lancetkenyon

Hey Mark, when are we going to go shoot that rifle of yours that you are going to keep for hunting instead of selling it....

Let him sleep. He needs his rest. That guy was going to be a toad. And a lot of good meat wasted as well. I would have had my bone saw out.....just saying.

Patiently waiting...

Holy WOW! Awesome, awesome buck. Full mount worthy for sure.

The shot on the doe was just behind shoulder, just above halfway up the body.

I was really hoping you had your cameras up in 7W, and these were going to be the funny photos we bombed on 2 different cameras while up there in May. Ours were all in good fun, no malicious acts.

My 14 year old daughter, Taylor, drew the 12AE late rifle tag this year. She had the 12AE early hunt last year, and we saw 85 bucks. 5 that were bigger that anything I have killed, 180-200+". We just could not connect all the dots, but had an absolute amazing hunt. I can't wait to get back up there again this Novenmber. I have hunted the early hunt quite a few times, but never the late hunt.

Wow. I am officially jealous. That 28 is flat bada...

Your zero, wheter it be at 100, 200, or 300, should remain constant at all magnification ranges in a SFP scope. 6.5x, 12x, 18x or 20x. Parallax, if not properly set (which does not necessarily mean a clear sight picture) will wreak havok on accuracy. To check to see if parallax is removed, make sure your rifle is on a solid rest, and move your head slightly up and down or side to side and see if the reticle moves on target. Adjust parallax knob (or "side focus" until the reticle stays perfectly still on target. If not, what you think you are aiming at, might not be what you are actually aiming at. Parallax gets more pronounced and noticeable on higher magnification. Even a little bit. This is more than likely your problem as C.Cordova suggested.

How about we PM hunt locations please....

I have seen a few bucks taken north of the Ditch that had similar, albeit smaller, versions of those. G&F said meat should be OK to eat. But no way in heck I would.

Difference between 6.5 GAP 4S is it is a 6.5-.300 RSAUM with a shorter freebore of .081" and neck with 2 choices (298 for a no-turn option or 296) depending on brass choice and desired neck tension. Also the GAP 4S is shorter to fit in an Accurate WSM magazine. 6.5 RSAUM has a bit of a longer leade and seat the bullet out, for just a touch longer COAL. Probably not much, if any, difference in performance.

I shoot the 69 SMK in my .223 for paper, steel, and pigs. I usually shoot 50 V-MAX for yotes. The 69 SMK has taken yotes for me too though. I have a buddy whose kid shot a doe on the 12AW yourh hunt, and she dropped like a rock after a 69 SMK whacked her. Crazy accurate, good speed, and good performance on game. Typical .223 hole going in, quarter size exit. Typical .223" pinhole entrance Quarter size exit

Are you firm with those choices? I would suggest look into a 6.5 4S (Super Secret Squirrel $#!t), 6.5 SS (Sherman Short), 6.5 WSM, or 6.5 RSAUM also. Much better barrel life, cheaper to shoot over the 26 Nosler, less recoil, and great case design. Similar to the .264WM. My advice too, if you go with the 26 Nosler, please look into the 160 Matrix VLD. It can turn that cartridge into a true long range contender. Even the other cartridges I mentioned would shine with that bullet. With a G1 BC of .685 and a 1:8" recommended twist rate, they should fly great and put a whooping on medium to large game pushed at 2900+. With some of the bigger ones, 3000-3100 shouldn't be hard, maybe more.

Now that deer results are out....I bet this will sell quickly.

