First Blood with the New AGM Rattler 640

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Don_P

Well-known member
Sighted in this afternoon and christened it this evening. Mounted it on my Ruger 204 AR. Shooting 40gr VMax over 24.5gr of H322 and thru a Shaw heavy stainless barrel. I am REALLY liking it! Especially since after the shot I can follow the critter with the scope.

With my IR digital night vision the muzzle flash flare destroys my vision for a couple of seconds. After following this one with the scope as it ran off only to drop dead 100 yards later makes me wonder if I should have looked harder for the two that ran off last year after I hit them with the 204. Hmmmm.

This one is a decent size female, ….and no mange in this one. Actually pretty nice fur, shame it’s not worth much. Looking forward to the next outing. Oh no, will my night vision scopes become dust gatherers?!



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Nice going! Yep… After switching to thermal from NV, the only time I use NV is when my younger brother gets the occasional urge to go out with me. I let him use my main night rifle with thermal, and I more or less run backup with NV.

I ran my 204 exclusively for a bunch of years due to needing sub 22 caliber centerfires in certain zones during deer seasons. I had better results running 40 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips or Berger 35gr on coyotes. Berger 40 gr would have been in contention if my 204’s shot them well, but the 12 twist barrels didn’t quite cut it. I had some not so great experiences with Vmax bullets. Bang flops and less runners after switching. Just my experience.
 
hunt0168 said:
Nice going! Yep… After switching to thermal from NV, the only time I use NV is when my younger brother gets the occasional urge to go out with me. I let him use my main night rifle with thermal, and I more or less run backup with NV.

I ran my 204 exclusively for a bunch of years due to needing sub 22 caliber centerfires in certain zones during deer seasons. I had better results running 40 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips or Berger 35gr on coyotes. Berger 40 gr would have been in contention if my 204’s shot them well, but the 12 twist barrels didn’t quite cut it. I had some not so great experiences with Vmax bullets. Bang flops and less runners after switching. Just my experience.
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Thanks!
I think I've got some Nosler BT and I'm pretty sure they're 40's I'll check tomorrow. The vmax's shoot such small groups for me, they just don't drop them to good. That was a 40 vmax in the video :( . Maybe try some head shots this week.
 
Don_P said:
Maybe try some head shots this week.
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Don, The 20 caliber Vmax are known to splash and not penetrate when you hit bone. That’s exactly why I made the switch. I tracked a few early on that blew up horribly on a shoulder that were never recovered. That never sat well with me. Suffering of any animal is unacceptable to me.

The NBT has a slightly thicker jacket and a heavier base that helps it drive deeper and hold together better. I feel they are better suited to our heftier eastern coyotes.

I personally wouldn’t suggest head shots with a Vmax. A coyote’s skull has a good chance of giving a vmax a hard time depending on the angle. They did shoot tiny groups, but in my opinion are better suited to woodchucks and crows. Just my opinion that I arrived at pretty early on in the 204R’s infancy.

Good going on the one you got, and I hope to see more continued success from you this season. I can’t seem to catch a break in the weather here. Constant snow bands off Lake Ontario and absolutely insane wind conditions are working against me. 😡
 
Well, you guys have been at it a lot longer than I, you’ve got me convinced. I’d much rather have them drop right there for their benefit and mine. I’ll keep the vmax scope profile for shooting paper and work up some loads for some Noslers and Bergers. Thanks for the info. Turns out I do have 100 Nosler 40's and H322 which Nosler says gave them the best results. I'll be putting some together tomorrow, .....headed out now to see if there's any around. Thanks again
 
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