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Coues Archer

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Posts posted by Coues Archer

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Hey guys I appreciate all the feedback! Awesome to find people who are willing to go out of there way for a helping hand. It's safe to say that Iam not gonna go with the nikon bUT rather the Athlon, seems to be a good buy for this moment in time. Once again thank you all for the advice I GREATLY appreciate everyone's response.

    • Like 1

  2. Posted · Report reply

    You can look into Athlon Argos which is around 350 but competes at a 500 range or look into the Athlon Midas 4.5-27x50 which is 590 dollars but all the reviews I've seen beat out the 900 dollar vortex PST 6-24x50 .

    I know I keep bringing up Athlon but I got a few and they are great glass and cheaper then everyone else.

    Hey Zeke-BE if you wouldn't mind I'd really appreciate some insight about this scope.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks guys I appreciate the help! But Zeke-BE, how is your experience with the 'argos' model. From what I've researched they are superb glass for the money. Main thing I look for in a scope is the 'turret tracking' and this scope has not a single complaint about that, supposedly very accurate. Clarity was rated good and overall quality was great! Only complaint was that the turrets felt a little spongy in that they had minor play but played no roll in affecting it's accuracy in any way. Let me know what you have experienced with the scope first hand. Also I think it would be cool buying a new brand of scope other than a nikon lol...

  6. Posted · Report reply

    My budget is $500 including the scope rings and rail. I know you guys say to buy a scope worth a lot n what not but I just don't believe in spending $1000 plus in glass for a scope. I have killed 2 coues +725 yards with a .243 which was pretty tough but with a lot of time in reloading and cooking up a great bullet you'll be surprised what your rifle can do. Anyways I made these shots with a basic cabelas pine ridge scope for $150.

    • Like 1

  7. Posted · Report reply

    Hello guys, so I just bought a new 7mm rem mag with a 26 inch barrel and well I want to get a new scope for it. The two scopes I have narrowed down are nikon since I've always had amazing success with them. That being said the two scopes are the 'Nikon Buckmasters 6-18x40' and the 'Nikon prostaff 5 4-18x40'. The buckmasters scope has 50 MOA of adjustment and the Prostaff 5 has 40 MOA of adjustment. My only question is will this be enough adjustment to shoot out to 1000 yards?? P.S. I will be installing a 20 MOA piccatinny rail so maybe both will be sufficient for this range, anyhow let me know what you guys think. Any info is much appreciated.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Shot this brute opening morning of my hunt. He is a typical 12 point with great mass! All in all a fantastic hunt, shot him standing from 200 yards as I had stalked him from a mile and half out. Proved to one heck of a drag since he was more than 2.5 miles from any road, Thank God we had a game cart lol..

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    • Like 10

  10. Posted · Report reply

     

    Why would Lance suggest to neck size down to 2.035 when the powder is high already as is at 2.045. I mean it just doesn't seem logical to me that I would shorten my overall length of casing. If I shortened it to that length it would yield less space hence making more pressure wouldn't it?? Idk just seems a bit far fetched considering the situation with brass space.

    He did not suggest neck sizing down! He recommended trimming to length and it is not far fetched at all. The nature of the shape of the 243 shoulder will allow the brass to stretch or "flow" when fired. In fact it will do this more so than other cartridges with sharper shoulder angles. Lance was trying to save you more worker later by taking care of it now. You will still need to trim later.

    If you are trying to increase case capacity by allowing a longer neck you are fighting a losing battle.

    Are you set on Retumbo? While Retumbo may work, there are many other powders that are better suited to the case capacity of your 243. Lance eluded to this earlier as well. This is especially true if you are worried about crunching the kernels in your compressed load. H-4350, H4831, and RL-17 or even H-1000 might be suited better to your goals. How long is your barrel?

     

    Hello guys, so I purchased all the equipment needed to start reloading my own ammo.

     

    All specs are good my OAL = 2.760 I have seeded each bullet to 2.765 which is a .15 JUMP from the lans of my rifle.

     

    I am a bit confused by this. If you seated your bullets to 2.765 how is your OAL 2.760? How did you measure the distance to the lands of your chamber to know you have a .15 jump?