PM Sent

A gunsmith here on the site and I have been talking for a while, and he developed a new wildcat. Very similar to the 6.5-06 Ackley Imp., but using the .270 Win neck and case lengths. Not sure what he will name the cartridge yet, but it is a 6.5-.270 Ackley Imp. 40°. He built the rifle for a long range deer and medium range elk rifle. Started with a Rem 700 BDL LA action, added a PTG recoil lug, 28" finished length Benchmark #3 fluted barrel (that will eventually have an APA Micro Bastard brake) w. a 1 in 8" twist, Timney Calvin Elite trigger, and B&C medalist stock in a Weatherby contour. I am not sure what all work he did to the action. So hopefully he will chime in if I misspoke on anything. Anyways, he brought me the rifle to do some load development on. He had taken it out and put 20 rounds down the pipe to break in the barrel, and brought me the fired and fire formed cases. Along with 45 other virgin brass. Specs on loads: Hornady virgin .270 Win brass was weight sorted, and culled just a couple that were more than 2 gr. out of range. I prepped it all by running them through the die set to neck it down from .277 to .264 and putting a hint of a false shoulder on the .270 Win shoulder, uniformed the primer pockets, and annealing the necks/shoulders. You can just see the start of a false shoulder. I took a fired brass and checked seating depth to lands on 5 different bullets. 140 SMK, 142 SMK, 142 NABLR, 140 Hybrid, 140 HVLD, and recorded all the info. I also checked the case length to shoulder of the fired case and set the die up to bump the shoulder back .0015" to 2.1000", which then fed the cases very smoothly. Primed all the virgin brass with CCI 200 LR primers, and the fire formed cases with some Rem 9 1/2 mag primers I had on hand. Using RL22 which I use in my .25-06 Ackley, I charged up all of the virgin brass with a near max load for the 6.5-06 case per the Berger book. Then loaded up rounds for fire forming using 5 different bullet types. 15 @ Berger 140 Hybrids for sight in with 5 and 2 groups of 5 for accuracy potential 10 @ 142 NABLR 5 @ 142 SMK 5 @ 140 SMK 10 @ 140 HVLD Then loaded up a ladder test using the once fired brass with some 140 HVLDs just touching the lands. Dang that is sexy... Since I was going to be shooting for hopefully small groups, I swapped my Kahles 6-24 w. the SKMR reticle on the rifle. And told my buddy not to get too attached to it.

Well, since Taylor just drew a 12AE LATE hunt.......one of the following: R700 in .260 Rem pushing 140 HVLD R700 in 6.5 SLR pushing 140 HVLD R700 in 7RM pushing 180 Hybrid R700 in .300RUM. pushing 215 Hybrid Depends on distance and hunting type for the day. Still hunting, either the .260 or 7RM. Glassing and shooting LR, 6.5 SLR or .300RUM depending on distance and conditions.

Hoe Lee CRAP!!! Taylor drew hunt #1014.....12AE LATE!!! Tag #24 of 30!!! I am literally shaking I am so excited. I almost teared up. I have been putting in for that hunt for 25+ years and never drawn it. Now I get to go with my best hunting buddy!!! Epic day! In all seriousness, 2016 has been really rough. I lost my father-in-law in January, my Dad had a heart attack and open heart surgery in March, I lost one of my 2 best friends for the past 35 years on May 31st, a very close friends wife passed away suddenly on June 27th, I just got rear ended in my wife's new Camaro last Thursday. I was ready to skip the rest of 2016. Then this to totally get me back on track. Thanks to God for the tag. Couldn't happen to a better little girl.

Me too. Too bad it is not my rifle to put through it's paces. Being a hunting rifle, I am not sure how long it will take to go through the life cycle of the brass, if ever. There are 110ish cases. So that might last a long time. I am on the 7th to 8th firing on my 120 pieces of .300RUM brass, always loaded pretty hot. I was also at about 7 or 8 loadings on my .25-06 Ackley cases that were loaded really hot. 100 gr. @ 3600+ and 115s at 3400. I just bought 100 new Nosler brass 2 years ago after about 10 years of using the Remington brass.

Harley, Same bolt face between .257 Wby and .264WM, right? You can do a .264WM since you would have to rebarrel and chamber anyway. Gives you a bit of a heavier bullet option. .264 130/140/160gr. Vs. .257 115/117/120gr. I sure wish Berger would come out with a .257" 130gr. Put 1:9" twist .257 bore and those would rock!

For a hunting rifle, the 6.5-.300 Weatherby should last a lifetime. Get load development done in 50-100 rounds, and you still have 500-1000 rounds of barrel life depending on how you shoot it. It is NOT a rifle you take to the range every week though. I like the 6.5 Allen Mag myself if you want pure performance....

