available to us. Several models of the company’s varmint and tactical rifles were represented in cartridges 204 Ruger, 223, 22-250 and 220 Swift. Rob chose H-S Precision’s VAR (Varmint) model, which features a heavy contour fluted barrel. This particular example was chambered in 220 Swift and had a black/white zebra stripe stock. The scope was a Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50. I would have preferred to have
used a beautiful brown Teflon 204 Ruger that was there, but one of the Hornady guys stuck his fork in it first, and pretty much stayed with it for most of the two days. I settled on an example of H-S’s Model HTR chambered in 223 Rem. The HTR is one of nine variations in the company’s extensive tactical rifle lineup; however, I eventually did get to shoot one rifle in each of the four calibers. This particular model is used by the FBI, BATF and the Israeli Defense Forces and is built to the same standards as the “civilian” one I was using, except for the fact that those guns are chambered in either 308 Win., 300 Win. Magnum, or 338 Lapua. I believe most VH readers are
aware of who H-S Precision is, but for those who don’t, this company is unique in that they manufacture all the compo- nents that comprise their Pro-Series 2000 rifles – barrels, actions, bottom metal and stocks. They therefore have total control over all aspects of design, pro- duction, assembly, and quality control. And while most gun barrels today are either button rifled or hammer forged, H-S is one of but a handful of barrel makers that employ cut rifling. Also called “hook” rifling, it’s a laborious process whereby each groove is incre- mentally cut one at a time with multiple passes of a single cutting tool. After a groove is cut, the barrel is indexed and the process repeated. The advantage to cut rifling is that it puts no strain on the barrel, and thus requires no stress relieving either before or after rifling and contouring. It also can produce a more stable barrel that is less prone to stringing shots as the barrel heats up. If there’s a disadvantage to the
process, it’s that it is very slow. With buttoning and hammer forging, a barrel can be rifled in a couple of minutes, but it takes about an hour to cut-rifle one. That means that eight or nine barrels per shift is all H-S can produce. Running
www.varminthunter.org Page 99
two shifts a day, and one on weekends, delivery time for a Pro-Series 2000 rifle is still running 10 months. I guess they think it’s all worth it because they were among the first, if not the first, to offer a ½ MOA accuracy guarantee in any caliber 30 and under using the recom- mended factory or handload that’s sup- plied with each rifle. I was hoping we’d have some of
Hornady’s new 35-grain NTX loads available, because I have yet to try it, but we didn’t. That load spits that 35-grain NTX out at 4,000 fps and shoots even flatter than what thus far has been my favorite p-rat load – Hornady’s 40-grain V-Max which exits at 3,800 fps. Zeroed just 1.5" high at 100 yards, it’s 5.5" low at 300.
Mid-July is a little late in the season
for p-rats, but normally there’s enough of ’em to provide plenty of shooting. This past year, however, the severe drought that has affected so much of the West and Midwest has taken its toll on these little rodents. “Normally, we still have fairly good shooting this time of year,” said Buffalo Butte’s owner, Marshall Springer, “but this drought has
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really thinned the numbers. Same with the deer and antelope.” As a result, we did a lot more looking than shooting. And having Zeiss optics at our disposal was a real plus. Their riflescopes, laser- rangefinding binoculars and spotting scopes made finding and spotting each other’s hits and misses just that much more efficient. I especially liked the big Victory FL 20-75x85 Diascopes for spotting. I find this scope too big and heavy for any sort of mountain hunting, but for those applications where size and weight are of little concern, using a spotter of this quality really spoils you! And of course having the use of Zeiss’ new Conquest binoculars to spot targets, and their Victory LR laser-rangefinding binoculars to range with, well, it just
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