Benbrown

The fifth edition of the Nosler Manual shows 59.0 grains of H4831sc as a maximum load and a muzzle velocity of 3,124 fps. Every rifle is different, so most of us depend on the chronograph to help us decide when enough powder is enough. I would say that whatever powder weight gives you around 3,100 fps is where you should make only minimal changes in powder charge and start trying to seat your bullets various distances from the lands,etc.

I have never heard of this particular cartridge, but it would not equal the .257 Weatherby, a factory round available in a variety of rifles. If you want a faster quarter-bore, there is always the .257 STW, but it's a wildcat, as well...

I checked loaddata.com and came up with the following for a Ruger Hawkeye in .375 Ruger: 225 grain Speer/84.0 grains Ramshot Big Game = 2,800 fps 250 Sierra Game King/77.0 grains RL-15 = 2,753 fps 260 Nosler AccuBond/76.0 grains RL-15 = 2,687 fps 260 Nosler Partition/76.0 grains RL-15 = 2,766 fps You might want to drop down 5-10% and work your way up... Enjoy!

I would try Herrett's Stocks in Twin Falls, Idaho. Google them--they make stocks for just about any kind of handgun, based on an outline of your hand.

You might try a box of Federal Premiums with the 110 grain TSX: they move out at 3,500 fps and should shoot fairly flat out to 500, although they will be more affected by wind drift than a heavier bullet. I don't shoot factory loads, so I am not an expert on what all is available, but the newer tipped TSXs have significantly better ballistic coefficients than the plain TSX. I imagine that Federal will be loading them soon if they are not already doing so.

It's a Colt Model 1878 shotgun. They are regarded as one of the better made American shotguns of the time, but could not compete with contemporary shotguns of similar or better quality from Europe that were more affordable. Schwing (2006) says that 22, 190 were manufactured between 1878 and 1889. Values in 2006 ranged from $1,250 for one in Very Good condition to $600 for a Good one and $400 for one in Fair condition. Realistically, it's worth whatever a Colt collector will pay for it. It will make a great wall-hanger. If you want to shoot it, you should have it examined by a gunsmith who is familiar with Damascus barrels. If he/she says it is safe to shoot, confine yourself to the use of replica black powder cartrige loads.

Winchester, like most ammunition manufacturers, does not necessarily use a cannister powder available to the reloading public. However, according to the 5th Edition of the Nosler manual, you should be able to get there with W 760, H 414, IMR 4360, VV N550, RL 19 or IMR 4831. Work your way up to the maximum listed, looking for pressure signs. If you don't have access to a Nosler manual, PM me and I will give you starting and maximum loads for each of these powders with a 150 grain Ballistic Silver Tip. Good luck!

The Malpai Borderlands Group, a 501©(3) non-profit formed by local ranchers in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, has received at least two grants from the Bureau of Land Management for trash cleanup in the area east of Douglas and just north of the border. Most of this land is managed by either the BLM or AZ State Lands. They have used the funds to hire a local contractor who gathered and hauled away trash. Most of the effort was focused on traditional stopping places for illegal immigrants where literally small mountains of trash had accumulated. It has not been cost-efficient to police all of the routes, so there is still an abundance of trash scattered around out there, but the worst eyesores have been taken care of. Problems on private land are usually handled by the owner(s), but there have been some cleanups undertaken by volunteer groups, especially on National Forest lands...

I have had one of these and before that, its predecessor, the Model 50. I traded for the Model 50 when I was an undergraduate at the University of Texas (long story). I shot it well and took many doves, quail, ducks, (and later when I moved to Kansas) pheasants and prairie chickens. It had some problems, though. There was an adjustment screw in the buttstock that periodically shot loose and you had to take the buttplate off and readjust it with a long screwdriver or it would fail to chamber the second and third shells. While teaching at Kansas State, I became acquainted with Ed Kozicky and John Madsen who did PR for Winchester. They acknowledged the problem with the Model 50 and found me a slightly used Model 59 at a good price. I liked to carry it much better than the Model 50, but did not shoot it as well because the barrel was quite a bit lighter than the steel barrel on the Model 50 so my swing was not as smooth, and I often did not follow through like I should have. For me, it was most effective on quail, and on ducks over decoys, where a less than smooth swing was not that much of a handicap. I ended up trading the 59 and keeping the 50. The 50 was stolen in a burglary when I lived in Albuquerque in the early 1990s--I would love to have it back. I would certainly jump on another Model 59 if I ever run across one at a decent price... You have a very nice shotgun. If you shoot it enough to get used to it, it will take a lot of game for you. Congratulations!

