04Dec06

My car-gun combination: RA/XCR (223), EOTech (forward mounted), and Cor-Bon

DPX ammunition (53gr). This day, we went pig hunting in FL!

Today, I shot two, large, wild pigs and one white-tail deer with my XCR. W e were on a large ranch, owned by a friend. My shots were all on running animals at thirty to seventy meters. Windows were short. Cover was thick and, the animals were hard to find, hard to see, and spooked explosively. All m y shots were standing and unbraced. I had to stand in order to see over the grass. I prefer to wait until an animal pauses before taking my shot, but it was not possible today.

The first was a pig, 275lbs, moving rapidly left to right. She was part of

a herd of ten. I had to swivel rapidly to hit her. Range was thirty meter s. I made a lucky shot, through the point of the shoulder. The DPX bullet (which we recovered) penetrated fifteen inches and lodged, perfectly expand ed, just under the skin on the opposite side. The bullet's nose was ex panded into four symmetrical petals, while the rear was intact. No fragmentation and n o loss of weight. Bullet performance couldn't have been better! The pig wen t right down, DRT. The DPX bullet took out both lungs and the top of the heart. I was thrilled, but I knew my bullet placement had been mostly luck . I thought to myself that this combination of rifle, optic, and ammunition was

really making me look good!

Next, I hit a white-tail who spooked just as my shot broke. Range was fort y meters. The bullet, intended for the shoulder, hit him instead in the hip,

breaking it. He ran, but I knew he was hit. We got him up again after he had run fifty meters. This time, I hit him high on the left shoulder. Ano ther running shot. This bullet went through-and-through, and this time the animal went right down. He weighed in at eighty pounds. My second bullet fractured the shoulder. Neither bullet was recovered.

Several hours later, we did our best to sneak up on a big heard of fifty pigs. They stampeded, but I got a fifty-meter shot on one that paused for an instant. I heard the bullet hit him. I heard him squeal, and I saw him go

right down. I breathed a sigh of relief, too soon as it turned out! A sec ond later, and he was back up and running! Tracking him in my EOTech, I presse d off another shot, this time at seventy meters. Again, I heard the bullet h it him, but he just staggered and galloped on! This one, we never found. He was just not hit well enough.

Wonderful day of hunting! But, I came to several conclusions:

The 223 round, even the DPX iteration, is just not powerful enough for game

animals weighing over 150lbs. We all get lucky shots now and then, but I a m now persuaded that 223/DPX will work just fine on most deer (within 100m), but it is not potent enough for heavier animals, particularly those as dense and low-to-the-ground as wild pigs.

The forward-mount arrangement I use for my EOTech, and indeed all my battle

optics, is fast, and it gets the optic out of my face, which I like. However, when mounting from awkward positions, the reticule is sometimes har d to find. When thus confronted with a blank screen, I've learned to move my fa ce around rapidly until the reticule comes into view. One need not be directl y behind the optic. If you can see the dot, anywhere in the screen, that is where the bullet will land!

The rail on top of my XCR is extremely precise, as is EOTech's mount ing system. After taking the EOTech off the rifle and then putting it back on,

several times, I discovered my zero had not changed in the slightest. Amer ican rifles, manufactured on computer-driven machinery are, if nothing else, pre cise and consistent! Modern manufacturing techniques produce standards that are

faithfully repeatable from copy to copy. Robinson Arms makes a wonderful rifle!

When I do this again next year, I'll likely be using my copy of RA's XCR in 308, assuming it is available by then. Or, I may use my FAL. Either way, I'll surely be using DPX!

/John