F
Field Ethos
Guest
By Terry Houin
There they are—a handful of sheep up on the side of the mountain about 600 yards out. Not a big group, and it looks like ewes and a couple of young rams—nothing special.
Just then, the front of the herd comes feeding over the short finger ridge in front of us at about 400 yards. And they keep coming. What started as a couple dozen has now ballooned to 100-plus, and they are still streaming over the ridge. Several good rams punctuate the herd, and they are working their way to the water right next to us.
The evening is turning out pretty well so far, we’re finding sheep, talking shit, and enjoying the relative calm before the next storm of Outrider hunters show up the next day.
Then he shows up at the back of the group. He, being Dotis, is a big old ram with long, flowing golden chaps and a specific dot of white hair between his two massive horns.
I’ve had several run-ins with this old warrior over the last few weeks with hunters not being able to get a shot. Others shot a different ram in the herd. Whatever it was, this guy seemed to have a golden horseshoe up his butt and walked away unharmed each time.
Now, here he was with this big herd headed our way. He’s still carrying the horseshoe at 400-plus yards and me sitting here with the Steyr No Country rifle in test mode. I’ve got a little 1-8x LPVO on top of the 16-inch 308 Win, and I’m not very interested in taking a longer shot since I’ve only had it on the range long enough for a 200-yard zero and 20 or so rounds through it to get to know the rifle.
Yet here he comes. Maybe he lost that horseshoe; he’s trotting into the lead of the herd and getting closer and closer. We’re sitting in the Can-Am next to the water, so just in case he continues on, we flip the windshield open, and I set the Steyr on the Armageddon bag, rack a Barnes, and watch as Dot, now jogging, closes the gap quickly.
As we realize what’s happening, the laughing slows and the heart rate jumps. Dot is headed right down the road directly to us. There’s no way this ram with his 10x vision doesn’t see us sitting in the road, but yet here he comes.
He disappears behind some brush, now well within my imposed 200-yard limit. If he comes out to the left, he’ll be about 150 or so; if he comes out the right on the road, he’ll be under 100. Just as I get settled, I see his chaps under the bush; he’s on the right side, walking straight to us. At 80 yards I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer. With the crosshairs squared on his chest, an image I won’t soon forget, I squeezed the trigger, sending the Barnes 165-grain TGK home, dropping him in the road for the easiest recovery ever.
Let’s get into the pieces and parts of what makes this a cool little rifle equally at home on the ranch or stacking up does in Georgia.
The 16-inch Steyr CLII barrel threaded onto the SBS action is cradled with love into the custom Bansner carbon-fiber stock. If you’re not familiar with the SBS action you should be—it’s pretty innovative.
And it wouldn’t be an FE Collab if it wasn’t limited quantities: 50 total with 25 stainless barrels and 25 plasma nitride barrels.
When you open the Condition 1 case, your eyes will be drawn to the details of this collab like the custom leather sling from Kingfisher leather works, featuring the FE logo and brass hardware or the rifle sleeve made from traditional Mexican saddle blankets to keep the Steyr No Country rifle protected. We’ve also included a Spartan Precision adapter in the stock and an FE badge on the pommel to set it off.
After getting a hundred rounds or so through the Steyr No Country I can say with confidence it just shoots. The Barnes 165 TMK’s were consistently grouping smaller than the dot on my scope, so I would say this is easily an MOA rifle and maybe better. The adjustable trigger gives you the ability to stiffen it up a little when taking newbies hunting or lighten it up for cracking running coyotes.
I’ve been on a 308 Win kick lately and this rifle is what started it last Fall. If you want a rifle to cover the bases, this No Country from Steyr is it. And 308 Win remains a universal cartridge with options for plinking with the kids to anything under the sun. I used the new Barnes harvest 165-grain Tipped GameKing with great accuracy and effect on my ram.
Here’s how I’d set up the No Country: lightweight Talley Rings, a small optic like the EOTECH 1-10 or the new Nightforce NX6 2-12, and thread on a SilencerCo ScytheTi and have a Spartan Precision bipod easily accessible. I like the Barnes TGKs, as they performed well, but I’d look at the Barnes 150 TTSX or the Black Hills Dual Performance 152’s for an all-around ranch round that will kill big game, varmints, or the occasional beer bottle off the fence post.
