Cell4soul

Bummer and hope the crook or crooks get caught. Same thing happened to me about 1.5 years ago, except they broke into my truck right after a scouting trip. Good luck on the recovery.

I have a Leupold VX6 3-18 44. It is a really nice scope and I think it weighs right about 20 oz, so it is pretty light. I think I paid about $1,200. It has the fire dot reticle and I really like the elevation turret.

I appreciate the offer "Cells4soul" I will confirm with you early November once I figure out my schedule in regards to Turkey day. Its sorta of a big thing in my family and they might disown me lol. If so can you be my new family lol jk. Again I appreciate the offer. My name is Gerrit. I should've put that in the post. I get the Thanksgiving thing, I will be with family as well. Keep in touch and we can work out a meeting spot if that works for you too. My stepson will likely be down there until Sunday and then I will be meeting his mama in Tucson to pick him up so he can be in school on Monday. I will be focusing on his tag my first few days.

obvisly assuming , your pre dialed in and know your dope that is I haven't, but it sounds like a good way to practice real life situations. I need to learn my drops first.

I will be shooting Berger 140 gr VLD-H, Norma once fired neck sized brass, CCI BR2 primers, 2.840 COAL, 41 grains of H4350. This load is shooting about 3/4" MOA 5 shot groups out of a factory savage model 10. I think I can dial it in more, but my Wyoming trip is going to be here before I know it, so I gotta start figuring out my drops and practicing at distance. 3/4" groups will be sufficient for my Wyoming trip.

I know a lot of people shoot off the Beeline Hwy. I did a trail cleanup out there a couple months ago and there was a ton of trash and debris left by campers and shooters. I think shooting restrictions are lifted right now, so I guess I can go off Beeline. Any other suggestions appreciated. Ernesto, thanks for the offer in Yuma and I may take you up on that if all else fails. Gerrit

I am in East Mesa near Apache Junction. I don't mind driving. I did my load development at Usery Mountain, but have to get a membership and enter competitions to gain access to their 500 yard range. I would like to go somewhere with some high elevations to match where I will be hunting if possible.

I'll be following this thread. I drew the same post Thanksgiving 36B tag. I drew the same tag last year and managed to fill the tag with a little buck. Last year I was down there with a couple of friends and my dad came out from CA to stay in camp while we were out hunting (for security). There was a ton of border patrol activity, but we only ran into one illegal traveling alone while we were hunting. We were in the truck at the time, so we drew our pistols and drove up to him in case he wasn't alone....he was flagging us down for help. He had been out there for 7 days trying to find his way to Tucson.....temps were about 17 degrees at night and he had nothing but a very thin long sleeve shirt and jeans. This guy was desperate and really just wanted to be rescued. We made sure he had water and pointed him back towards the main road, then let the nearest border patrol know his location. I am very new to 36b, last year was my first year. This year I will be hunting and camping alone. I plan on setting up a camp off a main road and driving/hiking for my daily hunts. I felt like I learned a lot more about the animal last year and plan on putting down something bigger than a forkie this year. If the OP wants to set up in my camp, you are more than welcome. I will either be heading down the afternoon of Thanksgiving or about 3 am the next morning. I took the week after Thanksgiving off work, so I will be down there until I fill my tag. I will stay and help you fill your tag and pack meat if I fill my tag before you.

Went to the range again today. After trying different powder charges and seating depths, I have to say that I agree the 129 grain ABLR's just don't shoot consistent. I shot all 5 shot groups. Every group had a "flier", so nothing grouped under and inch, several were right at an inch. Before I shot my test loads, I made 3 shots with Winchester 140 grain match grade factory ammo so I wouldn't be firing my test loads from a cold bore. The 3 shot group measured just over 1/2". When I finished with all my test loads, I decided to shoot a 5 shot group using the Winchester ammo. The 5 shot group measured just over .8". So, I know both the rifle and I can shoot. I finally found some H4350 powder. I went to Sportsmans today and they had a box of Berger 140 grain VLD-H in stock. I think I am gonna go back to the drawing board and work up a load with the Bergers and H4350. I also picked up a box of Swift Scirocco II in 130 grain. The 2 pictures below are the 3 shot group out of the cold bore and a 5 shot group at the end of my testing

Looks like my step son and I will be hunting in 36B on the post Thanksgiving hunt.