     

    The OAL of 2.760 was the suggested min OAL discussed in the book. And the way I got the lans measurement is I used one of the federal brass casings I have and neck sized it till I could successfully pass through an amax with slight tension. From there I colored the walls of the bullet with sharpie and stuck it into my rifle, completely closed the bolt; pulled out the bullet and checked the seating depth as well as COAL and that's how I got my measurement. It was suggested to do this 3 times to get a good guesstimate the mean value of those measurement came out to roughly 2.780

  11. Posted · Report reply

    A few more clarifications and observations, along with more suggestions.

     

    As Wampuscat helped clear up, OAL of the case @ 2.045" is MAX case length, from base of case to top of neck. All books I have ever read have a "trim to" length of .010-.015" shorter than overall max case length. Meaning you do not have to trim after each firing, you might be able to go 2 or possibly even 3 firings before you need to trim again. If you go OVER this length of 2.045", you run the risk of jamming your case neck past the chamber cut depth, basically creating a strong crimp in the brass to the bullet, greatly increasing pressure upon firing. You will also find it difficult to close the bolt. Cases will stretch and grow by quite a bit. As much as .007" depending on a lot of factors. I can usually only get 2 firings from my .260 Rem (same case as the .243 Win, just necked to .264 vs. .243) before I have to trim when I go with a .010" shorter than max trim length. Both the Hodgdon and Hornady data suggests a "trim to" length of 2.035".

     

    If you are filling the case with enough Retumbo to fill the entire case up to the top of the neck, and that extra .010" lets it all fit, something is wrong.

     

    What case does your book say they are using in their load data? Possibly Winchester (as the Hodgdon data states)? If you do not follow every bit of their recipe, you will have different results. I know that Federal cases have more brass content in every other case I have weighed vs. Winchester, as I hinted at in my earlier post. Some quite a bit more, as much as 25 grains, which reduces the case capacity. In my own early testing, I used data from a book that used Winchester, and I was using Federal brass, and I had pressures quite a bit below the book suggested max.

     

    What are you using to weigh your powder charge? My electronic powder throw and scale are not really that accurate, so I weigh each powder charge again on a beam scale to within a single kernel of powder. My electronic scale is only "accurate" to within .1 grain. Add that to the error factor, and I can see throws vary as much as .3 grains. A 45.8gr throw can actually weigh more than a 46.1gr throw when I double check them with an accurate scale. This does no good for accuracy and consistency.

     

    I would suggest you weigh a new Federal case, and I can weigh one of my .243 head stamped Winchester brand, and I would lay money that it weighs more than the case I have.

     

    Again, I would try a variety of other powders before using Retumbo in a .243 Win if it were me. Even if you were pushing a 115 SMK, 115 DTAC, 115 Berger VLD, 117 Matrix VLD, 120 Matrix RBT, from a 28"+ barrel.

     

    Will Retumbo WORK? Probably. Are there better alternatives out there? Definitely, a lot of them. Are you just trying for the absolute most speed out of the combo?

     

    For starting point, look at as much info as you can. Try here. http://www.reloadersnest.com/frontpage.asp?CaliberID=5 Not a single submission uses Retumbo. The slowest powder I see used is RL25, and one that uses H1000, and IMR7828. There is one guy who submitted a load using VV N170 pushing a 115 VLD w. a 26" 1:8" twist.

     

    Also, note the slower powders pushing heavier bullets mostly have some freebore to get the bullet out a bit before touching the lands. This reduces pressure. Having only .015" jump is not much. But .150" is a lot.

     

    How about a little info on your rifle setup too?

     

