What a lovely day! A cup of coffee, a folding chair, a light rest and some sun-starved prairiedogs! Made for a good workout for the Hornet. I was shooting from seventy to 225 yards. Missed a few but the winter rust sloughed off fast and towards the end of the day I was back in the groove.

I'm happy. ~AMMOe

Very nice...

It was 4 degrees F. in Pittsburgh this morning and 6 inches of snow still on the frozen ground. That "rat" Grondhog weather forcaster says 6 more weeks of winter. That is one reason we shoot groundhogs here. I did not know your little dogs came out during the winter. Our GH's sleep for a couple months and won't be out till spring thaw.

Yeah. I hear you on the cold in Pitt. My son goes attends school in Steubenville, OH so I get Pitt weather updates all the time!

Yeah. Prairiedogs will be out on sunny days above 15 or 20 degrees. When we get these late winter warm spells they come out in droves. They have a very woolly winter coat that makes them look big and fat. On windy days you can watch the wind blowing the fur on them whereas in the summer, they have sleek thin coats. This is a pic of a winter dog head whacked by my kid from a couple of years back. You can see how fuzzy they look.~AMMOe

I guess global warming is harmful to prairie dogs too.

Gee was tha 58 degrees above or below 0
It is 18 here in NJ

AMMOe, Yes they do look fuzzy with the winter coat. I have driven through the Dakotas in the summer and ran over my share of dogs. They looked much skinner then.

Is that a CZ American? What caliber? I have one in 223 and a Varmint in 204 Ruger. They are my favorate rifles for varmints.

Mush

Mush: You have good taste! That's a Hornet and in that kid's hands, a deadly instrument! Marine PMI got me looking hard at his one summer when we were down on the Mexican border and he was blowing up twinkie-sized ground squirrels at 200 yards. When a buddy put one up for sale I bought it for my son. After seeing that PMI's and my son's were punching consistent sub-1/2 MOA, I dumped my Anschutz Hornet and bought a CZ for myself. All three are deadly accurate and have probably accounted for a couple of thousand dogs between them! ~AMMOe

I have to admit I lucked into the CZ. I was looking for a walking varminter and decided on a 223 for supply of (then) cheap ammo. I looked at many rifles but none felt right. After looking at several rifles at a shop the clerk handed me the CZ American in 223 and I put it to my sholder and said SOLD before I even put it down. I now have a CZ 527 Varmint in 204 Ruger that I really like.

I need to try them on Prairiedogs some day....

Like I said, "Good Taste"! Soon after I bought mine a buddy showed up from Scotland with a 6x42 Schmidt and Bender he insisted I mount on my Hornet. It's a bit large, but after 1000 plus kills I can't be parted with it.

I was in a shop in Billings, MT and a fellow had just traded in a 527 American in .222 Remington. It had been spoken for already (drat!) but I would at least like to hear how that rifle shot. ~AMMOe

I was at a sporting goods store to buy 9mm ammo on sale (half price - almost as cheap as I can load it) and I spotted a CZ 527 varmint in 204. I asked the clerk to see it and he told me it was a return from a gun club that had a gun raffle and no one wanted this rifle (what were they thinking!!??). It was last years varmint 25 1/2 inch barrel (they now have 24 inch barrels) at last years price. I said sold. I put a 6-18 mildot Nikon scope and shot it in for 200 yards. I am looking forward to ground hog season as soon as those little monsters wake up from their winter sleep. I was shooting under 1/2 inch at 100 yards before the snow flew last year.

Sweet! Nobody wanted it?? I am amazed. That will smack the chucks dead, I guarantee you.~AMMOe