Pygmy

Pointman.... Natchez Shooters Supply, www.natchezss.com has Garand Specific match ammo loaded with Hornday's 168 grain AMAX bullet. I am not familiar with the performance of this bullet on game, but it is NOT a FMJ. Many match bullets are hollow points, so in that weight it might be a decent game bullet. You could call or email Hornady and ask them if it would be suitable for deer hunting. Another option, if you have any friends that reload, would be for you to buy some military ammo that you are sure is non-corrosive and have them pull the FMJs and replace them with a hunting bullet of the same weight. Most 30-06 military rounds are loaded with 147 -150 grain bullets, so most any 150 grain spitzer would work. You could also have a reloader just load you up a supply of hunting rounds with commercial components. Stick with bullets from 150-168 grains and use either H4895, IMR 4895 or IMR 4064in charges suitable for the M-1. Loading data is readily available online for M-1 specific loads. You are wise not to use regular factory loads in your Garand. When I first got mine I was unaware of the fact that most factory loads are loaded with slow burning powders having a longer pressure curve than the Garand was designed for. I fired a few boxes of Remington green through my rifle, and sure enough, the result was a bent operating rod...Cost me about $80 for my mistake, and that was a few years ago .They are no doubt more expensive to replace now. There may be other sources of Garand compatible hunting loads.. I'll do a little sniffing around and give you a holler if I turn up anything.

Wow, Larry...What a TOAD !! Congratulations, my Friend... Maybe the deer are crossbreeding with ELK in your area..<<grin>>

Dinsdale, Ol' Buddy.... Does this mean you are dropping a deposit on a NULA ? Don't leave us HANGING like this..

David... I have about 800 rounds. A couple hundred Hornady, a 100 CCI and a 500 round brick of Eley. Everything has shot well so far in my rifle. What is the "O" ring trick ? Never heard of it, but I'm new to the Mach II. Are you shooting a NEA also ? My previous experience with a 17 was with the HMR in Savage 9317, but I found it a little too destructive for my taste, so when I got a good deal on the NEA, I sold the Savage, which was a fine shooting rifle..

I know there was thread on this subject a year ago, but we've gained some members since then , so I thought I would see how many members hunt with military surplus rifles. My main deer rifles are commercial models, but I have always been interested in military rifles . It appeals to me to shoot and hunt with a piece of history. Last year I shot a doe with my 1943 vintage Garand M-1. I load 150 grain softpoints ahead of 47.0 grains of H4895, which is supposed to duplicate the military load that the rifle was designed for. I enjoy carrying it, despite the 10 pound weight, and the issue peep sights still work well with my aging eyes. The trigger is pretty good for a military rifle. I also have a Yugoslav M48A in 8 x 57 that shoots well with my 150 grain handloads. I removed the Mauser notch rear sight and installed a Mojo peep sight. Since semis aren't legal for deer in PA, I may use it down across the border. The main disadvantage is that the two stage military trigger is heavy and creepy. I also have a SMLE #4 .303 that was made in Long Branch, Ontario in 1944. It shoots well but I have never taken it to the deer woods. It is currently on display in the Local American Legion post

Larry...That sounds like a smoker of a load for your .243. Since you are shooting a BARNES TTSX, you will get an exit hole with anything approaching good shot placement, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it is a " drop 'em in a pile" load, and not much tracking will be required. What rifle/scope combo is your .243 ?

Congrats on your doe, Dom.. Never ate a doe I didn't like... Now I assume that you are aware that deer have no upper incisors. Was this deer missing lower incisors and molars also ?

You could be right, Skyhunter,but that buck looks awful chunky for a 2.5 year old... I'd call him a 3.5...

Any issues with accuracy ? I have always admired the looks of the mannlicher (sp) type stock, but I have heard that they are often temperamental about producing acceptable hunting accuracy.

Nope..No need to.. I was issued an 8X and had another 8X and an 8T signed over to me... I also have two antlerless permits in PA. If I shoot HALF that many Dolly Deers that will be all the venison that I need..

No Doe, I haven't tried it, nor have I paid much attention to it.. It may be the best thing since puncture proof toilet paper, but it seems kinda GIMMICKY to me. Also, is it even loaded in lighter loads suitable for small game ? The loads that I have seen advertised are all heavy magnum non-toxic loads designed for waterfowl. They would seem to be overkill for upland game birds, rabbits and squirrels, both expense wise and performance wise.

Yeah...As much as I like nice walnut and deep blued metal, I must admit that plastic and stainless has its advantages, especially in the duckblind in snotty weather and on wilderness hunts where your rifle gets SOAKED every day, with no good way to dry it off... STILL... Game was killed efficiently for many years before weather proof finishes were available, and life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun...<<grin>>..

Moose...I am just down the road from you... I don't lease, but I know quite a few people that do.. I think $10 an acre is a pretty good price, as long as it is decent hunting land.

VERY nice Coues...Congrats.... As far as packing him out, be happy he wasn't a MOOSE..<<grin>>...

Dinsdale...I see that you appreciate fine wood on your firearms... Nice to see in this day and age when you see so much plastic and stainless steel.. Been there, done that with the starlings... They can be almost as challenging as doves. I guess they OK to eat, also, but I have never tried them.. Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie ?...