I started my daughters with a .243, but both now shoot 7mm-08s. I started my grandsons on 7mm-08s with no problems, although they have moved along--one shoots a .270, one a .280 and the third one talked me out of my .257 AI. If your son can handle a .25-06, he can certainly handle anything based on the .308 or .30-06 cases. For elk, a 7mm-08 will certainly do the job when loaded with a good bullet, and it's an ideal deer cartridge.

Amanda: Would be interested in your take on the merits of each... Thanks!

Thanks! I am at the age where change often does not register at first glance...

to the Rifles, Reloading and Gunsmithing threads?

Here in New Mexico, I found out that the quickest way that you get that information is to go to a dealer. They can tell you quickly how to get the tag.

That is the buck of a lifetime! Congratulations! Great hunt and a great story! Just curious--how did Brad age it to 10 1/2 years? I wish you continued success!

This thread caused me to get off my derierre and find out what happened to Roy Lopez's studies of the population genetics of Coues whitetails. Thanks to Dr. Phillip Service in the Biology Department at NAU, Roy's thesis advisor, Dr. Paul Beier, sent me a copy of Roy's thesis. He collected samples from 365 putative Coues whitetails from the Sky Island mountain ranges of Arizona and southwestern New Mexico and the Mogollon Rim country of Arizona. Bottom line, DNA analyses showed that Coues whitetails fall into two groups, both genetically and geographically. One group are the deer inhabiting the Mogollon Rim country, while the second group includes all of the deer from the various Sky Island mountain ranges to the south. As an aside, he looked at the incidence of hybridization between Coues whitetails and mule deer, based on genetic markers. More than half of the putative hybrids that he tested were assigned to either Coues whitetails or mule deer, but there were nine of the putative Coues whitetails that proved to hybrids. Modeling these results suggest that about two percent of Coues whitetails in free-ranging populations are hybrids (this includes individuals that are the result of back-crosses to one of the the original parent groups)! This result falls into line with at least two other studies (one from Kansas and one from Alberta) that identified about two percent of the animals in the combined whitetail and mule deer harvests as hybrids...

Aging whitetails on the hoof has become a "must-have" skill for wildlife managers, especially those concerned with Quality Deer Management programs. There are at least two books on the subject, complete with pictures, published in Texas. The skill is now being successfully applied to mule deer on QDM ranches in west Texas. Deer definitely have facial and body shape characters that change in a recognizeable way as they age. I hunted with my brother on a ranch that he manages in south-central Texas a few years ago, and he correctly called the ages on the four deer that my grandsons and my nephew took, before they hit the ground. Coues deer hunters don't pay so much attention to exact ages, but I have passed some younger bucks with pretty good antlers because I thought that they would be better in a year or two...

Although you say that you don't like revolvers, I would still recommend that you look at .44 Special revolvers--specifically the Charter Arms Bulldog. It is a simple firearm that shoots a large caliber slug at low speeds and is controllable by anyone that can use a can opener. I bought one for my first wife years ago and she still uses it and shoots it well, despite only taking it out and shooting it a few times each year. My daughter brings it out every year when she comes to visit and I clean the lead out of the barrel and send it back. It will stop bears, lions and people if needed, and it is small and easy to pack in a purse, fanny pack or holster. Ammo is cheap and that will let you practice a lot, which is good. Buy a couple of speed loaders and learn to use them, and you won't miss the 15-round magazines...