I got out this weekend to finalize load development for the new wildcat. I also got to spend the morning with Taylor. That kid can shoot….and is very competitive! Do you even have those days where you are just not feeling it? I was having one of those days. I probably should have just packed up and headed home, but I stuck it out. Taylor actually beat me on groups a couple times too. Maybe I should have had her shooting.... Anyway, on to the load development. Since the ladder test last week showed a good node, I went with the high node for the added velocity gains. Rifle specs again: R700 LA 28” Benchmark #3 fluted 1:8” Timney CE trigger @ 1# Bell & Carlson “Weatherby” style I used my own Kahles K624i Gen III 6-24x56 w. SKMR reticle for testing Load specs: Hornady once fired (to fire form to Ackley configuration) brass CCI250 Mag primers 140 SMK H1000 (59.0-60.5 in .3gr increments) Shooting conditions: 200 yards 89-97* F Fluctuating winds from 10:00-2:00 Shooting was done from front bi-pod/rear bag (no lead sled) So we got out there and warmed up with the AR, .260 Rem, & 7RM. Once warmed up, I began my final testing. The rifle has just a touch of cold bore shift from first to the next consecutive shots. We only shot 5 rounds per session between breaks to let the barrel cool. Shoot 5, then shoot another rifle to kill time. The barrel heats up fairly quickly, being a hot round and a light contour barrel. Not a problem for a hunting rifle though. It is funny watching my 13-year-old daughter school most guys out there. Makes me proud. And confident in her shooting skills when she has time to get behind the gun and set up. Taylor shooting my 7Rem Mag pushing 180 Hybrids @ 3000fps... I started out working up from low charge weight of 59.0gr. and went up, looking for signs of pressure with each charge weight. I hit just the slightest sign (a slightly crated primer, but not flattened, no sticky bolt lift, no brass flow or extractor marks, no swipes, etc.) at 60.5, so I stopped there. Leaving 60.8 & 61.1 left to be pulled apart and neck sized when I got home. Please note that even though some of the groups appear to shift a bit from center of target, with my personal scope on the rifle, it was hitting 1.4MIL high @ 200 yards. Since I didn’t want to mess with the zero stop to bring it down, I would pick a POA somewhere about 1.3-1.5MIL below center of target, and hold there. Some were slightly left or right, or above or below center of target center. So groups are all I was shooting for, not center of target necessarily. I guess 59.0 photo didn't load, but it is not much different than the rest. 59.3 59.6 (cold bore was a combo of me and cold bore, I called it after I broke the shot before I even saw POI) 59.9 Needless to say, this is my load of choice. 60.2 60.5 (where I stopped due to very slight pressure signs) I will be loading the 59.9 gr. load. Great speeds of 3150+, great accuracy. I can't wait to see what the rifle owner kills with it this year. He has a deer hunt and a cow elk hunt w. his sister. I got home, finally got my scope back on it's home, thoroughly cleaned the rifle, and got all the brass resized, cleaned, and ready to reload. I have not needed to trim brass yet, even after 2 firings. It appeared to grow about .02". So trimming to minimum OAL should net 4-5 firings between trimming. One of the great benefits of an Ackley configuration. Plus the added case capacity and better speeds due to case volume increase and higher charge weights. The rifle was dirty, as I had not cleaned it since I have had it, with 146 shots with fire forming 100 cases and then load development. But copper fouling was fairly minimal. This rifle should rock some game in the years to come. From long range coyotes, pigs, and deer to medium range elk. Taylor shooting the .260 Rem 5th shot was the top right @ 200. Boy was she mad! We each shot 30 rounds (three 10 round groups each) of .223 @ 200. My best group of the day was about 1.5". She had two different 10 shot groups @ 1". Little brat teased me all day about that.

As far as glass goes, for riflescopes, Kahles is top tier. I will put my Kahles scope against my Schmidt & Bender all day long. If their binos are in the same class, I would think these will be as clear as Swaros.