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Finally
Oct 24, 2011 7:48:10 GMT -5
Post by Bill on Oct 24, 2011 7:48:10 GMT -5
Well for the last couple months I have been working hard with my .308 Win in a Rem 700 VF and a Rem 700 Sendero II in .264 Win Mag trying to work out to 1000 yards accurately. Trying to get your drops right even working off a set of drop tables derived from a velocity average given to you by a chronograph is not always easy. The hard part is getting your extreme spread down to single digits between rounds. Two weeks ago my hunting partner and I made it out to 1000 and we were able to keep groups on a 16" target but flyers kept us from really claiming we had finally done it. Annealing and change of primers has changed that a bit and made the groups smaller. I had been using Federal GM Match primers and getting small groups with the .308 Win but ran out of primers and was just able to get them again last week. I had used CCI's but they didn't do as well with the .308 Win. Sunday I was able to make it work and kept the load in less than 1 MOA which is 10"s at that range. I still blow some out that I think that was me as for some reason I was a bit shaky yesterday. Either too much coffee or something. We then switched to the .264 WM and with all the load work we have been doing on these two .264 WM's it is finally starting to show. We ran the drop tables from our latest reloads which showed good consistency and good accuracy and moved to the 1200 yard mark and dialed up the drops from the sheet and it worked. Just a bit under 1MOA and directly on the target. After measuring and doing some figuring I think if it would of been a deer we would of been grinning from ear to ear. Couple more practice sessions between now and Deer season and we should be ready to take a deer at long range. That is unless something goes wrong like we find the deer at under 100 yds. One mistake I found with my .308 is when I returned from shooting the last time I cleaned it down to bear metal in the bore. For some odd reason the gun does not like it. The gun shoots a pattern rather than a group until it gets fouled pretty good then it will settle down and shoot. I'm going to have to remember to shoot at least 8 rounds down the tube before I take it as my back up to go hunting. For the most part it has been pretty forgiving but it just does not like a clean bore.
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Finally
Oct 24, 2011 8:04:06 GMT -5
Post by deputydon on Oct 24, 2011 8:04:06 GMT -5
Yea somethintg will happen Bill......Like "Gusting" winds, & a blizzard, & the "perfect" HUGE buck when the weather is "perfect" that is in a place you can't get the pickup within a half mile of.. "to far to drag I ain't shootin' it".. LOL LOL Bring on the stories errr I mean season!!!!!! By the way seriously Good Luck !!!! Wish I was going to watch!!!
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Finally
Oct 25, 2011 7:32:56 GMT -5
Post by Bill on Oct 25, 2011 7:32:56 GMT -5
One of the guys I work with asked me last spring why I was doing all this. My comment to him at that time was so I could have a picture of me with a big Mulie holding a cardboard sign that says the date and something like 980 yard shot. He was walking away scratching his head. Didn't understand it a bit. Its called self satisfaction. Last Sunday he was out there with me working his butt off trying to get consistent to 700 yds. He is just starting to get there. Then my other hunting buddy and I started breaking rocks at 1200 yds. You ought to see the determination he has on his face now. Kind of made him feel bad to a certain degree but really made him determined to catch up with us. He is talking bigger gun now.
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Finally
Oct 25, 2011 7:47:56 GMT -5
Post by xphunter on Oct 25, 2011 7:47:56 GMT -5
Would have been cool to be there and spot for all of that shooting. Very happy for you!
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Finally
Oct 25, 2011 10:04:04 GMT -5
Post by twomoons on Oct 25, 2011 10:04:04 GMT -5
I'm just the other way I want a picture of me slapping a deer on the butt. I am proudest of how close I can get to game, my best so far is a sneak thoough a gully from 100 yards to 10 yards on 3 doe. The closest I ever got to a buck was 2 feet, but then I woke up!
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Finally
Oct 25, 2011 10:46:12 GMT -5
Post by Jack on Oct 25, 2011 10:46:12 GMT -5
I poked one in the ribs with a rifle barrel once. . . . .
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Finally
Oct 26, 2011 8:07:46 GMT -5
Post by Bill on Oct 26, 2011 8:07:46 GMT -5
The last deer I shot with a Muzzle loader was so close that the smoke came out the other side. Roughly 2 feet. So been there done that one.
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bounce
Royal Member
Posts: 5,727
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Finally
Oct 26, 2011 8:13:09 GMT -5
Post by bounce on Oct 26, 2011 8:13:09 GMT -5
And ever sence bill has ben blowing smoke out of his ass!!
