Walther Falcon Hunter 1st kill

[daveshoot]

After a decent group with CPHPs at the home range zeroed about a half inch high at 20m (love to mix Imperial with metric measurements like the Army used to), headed up to Fresburg to see what we could do about the remaining ground squirrels of the season. The uneducated ones were picked off one by one over the summer, and the survivors are the hard core bitter-enders.

A fallen peach branch over the fence provided a perfect hiding place from the sweltering valley sun and a source of food, and sure enough a fresh hole with lots of activity was right in the middle of it. Kept an eye on this point blank target while scanning the field. Sure enough we had movement, and at about 30 ft. with a clear head shot through the branches, missed that little sucker cleanly. Can't blame that one on Hatsan!

20 minutes later he popped up again, and this time I held over to compensate for the closeness. Pop! Familar sound of lead on fur... but down the hole he dropped, and those holes are dug to siphon them down out of sight on gravity alone. A probable kill, but no stats for the WFH.
Rats.
So to speak...

Suddenly, movement in the open on the former regional capital, the hillock at a measured 33yds from the fence (about 1.5m tall). There, turned 3/4 toward me, a mocking scoffing garden thief.
Bang! This holed him on the left front shoulder, passed diagonally near the full length of the body, exiting right rear butt. He does a death flip, when... wait! Incredibly it is up and hobbling for the hole, quartering away from me! Wish I had made the head shot I was trying for!

Loaded up another CPHP in a frenzy, breathed, and squeezed off the coup de gras. Pop, neck, down for good. I paced this second shot off, from the fence to the body, at 59 yds. I will take the blame for the slop on the first shot, and all credit is due the Hawke and the Falcon for the cleanup. This thing really can hold a group and I am not done working with it.

The California ground squirrel is a very tough customer. Behold, the ground squirrel that ate Fresno (fence in background):

[Progun]

Dave, it looks like all your hard work is paying off. Now don't give all the credit to the Hawke and the Falcon for that 59 yarder.Since you were zero'd 1/2 in. high at 20m, did you hold over for the follow up shot  at 59m or were you still shooting flat at that distance? Oh forgive my manners...Congratulations on the Falcon's first(and 2nd) kills.You might have saved Fresno.

[gamo2hammerli]

...." Behold, the ground squirrel that ate Fresno ". And behold the Falcon that ate the nutter. Good hunting story, shooting and pics. Btw, the camo on the Falcon is awesome!!!

[daveshoot]

About a 3" holdover. I had been plinking chunks of dirt at various ranges out there, trying to get a feel for the drop factor. Noticeably flatter trajectory than the MP513. The WFH is balanced differently, though. I have to concentrate a little more on steadying and repeatability.

[only1harry]

Congrats on that 59yd shot!  Nice camo on that WFH too!  

BTW, they should nominate you to receive the "key" to the city of Fresno :-)  Who do I send my nomination to from NY?  Just kidding friend.  Good shooting!  

Boy I 'm glad I don't live there with all that wide open space. I 'd have 1/2 dozen or more PCP's and nothing in my bank account :-)

[Timmyj1959@yahoo.com]

NICE shootin Dave,, Loved the story & Great pics.!! Shure like that shooter,,,,,,,,, I want one!! He He!!   Bout time for second kill aint it??  Standin buy,,,,,, Tim.

[swynn]

Nice shooting Dave,sure makes for a good hunt when you can make shots like that...My WFH likes the cphp also......I run mine across the chrony with the cphp,AV 870.7 FPS. will try to post later....Congrats on the hunt TNX for sharing.

[daveshoot]

Appreciate the interest.

The Walther/Hatsan barrel is definitely choked- that's a nice thing to find, after all the issues with this gun. It is also worth noting if you plan to chop one down (I don't). You will lose your muzzle choke.

I am going to try a gentle firelapping in the form of about 5-7 pellets rolled in J-B.
The reasons are that 1) the false crown, that I could actually see, was so rough, I am fearful about the condition of the recessed real crown, and 2) the rifling has chatter marks that may or may not be an issue (and when new, it almost had to be blowing some of the loose scrap metal down the bore).
Really reason 3 is that I have done so many other things to this gun that I may as well finish the job, and reason #4 is that I never tried it before and just feel like it.

So. I have already soaked the bore in Kroil, and then run some J-B Bore Compound through with a wooden dowel, followed by more Kroil.
I will fire the J-B encrusted lapping rounds, and clean it out again.
Then I'll run about 20 (?) fouling shots with my nasty CPLs, and finally get serious about re-chronying, and picking the best pellet for the newly-groomed Beast.

I still never got happy about the sideways slop in the trigger. It's more than a gun- it's becoming a way of life. Kinda fun, though.

[shadow]

Outstanding shootin at that range Dave and from the look's of the landscape they camo real good there. Love the pic's buddy, thank's for sharing the hot hunt with us. Ed