Not sure if anyone is interested, but I just found and ordered 8 lbs of H4350. The website shows it is still in stock. I would have ordered more, but broke from all the other stuff I have been buying. This is a dang expensive hobby, but worth every penny. https://reloadingunlimited.com/product/hodgdon-h4350/

Note to self: don't plan on going to the range to test loads at 6:00 am on a Sunday when you are at a buddy's house on Saturday smoking brisket and consuming enormous quantities of adult beverages. Sunday was a bad day at the range. Pics below with the COAL that I think will be promising. The 5 shot groups were not good, but I know I was shooting horribly. Minus the fliers, which I am confident are my fault, the 2.797 and 2.817 each had 4 of the 5 shots in a pretty small group. This is fairly consistent with my charge weight tests where I had a group at .67" with a case length of 2.793 with 43 grains of RL-17. I think I am going to run the tests again and jump in .002 or .003 increments from 2.790 to 2.820. I dropped the gun off to put the Bell and Carlson stock on and have the action bedded. Thanks for your feedback.

I've heard Lapua Brass is the best. I went with the Norma brass. The last time at the range when I was testing, I shot some rounds of factory Hornady 140 grain ELD Match because I didn't want to start my tests on a cold bore. The 140 ELD Match had primers blow out of the brass on 3 separate rounds. I am not sure if it is the brass or not, but it definitely makes me glad I didn't stick with Hornady factory.

I loaded up some rounds for seating depth tests. I am starting to teach my step son to reload. We loaded 10 rounds each starting at .02 off the lands and jumped .02 from there. I will shoot 2 five shot groups with each. If I find an accurate seating depth from there, I will work up or down in .005 increments. That is the plan at this point. Tomorrow I will test the loads.

The gun is a stock Savage Model 10 Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor and topped with a Leuopold VX-6 3x18-44 with fire dot reticle. It will do its' job if I do on deer and antelope this year. I drew 3 deer tags and 1 antelope tag in Wyoming. Still waiting for my draw results in 36B.

I've already purchased 300 of these bullets, so I am going to see if I can't find a consistently accurate load. I was really hoping for a bullet around 130 grains with a fairly high BC. My best five shot group measured around .67" center hole to center hole, so I am hopeful that seating depths and better shooting on my part will shrink that group. I haven't done any work to the gun but I do have a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock I will be putting on the rifle and have it bedded. My goal is consistent 1/2" groups. The good news is, I enjoy both reloading and shooting, so if I can't reach my goal of .5 MOA, then I get to start all over again with a new bullet. Thanks for the feedback.

I appreciate the info. I think I am going to load up 40 rounds and start at .025 off the lands and jump in .02 increments. I will load 10 rounds of each and shoot 5 shot groups 2 times with each. Once I find out which of these shoots best I will work it up and down from there in .005 increments.

Do you find that being really close to the lands gives you significant pressure increases?

I am going to mess with seating depths using the 43 grain load. Book COAL for the 6.5 Creedmoor is 2.825. I sized some brass, cut a slit down the neck, lightly seated a bullet by hand, the chambered the round and closed the bolt slowly. I came up with a COAL of 2.877 on 3 separate tests with 3 separate bullets and cases. I put 3 rounds into the magazine and they fed fine at 2.877. For you that reload, where woul you start for a COAL? In what increments would you run your seating depths, .010?

No buck tag but did manage to draw a doe tag in 73. Also drew a 3 deer tags. Can't wait for this hunt, the freezer will be full again!

Looks like there is a fire burning down in 36b. I hope they can contain it quickly. This is where I put in for tags. http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4793/

Thanks for the clarification. Hunting season can't come soon enough.

Here are some pics of the groups. I think that 43 grains looks promising. These are all 5 shot groups. I think that some of these flyers are operator error and not the load itself. I could tell immediately on several of the shots that I had jerked or I was off when I pulled the trigger. The group at 40.9 and 42.7 both have 2 bullets in the same hole, so they look like 4 shot groups. The 43 grain group measures my 5 shot group at .65" from center hole to center hole. I am tempted to go with this load as it is accurate and will be at the higher end of velocity. I am thinking of loading up some more rounds in .2 increments instead of .3 and work up to max load at around 43.6 grains. I think this will help verify my 43 grain load. Once I find the load I want to shoot, I will play with seating depths. What gauges are you all using to set seating depth? All advise, suggestions and expertise are welcome. As I previously stated, this is all new to me and I want to do it right. Here are the pics:

Thanks for the info. I have loaded 5 round of each grain quantity. I am looking for accuracy, so maybe my terminology regarding "ladder test" is incorrect. This is all new to me. I wanted to go with H4350, but don't want difficulty in finding powder. I will definitely have to check my drops as it gets closer to hunting season. I am heading to the range in Payson tomorrow, so shooting restrictions won't be an issue. Hopefully it won't be too hot up there at 9:00 am. Once I find an accurate load, I will zero at 200 yards, then I will check FPS and plug it into a shooters app to get a rough idea of MOA drops. Then I plan to actually start shooting at range in 100 yard increments to verify drops. This is all new to me, so all input is welcome. Once this gun is dialed in, I will start doing the same for my Remington Model Seven in .300 SAUM.