lancetkenyon

My wife doesn't hunt. I wish she would. But both of my daughters hunt. One is now 25, and the other is 14. Both of thwm have taken elk and javelina. My oldest has an archery sheep and deer too. Both have hunts this year, elk and deer. The younger has a riflw cow and late rifle deer. The oldest has a late rifle bull hunt. They both shoot a lot of small game and birds too. Unfortunayely, kost of my older daughter's hunts were before digital cameras. We usually hunt as a family, but my older daughter goes with her husband, who she actually got him into hunting.

OK. I lnow the OCW test procedures. Glad you started with the low charge weights and went uo during testing. I misunderstood your two posts where you said you started at 62.9 and worked down. I see no problem with going above book max when testing properly as long as you know what signs to look and feel for. Most book "max" are conservative for legal reasons. Only YOUR gun can tell you its max load. Too many variables to say with certainty what safe max is in all rifles. But max load might not be the most accurate load. Mine seldom are.

Next time, start low and work UP with powder charge weights. Far safer that way. And seat long and work shorter too. I usually go in fairly large jumps (.0400") when testing seatkng depth, then fine tune with those results. Try getting a good reloading book and reading it for safety reasons. Even though 62.0 is safe in the guns I worked up loads for, it might not be in all. 62.9 is Hornady's "Max" listed charge weight using RL22 and the 162 ELD-X. NEVER start at max.

RL22 is a good powder choice for that weight bullet. But your gun will tell you if it likes it or not. I have used it in 4 different 7RM pushing 160-168 bullets with great results. Usually right at 62.0gr. I would try seating depth testing next and see if they tighten up before I switched powders and started over. Just be aware that RL22 is quite temp sensitive. 1°F temp change=1fps. So if you do load development in the summer @ 90°, and you hunt when it is 30°, you will get 60fps slower speeds, which will probably push you out of your accuracy node. Out of curiosity, what is the recipe you are using? Brass, primer, charge weight range, CBTO/COAL?

If you have a hunt number other than 0000, you drew that tag.

Brian, With a 12AW late tag, you should have some opportunities.

I dig it. Looks like the toy green army men on steroids!

Great PSA azslim. I have seen big trees in burns fall for no apparent reason. Winds can make them a dangerous place.

I have always suggested HSM or Nosler Trophy Grade. This weekend, I went shooting with another memeber to sight in and see how his brand new rifle was going to shoot. He bought some factory ammo since he does not reload. He purchased: Nosler Trophy Grade 7RM 160 Accubond Hornady Precision Hunter 7RM 162 ELD-X He could not find any HSM at the time. We sighted in with the Hornady and got him shooting 1.5" high @ 100. He shot a 1" group, with 2 of the shots touching. Showing some potential. Shooting over a chrono showed pretty consistent speeds too, I think somewhere around a 30-40fps total ES. The Nosler results were suprising. Best 100 yard group was about 1.25", but speeds were all over the place. Over 100fps difference. Pushed back to 200 to make sure he was good, and the Hornady Precision hunter performed better. About a 2" group, and again, pretty consistent speeds. The Nosler opened up a bit, and speeds were 100+ FPS different. With some tweaking, this rifle shows a lot of promise. To be fair, conditions were less than ideal, with wicked mirage floating the target in the optics, and some decent shifting winds from all different directions and nothing constant.

For me, I hunt almost every weather condition in 2 set of boots. Danner Gila Solomon 4D GTX I wear them to work often as well dependent on site location and conditions. I have worn them from -11° to 119°. I just change to sock for the conditions. The Danner Gila took a little bit to break in, but are great now that they have. The Solomon were fantastic right out of the box.

Similar experience when I shot a buck with my .25-06 Ackley. 100 TTSX @ 3580ish. Buck quartering on. 488 yards, bullet entered right shoulder, passed through both lungs, exited left rear hip. I thought I had missed too. Deer didn't evn move. I chambered another round and deer went over backwards without another kick.

Meindl-Cabela's Danner-Sportsman's, Cabela's or Bass Pro Solomon-REI Asolo-REI Kennetrek-Sportsman's or Cabela's Lowa and Scarpa-AZ Hiking Shack or REI

I cannot believe this has not sold! Bump for a great goat & deer rifle.

SAAMI specs are for cartridge length, not necessarily chamber throat depth. The chamber for case dimensions match, but not necessarily the throat. Which is why all guns shoot differently. Manufacturers can have vastly different reamers, some new, some worn, some cut just a touch different, some tight, some sloppy. Also why custom rifles usually have a lot tighter chambers, and the leade, or throat, can vary even more per the customer request for bullet choice and magazine length. If you want a rifle throated for the heavier bullets, they will usually have a longer jump to lands when using a factory cartridge. Factory cartridges are made to work in every gun chamber and magazine with that chambering 99% of the time. That is why you usually see hand loaders with COAL and CBTO longer than SAAMI. They are chasing the lands in THEIR gun for accuracy, powder charge/pressure, and consistency. Not loading to fit in ANY gun.

I agree with Roninflag. I have hunted 7 for 25+ years, and never once seen a Coues up there. I have seen javelina in 7 on numerous occasions, so who knows. I do know that 6A, 6B, and 8 all hold Coues, so maybe some migrated in? But there are no "Antlered whitetail" or "Antlered mule deer" tags in 7, just "Any antlered deer".

As long as they feed smoothly, fit in the magazine, and shoot well, CBTO and COAL are not the end all goal.

I don't have a .300WM, but I have a reduced load in my .300RUM for my kids to shoot using the 215 Hybrid @ 2965fps. I also have a full power load at 3100. They fly amazing in my 28", 1:10" twist barrel. I have shot them to 1771 yards on steel, and it is amazing you can hear the gong when you hit it at a mile+. I don't see any game animal walking away from a well placed shot with the 215 Hybrid as long as you put it where it needs to go at 1000 yards. I have not shot the 212 ELD-X.

I bought into the Dairy lease last year. And will be doing so again this year. This was a typical day for Taylor and I, maybe 30 minutes of shooting, middle of the day. Mostly Eurasians, as that is what I target. We always pick up each of our empties, and I bet I picked up over 1000 empties from others last year. Disgraceful. This was 3 guys, middle of the day, about an hour. Again, mostly Eurasians.

One of my dream hunts. I love wingshooting.

I will take whatever you don't need. Thanks John. And you can grab that scope when you are there too.

I had never witnessed first hand a ballistic gel test. To be able to be the one shooting it was a blast (no pun intended).

Yes, a free box of loaded ammo, or a box of loose bullets for reloading if you draw a Bab or Strip rifle tag.

Man this video gets my blood pumping for my 14 year old daughter's upcoming 12AE late rifle tag!!! Aweslme deer, I hope Taylor gets a chance at a buck like that.

Maybe next Sunday?

The thing I prefer with the 6.5RSAUM over the 6.5WSM is neck length. Other than that, the WSM has a great case.