lancetkenyon

Can you give some specifics on your load? Bullet brand, weight, BC. Muzzle velocity For a 140gr. .264 Berger VLD with a BC of .612 @ 2950fps Pressure 29.92 @ 80° @ 500 yards drop is 28.8" (Ben Avery elevation) Pressure 24.42 @ 30° @ 500 yards drop is 39.1" (approximate 7500' AMSL) A 10" difference just going from Phoenix to up north would be a miss on a deer at 500 yards. For a 115gr .257 Berger VLD with a BC of .466 @ 3460fps 29.92 @ 80° @ 500 yards drop is 22.5" 24.42 @ 30° @ 500 yards drop is 29.4" A 7" difference at only 500 yards. Would be a wounded deer. For a 140gr. .277 Berger VLD with a BC of .487 @ 3120fps 29.92 @ 80° @ 500 yards drop is 30.2" 24.42 @ 30° @ 500 yards drop is 45.2" A 15" difference at only 500 yards. A clean miss on just about any game animal. Bump up the speed to 3320fps (maybe the .270 WSM velocity?): 29.92 @ 80° @ 500 yards drop is 25.4" 24.42 @ 30° @ 500 yards drop is 37.3" A 12" difference at only 500 yards. A miss on a deer, or a poorly wounded elk. I think Huntharder shoots a 7LRM with the 180 Berger Hybrids @ 2950 fps @ 65°F & BC of .674 if I remember correctly. According to Shooter (and I have no real world experience with this round or rifle) without knowing his scope mounting height and actual sight in range or conditions: My calculations show for a 1.8" scope height and a 200 yard zero: (these are calculations and not actual data) 29.92 @ 80° @ 700 yards drop is 83.8" 24.42 @ 30° @ 700 yards drop is 97.0" Pretty awesome ballistics! But still a miss on game. Huntharder must have different zero range and sight in conditions from what I assumed. And I would sure love to shoot with him someday.

A 1# scope? Wow. It must be tiny. What action, short or long? What base? Double dovetail or rear windage adjustable? 1 piece or 2 piece? What rings? 30mm or 1"? Double dovetail or rear windage adjustable? An aluminum Picatinny with light weight rings might be your best bet. I just weighed a single 1" medium Leupold ring, and it is about 1.7245oz.

To dispose of blades, I just put the old blade in the packet that the new blades comes in, and put it in the back of the nylon holster until I get home. I just cut the leg joints apart on my elk this weekend as I was butchering it with my Barracuta. No need to pry apart. Just cut the tendons and cartilage and they come right apart. As for putting the blades in a gut pile to be eaten, that is bullshit. I am all for predator control, and hunt them regularly, but that idea sucks. We should strive for a clean kill at all times, even on coyotes, and ingesting a blade would not be a quick, clean kill. Plus, not only coyotes eat the gut piles. So do birds of prey. You really want a hawk/eagle/condor/vulture to eat half a blade? I have seen bald eagles on gut piles before. WTF.

For that hunt, I would find a hill out in the flats north of San Fran Peaks in the pinions and glass until I found them, watch them bed or wait for them to get back up and put one to permanent sleep.

Weighed.....enough. I hate to say this, but it got dropped in the field, and we searched for about 15 minutes for it and never found it. Knowing how much a new one weighs, and what was left, I would think about 50%+/- weight retention after a good 20-24" of penetration, with shattering two ribs and a bone in the spine. That elk never even twitched. Just rolled over and instantly dead. I have never seen a quicker kill on big game. I have shot game with SMKs (numerous), Berger Hunting VLDs (they work pretty quick too, like 2 seconds and 10'), Barnes TSX (deer stood for about 5 seconds like nothing and then dropped without a twitch, another elk went all of 5'), SGKs (deer ran 40 yards), Swift Scirocco (elk never took a step but stood for a good minute with 2 in the boiler room), Ballistic Tips (not impressed with any from .257 to .308, except the Varmint BTs disintegrate small game into a pink mist).

Bump for a good LRF for cheap.

Spoken for.

I have also, never broken a blade. But I don't pry or force bone with mine either. I have a Gerber bone saw I carry for cutting off legs, and vertebrae. Also, the gutless method does not require splitting the pelvis. Gotta LOVE the gutless method of cleaning game in the field. But if I was actually ever lucky enough to shoot game close to a road where I could get the entire animal in the truck, I would still gut it, then hang to skin and quarter. SO much nicer and cleaner that way.

