airedale

As far as I am concerned they are one and the same, they are "THEE" definition of being a message board trolls. They use a facade of being some kind of outdoor sportsmen for being a member but yet rarely if ever post anything useful within those lines, they look like a couple of phonies. It is abundantly clear that their sole mission on this board is to push their liberal socialist agenda and do it with no debating just deflection and cheap shots to stir the pot, plain old fashioned trolling. Al

He and his alter ego Versatile Hunter are nothing more than libtard trolls, sez a lot about a person when they are supposed to be vacationing and they waste time day and night trolling and stiring the pot. A full fledged dedicated troll that should have been canned a long time ago. Al

Congrats, a good savings on a good manual, I have the number nine version and still use a couple of loads I found in it. I sure wish Speer would bring back those half jacket pistol bullets in both 44 and 357. Al

Getting around the second amendment 101, and just the beginning, frivolous lawsuits, fees and licensing schemes, permits, insurance to own, banning lead ammo, creating as many hurdles as possible making gun ownership as hard as they can. Al

He alternates with his alter ego Left Field

I have used swaged lead, hard cast and Berry's plated lead, they all have their uses depending on what kind of shooting you want to do. I bought bulk swaged lead back when I first started reloading and learned some hard lessons fast. They have to be loaded at very low velocities or you will have a lead plated bore. I had my first reloads loaded just a bit hot and was getting severe leading in my 357 handguns of the day. I made good use of the Lewis lead remover pictured below. I regulate swaged lead to plinking and target shooting. Hard cast is much better when it comes to leading, with the right alloy they can be loaded hot with little or no leading, in semi wadcutter style they work great for hunting also. Their drawback is the lube used on them can be very messy and dirty. Just started using the plated lead recently and I like them a lot, they are accurate, can be loaded fairly hot with zero leading and are reasonably priced. I have been using the 158 gr hp pictured below. I have not hunted with them yet but I think they will work fine with a properly placed shot. Al

Jim Thorpe one of the best all around athletes ever and a hunter. Al

Congratulations on your new 25-06, the cartridge is one of my favorites. Had the pleasure to own two rifles, one was a semi custom job setup strictly as a varmint rifle base on an FN Mauser action with a 26 inch Douglas premium barrel and topped with a Redfield 20x straight power scope, made a few unreal long shots with that one. The second one I set up fairly recently based on a Thompson Center Pro Hunter Encore single shot, this one I wanted to use as a dual purpose rifle for both Deer and Varmints. This one wears a (discontinued) Burris Timberline compact 4.5x14 which is very light and small to help keep the weight down. If you are a stand hunter not doing much walking carrying long distances and watching over open land a heavy high powered scope is great especially for long shots on Woodchucks. Firearms I use when on the move and especially when hunting woods I keep the weight down and use a bit lower power with big fields of view. Al

I have only saw one Fox Squirrel ever, it was of the gray colored variety and was probably twice the size of an average Gray Squirrel. I have seen plenty of photos of them and they come in a wide variety of colors some of which are quite striking. Don't need many to make a good meal. Al

The Lyman manuals are a good choice, I started out with the 44th edition and a few years ago grabbed a 49th edition. I still use a couple of those original loads today as I have found nothing better. I used to subscribe to Ken Waters Handloader Magazine, he had what he called a pet load section in the issues where he would wring out everything he could from a cartridge performance wise. Some years ago they took all of those pet load articles and put them in one over 1100 page massive book called "Pet Loads", it is my go to book when I start getting real serious. Sometimes one can find a used second edition fairly cheap on ebay, it is well worth having in a serious reloader's arsenal. The only drawback is it does not have data for the latest new cartridges. Al

Congrats, I can tell you I am satisfied with my 6 inch GP100, you will have fun for years to come. Al

A couple of more Squirrel hunting tidbits. Al https://www.cci-ammunition.com/cci-s...4002335&jb=361 https://www.cci-ammunition.com/cci-s...4002335&jb=361

I do not know what one of those would be worth in 44 Special, for me the Bisley grip makes it one of the most natural pointing handguns ever. Al

The animal that provides me with a hunt that sticks out above others in my mind are what I consider a trophy. Does not have to be some big rack or even a Deer as most of my best memories hunting are from small game hunts by far. A couple of Squirrels I took with a muzzleloading 32 cal Crockett Squirrel rifle are trophies to me. A young Coonhound I raised and trained treeing it's first Coon alone, that Coon is a trophy to me. A 6 point buck I dogged in snow for five hours before killing him is a trophy to me even though his rack is far from the best I have taken. A fox I squeaked across a field by sucking on the back of my hand using the then new 17 HMR that was a trophy to me. The longest shot I ever made on a varmint (Crow) that was trophy to me. And so on and so forth, Memories that remain vivid. Al

Hey Robby, while not quite in the same league as your handcrafted horn what do you think of my genuine plastic Walt Disney Davey Crockett hunter's blowing horn, it's a beauty, sounds like a harmonica LOL.

