lancetkenyon

W760 burn rate is faster than H4350, IMR4350, even H414. Way faster burn than 4831. Maybe your gun likes faster burning powder? Here is a great chart for looking up powder burn rates. http://www.reloadersnest.com/burnrates.asp Max loads listed in books are very conservative. Only your gun can tell you what it's max actually is. Some of mine are over published max, some are right at it, and others shoot best below. My 150gr. NAB LR is not a max load. I had two loads that were faster, and still showed no signs of pressure, but were not as accurate. So I stepped it down. Speed is not your only friend. Accuracy and putting the bullet where it needs to go is more important. But the original velocities you were getting were well below what I would consider normal. Also, more case capacity allows a bit more powder while still keeping pressures lower. So "Max" loads are not actually max in a case with more capacity. I would be looking for between 2900-3050 with 140gr. bullets. Over that will be getting pretty hot, and while it might not show pressure signs, it will shorten brass life by loosening primer pockets and stretching cases over time, causing case head separation eventually. If you can live with 5-6 loading before your cases are junk, you can run a little hotter, but your gun will also suffer earlier throat wear. But barrels are like tires, they wear out over time when you run them hard. I have a .22-250 that ONLY Likes one powder and one weight. Pickiest gun I have ever loaded for. But the load it likes? It REALLY Likes it! It went from a 1+ MOA gun, to a .157" gun once I found the load. And now shoots that consistently.

What hunt?

Spayed or not?

I bought a big set of old school lockers. Works amazing.

Any advise for us AZers would be great on the application and hunting process. I have heard it is mostly private land up there, and getting hunting areas figured out can be a nightmare. But if that is not the case, I would LOVE to take my daughter up there!

I researched this once. How much of a PITA is it to actually do the hunt? Especially since I do not know anyone in WY.

You can also buy a full-sized rifle and cut down the wooden stock and install a Limbsaver or Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad. Then upgrade to a better stock when he gets older. That way, you have two stocks for future hunters, like other kids, grandkids, wife, friends, yourself, etc.

For deer, the 150 would be fine. For elk, I would opt for the 180. The 165 is a great all-around bullet. I would rather go heavier if you are going to shoot only one bullet for all species. Now for the real question....what bullets are you shooting? Have you thought of trying a different brand? Or a "non-conventional" bullet? Like Barnes, a Sierra Match King, Hornady A-Max, etc.?

I think in the other thread he stated 28" barrel. 5 chokes Weight 6.9 pounds empty.

If they shoot well, I have more for your daughter's hunt. If you want to grab some 62 or 70 grain Barnes TTSX, I can load those up quick for you as well.

That is an awesome story, and a great bull! Nothing wrong with that. I bet the memories will stick with him forever. Congrats to the young hunter.

Good luck. That stinks. Hope you get it back.

Replied.

If you are seriously going to buy these, just grab 20 of mine and try them out. If they don't shoot in you gun, bring back what you don't use. As for the Sierra Match King construction, like I said, my daughter shot her pig in February. .224" going in, quarter size coming out from a quartering on shot. I use Match Kings for a lot of hunting loads. .250Ackley, .25-06 Ackley, .300RUM (in 175 & 210gr.) They fly great, and penetrate and expand great too. I have also shot coyotes with them, and had all pass through with no bullets to recover, but similar results. Not explosive like varmint bullets at all. If you want to try some 50, 55, 62, or 70 grain .224" Barnes TTSX, buy a box of bullets and drop them off and I can load up some for you. I have plenty of empty, prepped and primed brass just waiting to be loaded. It will take half hour or so to load up 20+. I have plenty of powder on hand too.

Does she have the Jr. 12AW antlerless tag in a couple weeks?

Where in N. Phoenix are you located? I will look and see whats available but this sounds like a good plan. How many do you have? I am basically I-17 & 101 area. I am in Laughlin right now, but my wife is off this week. I have plenty loaded up, so let me know if you want to try some. They are plenty capable of sub-MOA groups as well.