LOL... That's the best laugh I had since I watched my cross eyed aunt give UNCLE an ENEMA !

Inch and a half groups are not bad hunting accuracy. It's nice to have a rifle that shoots sub-MOA groups, but it is not necessary in a hunting rifle. I have a Winchester M70 in .280 that has never grouped much tighter than 1 1/2", and it has performed well on game animals all the way out to 400 yards. However, your rifle may just not care for the 170 grain bullets. 8MM bullets are available from 150 to 220 grains or thereabouts. Routine load development might tighten up those groups considerably. Good luck and enjoy your new toys.

The 28 gauge is really a sweet small game gun. I have had two over the years, a Spanish side by side and a Rem 11-48 with a Cutts Compensator. As far as I could tell, they kill about as well as a 20 gauge, and that includes pheasants. The ammo cost is a problem. I loaded 1000s of rounds for 12 and 20 gauge over the years but never got around to buying a 28 gauge conversion kit for my Mec, mostly because I never shot competitively with the 28. Nowadays you can buy promo loads for the 12, 20, and even the 16 so cheap that it is hardly worth reloading, at least for hunting, and I don't shoot skeet and trap anymore. . I buy my .410 ammo by the case mail order. They are not cheap, but still half the price of 28s. I have a few 28 gauge slugs, but I'll never shoot them. They are Remington Express in green paper casings, probably made sometime in the 40s or 50s. I do my small game hunting with a 20 or a .410 nowadays, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the 28.

Is it conjunctivitis...? If so, a fat Italian friend of mine told me that he had problems with that for a long time and finally cured it by washing his eye out with baby shampoo. He said the stuff that the doctors kept giving him just seemed to irritate it more. I'm not recommending it, or even suggesting it, just letting you know what I heard. Good luck.

Bellmore specializes in rabbits, and he knows of what he speaks. 20 gauge IC and low brass #6 shot shells will kill any cottontail alive at the ranges we normally shoot them, and it will also handle hares quite handily at normal ranges, without shooting them up too much. I like to eat my rabbits and I don't like them full of shot or drawn hair. It ain't necessary. Heavy shot such as 4s or 5s kills bunnies just fine, but each pellet carries too much hair into the shot wound for my taste. # 6 shot is perfect. Of course that is only my opinion, and I admit I am opinionated old fart. A 12 or 16 gauge with open choke and low brass 6s would work fine too..

I have never been much of a pump gun fan. I favor semis and doubles ( either SxS or O/U). I have owned rem 870s and Ithaca M37's and they are OK, ( I shot skeet for several years with an 870) but I never really warmed up to them...However, the Win M 12 just feels RIGHT... It is one of my favorite guns..The only other pump gun I currently own is a Mossy 500 in .410, which I use as a rabbit gun, when I'm just playing around. When I am SERIOUS about killing rabbits, I use my Ithaca SKB 20 gauge M100 side by side......

Improved cylinder..Cylinder...Skeet... Modified is absolutely over choked for most cottontail hunting, unless you are shooting a .410, which carries a lighter shot load. At the ranges that most cottontails are shot, modified makes it tougher to hit them and will make a mess of the eatin' meat. It only takes a few pellets to kill a bunny rabbit. My SERIOUS rabbit gun is a 20 gauge SxS choked IC and Mod. I shoot 7/8 oz. of 6's and 90 % of my rabbits are killed with the IC barrel.. 7 1/2 shot kills 'em OK also, but puts too many pellets in the meat for me. Most small game hunters use guns that are choked too tight.

My first two shotguns were 16 gauge..The first one was an Eastern Arms single barrel and the second one was a Rem 11-48 auto with a 28 inch modified barrel. Both guns grouped slugs acceptably with the bead sight, and killed a number of deer. I currently own only one 16 gauge, a 1936 vintage Winchester Model 12. Never shot a slug through it. It is full choke, so chances are it would not group slugs well, but you never know. I have seen a few full choke guns that grouped slugs well, but they are the exception. Generally in smoothbores, open chokes group better than tighter chokes. An old aquaintance of mine, long since dead, had a Model 12 16 gauge with a modified barrel and a reciever sight. He always claimed that his gun would blow a hole in a hummingbird as big as your fist at 50 yards...

A deer is not a big challenge to bullet construction, not nearly as much as big heavy boned animals like elk. Any factory load that groups well in your rifle will perform well on deer from point blank to 300 yards, or probably farther. If I were shooting factory loads in a 30-06, I would buy the cheapest ones that I could find in 150, 165, or 180 grains that group well in my rifle. Sight them in about 2-3 inches high at 100 yards. Hold dead center on the ribcage anywhere from 20 to 250 yards and squeeze the trigger..Dead deer. That's all there is to it. I would try Remington green corelocts first.. Chances are you won't have to go any farther.

Firehunter...I think it is really special that your Daddy gave you that rifle, and it sounds like it is a real shooter..... But stop leaving us GUN NUTS in suspense.. How did the 8 x57 perform ? What rifle is it chambered in ? I love rifles in such classic chamberings. The 8 x 57 was basically the father of most of our modern rimless cartridges, such as the 30-06 and all of its offspring.