.30 cal Grizzly Meets Mr. Marmot (graphic)

[rsterne]

I took the .30 cal Grizzly out today for it's first hunt.... All the stars aligned, and a large adult Yellow-Bellied Marmot presented itself at about 35 yards, right where the gun is sighted in.... I took aim just behind the shouder and squeezed off a 45 gr. FX at 970 fps.... The Marmot dropped where it stood and in a few quivers it was all over.... It's one of the largeest I have ever taken, about 10 lbs., and boy, am I impressed with the whallop a .30 cal pellet packs at 94 FPE....



I was really curious how the pellet performed, so I searched for the entrance wound, and found it just ahead of at the point of aim....



I rolled it over and searched for the exit wound, and there wasn't one, but I could feel the pellet under the hide so I made a cut and peeled it back....



I recovered the pellet, and pulled back a bit more skin to find the exit wound, just under the front leg on the opposite side....



There was a lot of damage, and the pellet hit something pretty solid on the way through....



I didn't do a complete Autopsy, but I was sure impressed with the ability of the .30 cal to take a Marmot with a side shot to the vitals.... I have shot quite a few of these very tough critters with a .25 cal, and way over half of them make it back to their burrow, even with a really solid headshot.... When you consider the Grizzly has nearly twice the FPE at impact of my .25 cal, and it didn't exit, it shows why a heart/lung shot with a even a 52 FPE .25 cal would be questionable if you hit some solid bone on the way in....

Bob

[dk1677]

Nice shooting Bob! I like that Grizzly!

[SmokeTest]

Nice shooting, that's some serious stopping power.

[NHGuide]

Nice shooting!  did you cook it up?? 

[jhm757]

Nice one Bob!!!

Wish I had your skills!

Maybe it's the Moon phase or something I saw more Woodchucks today than I have seen all spring.

Jim - jhm757

[BenjiHunter]

Great shot, Bob!!
I love that home made monster.

[William]

Nice Bob, I have shot a lot of woodchucks over the years and even with a solid hit from a powder burner .30 cal they can still get back in the hole, your Grizzly must really be packing a punch thats for sure.


Congratulations on such a fine AG,   

William

[Bwalton]

Bob nice shot! you put a hurting on him for sure! Come on with the video

[dcorvino]

Nice shooting Bob.
Hope you get more of them.

Dave

[rsterne]

I got 4 today, 2 recovered (the others fell down inside a lumber pile) plus 7 ground squirrels recovered (out of about 15) and a Magpie.... so it was a good day.... I used my 2260 HPA for all the smaller stuff, saved the .30 cal for those tough Marmots.... Young Marmot (head shot) and adult Columbian Ground Squirrel....



Three of the ground squirrels where they dropped.... two at 65 yards, the other came out to bite a dead one when I was approaching, at about 35 yards....



The Magpie.... in the crow family, gorgeous birds, but the Ranchers hate them, they can kill a newborn calf....



Bob

[dk1677]

Nice haul Bob!

[maraudinglizard]

Great shot there Bob!

[Rizen 1]

Not only can you design and build....ol boy can shoot too!  Good day at the office Bob!

[LDP]

Good shots Bob.

[Jobobo]

That is a pretty bird. Our magpie's are ugly in comparison.  So Hayabusa or Grizzly? 

[rsterne]

The magpie and the ground squirrels were taken with my 2260 HPA.... upper rifle in the photo below....



Same basic layout as the Grizzly, 13 CI tank regulated at 1600 psi, my own breech design which uses MRod magazines, my reversed tank block and RVA, choked LW barrel, Hatsan air stripper like the Grizzly.... I get 4 clips (40 shots) to a fill, 18.1 gr. JSBs at 960 fps (37 FPE).... The lower one is the .25 cal version, 17 CI tank regulated at 1900 psi, 25.4 gr. JSBs at 960 fps (52 FPE), 4 clips (32 shots) per fill.... All three guns use the Hawke 3-12 x 44 SF Varmint scope, sighted at 35 yards, 1/2 MilDot reticle gives me aim points all the way to 100 yards at 12X.... and all three guns have exactly the same trajectory and shoot interchangeably....

Bob

[Tofazfou]

WOW Bob, those guns and your work are amazing.  I'm really shocked though that the pellet at that range and speed stayed inside Mr. Marmot.  Hit something solid indeed!  Now those are some solid animals.  From all that i have heard about them, their build seems to be about as tough as a wild hog.....

[UCChris]

Wow! What a gun Bob! Nice shootin!

[only1harry]

Nice shooting Bob and great pics. 

The marmot is almost identical to the Groundhog.  I try to limit myself to 30yds when targeting them, and I take most of them at 20-25yds with head shots, since I lost one with a vitals shot from my 350 .22 back in '07.  Since '07 I have taken ~140 G-hogs (>200 total) with head shots without losing a single one using Springers and PCP's.  There is a very small area in the head that anchors them.  They have a "low profile" skull so the shot has to be very precise within that kill area.  If I am not comfortable with the shot or know my airgun is not working 100% and is not accurate to within 0.3" at the distance I am shooting them, I don't take the shot.  I have managed to take all of them with a single shot because I don't take risks you could say, being that they are all in my backyard and if 1 went back down the hole. it would stink up the yard later when it dies and decomposes underground.

To me Groundhogs are one of the most challenging critters to anchor with a small-bore airgun.

Harry

[HatsanPhantom]

Way to hammer 'em