The post A Working Man’s Truck Gun appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
There they are—a handful of sheep up on the side of the mountain about 600 yards out. Not a big group, and it looks like ewes and a couple of young rams—nothing special.
Just then, the front of the herd comes feeding over the short finger ridge in front of us at about 400 yards. And they keep coming. What started as a couple dozen has now ballooned to 100-plus, and they are still streaming over the ridge. Several good rams punctuate the herd, and they are working their way to the water right next to us.
The evening is turning out pretty well so far, we’re finding sheep, talking shit, and enjoying the relative calm before the next storm of Outrider hunters show up the next day.
Then he shows up at the back of the group. He, being Dotis, is a big old ram with long, flowing golden chaps and a specific dot of white hair between his two massive horns.
The Working Man
I’ve had several run-ins with this old warrior over the last few weeks with hunters not being able to get a shot. Others shot a different ram in the herd. Whatever it was, this guy seemed to have a golden horseshoe up his butt and walked away unharmed each time.
Now, here he was with this big herd headed our way. He’s still carrying the horseshoe at 400-plus yards and me sitting here with the Steyr No Country rifle in test mode. I’ve got a little 1-8x LPVO on top of the 16-inch 308 Win, and I’m not very interested in taking a longer shot since I’ve only had it on the range long enough for a 200-yard zero and 20 or so rounds through it to get to know the rifle.
Yet here he comes. Maybe he lost that horseshoe; he’s trotting into the lead of the herd and getting closer and closer. We’re sitting in the Can-Am next to the water, so just in case he continues on, we flip the windshield open, and I set the Steyr on the Armageddon bag, rack a Barnes, and watch as Dot, now jogging, closes the gap quickly.
As we realize what’s happening, the laughing slows and the heart rate jumps. Dot is headed right down the road directly to us. There’s no way this ram with his 10x vision doesn’t see us sitting in the road, but yet here he comes.
He disappears behind some brush, now well within my imposed 200-yard limit. If he comes out to the left, he’ll be about 150 or so; if he comes out the right on the road, he’ll be under 100. Just as I get settled, I see his chaps under the bush; he’s on the right side, walking straight to us. At 80 yards I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer. With the crosshairs squared on his chest, an image I won’t soon forget, I squeezed the trigger, sending the Barnes 165-grain TGK home, dropping him in the road for the easiest recovery ever.
FE x Steyr No Country Details
Let’s get into the pieces and parts of what makes this a cool little rifle equally at home on the ranch or stacking up does in Georgia.
The 16-inch Steyr CLII barrel threaded onto the SBS action is cradled with love into the custom Bansner carbon-fiber stock. If you’re not familiar with the SBS action you should be—it’s pretty innovative.
And it wouldn’t be an FE Collab if it wasn’t limited quantities: 50 total with 25 stainless barrels and 25 plasma nitride barrels.
When you open the Condition 1 case, your eyes will be drawn to the details of this collab like the custom leather sling from Kingfisher leather works, featuring the FE logo and brass hardware or the rifle sleeve made from traditional Mexican saddle blankets to keep the Steyr No Country rifle protected. We’ve also included a Spartan Precision adapter in the stock and an FE badge on the pommel to set it off.
After getting a hundred rounds or so through the Steyr No Country I can say with confidence it just shoots. The Barnes 165 TMK’s were consistently grouping smaller than the dot on my scope, so I would say this is easily an MOA rifle and maybe better. The adjustable trigger gives you the ability to stiffen it up a little when taking newbies hunting or lighten it up for cracking running coyotes.
Uncle T’s Take
I’ve been on a 308 Win kick lately and this rifle is what started it last Fall. If you want a rifle to cover the bases, this No Country from Steyr is it. And 308 Win remains a universal cartridge with options for plinking with the kids to anything under the sun. I used the new Barnes harvest 165-grain Tipped GameKing with great accuracy and effect on my ram.
Here’s how I’d set up the No Country: lightweight Talley Rings, a small optic like the EOTECH 1-10 or the new Nightforce NX6 2-12, and thread on a SilencerCo ScytheTi and have a Spartan Precision bipod easily accessible. I like the Barnes TGKs, as they performed well, but I’d look at the Barnes 150 TTSX or the Black Hills Dual Performance 152’s for an all-around ranch round that will kill big game, varmints, or the occasional beer bottle off the fence post.
The post A Working Man’s Truck Gun appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...