I heard about "Sonoran fantails" shortly after arriving in SW New Mexico 20 years ago. I am still waiting to actually see one in the wild, harvest one, or have someone bring me a carcass. I hunted a ranch south of Rodeo, NM, this year and (once again) was advised to be on the lookout for Sonoran fantails. Supposedly they are about 2/3 the size of a Coues deer, with a diminutive 6- or 8-point "basket" racks and a reddish wash on the top of the tail. About 20-30% of the small whitetails that I have seen in the Animas Mountains and the Sierra San Luis do have this reddish wash on the upper surface of the tail, but the body sizes and antlers are typical of the normal range of age classes that one sees in Coues whitetails. My wife believes that they exist (based soley on reports from folks that she regards as reliable witnesses). I am still skeptical...

They have already closed all the stores that they identified earlier in the year. It didn't take long--they closed one of their two stores in San Antonio, TX, and it was closed within a week or two of the press release. Haven't heard about any more closings. The Shooting Wire usually posts these things promptly after they are announced and I have seen nothing on their site...

If you don't want to invest in a book, just check out Gunbroker, GunsAmerica and/or Ebay and do a search for the make and model. You will find a wide variation in asking and selling prices depending on the condition of the particular firearm and how common or rare that model may be. I believe that yours must be a Model 742, as my books don't show the 740 having been offered in .280. If so, it's worth about $325 in excellent condition, with a $25 decrease at each step as the condition drops to good, fair, or poor. If you do in fact have a Model 740 that the factory chambered in .280, I would get on the net and find a Remington Collectors site and query the experts--it may be a rarity. Hope this helps...

Well, I have a whitetail tag for the second hunt in 27 and my wife has a mule deer tag for the same hunt. I am hunting a nontypical freak that at least two of my buds have video'ed (that probably will elude me), while she is looking for a nice buck to make jerky out of everything but the backstraps and tenderloins. We have actually scouted up a half-dozen mulies that will work for her, so we will get her tagged out first and see what I can do with the NT. Maybe some weather will roll in by then...

According to Remington, the 165 grain Cor-Lokt has a muzzle velocity of 2,800 fps and a ballistic coefficient of 0.339. Most Remington factory ammunition that I have chronographed over the last few years has been pretty much spot on with the advertised velocities. Using my PACT Ballistic Calculator, assuming 5,000 ft elevation, 59 deg. ambient temperature and a 6-inch vital zone, sighting in 2.7 inches high at 100 yds gives you a maximum point blank range of 271 yds. At 300, this load will be a shade under 6 inches low, at 400 it will be 20.5 inches low and at 500 it will be 44 inches low. As noted in the previous post, hitting reliably beyond 300 yds requires lots of practice to familiarize yourself with the trajectory and the effects of wind. As your piano teacher probably said, "Practice, practice, practice!" (I never took piano lessons...)

You have a very nice set-up there. Don't let anyone talk you out of it. The .30-.338 came into being after the introduction of the .300 Winchester Magnum because a fair number of rifle loonies thought that the neck on the .300 Win Mag was too short. Conventional thinking at the time held that the neck of a bottle-necked cartridge should be no shorter than 1 caliber diameter--in a .30 caliber rifle, the minimum would be .308 inches. The SAAMI specs on the .300 Win Mag were for a .264 inch neck length. Fred Huntington's solution was to take essentially the same case (the .338 Win Mag) and reduce the body length enough to give a neck of the "right length" for the caliber. As Lark noted, the resulting case is almost exactly the same as that of the .308 Norma Magnum, and reloading data for the two are interchangeable. I had one made up years ago on a Remington-made Springfield 1903 action with a Douglas Premium barrel and found it to be an accurate cartridge and very easy to reload. I did not have a chronograph in those days, but I am sure that my handloads were basically duplicating factory .300 Win Mag ballistics, based on drop tests out to 300 yds. As time went by, I acquired a couple of other .300 mags (a Winchester and a Weatherby) that were lighter and easier to carry. I eventually rebarreled the rifle to .338 Win Mag, after I started hunting in Alaska.

Man, that's just awesome! I still get a thrill because my younger daughter still comes out from San Antonio to hunt Coues with me whenever she can draw a tag. Daughters make great hunting partners! Congratulations to you and your wife (who did all the heavy lifting)!