    Hello Lance thank you for your advice; I greatly appreciate it. I have yet to shoot any loads I was just wanting some advice before I left to the shooting range. The brass discussed in this book was using Winchester brass, so yes I most definitely will experience some deviations with federal brass. Also I meant to say ".015 jump" not .15 lol yeah that is a huge jump in seating. Another thing that I totally agree with you is the scale, I am currently using a Hornady electronic scale but like you said there is definitely some percent error within its measurement, I will be ordering a beam scale like you suggested.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Okay thank you Vowel! One more question. Why would Lance suggest to neck size down to 2.035 when the powder is high already as is at 2.045. I mean it just doesn't seem logical to me that I would shorten my overall length of casing. If I shortened it to that length it would yield less space hence making more pressure wouldn't it?? Idk just seems a bit far fetched considering the situation with brass space.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Hello guys, so I purchased all the equipment needed to start reloading my own ammo. Ive sized my cartridges at 2.045 which is the standard for .243 brass. I had one question regarding the powder. I am using RETUMBO which looks like a really bulky powder, the starting suggested powder is 46.0 gr.. My only question is that when I put the powder into the cartridge it is filled pretty close to the top of the casing. when I seeded the bullet into the case it literally hits the powder.. Is this normal?? I'm so used to factory ammo which has alot of space for powder within the cartridge. Please give me your feed back on what you guys have experienced with this powder/load; and if its safe to shoot. According to my reloading manuel it is! All specs are good my OAL = 2.760 I have seeded each bullet to 2.765 which is a .15 JUMP from the lans of my rifle.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Let me just start this off by giving Thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; for giving me the ability to bag an absolute toad this season. So it was Thursday morning and I and best friend went out to our favorite spot for whitetail hunting. Weather conditions were exceptional; nice clear sky, wind @ 4mph and a blistering cold temperature of "8 degrees F", yeah extremely cold! These conditions offered the perfect setting to get those big bucks up and moving. As we got to our blind my best friend and I sat there patiently waiting for a buck to present itself. After sitting for 3 hours and nothing showing up; all of a sudden directly 12:00 O'clock from my position I noticed movement in a mesquite thicket, as slow as can be I raised my binoculars just to see that an absolute toad was headed down a heavily used trail directly in front of my blind. I then told my buddy that a monster buck was headed right for us. Immediately I ranged several positions on where I thought that buck would step out from the thicket. There were approximately 3 trial heads that the buck could of chose to take, the 1st being 30 yards from my positon, 2nd being 40 yards and 3rd being 50 yards. As the buck inched his way through the mesquites he finally got about 70 yards from my blind; I then drew my bow and held it there waiting for him to present a shot. And Yes, My heart was racing a 100 mph but being experienced I calmed myself getting strait into kill mode! The buck then decided to take the 3rd trail head which was 50 yards from my position; as soon as the buck came out of the thicket I put my 4th pin directly on his vitals; completely focusing on that alone and not the giant set of antlers of this mature Coues buck. I then let it fly; just to hear from my buddy that I shot a foot and half above his back lol.. I couldn’t believe it! I asked him are you sure? A foot and half? That would mean I measured the wrong distance.... It just didn’t add up, I asked him to range the trail head and he said 50 yards!? I then replied saying well I used my 50 yard pin. We then had a discussion about how the buck responded after the shot, as soon as the arrow went his way the buck expressed tell-tale signs of being whacked as he bolted over everything and anything in his path. Running over mesquites and brush like a bat out of heck! That alone was enough to convince me that I did in fact hit the buck so we sat there for the next Hour and half waiting for this buck to die. "Assuming I even hit the dang thing" haha... As we got to where I shot the buck, we combed the area just to find that there was no arrow to be found. I then walked about 30 yards down where he bolted, just to have a huge sigh of relief as I feasted my eyes on a nice bright pool of blood. This next part of the story will literally take pages of writing to explain because SO much happened trying to find this buck. Long story short we tracked this bucks blood trail for the next 6 hours in the nastiest of terrain. The thickets he went through were just absolutely insane! God literally tested every ounce of hunting ability within me to find this buck. There were times where there was no blood to be found and we had to go off of the tracks and occasionally the only blood was just a little streak on a strand of grass that was size of a cm. Needless to say I also couldn’t have done this without my best-friend; he was tracking that buck like a bloodhound! Working as a team we were then able to find this buck. I owe him one for all his help and gratitude. Here he is as he lays:

     

     

    Finally made the 100 Inch Club!!!

     

    • Like 7

  25. Posted · Report reply

    This past weekend I shot a tremendous Coues buck pushing about 110..From the looks of it, it seemed as if I hit him in the pocket inbetween his spinal chord and his lungs..I have yet to find the buck. I've been to the area once since I've shot him, with no luck. The deer was posted up at about 35 yards when I hit him, he then ran about 80 yards and stayed standing for about 25 minutes pulling out the arrow and bleeding before walking off. I then tried to cut him off to try and stick him with another arrow but he busted me and ran into some extremely thick mesquite flats. The arrow was full of red blood kinda on the brighter side. I followed the blood trail for about 200 meters before disappearing completely. My questions are, was this shot lethal? Will it die? Has anyone ever experienced anything like this and did you ever find the buck? Any advise is greatly appreciated.

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