The .257 Idiot Mag, based upon a Rem 700 which was originally smithed by [the late] George Myer, including bolt bushing. The original barrel was a thirty Cal., 1:17" twist Lilja, chambered for the 300WSM: via this platform and, complete with the [original] Burris Mini HBR 6X scope, it delivered excellent precision - good enough to compete in Hunter Class tournaments. For hunting, the barreld action and scope are simply switched from the McMillan HBR stock, to the Rem. 40X (H.S. Precision) stock pictured. The original Lilja HBR barrel makes this rig weigh in at 11# - 4Oz.; with the #4 contour .257 I Mag tube, the weight, as seen is right on 9#.
Following the dispatching of the first dog of this duo, the second sprinted over to see what was about . . . they expired only a coupe of feet apart - close enough that I risked pushing them closer together for a pic. The range on this pair proved to be 273 yards - not terrible shooting with a 6X scope. Compared to hits using the "soft" version, the 3% antimony + 1% tin cores proved considerably less destructive. Again, the chronographed 15 foot velocity for the 110 Gr. load was 3540 FPS. In the light condition of that afternoon, the hold for this pair was "dead-on" for vertical, with the 1MOA dot just touching the up-wind side of the upright vermin. Of note, thorughout the trip, any time we stopped in a "town", to dispatch PDs, the raptor population (a variety of hawks), hearing the rifle reports, swooped in from "nowhere" to consume the victims - we suspected that the prey-birds were pretty hungry due to the devistation wrought by THE PLAGUE! One highly populated dog-town, which we had discovered and shot on during the previous fall hunt, proved to have been completely wiped-out; we sat for an hour watching for PD activity before conceding that the "dogs" just weren't there anymore.
But the last time we thought the Pds were completely eliminated by PLAGUE, our belief proved incorrect - last year, there were prairie dogs everywhere: this is probably part of the natural rodent cycle. And that last "come-back" seemed to have happened as if by forced invasion! ;) RG
P.S. it looks like the .257 Idiot Mag is a little too much rifle for prairie dogs . . . but boy, does it shoot FLAT - at 3500 FPS, initial BC, for the 110 BIB, excedes .52! :)