At last, my dry spell has ended :D

[Phantom 631]

Today I swapped my Kassnar 3-9x50 monster of a scope with the 30/30 ret on my S200 for the rather petite 3-9x40 SMK mildot scope that has been the crown on my Beasts head for a couple of years now.

 

Once I had done this I set about pumping my S200 up to the start of her sweet spot in the power curve and then grabbed some basic gear including A4 paper, my portable backstop and my surefire torch, home made red filter and made my way to the paddock.

 

I climbed through the fence after putting a new warning sign on the gate (old one had been up since last spring and was a little worse for wear).

 

I looked around, a couple of Corvids located at the corner nearest the A63 slip road and a Collerd Dove perched on the power lines that run through the paddock. :wallbash:Why oh why did I have to change the scope today? I could have had that bird if I'd not changed it.

 

Anyway, I put that thought out of my head and made my way to my usual sniping point with the cones that I use as a zero range marker, these cones also mark the entrance to a very busy warren! or so I'm told; Its never been busy when I've had my crosshairs over it! But there is always fresh diggings and currents there!

 

Set up my Target against the cones and went to lay on my rollmatt about 30 paces away. First things first, a group of three dead centre of the paper to see where they land.

 

1st stage, 2nd stage, phutt, puff, crack WTF? I saw a cloud of dirt from a mole hill go skywards and I heard a crack as the pellet clipped the backstop, comming to rest almost side on in the putty!

 

I forgot the fundamental rule of zeroing a scope didn't I

 

After a few more shots that cleanly missed the target, I decided that it would be best if I followed the fundamentles and bring the target in close How strange, the combo was shooting way off to the left!

So anyhows once I got the scope zeroed at about 15 yards I set it back and fine tuned it to 30 with ease

 

So once I had a group of 5 shots in one hole I turned my rifle round to where I would be sniping over the warren in the corner.

 

I walked over to a fence post and stuck a 20mm diameter lable on to it and went back to where my baby was. Figuring I'd make use of the mildots for ranging, I took aim at the sticker and gently let one fly, phut, was followed by a very loud crack.

I couldn't see where the pellet landed on the post I did the same again and the sticker vanished :shock: Does that mean I hit the sticker? Can't have its further away than my zero isn't it?

I looked and it did indeed look to be much further than my zero perhaps its the optical illusion of laying prone on undulating land.

I wandered over to the fence and examined where the sticker had been. To my suprise there sat two pellets, embedded into the wood and fused into an odd shaped chunk of metal. Cool I thought, If I'd been using the Kassner, I'd have given it hold over and missed

 

I returned to my baby and reloaded her. We laid there for about 50 minutes when I saw the first bunny off to my left, well I saw movement out of the corner of my eye actually. I turned the gun and looked through my scope, sure enough sat under the fence way off to my left was a little kit.

I wasn't going to take the shot as It was closer to the feed box than it was to me and I didn't want to guestimate the range so I laid and watched through the scope as it ran off into the centre of the paddock.

 

Not long after that a second bunny emerged from the under the fence again it was off to the left and I couldn't be sure of the range, so I let it live to munch and dig in the paddock.

 

Then the rain started F :censord: k; thats all I need! I'd packed basic kit, but left the poncho at home Luckily for me it wasn't that heavy and I stayed put.

The rain stopped and as the sun set, the clouds got thicker and the light drew to a close I checked my watch 18:45

 

Five minutes or so later it was dark. I had my Surefire fastened underneath the filling port of the gun and the pressure switch was on the stock. I decided it was time to see if the red filter would work well on this unit (I had designed the filter for the Tesco torch but it was a bit strong for that unit).

I pressed the switch as I swung the gun through the range of the bipod movement and looking through the scope on 3 mag I spotted a single glowing bright red jewel. I could see it was maybe a few feet to the left of the post that earlier proved to be spot on my zero

The fence moved further away from me, the further it went to the left, I figured that there was virtually no need for any compensation as the head of the bunny was no more than 10 to 12 inches further back from the absolute zero.

