tontotom

Maybe at Salt River the finishing and reheat are 2-1/4 chrome but at TEP I can assure you they are Stainless Steel. This is what prompted my question. We have to weld a dis-similar metal union between the two metals to prevent galvanic corrosion. You must know I would never question your knowlege of your plant but stainless (316) has a much high heat tolerance in high temperature and pressure applications than chromemoly. So what kind of thin barrel does "Farkiller" have?

Thanks to all for the reply, even you Lark. Chrome moly had many good qualities but it doesn't hold up to heat like stainless.

The taste isn't much different. The biggest problem with bad tasting meat is how it's taken care of after the kill, the size of the animal and how much killing it took to get the animal down.

Anyone use one in the field yet? Are they in the stores yet? Just wondering if they are worth the extra $$.

Good luck on getting your permits back. Hopefully reason will prevail and things can be fair. I do think that letting landowners have tags to sell undermines the idea that the animals are managed by the state. That said I'm sure that tags provide a huge % of the incentive to keep the land private and not break it up into 40 acre parcels like is happening in Arizona. The issues aren't simple and the best you can hope for is a voice in the fianl outcome. Again, good luck in your fight.

Thanks for the offer but I live in the white mountains. Let us know what you think of the unit.

I'm interested, how much weight can it take? What size of ball does it take? Brakes on 1 or 2 axles? PM me if you wish. Tom Anderson

Really what we are talking is legally accessing "our" public land which happens to be checkerboarded. Too many would be controllers try to limit or refuse access to public land. New Mexico has some strict laws for tresspassing so I suggest reading the proclaimation as it outlines these rules. That said, where public land intersects public roads cannot be legally posted and access cannot be denied. You might not be able to drive into the land but you can park on the side of the road and walk. From there if you have a gps with land access maps keeping on public checkerboard land shouldn't be too much of a problem. In Eastern Arizona a landowner sent out notices that none of his ranch could be hunted because he controlled all the access points and moving accross corners is tresspassing. It looked very official and had some notations from a law office. Only problem is in Arizona private property must be legally posted, not just the exterior but all private land. Of course this isn't practical so there is a lot of posturing and bluffing going on to try and keep people out. I don't condone tresspassing on private property but I'll be damned if someone who controlls the grazing lease on public property is going to keep me from hunting. This is my land and I won't be denied.

"Solid 300 class" Ya, solid in the 330-340 bull. It's hard to tell just how long the main beams are but that is a nice bull. Too many guys think that there are 400 bulls around every tree which simply isn't the case.

I bought a Crony Alpha and for the money I love it. It's easy to keep the distance constant as it has a phone cable that allows the electronics to come up to the bench, about 15' is what my manual said. I think I've found my load now for my 300 win mag. 74g 4831 (IMR) pushes 165 grain Accubonds at 3250 fps with a max spread of 15 fps. I shot a 3 shot group at .7" this morning. On my way to this load I tried 5 different bullets and 4 other powders, not cheap but I really want to work out at 600 yards with this rifle. I was able to get 1.125" goups with other combinations and this one as well. I felt like the gun would do better and listened to a couple of guys who load and shoot thousands of rounds a year. Here is what came about- 1- new stock, Boyds laminated thumbhole glass bedded 2- new ammunition, I was shooting Federal Blue Box 1-1/2" groups 3- chronograph to find out exactly how fast the loads were traveling 4- practice in the field and on the bench Some of the loads were impressive on the chronograph but not on paper, some were good on paper but wild on the chronograph. Of all the things that helped trim the last little fat off these loads was done with the brass. I weighed them all, sorted 40 keepers out of a lot of 100, trimed the flash holes and primer pockets and these will only be used in this gun from now on. I still need to do a lot more shooting but I'm happy with the continued progress. Whitetail in October, Elk in November and Barbary Sheep in Feb 2010. This gun will do them all.

I bought a Nikon Monarch 4x16 mil dot and I love it. It is really clear and I'm getting the hang of the mil system. I like the 40 mm objective.

Is the muzzle brake removable or part of the barrel? How many rounds through it?

Took the long range piece yesterday with some reloads I've been working on. A couple of weeks ago it shot 1-1/8" 3 shot group at 100 yards. My 1st 2 shots were touching but the velocity was a little low, 165 grain bullets at 3200 fps. I was feeling like I might make 1/2" group when I chambered the 3rd round. The shot felt good and my hopes went to sh!t when the scope settled back on target. 2-1/2" high from the other 2. Velocity pushed to 3285, what the heck? The only difference I could find was a federal brass snuck in the mix, the other 2 were remington. I've mixed brass on .243 and .270 before without a bobble but this was crazy. The powder is IMR 4831, 74 grains. Primer is CCI magnum. Maybe I'm offbase and just jerked? Any thoughts from others who have more expirence- Thanks,

Thanks for all the input. I'm not sure what was happening but I'll give it another go this weekend. One thought on brass, if the necks work harden would that mean one should stay away from nickle plated brass? I ordered 100 pieces of RP nickle plated before thinking about this variable.

