lancetkenyon

Done here too.

My barrel break in routine is below: 1. Shoot one 2. Shoot one 3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 4. Clean when groups start to open up

I like the 52gr. SMK in my .22-250. Was not as explosive as V-Max or the like, but never had a yote walk away from one.

Berger has a threshold for minimum velocity they suggest for proper bullet performance on game, something like 1500-1600fps. With a .300RUM, that threshold will not be reached for a LONG way out there. I know the accuracy of Berger bullets is phenominal once you get them tuned. My deer this year went all of 10 yards when hit with a .257 115 Berger VLD. I shoot the 210 Berger VLD Hunting and 215 Hybrids in my .300RUM, both right about 3150fps. Hit like a sledgehammer at 1300+ yards on steel. I will also be shooting the 140 Berger VLDs or Hybrids in my new 6.5 SLR.

Both for sure. Start your "bachelor herd" for the wall.

So my sister-in-law does not like game meat. She has tried it on two occasions (both times elk from other people), and vowed never to touch it again....until.... I had tmy brother and sister-in-law over for lunch this weekend. Busted out some elk back strap steaks. Marinated them in olive oil, water, white vinegar, and Montreal Steak seasoning. Then wrapped in bacon and grilled. She also does not like even a hint of pink in her meat, so I cooked hers until medium well and the rest to medium rare/medium. I also sautéed sweet onions with olive oil and a touch of brown sugar, mushrooms in butter with fresh garlic, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob on the grill slathered in butter/salt/pepper/a touch of brown sugar then wrapped back in the corn leaves. She ate the entire steak before I told her what it was. She did not believe me. Not a hint of game taste in this elk. Best elk I have ever tasted as well. She asked to be invited back over next time we make elk steaks.

Great Coues. Congrats.

+ whatever on the Creedmoor here too. You can use it on game up to elk and bear, deer won't stand a chance, better barrel life than .243 Win or .22-250. You can load lighter 95gr. V-Max bullets for varminting, and heavy 140s for big game. Better case design on the Creedmoor for efficiency and accuracy. If you reload, no worries on finding ammo on the shelf for the Creedmoor.

When it is done, let's go shooting!

Man, if these photos don't float your boat, there is something wrong with you.... The bullets might be seated a touch long, but I cannot confirm until I get the rifle back from the smith. I think they will need to be seated a bit deeper, maybe .100-.150" more at most. Should put the base of the BT just at the bottom of the shoulder. These are loaded fairly mild, starting about 1/4 way up between min & max loads according to research. Started 5 at 42.0gr., 42.5gr., 43.0gr., and 43.5gr. of H414. Just a touch faster burn rate than H4350, close to RL17 burn rate, but I have a bunch on hand, and two other guns LOVE it. These will be used for sighting in the scope and seeing what kind of velocity and accuracy I get from the get-go. I would expect to be able to load up to 44+ grains depending on seating depth, but working slow and moving up while checking for pressure signs will be required.

Good LRF for a good price, just in time for archery pig/deer season!

Back up for grabs. Santa depleted the funds of the other member. Dies, brass, loaded rounds, and Lilja barrel. Re-barrel your SA Rem 700 and be ready for anything from yotes, to pigs, to deer and even elk. Great kid/ladies caliber too. Not a ton of recoil, and not a lot of powder burned to get good ballistics.

Could you imagine a 115 Berger VLD at 4K??? Wow. And I thought my .25-06 Ackley was a hot rod @ 3450.

www.reloadersnest.com has one load for .257-300RUM. An 85gr. CT Silvertip over 105gr. US 869 @ 4265fps... This could be the absolute ULTIMATE antelope round. But better get load development over quick. I would think barrel life would max out at 500 rounds. I hope your buddy got the rifle with a new barrel. I would love to see it shoot.

Within 3/8" on gross and net. Not bad from a photo! True bruiser of a buck.

No way I would have passed him either. The character is amazing. Congrats on a unique bruiser.

Between last night and this morning, I got to do all of my case prep. I resized all 209 pieces, trimmed to .0075 under max length (2.0320" to 2.0325") according to the 2.040" per the reamer specs, uniformed all the primer pockets, de-burred flash holes, chamfered inside and outsides of case necks, and tumbled for a couple hours. This morning, I weight sorted all the Remington brass. I had brass that had variations from 160.6 grains to 164.7 grains. With about 87% within a 2 grain range from 162.2 to 164.2 grains, I will load these for my normal loads, and keep the other 28 for sighting in. Trimmed length. (No, that is not a split case, just a scratch. I checked under my daughter's microscope) Weight sorted brass I also weighed 100 Berger 140gr. VLD Hunting bullets. Amazingly, all were within .1 grain of the advertised weight. From 139.9 grains to 140.1 grains over 100 bullets. Primed all the brass with some Federal Gold Medal Match LR primers. Blue are lighter than my 162.2 to 164.2 range, red are heavier (heavier brass content=less case volume). I will start loading a few for a ladder test sometime this week as time allows.

On the recent hunt with my daughter in her quest for her first elk, we hiked a ton. Way up on top of a hill in a small bowl, we found the remains of an elk that had perished there, sometime a while ago before the fire. While looking at the bones, I found a set of front lower leg bones, with one hoof, nearby each other. It was a great opportunity to teach my daughter about life, pain, and how modern medicine vs. nature works. It was also a lesson about the tenacity of animals to cling to life. How they can endure disabling breaks and go on living. How many of us hunters can say the same, by letting nature take it's course and heal without modern medicine? It gives me great respect for the game we pursue to realize how much they have to endure to make it in the wild. I hope, in all we do, that we strive as ethical hunters to take game cleanly out of respect for the animals we chase. I realize sometimes game cannot be recovered, but we as sportsmen should make every effort to retrieve the game we shoot. Also, realize that not all game that is hit poorly die. Some will recover and continue on. Here are the photos of the leg bones we found. I know I would not want to have to endure a bone knitting itself without a cast.

Brown Santa visited on Christmas Eve, delivering me a new 20MOA Picatinny base, 34mm rings, and a scope level. I also hear my scope payment was processed, and it should be in the mail as early as yesterday. Plus, I talked with my smith yesterday, and we went over all the final designs of the build. He is starting the action work today.

Where are they tight? I am more of a lace-up boot guy, but I do have a few pair of pull-ons. What I do when a boot is too tight and I need it stretched quickly, get them wet and wear them until they are dried. Or you can take them to a boot maker, and they can stretch them too. Ariats are decent boots, I have 2 pair of Ariat work boots. Unless you just don't like them, it might be worth looking into stretching them.

Barrel is off and in my possession. Tentatively wanted by another member.

Bump for the after Christmas crowd.

Nothing wrong with a bolt action .223 over an AR for varmint hunting. You shouldn't need a second shot anyway!!! Make the first one count.

Because it takes time to publish articles, and get all of the facts and your ducks in a row for a possible world record animal to be brought to light. Drying time to get an official score, maybe getting more than one official P&Y scorer to verify what you think you have, etc. Good luck to John in the panel scoring, AZ might get the world record title! I am surprised it has not leaked before now. Good job to all involved for keeping a lid on the story this long.

Being a mule deer hunter, and reading the post before I looked at the photo (and thinking about the comments of seeing the buck while elk hunting).....I was thinking...OK, a 129" 3 point muley. Nice deer but nothing to go crazy over. Then I looked at the photo......WOW. Amazing Coues. Congrats to the hunter, now I see why you were so pumped.