I swung the zoom ring to 9 mag and placed the centre cross of the ret exactly halfway between the base of the ear and the eye.

Once on target; my still split and painful trigger finger made its way onto the blade and the I felt the pain as the pad of my finger met the resistance of the second stage Ignoring the pain I continued to increase the pressure on the second stage and click, phut, CRACK in an instantanious chorus as the bunny seemed to do a slow motion rolling dance onto its side

I observed the back legs tuck up tightly into the fallen bunny and its front legs came back to meet the rear ones, bringing the quarry into what can only be described as a very peaceful foetal position.

The legs then returned as smoothly as a ballet dancer to what you see in the pic.

 

Warning

Please be advised

The following imagery is a graphic study of an Airgun Ballistic Wound and may not be suitable for all.

Do not view if you do not like things such as this.

You can see this shot was a through and through, by the blood on the ground.

 

Here's the Entrance wound with the skin and fur peeled back.

 

 

Here we have the Exit Wound

 

I cracked open the skull very carefully so I could see what had happened to the brain.

As you can see the brain matter was severed completely. The bulk of the brain is at the left of the indicator line, the part that connects to the spinal column is to the right.

 

Looking at this we can see why it is so very important to go for the Brain shot. Decimating the brain means an instant humane dispatch for the quarry. No pain could be felt even if the heart managed to pump for a second or two after brain death.

 

Phantom

[aaronpigeonplucker 32]

good shooting and very clean kill!

[jasper65 6]

Outstanding write up and Pic's Phantom. Just goes to show how lethal a Air Rifle can be when the shot is placed bang in the kill zone .......

 

Jasp

[davyt63 1,845]

hi tony

i knew i as in for a good read so i made me self a cuppa tea before reading.

very well done that tony the shooting, the pic, the explanation of where the pellet went through its always pleasing to see a red ear as you walk up to your quarry, as you know it has not suffered

 

cracking read,cracking pics

 

regards

 

davy

[Lizard 0]

Good write up Phantom...Always enjoy reading your informative posts.

 

ATB

 

Lizard

Edited March 26, 2010 by Lizard

[Phantom 631]

Thank you gentlemen.

 

I do like to get over the events as well as I can. I find that by reading other peoples stories, I learn more I hope that my posts do the same for others even if it is a case of "stick the kettle on Luv, this is gonna be a long one" :11:

 

Phantom

[Edgar 1]

Interesting pics. I find that on an average adult rabbit the pellet goes in one side and out the other out to 15-20 yards, after that it can usually be found just under the skin on the other side of the head from where it entered out to my maximum range, 30-35yards, this is with a medium weight .22 pellet.

[Phantom 631]

Hi Edgar,

 

The bunny was a fairly young one almost 3/4 grown.

 

Like you I usually find the pellet still in the bunnies noggin on most shots at that range

 

The pellet used was an AAFD at just under 16grain (15.90) Gun is running smoothly at 11ft/lbs

 

Phantom

[stealthy1 3,964]

At last mate, just goes to show that patience pays dividends, well done

[killa-combo 142]

fair enuf taking the pic of the fallen bunny lol but are you practicing to be a brain sugen??

[Marksman 934]

nice going Tony mate!

 

Nice "detailed" write up too

 

Darryl

[Sweeney-Todd 208]

Hiya Tony.

 

Excellent write up mate, and good pic's too.

 

Unlike Davy, I didnt make a cup of tea.......I got my snuggle blanket and a FLASK ....just kidding mate

 

Spring is here buddy, and the clock's go forward on the 28th, lighter nights, warmer too.

 

Good Shooting Tony.

 

 

ATB.

 

 

 

 

Bill.

[Lee85 44]

Brilliant photo's there pal, really good read too

[sibaldib 6]

Great write up Tony and excellent pictures.

 

You've worked hard over the past couple of months and it's great to see you with some reward for your amazing perserverance.

 

Cheers

 

Sib

[farmboy99 1]

good work mate has inspired me to get out today need to zero a scope on my s400k too! hope i have similar results!