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Finally
Oct 27, 2011 6:47:24 GMT -5
Post by Bill on Oct 27, 2011 6:47:24 GMT -5
Hey, it works for me.
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Finally
Oct 27, 2011 6:58:27 GMT -5
Post by deputydon on Oct 27, 2011 6:58:27 GMT -5
What about the time I ran the buck down grabbed a antler threw it down stepped on a antler and cut it's throat........ True story,,,, about got shot by "Sarge" doing it. Bill and 2M's can tell yous it's true,,,,,can't you guys.........
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bounce
Royal Member
Posts: 5,727
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Finally
Oct 27, 2011 8:17:07 GMT -5
Post by bounce on Oct 27, 2011 8:17:07 GMT -5
Just heard that their is a forest fire by Center NE.
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Finally
Oct 27, 2011 13:05:48 GMT -5
Post by twomoons on Oct 27, 2011 13:05:48 GMT -5
Longest shot I ever made on a critter was culling and it was a measured 268 yards one shot. That is about as far as I ever figure i will need to shoot. That said in my youth I was enamoured with distance and can remember having drop tables to 600 yards pasted on all my rifles.
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bounce
Royal Member
Posts: 5,727
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Finally
Oct 27, 2011 19:56:33 GMT -5
Post by bounce on Oct 27, 2011 19:56:33 GMT -5
I was intersted in long range shooting but about that time and at the same time my abilty to walk distances grew quickly short, then went my ability to carey a 13# gun with ease. Just got old earlyer than I would have wished. But all is not lost as no matter you always have a new challenge till you die. LOL.
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Post by Bill on Nov 9, 2011 9:43:11 GMT -5
If it wasn't for new challenges we would just curl up and croak. Had to make an emergency run to the Gun Doc last week. Somehow or other the locktite on the X mark pro trigger on my .308 Win let loose and the screw started backing out. Had a really awesome trigger for a short period before it gave up. Now it has a rock solid 2 lb 14oz trigger. The best that the gunsmith could get it to without changing the whole trigger. After the season is over it will get a whole new trigger as I want it down to about 1.5 lbs for next summers shooting. Bounce, the beauty of long range shooting is that most places I hunt and can shoot long range I have to do it. Can't sneak up on the deer. If you try to get closer unless you can crawl on your belly which I am way past my crawling stage you just can't do it. Picture this. There are big grassy gully's all congregating down to a small valley. These gully's dump into the small valley and have run about 3/8 of a mile each in all directions down to the valley. There are some pines and other small tree's here and there going down these grassy gully's. They are full of deer all along them. At the bottom is a alfalfa field which each morning and evening all the deer congregate at the alfalfa. The field is about 40 acres square. Further down the valley is some pasture land which is grazed down pretty much. This area is about 30 acres. At the base of that area is a old house. When you go to this area if you drive directly to the old house nothing happens. If you try to go any further up the valley all the deer take off and head north into another ranch we can't hunt on. If you try to sneak (LOL on me sneaking anywhere any more) over one of the ridges to the tops of the gulley's the deer spot you way before you get close and take off. Even longer shots can be had then. Would need a bigger gun. This place is a huge bowl going out even further than the gulley's by another 3-400 yards in each direction. Plus you can't see down the gulley's before they can see you from across the other side. I don't want a running 500 yd shot. So what works is you pull into the area around the old house which in doing this they do not pay any attention to. You find a place to set up and set and watch from there. If you can shoot from 400 to 1000 yds you have a chance at a really huge Mule buck but if you can and try to get closer your pretty much screwed and off they go over the ridge to the north and it might be a couple days before they come back. This place gets hunted every year and every year someone try's to sneak down from the ridge and no one hardly ever gets a shot. But if you can shoot a fairly good distance and have patience and follow the rules ;D You can get a really big buck most of the time. Now just having good equipment (gun, scope, etc.) won't make it. You have to be able to do it. To do it takes trigger time. By the time this season is over I will probably be within 100 to 150 rounds of having my barrel wore out. Most .264 Win Mags are good for between 600-800 rounds before the barrel goes. I am almost to the 600 round mark from this summer. But it is still shooting good and I am pretty sure about making hits out to around 1000 yds which should cover just about all of the area I am talking about and with roughly 200 Mule deer in this one small area and some really big bucks in the bunch I should, SHOULD be able to do ok. We will see.
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Finally
Nov 9, 2011 13:34:58 GMT -5
Post by deputydon on Nov 9, 2011 13:34:58 GMT -5
Good Luck !!!
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