Also, you have to know your mil-dot or hashes. A Mil-dot reticle is in Mils, but the Vortex Viper is usually in MOA adjustments, so watch that too. On my Vortex Viper HS 4-16x50, the hashes are not consistent, but knowing them allows me to dial the majority, but hold for elevation at really long range. Mine are at 0, 1.5MOA, 4.5MOA, 7.5MOA, 11.5MOA (top of bar). 900 yards with the .223 means dialing 20.25MOA, and holding on the top of the bar (add 11.5MOA) for a total of 31.75MOA. That is about as far as I can go with the .223. Over that (actually 910 is doable @ 32.5MOA) and I run out of elevation (stops at 21.5MOA up for my set up) and added holds.

Here we go. My take on a custom turret.... They ONLY work when you are in the exact conditions you get your dope from. If you shoot at 85° at Ben Avery (1563' AMSL) on a 29.95 barometric pressure day and that is where you get your info, then a late November hunt at 6000'AMSL at 40° with a 25.52 barometric pressure will miss at anything over 400 yards. Without a ballistic calculator and going out and actually shooting the rifle, how do you know what your drops are in the first place? A custom turret does not automatically mean you can dial and first round hit at distance. ONLY Practice and knowing your gun can do that. Even then, the wind will get you unless you have a way of actually getting true velocity at several distances, not just where you are at. It takes a lot of practice, and time working up the shot in the field, to make consistent hits. If you plan to limit shots to 300 yards or less, why get a custom turret? Just sight in with a 250 yard zero and hold dead on out to 300 or so. You might have a 4" rise at 150 yards, and a 4" drop at 300 yards, but those will all hit an 8" kill zone with holding right on target. Search "custom turrets" on here and read up on the discussions, it is way easier than re-hashing all of the debates. Again, these are MY opinions. But to answer your actual question, I hold for wind, I do not dial for it. I only dial for elevation. I might have been better to just state that fact. Sorry. Disregard all of the above if you want. Bad day at work and all that makes me grumpy. Plus my wife wants to go shopping instead of a little "alone time" while the kids are at school late today. That is enough to drive you mad!

I will post a photo later of the 175 SMK out of a .300RUM that my daughter took her elk with this year. Just under the offside skin, about halfway through it and almost out. This was the first ever recovered bullet I have found.

God bless Coach Brittain. Today's youth need more role models like this.

I, too, have the Piranta and a Barracuta. The Barracuta is a filet knife, and works fantastic for elk where you need a longer blade to get down into the meat for backstraps and tenderloins. The Piranta works awesome on deer and javalina. Both are very light and so easy to change a blade when they start to dull. Replacement blades are cheap so you will get spoiled and change blades to have a scalpel edge at all times. I have been using them for butchering at home too.

Saw pigs in 7W this November.

IF you supply nothing but the action, a full custom rifle build from PCR is amazingly affordable for a rifle guaranteed to shoot sub-half MOA, with most shooting .25 MOA or better, which is almost their guarantee now. Almost ready to pull the trigger on mine. Went down and talked to Keith today and got almost all of the details ironed out. I changed a few items just a bit at his suggestions, but that is what a good smith will do. Give you pros and cons about choices and let you make the final call. Here are my specs: Manners T2A or McMillan A-5 stock w. pillar & skim bedding Rem 700 SA BDL trued Recoil lug Bartlein 5R Rem Varmint contour 1 in 8" @ 26-27" Badger Thruster brake PTG bolt w. M16 extractor & tactical bolt knob Timney Calvin Elite trigger (ordered) Nightforce Picatinny base (ordered) Scope and rings are still up in the air. Leaning towards a Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5-27x56 EBR-2C or Steiner T5Xi 5-25x56 MSR

SPF

Sold

To the OP, AMEN. To the other posters, I agree also. But why eliminate Christmas, just for political correctness? Too much political correctness, and not enough goodwill from all religions lately.

All of the great Coues coming out, I need to start hunting them!!! Awesome buck. COngrats.

Great buck! Sorry you did not have enough time to enjoy yourself.....

Awesome read. Makes me envious to be out with my Dad just one more time. A decent buck, and a very respectable call on putting him down. I have done the same on the Bab more than a few years ago.

Wow. Great year indeed!

My bad. If I would have actually READ the first post.... Sorry. I still feel private property is just that. Leased land is still public land. The rancher just leases gazing rights to that public land. Thanks for catching that Vowell.

If his property is signed correctly with no trespassing signs and is the ONLY way to get to public lands, I do not see the legality of crossing his private land to get to public land unless there is a right of way to get through. I would be pissed if someone jumped my fence to pass through. No wonder ranchers are closing their fences to access. If you really want to hunt public land beyond private land borders, go in advance, talk to the rancher, and offer a trade of labor for access rights. Get it in writing. Fix a couple fences, cleanup some private property. Respect goes both ways. You trespass on his land, he should kick your butt right out if not call the LEOs to remove/cite you.

Awesome. COngrats to both of you. My wife won't hunt, but she goes with me a lot. You have a keeper there.