Where did you get the upper?

I've never loaded any really long cartridges like the 300 win mag. In fact it's been a long time since I've had to reload anything. My gun is a Winchester model 70 with the claw extractor 10-15 years old I think. I bought some accubond 150 grain to try and work up a load. Imagine my surprise when I tried to find the lands and couldn't seat the bullet out far enough to get it just off the lands and still have it secured in the neck. So I think I'll just have to work with it like this and built some test loads to take to the range. When I tried to cycle them though the action to test they were way to long. What the heck? I have to seat them even deeper so they will fit the magazine. Anyone else have long freebore and short magazine? I think this might screw with accuracy. This gun has been very accurate with 150 grain factory ammo so I compared my reloads with the factory and I am quite a bit longer than factory. How deep must a 180 to 200 grain bullet sit in the case? I would think almost deeper than the neck length.

Most people have started by getting a mouth call for a birthday present or christmas and going out and blowing it. My dad gave me a circe call for christmas way too many years ago. I kicked around and had many failures before I started to gain some confidence. In the years since I've called a lot of coyotes and quite a few foxes and bobcats. Here are a few things to consider- 1- Predators primary sence is scent followed by sight and hearing. Important!! Most critters will approach from downwind using some form of cover. From my expirence 70% of all responding coyotes will approach from downwind. Hence, when you call try to watch in that direction. Foxes are somewhat different, if heavily called they can be as stealthy as a coyote but most of the time they just bounce in. Bobcats will come from wherever they happen to be and are primarily sight hunters. 2- If calling bobcats movement will tip them off quicker than anything else. I think camo is essential for cats. Coyotes and foxes, not so much. Fancy camo is way down on my priority list. 3- Sounds and making sounds can be a delima for some. I called for years with closed and open reed calls and had huge success with both. If I was just starting out I'd still go buy a couple of calls, 1 good closed reed and a couple of open reed. I like the circe (green body) calls because they are comfortable and easy to blow. I love the Tweety and Psyco Tweety open reed calls for the same reason. I also use a Critter Call Pee Wee or standard to howl. These three calls will imitate all rabbit, some coyote and some bird sounds. 4-Pick a calling location where there's a lot of sign. Coyotes and foxes crap on the roads to mark their territory. Find a lot of little crap piles around and you've found critters. I hate wide open flat country so I don't call it. Some people do with a lot of success. I really like spotty cover to thick cover with good visibility where I can see downwind. Sneak into areas to call without a lot of noise and get comfortable. I hope this helps. I've taken a lot of people out and I'm sure if you ask around there are people willing to take you out as well. One of the better websites for calling is predatormasters.com. All of the guns you list will take predators all be it with some fur damage. Your choice if you can live with big holes and flying fur.

Thanks for the reply. Maybe I'm not doing it right? I shot it today at 200 yards mostly to test the new loads and see if I was too hot. Turns out that the max load in my nosler book is fine in the gun with no signs of pressure. The group was 3" with 5 workup loads. I'll keep working on this.

Thanks guys, I did buy the gun used. It really shoots well .8" at 100 yards with factory 150 grain federals. I'm trying to find a better long range bullet than will shoot as good as possible. I measured my magazine length and it is 3.41". The overall cartridge length is 3.39". I'm working up the loads right now. I have a big supply of 4350 powder so I'm hoping this will work with the combo but only the range will tell this weekend depending on the wind and rain. I have a lot of time before next season. My expectation is to have a 600 yard MOA gun. I shot a 300 yard group just over 4" a couple of weeks ago so hopefully I can improve on that. Lark, what kind of load did you work up with you new barrel?

Try Sportsmans

What is the critter in the last few pics that looks like a wolverene?

I've had a lot of ring combos for my AR but the best and lightest one I've found for calling is Leupold shoot through 2 pc. I picked them up at walmart for less than $20. They are just the right height and give good head position.

Just wondering if anyone had been or is going hunting Aoudad? I'm thinking of trying for one in Texas or New Mexico next year (2011). A buddy of mine is headed to hunt Unit 34 this weekend. They look like a pretty neat trophy.

Another option would be a mildot. I just picked up a Nikon Monarch and am ringing out my 300 mag with it. I know the glass isn't in the nightforce league but the mildot reticle has been proven all over the world. If I could afford a 1st focal plane mildot that would be my choice. It will work on any rifle and any load, it will estimate range and is compatible with turrets if you like. Leupold, Nightforce and others make them for the military. The military Leupold is even cheaper than the Huskemaw. They do take a little work to learn but no more so that any turret or ballistic reticle. And about the work, any wet work over 400 yards should require a lot of range time to perfect. Maybe this isn't what you are looking for but there are a lot in service. I'm sure liking mine.

Hard to imagine you not getting along with the neighbors? Maybe they thought Sasquach was invading the subdivision. We still get you up here Lark.