Schmitty

Well TAM, it looks like you are going to get your wish. While I was down picking up a can of 7828ssc at the SW in north Phoenix the kid at the optics counter told me that construction had proceeded on a Sportsman's warehouse in Prescott Valley and that it should be open in early spring of 2008. I'll see what I can dig up on the rumor. take care, Schmitty

TAM, I hit Bill's today and he only had 1 can of the regular 7828 in stock, none of the short cut powder. He told me that it would be coming in on his next powder order which is a few weeks out. Did you find any in the valley? thanks, Schmitty

Bill's Trading Post is on the west side of Montezuma a few blocks north of the Safeway in an old building more or less across from the fire station. From the outside, it looks like a nasty pawn shop with old glass bottles in the windows. Bill is a real character, he could sell popsicles to the eskimo's but his pricing is very fair and he's a good fellow. Besides powder and primers he doesn't keep much reloading items in stock. He always has a few used guns in stock, but he will order you anything you want and sell it to you at 10% above his cost. Usually the wholesale catalogs are right out on the counter so you can look through them, tack 10% onto the cost and you know what you'll be paying. I'll head in there today and let you know if he's got any 7828. Schmitty

TAM, Did Bill's Trading Post not have any 7828 in stock? Bill's pretty good at keeping most popular Hodgdon,IMR, Accurate, VV, and Winchester powders in stock and his prices are typically better than anywhere in Phoenix except for Bruno's. I need to pick up a can of 7828ssc as well to try in my new 6.5-06 AI. I was going to swing in today in fact, until I remembered that Bill is closed on Mondays. I'll let you know what I find, Schmitty

The two smiths that I personally use are pretty backed up, so I'm not sure that they would be able to get you taken care of before your hunt. Classic Barrel Prescott, AZ Weaver Rifles Peyton, CO That said, Here's the website for ITD custom gun in Ohio that is VERY reasonably priced, always has barrels in the most popular twist rates in stock and has a pretty quick turnaround. (8 weeks last I talked to him) I've personally never used him, but I have only heard positive things in regards to his work. You can legally ship the rifle directly to him and he can send it back to you without having to involve an FFL. ITD Custom Guns Hope this helps, Schmitty

I also have a T/C Omega topped with a fixed 4.75x weaver grand slam in a talley one piece scope mount.. 3 triple seven pellets and a 290 gr Barnes expander sabots consistently produced 1 1/2" groups. I've only hunted with it one season, but it worked quite well on the cow that I shot last year. The shot was around 60 yards or so and she never made it out of her bed. It's pretty easy to clean and maintain. The action is very simple, the trigger is decent and they have a good reputation in regards to accuracy. good luck with your choice, Schmitty

Great news for many of you! When I checked the results, it gave me the hunt number and that I was permit #0001! I was stoked thinking that being the first permit drawn, I just had to have drawn a December tag. Turns out I'll be out on the early hunt in 36C. Regardless, I can't wait to get out there once the temps cool down a bit and do some scouting. Good luck to the rest of you! I'm still waiting on that sheep tag! take care, Craig

Most all of what has been mentioned above is true. As Doug stated it has to do with how "aerodynamic" a bullet is. Casey had it pretty much right, but the general rule of thumb is that the heavier the bullet for that specific caliber, the higher the BC will be. If you had two bullets that had the same weight, but were of different caliber, the smaller caliber bullet would have the higher BC. For example: a 140 grain 7mm Sierra gameking has a BC of .416 where as the 140 gr 6.5 mm gameking has a BC of .495. This is just a general rule, there are plenty of exceptions due to different bullet designs. For most practical hunting purposes out to 500 yards., Velocity has more to do with bullet drop than anything else. Generally, the faster you drive a bullet, the less it will drop. BC does play role in bullet drop, but you usually don't see it until you pass the 400 yard mark. As it was stated earlier. Today, with rangefinder's, Bullet Drop Compensating reticles and turrets, I find that the wind bucking ability is where the High BC bullets really shine. Let's face it, no matter what you're shooting, once a bullet passes the 350 yard mark, it starts to fall dramatically. This can be compensated for with quality modern equipment. Wind however is like the devil. It can come at you from any direction and at any speed and "reading" the wind is more like Black Magic than a proven science. The less I have to guess in regards to doping the wind the better off I and the critter I'm shooting at will be. It's kind of cool to play around with the Ballistic Calculators and look at various scenarious with different bullets and calibers. I've found that they are fairly accurate when I've tested their results with my own range results within a couple of inches. hope this helps, Schmitty

This is my first post here on CouesWhitetail.com I'm slowly beginning to see the light when it comes to good optics. I bought a pair of used Leica's a couple of years ago and thought that I had arrived. This past week I finally hunted with a pair of borrowed 15's and saw the light. I immediately ordered a pair when I returned. I'm now looking to purchase a decent spotter to help w/ field evaluation and have a bit of fun digiscoping with. I can't afford the very top of the line right now, but I'm looking to get something decent mid range. I've been mulling over used Swaro, Zeiss, Leica (non APO/HD) models, along with the Pentax and Nikon ED models. Budget is in the 1K area. As most of you hunt in similar terrain as I do, I 'm curious as to your preferences. I know that everybody has opinions on what works best for them. I want to hear all that you have to say good, bad or ugly. This scope will be packed along in rough country along w/ all of the other goodies, used sunup to sundown. I also want to fool around with taking pictures w/ a digital pint and shoot on scouting trips as well of various local critters as well. So, 65 or 80 mm? Straight or Angled? Do you even really need to pack along a spotter or will a doubler/tripler work? Do any particular scopes lend themselves better for picture taking? Zoom or fixed eyepieces? Warranty/customer service considerations. etc. Thanks in advance for your help. Schmitty

Thanks to all for your replies. With the angled eyepiece do you find that you have to readjust your tripod when swapping from your bino's to your scope. I typically have to spend a few minutes getting my tripod set up just right for maximum comfort before I begin to glass. Which setup (angled/straight) sould more easily allow me to keep the tripod legs in the same position? Adjusting the stem up or down is no big deal. A critter can disappear out of my bino's FOV in a matter of seconds, I'm just worried that if I have to fool around w/ the tripod much, I'll have a difficult time reaquiring the critter. thanks again for all your help. Schmitty