no worries

Levers thanks, you have dibs. I have a second guy in-line as well.

The Talley lightweights have been rock solid on our two Tikkas. But, they are both 260 pairs Remington with low recoil.

Those look awesome. 👍

After purging a bunch of gear to replace a 12 year old vehicle, I got a postponement. Jesus (mechanic, not the one upstairs) applied some bad aids and shes back on the road. Sooo, I made an executive decision to use a couple of those car payments for another rifle. Here’s what I ended up with. (Gunbroker is a dangerous website BTW) started with a new CZ 557 trued action and tune the trigger to 2.5 pounds add a #5 Bartlien straight fluted barrel chambered in 280AI ( 8 or 9 twist ??) finished at 24 inches action and barrel were surface hardened using nitrading process ( some kind of science beyond my pay grade) professionally bedded into a Manners carbon fiber stock I don’t have any info on the smith or what reamer was used. The ad included a pic of a 3 shot group that appeared to be 1/2 inch or so. No verification or notes on the target pic. The rifle was built for Tom Mack who is part of CZ skeet shooting team, which explains the choice of a 557 action. I spoke with him and he said the round count was less than 40 and it was a “shooter” with 168s. The rifle looks and feels like a brand new one. Action is a little stiff and needs cycled.

Thanks for chiming in Lance. I’m using the 210M primers as well. The sticky bolt is bad enough that you need to whack the bolt handle with your open hand to cycle it. Possibly a real aggressive normal operation would work , but I just smack the bolt up with my palm. All the brass I’m using has been fired in the rifle. I’ll include a pic of a few, keep in mind these have rolled around in the truck bed for a month. I’ll fire some fresh ones when I get a chance. Thanks Jim

Teach him to operate a bolt with his right hand. He can learn it quickly and have more rifle options all his life. Plus you can borrow his rifles.

Don’t really have any plans. Right now it’s rolling around in the bed of my kids Tacoma. Do you have a use for it?

Reviving my thread with some updated info. I really wanted to shoot the ELDX 162 but the rifle had other preferences. My reloading buddy gave it a few attempts and just never got any promising results. He wanted to go with a lighter bullet but I already have rifles that shoot 143 ELDX really well. We went with the Berger 168 hunters and 4831 SC seated 50 thou off the lands. Ended at 58 grains with a sticky bolt but the 3 groups (3 shot each) were .42, .28 and .41 MOA. Speed average was 2940 FPS with ES of 13. I’m a little concerned about being on the hot side but it’s shooting better than the lower charges did. 58 grains does seem to be inline with what others are using. Anyway, took if out for some field testing and killed a Coues. The 168 was extremely lethal at 410 yards. Very happy with the performance, but might need to work on the sticky bolt issue.

143 ELDX worked well on a coues at 560 yards. Fairly mild recipe 260 Remington pushing a tad over 2700 fps. Deer only took 2 or 3 steps and had an exit wound big enough to put 2 fingers in.

We saw bucks starting to push each other around last weekend in 34A. They seemed more playful than serious.

I just purchased a brand new Feisol 3441S off eBay and it's really impressive. 2.6 pounds ,rated for 44 pounds, plus it extends to 70 inches. Nice quality tripod ( comparable to Gitzo) Anyway, it turns out that the seller has more of them and wants $250 plus shipping. Typical web price is $400-$450. If you are interested, call John at (714) 805-6469 or see his ad on the Orange County Craigslist.

“ gender reveal party” ?? shoot, I thought it was a announcement for the CWT annual get together i was ready to buy tickets and meet some of you “guys”

Used the new Feisol today on my kids 34A hunt. I really like it. Switching from lever locks to twist locks takes some adjusting. It comes with a two price “ telescopic “ center column. I was skeptical but it’s stable and super easy to use. Lance, it has the standard 3/8 stud to mount a head. The manfrotto Fluid head screwed right on. Only complaint is there are no set screws to prevent the head from coming loose. I used locktike since I don’t plan on swapping heads.

Selling for a coworker. They look to be in great shape. Glass and body are perfect. New HD model. Comes with box, papers, soft case. Located in Tucson. Thx Jim

SOLD thx Jim

We have used the cheapy tripod stools from Sportsmans on several hunts without any problems. Might try them before dropping 50-100 bucks on a premium brand.

Not an expert on Kimbers but I read somewhere that the newer generation with the green stock and threaded barrel were much more accurate than previous ones. There’s some good threads on accuracy improvement “fixes” on older models. Mainly bedding and barrel float.

That’s really a cool experience. Congrats

Keep telling the story, I have lots of popcorn and a "whirly pop".

very suspenseful story, thanks

Great write up on the ups and downs of learning to hunt Coues. This site has so many guys who make it look easy. Like you, I’ve benefited from the knowledge they share. Congrats on both deer.

Glad you were able to work some hunting into the schedule. Great looking buck. Congrats

SPF thx Jim

Awesome responses. really cool. Hmmm, wonder if I could borrow a truck, custom rifle and a GPS with a bunch of honey holes ?

That’s your first ? kinda like having a cheerleader as your first real girlfriend