Making Weight And Making Empties: Part Two


John Markwell IN THE FIELD WITH THE COLT AR


COYOTE AND SPARTAN WALKABOUT I had to force myself to slow down


on follow-up shots with the Colt 6720 Coyote AR-15 rifl e. I was spotting bul- let strikes (misses) and adjusting my hold with the Leupold 4.5-14x scope with the Varmint Hunter’s reticle but I was shooting too fast and not pay- ing attention to the fundamentals. It was obvious that prairie doggin’ with a semiautomatic rifl e required some restraint on my part. It was pretty easy to make a pile of brass with the Colt Coyote in very short order but, if my hit rate was to go up, I needed to slow down. Note to self: Just because the rifl e is fast to shoot doesn’t mean you have to shoot fast! The Colt AR 6720 Coyote was one


of two new rifl es I had in my battery for the 2011 summer trip west. The second rifl e was a lightweight custom rig built for me by Marc Soulie of Spartan Preci- sion Rifl es. The plan for the latter rifl e was to see if I could build a rifl e as light as my New Ultra Light Arms Model 20 with over-the-counter parts available anywhere. As I found out (and sort of knew) one of the keys to the light weight of the NULA rifl es is their proprietary actions which are manufactured in house specifically with light weight in mind. You can’t buy a commercial action that is as light as the NULA ac- tions. That doesn’t mean you can’t build an awfully light rifl e, but matching the weight of the NULA rifl es would be pretty tough. My Spartan Precision Rifl e (which I dubbed the Walkabout) weighs 7.79 pounds scoped, with sling, and loaded up ready to go. It proved to be a pretty handy number for walking the dog towns and gopher fi elds. WHATEVER CAN GO WRONG WILL Journal Note:


First outing with the Colt AR Can’t believe it! About 50 percent


of the 223 55-gr. V-Max and all of my 55-gr. Ballistic Tip loads are too long to


The freshly painted and fully appointed rifl es prior to heading west: Colt 6720 Coyote (top) and the Spartan Walkabout.


Back in West Virginia, these four woodchucks easily fell to Nosler 40-grain Ballistic Tips launched from the Walkabout. Paying attention to the fundamentals pays off!


www.varminthunter.org Page 91


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