Pic of your ugly mug

[belgian]

Red Deer mate. I've shot dozens of them but this is physically the biggest one I've dropped. A lot of people hunt these things in Australia for sport but on the in law's farm they're actually a pest. No calibre restrictions, no limits, no open season etc etc. They wreck fences and carry ticks, disease etc. I shoot as many as I can.

What rifle is that ? looks sweet !

 

[MCW]

What rifle is that ? looks sweet !

If you're talking about the one with the fox its a Tikka T3 Varmint Stainless in .25/06 Remington (5 round detachable mag). Its stock apart from Sako Optilock mounts and a Bausch & Lomb Elite 4000 4-16x50 scope. With good handloads (it loves 100gn Nosler B-Tips) it'll shoot 5 shots into 0.4MOA no problems. Not sure if you're familiar with Tikkas but they're an excellent rifle straight from the box. I've also got a Remington 700BDL DM in .25/06 which is nearly as accurate but has had a lot of work (and expense) to get even close to the Tikka. I've got about a dozen rifles, standard and custom, and the Tikka is the most impressive/accurate of the lot. Great calibre too, I've had .25/06 rifles for around 16 years.
I didn't actually shoot the deer with a .25/06, I dropped it in the back of the head with a Winchester Mod 70 in .22/250 40° Ackley and a 50 grain Nosler B-Tip. Definately not my deer hunting calibre of choice but all I had at the time
Shooting, Golf, and chainsawing is basically all I do as far as hobbies go.

 

[belgian]

. Not sure if you're familiar with Tikkas but they're an excellent rifle straight from the box.

Tikka makes excellent varmint & sniper rifles. Yes, I admit to be jealous looking at those pics.

 

[MCW]

Tikka makes excellent varmint & sniper rifles. Yes, I admit to be jealous looking at those pics.

Very under rated mate and about AUD$400-500 cheaper than an equivalent Remington/Sako/Weatherby etc etc. Sako's are great rifles too but a LOT dearer and no more accurate in my experience. There are no better value for money rifles on the (Australian) market as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Norwegian Wood]

Me on the right with the white helmet

 

[rb_in_va]

What is the name of that animal?

Dinner?

 

[MCW]

Dinner?

Heh heh! We actually cut him up for dog meat. Got around 140kg of meat easily. Some people will undoubtably disagree but I'd rather eat a cow. The old bucks are a bit too gamey for my tastes. I gave the backstraps to a guy I work with from South Africa who made jerky out of it and he thought it was awesome. I thought it tasted like sh#t

 

[scotclayshooter]

Very under rated mate and about AUD$400-500 cheaper than an equivalent Remington/Sako/Weatherby etc etc. Sako's are great rifles too but a LOT dearer and no more accurate in my experience. There are no better value for money rifles on the (Australian) market as far as I'm concerned.

Remmies and Tikka are very near in price here but Sako are well expensive!
22/250 would be a bit light for a chest shot!
Whats that thing pushing with a 50g? over 4000fps?

 

[blsnelling]

I lucked out last year and found this 195x Sako L597 varmint barreled .243. It appears to have hardly been shot. I believe it to be the original finish. Shoots good too. I'm using it for varmint with 55-58gr ballistic tip bullets. Hornady or Speers. That's a Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24

Even with this less than perfect bench shooting with factory loads it'll make a nice group at 100 yds.

200 yds here off the same bench. It would be much better with a more solid rest. I could still see movement in the scope.

 

[MCW]

Remmies and Tikka are very near in price here but Sako are well expensive!
22/250 would be a bit light for a chest shot!
Whats that thing pushing with a 50g? over 4000fps?

I've chronoed it at 4120fps. Its also got a 1:12 twist, 27" Kreiger barrel which helps get that speed too. Its also doing it with average pressure. I was actually out shooting roos when that deer appeared. If I couldn't have smacked it in the head there is no way I would have taken a shot.

Nice rifle and groups blsnelling. That'd be a good combo for 95% of what I shoot in Australia.

