What I learned this year about rifles...

[tnbillyearl]

TWO YEAR UPDATE...

I'm still learning.

1. I am now a 4 rifle guy. (all .284s)
2. I am learning older Winchester triggers and Mauser 98 actions.
2. I have thought a lot about the 2 posts above (scopes holding zero). And I have been paying close attention b/t trips to the range. My experience this year has shown temp changes and torque settings on action screws seem to affect POI more than the scope moving from recoil. But I can't be sure; I am just not getting a lot of movement. Nor are my buddies having 'zeroing' issues with their less expensive scopes. Small sample, and it would only take one miscue to change my mind.
3. I took 2 deer w/ Partitions and 1 large hog (my own reloads) this year. Great, great performance. This year I will be trying Nosler Ballistic Tips.
4. I have a backhanded compliment to Tikka - mine shoots all powders, all bullets, at all seating depths either good or very good, and that makes it hard to find "the" load. After a few ladders and such I ask myself, "Self, what's the point?" My 700's tell me "the" load quite clearly after telling me "this is not" the load quite clearly.
5. Finally, I picked up a NOS Bushnell Elite (Japan Model, produced after the 4500's were put to rest in 2011 or so.) It truly does show better in all light situations and has held zero on a 7mmWSM so far. A new favorite, albeit 12 years old.

Again, thanks to many of you for posting through the years. I glean quiet a bit when on my frequent rabbit trails.

B

 

[dv8pnt]

I have shot a lot of deer with 143 grain eldx hornady precision hunters. Never noticed a blood trail because they all dropped where they stood. I have used them out of a weatherby vanguard, a browning x bolt hunter and recently out of a tikka. All 6.5 creedmoors and all shoot the factory ammo great.

 

[Vern400]

Good post. Nosler partitions are arguably the most forgiving bullet relative to impact velocity and the game you're shooting. The soft lead tip initiates expansion quickly. My 30 caliber will expand on a rabbit and a coyote! But the hard butt end of that bullet will keep plunging through 30 in or more. You could almost say they don't fail. Yes they may tear up some meat in the first 12 inches of travel.

On the flip side, I've had 165 nosler ballistic tips slip completely through a deer and come out like a pencil. I lost one this way. You have to be very careful about your impact velocity and the toughness of the game you're shooting.

I don't shoot many deer at ranges over 200 yd. But if I am going to hunt a soybean field I prefer to use a softer bullet like Sierra spitzer boat tails or Hornady ssts because they initiate expansion very rapidly. Even finding the place where you shot a deer in a bean field can be difficult so the last thing I want is a deer making it to the swamp!

That's why I always shoot milk jugs full of water at 100 200 300 400 500 600 yd. I've shot some bullets that would refuse to open and just slip through at the longer ranges! It's fun, and it's cheap insurance so you know what you're sending!

 

[tnbillyearl]

THREE YEAR UPDATE...

Just a couple of new insights this year in my quest to becoming a hand-loader who has some minimal understanding of ballistics and accuracy.

1. Bedding rifles can be more witchcraft than science.
2. When I want to put deer down DRT, a 160 grainer @ an initial 3000 ft/sec into the lungs is my ticket at all my comfortable distances.
3. Harvey_NW was right about scopes. I had my first ever scope failure this year on an older Nikon Prostaff. Lesson learned.
4. Finally, it was reinforced to me that the first shot out of a cold barrel is all that matters and I need to prepare off that.

Many thanks to many of you for all the insights in this forum, the Reloading forum, and the optics forum.

-B

 

[NSI]

Whelp, 3 outta 4 ain’t bad.

-J