Harvested nice cow elk

[nw07heavy]

Just got back with a nice cow elk. I had a short 150 yard head on shot. The 400 grain partition at about 2,700 fps entered in the center chest and exited the back, after penetrating about 60 inches. Internals affected with no meat loss. The elk went down so fast my partner thought I missed. It must have been dead when it hit the ground, so no tracking was needed in the dark. Sorry, no chance for photos because it was nearly dark when it was shot, and we had to hustle the dressing. We found it to be a very different dynamic for the elk due to the extreme drought this spring, followed by needing to truck water to the accessible tanks. This November elk hunt was mostly uneventful, with lots of long hikes, an absence of elk we normally would see. Just dumb luck on this one.

[jim]

Congratulations on your harvest of some great eating. 

[Hoss50]

Nice work. What the heck are you shooting 400gr bullets at 2700fps with?

[nw07heavy]

47 minutes ago, Hoss50 said:

Nice work. What the heck are you shooting 400gr bullets at 2700fps with?

I got bored and wanted to try something different, my .416 RUM. It'll launch a 400 grain partition at 2,700 fps or better yet a 340 grain Cutting Edge MTH at nearly 3,000 fps. I just got done modifying my basic Montana left hand AVR by revising the lines on the factory OEM stock. A dangerous game rifle has no place for a monte carlo stock, because it just knocks off your Peltor electronic headsets and sends them flying back 10 feet. In addition the iron sights back up was impossible to use, so I modified the stock, rasping down the monte carlo, adding a blued steel grip cap, a solid ebony forend tip, and refinished the entire stock to enhance the grain. to that in the photos shown. It turned out to be a great rifle in the end.

 

[Hoss50]

That's pretty cool, but dang I wouldn't even consider shooting that without a muzzle brake. 

[nw07heavy]

21 hours ago, Hoss50 said:

That's pretty cool, but dang I wouldn't even consider shooting that without a muzzle brake. 

You know, oddly, this is one of my most accurate rifles, 1/2" or 5/8" three shot groups at 100 yds, more accurate than I am. Recoil is 69 ftlbs energy, 20.4 ftsec recoil velocity. No brake really needed if you cuddle up firmly with it. I fired 30 rounds at Usery sighting in with different loads after the stock work, and no issues

[firstcoueswas80]

I can feel my retina detaching!

[Roosevelt Mark]

Dang, that's big medicine bro.

[MT_Sourdough]

My 400 grain bullet is only going 1900fps.   My bullets are WAAAAAAAAAAAY cheaper.

[nw07heavy]

14 hours ago, MT_Sourdough said:

My 400 grain bullet is only going 1900fps.   My bullets are WAAAAAAAAAAAY cheaper.

You've now got me interested. What are you shooting and what are your loads. I've never had a lever gun. Sorry to digress.

[PRDATR]

32 minutes ago, nw07heavy said:

You've now got me interested. What are you shooting and what are your loads. I've never had a lever gun. Sorry to digress.

My guess would be a 45-70 Marlin.

[nw07heavy]

1 hour ago, PRDATR said:

My guess would be a 45-70 Marlin.

Thanks. The 1895 Marlin looks like a great lever action classic. 

[MT_Sourdough]

Mine's a 444 Marlin.  Younger lighter sibling to the 45/70

1/20 twist ballard 22" barrel.  Bullets made from recycled wheel weights.  

.09 - lead

.03 - gas check

.01 - lube

.15 - powder

.07 - primer

 .10 - cost of case w/ 8 x reloaded

that's around 45 cents a round or $9 per 20

with hundreds of pounds of lead, I can shoot these for the rest of my life.  Retinas intact

Correct me if I am wrong, but the 400gr Partitions for your 416 are about $150 a box.  Is that right?

How far do you stretch out with a 416 RUM?  I have never shot anything that generates that kind of energy.  

That is quite a handsome rifle and congrats on your cow.