 

[dougfirfirewood]

I lucked out last year and found this 195x Sako L597 varmint barreled .243. It appears to have hardly been shot. I believe it to be the original finish. Shoots good too. I'm using it for varmint with 55-58gr ballistic tip bullets. Hornady or Speers. That's a Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24

:jawdrop: nice sako man!

good for you

 

[belgian]

I lucked out last year and found this 195x Sako L597 varmint barreled .243. It appears to have hardly been shot. I believe it to be the original finish. Shoots good too. I'm using it for varmint with 55-58gr ballistic tip bullets. Hornady or Speers. That's a Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24

Nice !!! I like it. I am a big fan of Varmint rifles. I had a nice Anschutz .222 untill the government made me sell it :censored:

 

[scotclayshooter]

I've chronoed it at 4120fps. Its also got a 1:12 twist, 27" Kreiger barrel which helps get that speed too. Its also doing it with average pressure. I was actually out shooting roos when that deer appeared. If I couldn't have smacked it in the head there is no way I would have taken a shot.

Cool! can you guys use sound moderators? I have Reflex T8 on my .243 it cuts the recoil to .22lr levels and the noise! Its real nice to see the bullets strike even on 18*
You can pop 3 or 4 deer out of the bunch before they decide to head for the hills!

 

[scotclayshooter]

I lucked out last year and found this 195x Sako L597 varmint barreled .243. It appears to have hardly been shot. I believe it to be the original finish. Shoots good too. I'm using it for varmint with 55-58gr ballistic tip bullets. Hornady or Speers. That's a Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24

Those little bullets must be jumping .050 to get to the rifling! My rifle "likes" .003.
The lightest i have is 75g speer Hpoints but they are only in the case 3mm
For varmint size shooting my recipe is Hornady Vmax 87g (Moly coated) at 3200fps 46g vit n160 CCI br primers Lapua cases it will shoot .300s all day long off a bipod with a rear bag.
Those winchester silvertips work well in my mates .270win

 

[blsnelling]

Here's the best part of the deal. Last year I was in a gun store in Findlay, OH where my wife's from. A guy comes in and says he has two Colt Pythons he'd like to sell. He went home and I met him in the parking lot since you can't make a deal like that in a gun store. They were both 4" blue Pythons. One was rough, the other almost like new. I paid $450 for it. That's less than half what it was worth. The very next week I was in a gun store near my home and started shooting the breeze with another guy there that walked in. I ended up following him home and trading him straight across for this Sako. So I only have $450 in that rifle, not counting the scope!

 

[epicklein22]

Here's the best part of the deal. Last year I was in a gun store in Findlay, OH where my wife's from. A guy comes in and says he has two Colt Pythons he'd like to sell. He went home and I met him in the parking lot since you can't make a deal like that in a gun store. They were both 4" blue Pythons. One was rough, the other almost like new. I paid $450 for it. That's less than half what it was worth. The very next week I was in a gun store near my home and started shooting the breeze with another guy there that walked in. I ended up following him home and trading him straight across for this Sako. So I only have $450 in that rifle, not counting the scope!

Right place at the right time. Way to go, the sako looks BA.

 

[cmetalbend]

Varmits, I love to shoot Varmits. Here's what I use. It a harrington & richardson single shot 204 Ruger. "Ultra Varmit" Fluted bull barrel, harris bipod, Tasco 24 power scope with Both green and red night optics. 1/8 mill dot scope. at 300 yards you can see a 1/4 bolt head well enough to zero in on it.

 

[blsnelling]

Who you callin' a varmint?:greenchainsaw:

 

[KMB]

I lucked out last year and found this 195x Sako L597 varmint barreled .243. It appears to have hardly been shot. I believe it to be the original finish. Shoots good too. I'm using it for varmint with 55-58gr ballistic tip bullets. Hornady or Speers. That's a Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24

Wow! Nice rifle Brad! I'm a sucker for nice laminated stocks like the one on your Sako. That's the caliber I'd like in my next rifle. I could work up a deer load for my little girl when she gets old enough to shoot (I hope she's interested) and work up a load with the under 100gr. bullets for varmints.

Kevin

 

[KMB]

Varmits, I love to shoot Varmits. Here's what I use. It a harrington & richardson single shot 204 Ruger. "Ultra Varmit" Fluted bull barrel, harris bipod, Tasco 24 power scope with Both green and red night optics. 1/8 mill dot scope. at 300 yards you can see a 1/4 bolt head well enough to zero in on it.

Speaking of H&R, I'd like to have this one in .243:

What kind of accuracy are you getting with yours?

Kevin