Is it too early to dream about Gopher season?

Re: My CZ 452 Varmint .22LR ammo preference? I really don't know. I've only tried 4 different ammos and only a few mag fulls of each except for the Remington Goldens which I have a lot of. So far it looks like CCI Mini Mags are most accurate followed very closely by Remington Golden Bullets. Not very good with Winchester 555s or 235s and lousy with American Eagle. That was very informal testing though. Heck. I've only put about 200 through the rifle so far. For the price, its a very good buy accuracy wise.
 
Well my lineup is ready, .223, .17hmr, .22lr, have only seen the odd gopher so far, still early in the season, letting them have a chance to make new targets for me lol.

 
Re: My CZ 452 Varmint .22LR ammo preference? I really don't know. I've only tried 4 different ammos and only a few mag fulls of each except for the Remington Goldens which I have a lot of. So far it looks like CCI Mini Mags are most accurate followed very closely by Remington Golden Bullets. Not very good with Winchester 555s or 235s and lousy with American Eagle. That was very informal testing though. Heck. I've only put about 200 through the rifle so far. For the price, its a very good buy accuracy wise.

Be sure to try CCI Blazer, my 452 Varmint really likes it. It's a solid, but I run my Gopher-Blazers through a Waltz hollow point die. Really lays them out with almost 17HMR-like effectiveness. I never gave the MiniMags too serious a try, but the ones I did sample didn't shoot as well as the Blazers. That was a blessing...considering the price of Blazer! :)
 
Well my lineup is ready, .223, .17hmr, .22lr, have only seen the odd gopher so far, still early in the season, letting them have a chance to make new targets for me lol.


^nice! Tell us a bit about those rimfires.. The finish looks interesting on the metal~Savage/CZ?
 
Both are Savage FV-SR's in Boyd's stocks with DIP bottom metal with screw kits, MadMac Precision brakes, and home trigger jobs, the 93R17 has a NF ATACR 4-16 on it and the Mark II has a Vortex Viper PST 4-16. I'll likely be putting them both into MDT LSS chassis this year as soon as they release the one for the 93R17.



 
Find .223 noise offensive unless you are miles from any residences. With .17/.22/.22mag, no one is bothered. Got a few places lined up for gophers. Just waiting for warmer sunny weather. Haven't seen any Blazers lately. Gotta be Hollow Points for gophers though.
 
Find .223 noise offensive unless you are miles from any residences. With .17/.22/.22mag, no one is bothered. Got a few places lined up for gophers. Just waiting for warmer sunny weather. Haven't seen any Blazers lately. Gotta be Hollow Points for gophers though.

That's why I have three options for guns, one spot is by a farm with horses so the .22 with quiets is used there, this will be the first year I'll be using the .223 and it won't be much, only have one spot where nobody lives and shoot out into seeded crop, I'll be using it for some long distance shots from the fields edge.
 
I like 223 a lot but I think I agree bout the noise issue. I've been fighting with the idea of buying a 17 hornet Perfect gopher splatter machine less noisy
 
Local dealer had a gorgeous Cz 527 FS in 223, considered it but the places I shoot are too populated for the cf. The landowners are familiar with .22rf, noise doesn't bother the cattle, although they are curious sometimes and come to my spot. Just have to move to another, no problem.
 
My new Anschutz, pictured with some deads in prior posts, will keep me happy. I'll experiment some more with the Waltz die. Still thinking of a segmented insert for the die.
 
Magpies get so involved in the feast, they forget the dangers, until the shot rings out. Good for you Was out in one of my regulars this aft, beautiful day, 110 gophers done. Funniest thing I ever saw was male trying to do a dead female. Run up to the dead, I thought it was going to start eating the dead as they often do, but no, laid down behind and tried, I had to intervene, popped him. Have a pic to show the resting place, unaltered.

Gotta thin out the necrosexual gophers... that's just wrong.... humping a cadaver... even if it is still warm....
 
Scored 25+ more yesterday. Plus 2 more magpies. I chased a pack of 4 around for about a hour and finally gave me a shot just as I was heading back to my truck. :)
 
Between me, my son, and a buddy we got 34. That included one at a laser range finder verified 162 yards with our 22lr's. We had a few 100+yards shots. We had to try them because of how skiddish they were today.
 
Had about an hour to spare after helping out around the farm today, so grabbed the "Custom Tactical Prairie Safari Wagon" and took a drive out to the back pasture. Got about a dozen, but they really aren't up in force yet. Lots of fresh black dirt around the holes, so they're out there, still just keeping a low profile until the weather gets a bit warmer.

safari_wagon.jpg


cz_gopher.jpg
 
Couple little ones up yesterday. But the older ones we scarce. Only about 50 between 2 of of us in 3 locations. Still searching for the hoards I hear about occasionally.
 
Had about an hour to spare after helping out around the farm today, so grabbed the "Custom Tactical Prairie Safari Wagon" and took a drive out to the back pasture. Got about a dozen, but they really aren't up in force yet. Lots of fresh black dirt around the holes, so they're out there, still just keeping a low profile until the weather gets a bit warmer.

safari_wagon.jpg


cz_gopher.jpg

^"Like" :)

Looks like I'll be out there for a short visit this summer, so a day of gopher shooting will be happening for sure. Bringing the Mrs. to AB this time though, so I'm sure she'll be relaxing in some spa while I'm getting down to business. lol Photos will be posted in the wake of that shoot~I promise. :)
 
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