[nw07heavy]

4 hours ago, MT_Sourdough said:

Mine's a 444 Marlin.  Younger lighter sibling to the 45/70

1/20 twist ballard 22" barrel.  Bullets made from recycled wheel weights.  

.09 - lead

.03 - gas check

.01 - lube

.15 - powder

.07 - primer

 .10 - cost of case w/ 8 x reloaded

that's around 45 cents a round or $9 per 20

with hundreds of pounds of lead, I can shoot these for the rest of my life.  Retinas intact

Correct me if I am wrong, but the 400gr Partitions for your 416 are about $150 a box.  Is that right?

How far do you stretch out with a 416 RUM?  I have never shot anything that generates that kind of energy.  

That is quite a handsome rifle and congrats on your cow.

I never use factory ammo, unless I need to just buy them for the brass, because I always reload. My 400 grain partition loads work out to about just under $38.00 for 20 quantity.

The 340 grain Cutting Edge 340 grain MTH (.780  G1 bc) bullets work out to about the same price, as I wait for CE sales.

The 400 grain partition, for my typical hunting area meteorological (23.7 Hg, 65F, 50% humid, 10 mph wind at 90 deg). Rifle sighted in 2.6" high at 100 yds is: muzzle 2,671 fps (best accuracy load) 6,336 ftlbs; 200 yds vel 2,390 ftsec, energy 5,071 ftlbs, 1.8" high, 2.3" windage; 300 yds 2,255 ftsec, 4,518 fttbs, 5.1" low, 5.3" windage; 400 yds 2,126 ftsec, 4,012 ftlbs, 18.9" low, 9.6" windage. If I need much greater penetration I also have some Swift 400 gr A-Frames loaded up, for much bigger animals.

The 340 grain Cutting Edge MTH (BC G1 .780/G7 .391) same meteorological conditions: muzzle 2,945 fps (best accuracy load) 6,547 ftlbs; 200 yds vel 2,795 fps, 5,899 ftlbs, 2.5" high, 1.0"  windage; 300 yds 2,722 ftsec, 5,594 ftlbs, 1.8" low, 2.2" windage, 400 yds 2,650 ftsec, 5,301 ftlbs, 10.8" low, 3.9" windage; 500 yds 2,579 fps, 5,020 ftlbs, 24.7" low, 6.2" windage; and for just grins in case someone wanted to configure for a bit longer range with capable rifle and mil/mil scope; 1,000 yds 2,238 fps vel, 3,782 ftlbs energy, 5.0 mils low, 0.7 mils windage; 1,500 yds 1,923fps vel, 2,792 ftlb energy, 9.4 mils drop, 1.2 mils windage; 2,000 yds 1,634 ftsec velocity, 2,015 ftlbs energy, 14.9 mils drop, 1.7 mils windage. (Mach is 1,122 fps or so rough avg at 65F so this bullet is still supersonic and doesn't need to transition to subsonic until a distance after this, not that we would ever shoot this far, but the MTH bullet performance is evident, and no jump, spindrift or coriolis effect, etc. are included. (This is just a very rough calc.) An aside the MTH will begin expansion to some degree down to 1,600 fps. The MTH has allowed much greater versatility in the larger .416's, as you can see compared to a typical .416 hunting bullet.

After I got off active duty and into the Army Reserves in 1973, I picked up a new, very light and compact Ruger .44 Mag semi-auto carbine. I loved that rifle for deer hunting in the deep western Washington brush and did quite well with it. Your far superior .444 is light years ahead of that little carbine. You've got a very nice rifle and caliber. Speaking of lead and hard cast .44 bullets, I've been using the SSK 320 grain hardcast (sized .430") in my 8 inch Anaconda, at 1,419 fps. This type of bullet is really a great addition to the jacketed.

Thanks for the congrats, that elk is really providing some great meals.

[PRDATR]

I would love to shoot it. Maybe we can get together sometime after the holidays. Those are some impressive ballistics. I can bring a boring 375 H&H and a 45-70. Maybe we can do a Big Bore Coues GTG.