erything to perform as expected … but sometimes are disappointed. This time I managed to hit one right around 700 yards. This was still quite a bit short of my goal, but it certainly was a start in the right direction. The rest of the summer was spent
"STARBURST" KID
Dan and his boys from ND are tough customers. They expect "Starbursts" wherever the crosshair falls. With 40 years of varmint shootin' experience, Dan was a tough sell on a custom rifl e in a new caliber unique to one manufacturer.
After several thousand varmints dispatched, Dan is sold ! His James Calhoon custom CZ in the 19 BADGER is his best all around varmint rifl e. A TOTAL VARMINTING SYSTEM. He says it's a real "cutter"! Dan and his boys also value the personal service and expert technical support. Dan's 22 Mag, Fireball, 222, 223 and 204 are up for sale !
The 19 BADGER/CZ 527 Varminting System is the most pleasing, unexpectedly effective varmint rifl e you'll ever shoot!!
Once you own a James Calhoon fi nely tuned CZ rifl e in 19 caliber, you'll be "leavin' your other varmint rifl es in the safe."
Choose one of three 19 Caliber cartridges...
19 BADGER : Our newest cartridge. Velocity, range and accuracy of this tough, rimless case amazes shooters every time Possibly, it makes all other varmint rifl es optional (3725 ft/sec)
19 CALHOON (Hornet):
Adding 100 yards range, this Hornet on steroids is the ultimate squirrel/ gopher shooter
(3550 ft/sec)
19-223: The speediest and biggest of the 19 Calibers, “Full race” varmint cartridge.
(4000+ ft/sec)
Visit our entertaining Web Site or Call Us Discover our affordable, custom 19 Caliber CZ rifl es; Re-Barrel Kits; our full line of 19 Caliber accessories; and our Fine Shootin’ varmint bullets in 19, 20, & 22 caliber.
in trying to refine the bullet/powder combination, and I tried the Berger 140-gr. VLD moly-coated bullets. This rifle liked these bullets and, after a lot of experimentation, I found a load that produced a five-shot group at 100 yards in the low 0.2s. I stayed with this load for the next several years, finding that I had to adjust the bullet seating out 0.001" to 0.002" to maintain the grouping. On my next trip, my friend Marc
and I were elk hunting in Wyoming, and we took our prairie dog rifles along to try our hand after the elk hunt was over. I managed to shoot two at a dis- tance of 814 yards. I then let our hunting companion (Royal Stuckey) shoot my rifle, and he hit one and then Marc shot one. After walking out to measure their shots, I was the one on the bottom of the totem pole by almost 80 yards. Out-shot with my own rifle — how humiliating! But I was glad for my friends that they accomplished these shots. Because of surgeries and vacations
that did not include shooting, a couple of years passed before I was able to take up the quest again. I upped the powder a couple of grains and found that I had a three-shot group in the low 0.1s. Now I had a very good combination for my goal of a 1,000-yard shot. In 2009 I went to western Kansas
where I spent three days. I upped the range to 866 yards, plus got a couple of prairie rattlers that seemed to be quite prevalent on Matt Gould’s ranch near Syracuse, Kansas. I found that when we started shooting the local hawks would gather and wait for a free meal … and when the hawks were flying around, the prairie dogs would vanish down their holes. I did manage to hit one at a measured distance of 866 yards. In June 2010 my wife and I went
back to Buffalo, Wyoming, and shot with Alan Leath. I had acquired a shoot- ing bench from Royal Stuckey (Powell, Wyoming) that had proved to be very stable and easy to transport. The prai- rie dogs had been gassed on the ranch where we normally shot so we were on Neal Schuman’s ranch. The day of the
Page 154 Winter 2012
4343 U.S Highway 87 Havre, MT 59501 (406) 395-4079
www.jamescalhoon.com
success was a bright sunny day with a quartering wind between five and ten mph. The first hit of the day measured at 717 yards. After looking around we found another hill that we could drive to that was more than 400 yards from where we were shooting. After picking up and moving and setting up again, finally one unlucky dog walked in front of a bullet that stopped him in his tracks. I did manage to hit more but they crawled back into their holes so these didn’t count for a hit. Alan was gracious enough to let
me drive his truck back to where we had shot in the morning and then I had to walk down a steep ravine and back up the other side before walking on to my hit. I was so excited that I forgot the cam- era, and I wasn’t going to walk back to the truck for it. I had a walkie talkie and told Alan that my foot was right by the prairie dog. He replied that was where the cross hairs in the scope were point- ing. Using the GPS, I marked a point and took a reading on the truck with the rangefinder. Back at the truck I took a measurement on the shooting bench and after getting back to the shooting bench the GPS measured 0.6 mile. Av- eraging the two different measurements resulted in 1,065 yards. In my excitement to write down the distance for photos, I transposed the five and six. After get- ting home I discovered the mistake. Still, it was more than I needed to be in the Varmint Hunter’s 1,000 Yard Club. This time I could finally smoke the celebra- tion cigar that I had purchased several times in anticipation of this event. The next time we venture west, I
intend to get my friend Marc into the 1,000 Yard Club. Time and patience are all that are required for this to happen.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212