Snow is a hunter's best friend, when it comes to wanting to know what game you have in an area, it's movement and habits, it will tell the story if the time is taken to read it. Al

The Hare gave up it's advantages by staying in the open and running on the hard packed road. Should have hit the deep snow and the thick timber and more than likely would have lost the Martin. I have had a couple of instances where my Beagle ran down and caught a Hare the same way. Al

I took my cast iron skillet and painted it orange and use it for a reactive target on my backyard range. Most of my cookware is good old stainless copper clad Revere Ware that was made in Rome NY. Also have a set of the copper stuff made in Alabama. Al

I have several cap lock rifles, never got into a flintlocks, these days I am more of a shooter than hunter with mine. I am not a big time Deer hunter and just take one if I get the opportunity. I still do quite a bit of small game hunting and picked up a Crockett Squirrel rifle a couple of years ago, I did get a couple of Squirrels with it but my eyes at this stage of the game make it tough trying to hit small targets, wish I had it back in the day when there were Woodchucks in big numbers. I still have a blast shooting targets. Al

2400 is my favorite powder for both 357 and 44 mags, the Win 296 has no flies on it from the limited experience I have with it. Unique is a good powder also giving good all around performance at a lower cost per shot. I have shot ammo with both powders you list, the H110 I think is better for a 357 and it has worked ok for me but my main use for it is loading 22 Hornet ammo. The 4227 is a bit slow I think for 357 in handguns, would probably work a bit better if used in a rifle. A friend of mine gave me a box of 44 mag ammo he loaded using 4227, I did not get very good accuracy with those particular loads out of my Redhawk. If I get around to it I will give what is left of them a try in my Marlin 94 rifle. I never used Titegroup powder but it has a good reputation for medium loads. I did buy several pounds of Titewad for use in shotguns, relatively new for use in handgun cartridges it is pretty much the same as Bullseye. Al

I think I may have mentioned it here once before, years ago myself and some of my hunting compadres went on a Squirrel hunt and it was anything goes, Grays, Reds and Chipmunks. We got ourselves quite the pile of rodents, cleaned them all up and one of the guys took them all home and his wife made up a big stew and did some up in tomato sauce. We were all invited over for a Squirrel feast, the eating was good and other than body size I could not tell the difference in taste between any of them. Chipmunks are on the small side but when you think about it I would say they amount to be about the same size wise as Quail. Ammo is a little tight these days so a good quality pellet rifle would do the trick hunting Chipmunks on the cheap. My little Benjamin P-Rod parlor gun would be just the ticket for them as it will easily shoot dime size groups at 30 yds, should be plenty good on Squirrels at moderate range also.

Of Modern Times??? This guy is the all times worst!

Like Humans our dogs and especially hunting dogs in the field are subject to Ticks, I have had several come down with Lyme and one of my best Airedales died from Ehrlichia which the Vet said was from a tick bite. Been using the purple cattle tags for a few years now and so far so good when it comes to ticks. Al

Rachunter I picked up the same revolver a year ago, the GP100 is a good solid reliable shooter. I did a write up on how I tuned it to my preferences in this section a few pages back. Ammo for everything these days is hard to come by, I have had decent results in finding bullets for reloading. Right now Midway USA has bullets in stock. As for bullet weights I almost always fall to a middle of the road weight with just about every cartridge I shoot, these give the best balance of both trajectory and energy. If I do my part and put the shot on target I get good results. Back when I got my first 357 I found a load in one of the gun magazines I subscribed to using Speer 140gr hps and 146gr hp half jacket bullets. I used that data and had very good results for both accuracy and on several Deer along with a pile of Woodchucks. This year because of difficulty getting 2400 powder and Speer bullets I went with something different component wise because it was available to purchase, Win 296 powder and Hornady 140 gr XTPs, accuracy was good and I used the load on a Deer out of my Henry single shot. A heart shot that was a complete pass through at about 75 yards, the Deer did not go far, I think the same ammo out of my revolver will produce the same results with a properly placed shot. I believe 158gr bullets from a good maker will work just as well. Midway also has Berry's copper washed lead bullets in stock, they are bargain priced and shoot great. Al

I have eaten the Reds and as far as I can tell they taste the same as Grays but they are much smaller so you have to knock off a bunch to make a good size meal. As for Rabbits I like domestic Rabbit the best, had it only a few times but can say the meat is not as dry as the wild variety and very tasty. Cottontails come in next for flavor with Hares bringing up the rear, I believe their diets are a big factor in how they taste. Al