I have some 69 SMKs loaded up if you want to grab some to try out in your rifle. Shoots 3033fps out of my 24" barreled AR. My daughter took her Javelina with them this February. Went about 30 yds. before piling up. .224" hole going in, about a quarter ($.25) sized hole coming out.

Cool photo. I dig snakes.

From the Nosler book: IMR4831 max load is 53.5 @ 2910fps H4831(SC) max load is 58.0 @ 3000fps. For my .270, I ran case weights to see variance in brass content, meaning more or less capacity. All of these were average for at least 10 cases. Hornady=182.0 Nosler=184.3 Frontier=188.0 Winchester=190.0 Remington=196.0 Federal=202.5 That is 5.7 gr. difference between Nosler and Winchester in brass content, meaning slightly more case capacity for the Nosler. With that being said, case capacity is a little higher in the Nosler vs. the Winchester, so that should add up to less pressure, meaning less velocity. Try weighing your cases, then filling with water to see how much water capacity they have. Also, if you have other brands of brass, or can borrow some, see what those differences are as well.

Awesome bull. Take a trophy photo of the first plate of steaming elk steaks, and all will be forgiven for the lack of field photos!

Nice bull, should look great next to a steaming pile of mashed potatoes and gravy too!

2 3/4" or 3"? If you were in the Valley, I would take a couple.

Had a fun scouting day yesterday. Poured like cats and dogs the entire way from Phoenix to the unit. Once we pulled off the road onto dirt, it quit raining. No dust, no hunters, super quiet terrain. We took a few hikes to check bedding areas, and the woods were literally alive with bugling elk. At one time, we had 9 different elk screaming all around us. Hiked a couple miles, and saw some dandy bulls. Dropped a fresh salt block off at a lick I know of about a mile from any roads too. Found some elk sheds, found some fresh bear tracks, saw lots of elk, and a got a photograph of a shooter. Not a monster, but a good typical mature bull. The dogs got a workout, the wife got some relaxation and some laughs, and Taylor and I got some good father/daughter lessons and about 6 miles of boot leather on the ground getting into lots of elk. About 2:00PM, the rain came back with a vengeance, so we packed it up and headed back. Poured the entire way back too. Awesome weather, awesome times, awesome experience. Raring to go. The wife was just THRILLED she got to get up at 2:30AM on her day off to go scouting with us.... Even the DOGS love scouting! Quit raining right as we got off pavement We hope to find the guy that did this... Hard to see, but this small 6 point bull was bedded across a 100 yd. canyon from us. No cows with him though....they were with his Daddy further up the canyon. This was the second 5 point shed we found in the same canyon. One in the bottom, one on the ridgeline. Nothing huge, but cool to find. My wife is already planning decorations with them....chandelier, coat rack....I am sure more work for me to do. The young one is on a leash, because he thought it would be funny to chase a herd of elk.....I didn't find it funny, and neither did the elk. So he got strung up the rest of the day. Sorry for the lousy photo, but this guy was about 1K yds. off with his girlfriends, and it was drizzling. Everyone was wiped out on the way home.

My son-in-law is a mechanic at Rodeo Ford. I promise you he is reliable, honest, and very well trained. If you want his name, let me know. He might not tell you what you want to hear, but he will tell you the truth. And he is a dang fine mechanic, and a fantastic person (the reason he is still alive and now married to my daughter).

According to my Nosler book, your loads are a far cry from published velocities. You are using their preferred primers (Fed 210 LR), but you never mentioned case brand/head stamp. They loaded with Winchester cases. If you use a different case, it could have different capacity, causing either lower pressure/lower velocity, or high pressure/higher velocities. 47.0gr. RL15 (published max) should net you about 2832fps. 53.5gr. IMR4350 is over published max load of 52.5 which should net you about 2858fps, so your load should be even hotter. 55.0gr. RL19 (published max) should net you about 3003fps. These are all book loads, so take them for what they are worth as far as "Max". Books are usually very safe on what they will publish as a max load for liability reasons.