.380 on rats, plus scout project nearing completion

[hillbilly]

I have had an interesting gun afternoon.

First, I went out to the garage to check the rat traps.

I had my Makarov .380 in my pocket. I always have it in my pocket, it seems.

One of the traps was missing...which meant there was a rat dragging it around somewhere.

Sure enough, on the other side of the garage, I found the trap with a large, pissed off rat trapped by his head.

The rat was so big that the bar hit him right on top of the head, and missed his neck.

So, I grabbed the trap by the end farthest from the struggling rat, pitched him into the driveway and took carful aim with the Makarov.

Terminal performance of .380 hollowpoints on rats is quite impressive. Trap was unscathed, just a little bloody on one corner.

Then, it was off to the gunsmith to pick up my nearly complete Enfield Pseudo-Scout project.

It's a 2A Ishapore Enfield that someone chopped into a faux-jungle carbine.

The smith took off the rear sight and the front sight with flash hider.

Only the front sight and flash hider weren't really of Enfield manufacter, but were cheesy aluminum aftermarket parts "aged" to look like older steel.

The front sight tower and flash hider melted away before the solder holding it to the barrel did.

The smith threw in a free black anodizing job on the barrel as compensation.

At present, the epoxy is drying on the Enfield to attach an AO Scout Mount to the barrel.

Tomorrow, it will one more round of epoxy, and then scope time.

Will post pics and full range report.

hillbilly

 

[hillbilly]

I would have posted pics of the .380 performance on rats, only my large Aussie shepherd mix named "Oreo" immediately appropriates all freshly dead rats as his personal chew toys.

It would be now hard to tell the difference between .380 damage and canine damage.

hillbilly

 

[HABU]

I would have posted pics of the .380 performance on rats, only my large Aussie shepherd mix named "Oreo" immediately appropriates all freshly dead rats as his personal chew toys.

Thats awesome!

 

[azrael]

I wanna see a pic of that Scout Rifle...I am thinking of converting one of my yugo mausers into a scout..

A rat killin'...GOOD, did it suffer?

 

[carpettbaggerr]

The rat was so big

HOW BIG WAS IT??

 

[mete]

You've found a good use for the 380, it certainly isn't very good for people. Was it a norway rat ? A norway rat ( not from norway BTW) is about 12" long.

 

[BryanP]

The rat was so big


HOW BIG WAS IT??

It was so bit it was wandering the neighborhood saying "Here kitty kitty, c'mon kitty!"

 

[Dollar Bill]

Good vermin story but I am more interested in your Enfield Scout project. Have you seen this web site? http://www.scoutman308.com/ Sounds like your project is along these lines. I have a pseudo scout with a Remington 700 as the base rifle and I like the concept a lot. Keep us posted on your Enfield scout.

 

[hillbilly]

The rat was a pack rat, or as they are often called around these parts, a "wood rat."

They are not very much like Norway rats.

Pack rats are big, about a foot long in the body. They have brown, short hair all over them like mice. Their tails are completely hair covered all the way to the tip with the same short brown fur.

No pink naked tails on pack rats.

As for the scout, yeah, it's like the rifles on scoutman308's site.

In fact, I've corresponded with him about some specifics.

I've had the rifle for two years, saving up for the rest. This afternoon, I complete the expoxy job with the Accraglass packet.

I should have pics up by the weekend, maybe even a range report.

hillbilly

 

[45crittergitter]

.32 performance

FYI, .32 ACP Silvertips work awfully well also.

 

[M67]

Dang, I misread the thread title.

I expected a story about how great a .308 scout rifle was for rats...

A norway rat ( not from norway BTW) is about 12" long.

The brown rat (rattus norvegicus) actually comes from Asia. The Norway connection is just a vicious rumor started by the Brits. Apparantly the Royal Society of-something-or-other used a rat found on a Norwegian ship when they described the species back in the 1700s.

 

[joab]

I would have posted pics of the .380 performance on rats

Forget the .380 I want to see a rat big enough to survive a Victor hit. One went off on my thumb 13 years ago and shattered my knuckle. I've seen them decapitate our roof rats down here.