broadhead

Thanks for the replies and offers to help, everyone. Got it taken care of!

PM sent, yes 6.5mm. Thank you!

SOLD

They might be spoken for already but if not you guys are next in line. Should know today.

I sweat a ton and regularly end up with my pants and shirt soaked through in the early months. Not once have I noticed any difference when I had the turtleskins on.

Another +1 for the Turtleskin. Thankfully I haven't had to put them to the test them yet but they're comfortable and they're good for peace of mind.

Ok so I'm new to "precision" shooting and even though I've lived in southern Arizona the last four years, it wasn't until this year that I decided to get back into rifle hunting. I had a weird thing happen on Sunday while I was alternating three shot groups between 143 grain ELDX and 147 ELDM from my 6.5 PRC off the bench out to 200 yards. The ELDX, which has consistently grouped around .6 MOA at 100 yards suddenly started going all over the place. The ELDM on the other hand grouped very well, keeping under 1 MOA. The only thing that changed was since I started shooting the mirage had become much worse and also the sun had moved around to the front of the range so that the barrel was in the sun the entire time. I did not shoot a final group with the ELDM after the sun moved around and the mirage got bad, which might explain why I didn't see the ELDM groups go south too. One thing about the erratic group was that all the rounds ended up between 2.5 and 3 inches high and were spread out left and right, which is also uncharacteristic for that rifle and cartridge before now. I've read mirage can cause shots to go high and drift and a hot barrel can cause all kinds of accuracy problems but I'm wondering if the conditions would account for such a big deviation in accuracy. Can anyone with experience shooting in these conditions shed some light on what was going on? Thanks!

Smaller group is ELDM, shotgun spread was ELDX. Turkeys - that's the problem. The two targets shown above were three shot groups alternating back and forth between the 143 and 147 respectively.

Well, this was disappointing. I guess I'm at the point where I can't trust the 143 ELDX as far as accuracy past 200 yards, at least until I see what happens at 300 when I can get to the longer range. But based on what I've been seeing at 200 I can't be optimistic. This morning I got out earlier and was shooting by 8:00 am to beat the heat. Little to no mirage and I waited about 4-5 minutes in between shots while keeping the barrel in the shade. Top target below is ELDX, bottom pic is ELDM. Three shots ELDX in 15 minutes, 10 minute break, three shots with ELDM and did that twice. Only six shots with each load total. The pics say it all. It should be noted that the shots outside the 2 inch orange on the 147 grain were 100% my fault. I'm hesitant to use the ELDM on my mule deer hunt but from what I've ready even though Hornady doesn't recommend it the ELDM does just fine on deer sized game, especially with the added velocity from the PRC. Looks like it's time to finally start playing around with some hand loads until a few more PRC rounds hit the market and I can find out what else this rifle likes.

Still available?

Man, I forgot about this thread and didn't check it until just now. Thanks for the stories. I guess a better way to phrase the question would have been do you regret letting an animal go by rather than regret taking a shot when it could be a questionable one. I missed on the draw (only apply for December rifle) and on leftovers but I pulled a New Mexico mule deer tag in November that I really hope I can still make due to work circumstances. I've pretty much decided that any decent shot at a legal buck I'll take but that could change when I get out there. Just glad it's August tomorrow and hunting starts in August! Good luck to everyone this year!

This is exactly what I was thinking and I think I did a poor job of explaining it in my original post. Based on what you guys are describing I suspect what happened was a combination of the perceived POA and the rounds freaking out because the barrel was getting hot at the same time. A few weeks ago I was running out of time and wanted to plug a few more shots to end my day. I fired multiple shots from the prone with a bipod and squeeze bag at 100 yards - well executed shots too - and they were all over the map. Thanks again for all the input. This is all very valuable information to me!

Thanks for the feed back, fellas. To answer a couple of the questions I have a 3.5-18 scope and it was all the way up so yes, the magnification was high. Thanks for the info, too. I didn't really appreciate mirage and hadn't even thought about mirage off the barrel but now it seems pretty clear there were a few things at work that were influencing a normally very consistent shooting gun. I think the thing to do is to make a point to get out and shoot when it's still cooler and try to eliminate as many variables as possible. This makes me feel better about things.

Interesting. I ran into my first one coming off Mount Lemmon last summer. It was curled up right on the trail in the dark just as a huge monsoon storm was rolling in. It didn't seem to mind me being there. Just calmly made its way off the trail in to the brush after a minute. Definitely a very cool looking animal but not one I really want to stumble on again in the dark.

Whoohoo keep hope alive! lol

Question - this is my first year trying for a leftover. Does the portal also show when you don't pull one or only shows when you're successful? Thanks.

Well I hope they're not finished updating because otherwise I struck out again. Ugh. It's times like this I'm really glad I have a bow.

Seriously? Where does it show it?

Awesome thanks!

This might be a stupid question but last time I was at the range I went to chamber a round and didn’t notice it wasn’t seated quite right in the magazine. When I pushed the bolt forward the round jumped up and was pinched between the bolt and the ejection port, making a very small dent. Just wanted to make sure it’s still okay to shoot before I tried to send it down the barrel. I haven’t checked to see if it seats in the chamber yet but I can’t imagine it wouldn’t from such a small ding. Just below the shoulder toward the right side in the pic. Thanks!

Thanks guys

As for reloading, I plan to pick up a single stage press in the next few months to get started on working up some of my own loads for the 6.5 as well as a few calibers. I've been buying the individual pieces for a reloading setup over the last couple months so it's not a large one time expense and I can also get the exact individual components I want (scale, hand primer, media tumbler, etc). It might take awhile to offset the cost of buying new ammo everytime but I think I'll enjoy it so to me there's added value in that. Good luck.

I ran into a similar problem when I got mine a few months ago. I actually called Hornady to see what was up with them getting more supply pumped out and they said they're running it right now and hope to have it on shelves in the next few months, which is better than nothing. In the meantime you can pick up some ELDX online at Sportsmans Outdoor Superstore, Midway, and SWFA.

When I was 11 and about to start hunting my dad sold his pump action 30-06 (yes, pump action 30-06) and put the money toward a pair of Model 70s, one in the same caliber for him and the other in .243 to serve as my first deer rifle. Now they are both in my safe down here in Arizona and aside from a heavier trigger pull than I prefer - which is easily fixable - the .243 is still one of my favorite guns to shoot and the gun I took my first deer with. The next time I find myself back in Wisconsin for a rifle hunt that will be the gun I have with me.

For a few years I had a credit card that I never used so I made it my licenses and tag applications card. That way I never have to worry about what my account balance is in the event I draw a tag. It never comes out of the safe except for application time.