads are you using? i got mine from midway usa i have try diff bullets and powders my 10'' barrel seems to like 18gr imr 4198 50 gr spsx hornady and looks like the 23'' is going to be same load. mine is an old contender also.

[LaOtto222]

I got my barrel through Midway USA also. This load was 17.0 grains of 4198 and a 50 grain Mid South premium Night Mare extreme bullet, CCI BR4 primer and 223 WW brass formed back to the 221. The bullet is .020" off the lands. I have not tried the Hornady 50 SP SX yet, but intend to do so. This is my inexpensive stootin' round, that is why I am shooting the Mid South Bullet. Decent accuracy but not tack driving. I get around 1" at 100 yards with it. I have gotten under 1/2" with them, but not consistently. I am fire forming the brass with this load too. Accuracy may get a little better after they are once fired. Just a side note. The locking bolts that came with the barrel did not lock up tight. I took a set off another barrel I had and it locked up tight. evidently my frame takes a different set of locking bolts than comes with the newer barrels. I called T/C customer service and they sent me another set. So I have not had a lot of time to develop the best load for it yet. I intend to try the SX bullet along with the 40 grain V-Max and Lil'Gun to see how they do. I am going to experiment a little with RL7 too. I have around 700 of the Mid South bullets and using them to fire form and to use as my everyday bullets. At $38.55/500 (less than half the price of the V-Max bullets) the price is hard to beat.

[221fireball]

thanks for reply laotto222 did you have any trouble with the necks getting to thick on the 223 brass reform ? 221 brass seems to be getting a little hard to find and it cost more than the 223. i think i will try reforming. did you just run case thur sizing die cut and trim?   

[LaOtto222]

That is the reason I reformed the 223 brass; the 221 is getting hard to find right now. I have a trim die from Redding that I run the brass through first, trim to length, deburr, then run it through a full length sizing die. Yes I turn the necks down to about .011". I do not see or feel any ring on the inside of the neck, so I did not ream them. I annealed this batch. Not sure if I had to or not. I have also done this with some military brass. It is a lot of work, I hope the 221 Brass will be available soon. I have found that the WW 223 brass will not hold quite as much as the Remington 221 brass. The military brass is about the same as the Remington brass, at least the head stamp that I used (TW72). It took me all weekend to form and trim and prep 200 cases.

[221fireball]

I was hoping the necks wouldn't need turning. That means i need to buy more stuff and i just don't have that much time, so i guess I'll pick up new brass when i find it. My barrel that i got from midway worked from the get go. I got the black syn stock and small forearm. i had to open up the channel on it for the barrel fit all the way down. i read later that i needed to go with g2 forearm? I like the one on yours can you get it in black syn?  I know this was off 1st woodchuck of the season, but your the 1st guy to post with a gun like mine and i was needing info on how other was working out. thanks

[DCRthe3rd]

Last couple of years has seen g'hogs moving within my perimeter , none this year yet , but it's been getting warmer out.
I hope to not have them tunneling under my shed again , but I do so love the smell of burnt powder.

[LaOtto222]

221 fireball- I got the stock and fore end at Boyd's. They make wood/laminated stocks - no synthetic ones. It looks like they are discontinuing these 

Here is synthetic one from Mid South
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000307735



You can get one like mine (that is being discontinued) and paint it with bed liner spray to give it that look and feel of synthetic.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=714597

[221fireball]

Thanks again laOtto222 i will get the one from midsouth ,looks close to what i have and some of those bullets.  DcRthe 3rd what gun do you use on ghogs