recurveman

I'll be impressed if you don't spend all of the $500 dollars you win in reloading supplies!!!!!!!! Not sure of the upside except the bragging rights. I think it will be much easier than you think.

The advantage that might be obtained for the average hunter is little to none. Keep in mind that as hunters we are looking for "minute of deer" and don't have to shoot .25" groups. Also everyone gets all fired up about cartridge selection. Manufacturers make new cartridges so you will buy a new rifle. The .308 (from a hunters perspective) will do everything a 7mm-08, 6.5 CM, .243, ect will do. There is little difference between them. When you look at it from the standpoint of a chuck of lead going through the air at a certain velocity there is little to no difference in practical hunting applications. Even when you go from a .243 to a 300 win mag the only real difference is the energy. The trajectory is very, very close and the energy really only matters if the bullet doesn't leave the animal. If the bullet passes through then the extra energy really wasn't used on the animal. To answer your original question. DON'T MIX POWDERS!!!!!!!!!

TTT

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TTT

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Just used one for the first time last weekend and it worked great.

One piece of advice. The hunt is a month long and if you guys are getting frustrated it would be a good idea to head home and regroup. This is a once in a lifetime tag. Many guys get frustrated and shoot a ram even though it isn't what they wanted. Reach out to as many people as you can and see if you can't find some information or helpers. Take your time and find the right ram.

Been shooting the 142 grain 6.5MM bullets out of my 6.5 X 284. Probably put 100 bullets down range so far. Shot a mule deer in CO this fall at about 100 yards. BANG FLOP. Performed very well. In through the lungs and out the back shoulder with an exit wound that was substantial. I would say the results were very similar to a Nosler ballistictip. Did load development the last few weekends at 500 yards and kept a pretty good water line in some 10-15 MPH winds. Shot H4350 down the tube and my speeds were really consistent depending on the load. I don't have it dialed in yet but I feel confident that the bullet will be plenty accurate and perform well on critters.

Thank god. I was really, really thinking about buying them and now my issue is resolved. Dodged that bullet!!!!!!!!!

I have heard of that from many guys that are building wildcat rounds and trying to push speed. Have never seen it and by the sounds of things it is over and done with in a flash. Kind of cool. One of the biggest challenges with really fast wildcat rounds is finding a bullet that will perform at the given speed. Even if the bullet does stay together will it perform on critters at the given speed? I guess it doesn't matter if you are just shooting targets but it can be a concern if you are wanting to shoot fur. Keep at it. Sounds super fun and the groups you got with the ladder test look great considering the different weight charges........signs of a forgiving cartridge.

Wildcats are fun and a PITA. When everything is all said and done most of the time the wind call is really what makes or breaks the shot at the longer ranges.

I'm thinking about buying one of these rifles in 280 AI, Does anyone have any experience behind this weapon? The reviews are mostly good with a few that aren't good at all. Any info would be great. Also does anyone have experience with the 280 AI cartridge? Thanks,

I saw the green stocked guns on gun broker this weekend. I like the looks of them a ton better than the kimber camo. I think that camo just looks stupid. Good to know they have made some "fixes" to their issues. We do some basic gun smith stuff too if we need to make the gun perform better.

So I'm looking for a really lightweight rifle. The ascent is 5# 6 oz (in 280 AI) and the bergara is 6# 4 oz. I was actually considering the .308 Acent so the rifle would get down to 4# 13oz. But I think the 280 AI might be the best choice.

I honestly prefer a really good pad. On my November WT hunt I had a tripod stool in my pack. After the weekend I used it once and really didn't need to but I figured since I carried it all weekend I had to use in at least once. That piece of gear won't be in my pack if I'm leaving the road.

I have both the 1850 and 5200 bag and love them both.

I have the same scope and had the same issue. I got lucky and noticed it before I needed the gun and could zero my gun again to verify. This scope will be leaving my life shortly.

Go put your hands on this product before you buy it. I went to Outdoorsman's in Fountain Hills and looked through them about a year ago. The BTX is absolutely awesome but it isn't for everyone. When you put your hands on it I'm sure you will come to a conclusion that works for you. While you are there you should look through some bino's. Bring a stack of cash too.........You will need it!!!!!!!!!!

This info above is very spot on. I would follow his advice very closely.

Just for reference. If my ammo velocity was off from shot to shot more than 20 FPS I might just throw the ammo away and start over. If you want to shoot past 400 yards your ammo velocity needs to be MUCH closer from shot to shot than 100 FPS. That is absolutely a horrible speed spread. If you can get the speed difference to single digits even better. Remember the charts are only as good as the info you put into the charts. If you chrono reads a different than actual speed (I've seen multiple choro's be 50+FPS different than another chrono on the same day) then the info is wrong. One of the biggest influences on a change in point of impact that I have seen is a change in elevation. If your elevation is off by a few thousand feet then your point of impact and your dope will be off. At one time I shot a buddies rifle for him and determined his drops. I sighted in at 200 yards and then dropped back to 400 and then 600 yards to see how much drop the load actually was going to show. Once I knew the drop in inches I could figure out what yardages his BDC's were at in his scope. Quite a bit different than advertised. Always verify and if the chart doesn't match reality then throw the chart away and use the drops you actually had in the field.

If I had the tag I would hire a guide. The unit is big and deer are not running around everywhere.

So here is my piece of advice. Go shoot your gun and adjust the crap out of your scope and see how it shoots for you. Then you will know. I've seen scopes that have to be at a specific power for the BDC to work. I've seen it where it has to be at max power for the BDC to work. Personally, I will shoot my gun at the distances I might shoot in the field and see how my equipment works for me. There are tons of critters missed or wounded because guys did a ton of internet research and didn't take the time to go bust primers and see what actually happens in the real world. I own both the FFP and SFP scopes. I really like the SFP scopes with the BDC in the reticle for most practical hunting applications. Not always the best for shooting out past 600 yards but for killing most critters it does really good.

We had one gun that showed a bunch of pressure at well below the suggested max grain weight load. I believe were were 4-5 grains below max and had serious pressures and we weren't getting nearly the speed we should have been getting either. Super weird and never did figure it out. We checked everything we could think of. Neck diameter, no go gauges, shoulder spacing, different powders, bullets, primers, ect. We shot lots of bullets out of the gun but never got where we needed to be. Crazy thing. Gun was super, super accurate with just about everything we shot down it but we couldn't get velocity out of the gun. It was a 6 - 284 and we couldn't get .243 velocity out of the gun without a bunch of pressure.

Let's put it this way. Right now me and my father in law are buying custom ground reamers and having custom die sets made for wild cat cartridges. We completely understand pressure signs and if anything I'm usually well below what I consider a max load. When I ended up 8 grains above max we started at the suggested minimum loads and went up .5 grains per load (with a chrono) until we started seeing pressure signs. Once the bolt got a bit sticky and we started seeing the extractor mark we were done. The max for my gun/load was actually 1.5 grains higher than my load. For a total of 9.5 grains higher than the suggested max load by the book. It has been my experience that .1 grains of powder doesn't take the load from good to bad. Normally it takes the better part of a 1 - 1.5 grains to go from good to bad. Normally I will see pressure signs coming way ahead of time flat primers, raised firing pins marks, shinny extractor marks, sticky bolt, ect.