ckbailey97

Ahh.. Sorry - Missed that. Thanks!!

Lawdwaz, Great info - thanks! Good luck out there! Are you using 80 or 100 grain, and what powder?

Rate of twist is 1 in 10. and - barrel length is 24 actually.

Dinsdale, With respect to the .243, I just bought my son a T/C Encore in .243 and was considering upgrading to a Bullberry barrel in a larger caliber before next year. My concern being off angle shots on whitetails or large bears (see below- taken Friday night behind my house). Any thoughts on the .243 for being a good finisher on a job like that? Yes, I know people use them successfully on Elk, I also have a buddy in Texas who manages his herd with a .22mag. It doesn't mean it's the most eithical and best method of doing it. I'll order up 150's and 168's and see what things look like. Thanks for the info.

I shot my buck this year (profile pic) with a 165 grain fusion, quartering too hard. Bullet went in top of left shoulder and on the opposite side crushed right elbow, and did not exit. Deer was dead before he hit the ground. There was no bleeding in between layers of muscle. Heart stopped immediately. BUT - the bullet did not exit. It did however do exactly what I wanted it to. I remember reading an old Chuck Hawks post that said what good is having a premium bullet with all kinds of energy just end up transferring all that energy to the dirt on the opposite side of the animal after exiting. I'm with Pygmy - not taking that chance with big bone though. I would worry about that same shot I took on that deer on an Elk. Looks like 150 grain TTSX is honestly the way I would go if reloading my own, from my studies, and what Pygmy told me. There are 4 companies that I have found that load TTSX. Barnes Vor-TX ($40), Buffalo Bore Supercharged ($47.50), Doubletap ($55.99), ASYM Precision ($40). Asym uses Lapua Brass - but uses 168's (2680fps) - they claim match grade accuracy with their loading. Barnes Vor-TX 150gr are 2820 fps with "Barnes?" brass. Double Tap and Buffalo Bore claim 2920 and 2900 fps with 150gr. at Brownells: Lapua Brass - $70 for 100 TTSX - 150gr - $35 for 50 IMR 4064 - $25 So - you're looking at about $1.50 per bullet reloading yourself. OR - for either the ASYM or BARNES $2 per shell. I am hedging on buying the Vor-TX and trying them out before buying the ingredients to build my own. I personally am not punching paper competitively, so if I get similar groupings to my Fusions, I probably won't build my own. I saw in my searches on one post where a guy was trying to replicate the load for Barnes Vor-TX himself. Trying to figure out what powder was being used because it worked so well in his gun and he wanted to build the same load. Additionally - I read another post about the TTSX in addition to Pygmy's swearing by them. Obviously, in California where you can't use lead, they're using these or something like them, so they work. In addition, in this post the guys said, the 130 acts like a 169 grain lead core, and the 150 grain acts like a 195 grain lead core (30%). I believe Pygmy said it's at least a 20% "upweight" comparison. That makes 168 grains like a 218 grain!!! That should hit like a house!! I'll let you know what direction I take, and what results I see. Might have to get some before season ends and try them out on a doe.

I've got to go with Rotorooter. Mine loves BH209 and Thor Bullets. Cloverleaf at 100 yards. And - clean shooting. 82 grains by weight - 110 by measure.

Heading for Elk First Rifle next year. Colorado. NE of Dolores. Property we've hunted before. 860 acres with 2 sides against National Forest.

BH 209 and Thor bullets. I can shoot a cloverleaf at 100 yards with 3 shots with my CVA Accura. It's extremely clean and consistent. Also - I am using 209 primers without issue. This was my setup for Colorado Mule Deer last year, and the cloverleaf was actually with a peep sight. On at 100, I was 7 inches low at 150, using 82 grains by weight of BH 209 = 110 grains by measure. I won't go back to a saboted bullet with this gun. My T/C likes sabots though. Haven't run through the proper load on that yet.

OK Guys. I already hit up Pygmy on this one, and we're looking at the following. Currently I am using Federal Fusion box ammo. 165 grains. Shoots very well. Sub 1.5" at 200 yards, out of a Thompson Encore with a Light Bull (0.750 at muzzle) Bullberry Stainless barrel. 22 inches. But - that's not a bullet I would use for Elk. It's not going to do well up against bone if it needs to. Pygmy and I talked back and forth and settled on either a TTSX or a Partition Bullet. I am back and forth on which one. I have read of some of the TTSX not opening up well, but that seems to be in smaller calibers. I have heard alot of good about the partitions, and would probably feel more comfortable making the full switch to those for whitetails also, instead of having an Elk load and a Deer load. I wouldn't feel comfortable shooting the TTSX on whitetails, even if it's got great reviews. Even on full expansion I don't think it's going to do the same damage as the partition would, and I have followed dead deer with sparse blood trails because of small exit wounds. Yes, they were dead on their feet, but I like to have a trail to follow. All shots are not in open fields where you see the deer run off for a bit, and have an idea where to start looking. Powder - We're thinking IMR 4064 or Reloader 15, and from what I have read, either are superb. So - newbie question. Brass - how important is it? I have plenty of once shot Federals out of my gun, but considered buying Lapua's. Primers - I used to think all were the same (or wouldn't affect ballistics or results), but it seems that this may be incorrect also. MV - I never thought it was that important - within reason - or I would be shooting a faster caliber. BUT - it appears that some bullets need a minimum to open (TTSX). I would love to have some thoughts, or anyone else to chime in. Once again - thanks Pygmy for your recommendations. I am getting ready to buy my fixin's and want to make sure that I am at least starting with the right ingredients. OH - or - do I try box ammo - like Barnes Vor-TX or Federal Premiums - etc.

I went in with Kim, carried a camera and helped him scout. We shoot archery together on Weds nights. The gun and ammo worked flawlessly, and I was amazed at the accuracy. When we got up to 13,000 ft on our way in we stopped the truck before the final hike in, and Kim wanted to check the gun, and make sure that the major change in elevation didn't affect anything too much. He fired two rounds at 100 yards at a chew can sized target. He placed both shots well within the target at the upper half - about that 1" high at 100 yards. It was Monday afternoon before Saturday opener of HC Rifle. We had 1 evening and 4 full days to scout. It was beautiful country, not my first time out there and we saw lots of bucks and very few of what we were looking for. We were out there specifically for a 200 inch buck. We worked all year before hand so we could recognize what a 200 inch buck looked like. We saw 1, and that was the second day of hunting. Here's camp. No good pic of 200 incher - he was 3 miles away. Our next best buck was this one. I saw him Thursday before Saturday opener, right behind camp, He got as close as 150 yards from me. We scouted Friday elsewhere, staying out of his bedroom, only to have an Elk hunter move in Friday night behind us in camp, and start still hunting down through his bedroom. We never saw him again. Sunday afternoon Kim saw the 200 incher, and we set up a plan to go after him Monday morning. We covered 4.7 miles of hiking to get to set up for him and never saw him, or his does. It was a double cut, and he wasn't in ours. We didn't want to push him, so stayed put for the day and watched for him. The only thing we saw was a bunch of sheep including one nice ram. We headed back to camp, and on our way to camp we passed a new campsite with 5 guys. Asked what they were after and they said "Sheep". Uh-oh. Well you guessed it, the next morning we headed back up to where Mr Big was, and passed the guys still in camp well before daylight. We got set up in the same canyon cut, and saw nothing. Mid-day we decided to move up into the other cut, and the entrance which was only about 40 yards wide was blocked by two of the guys. We told them we wanted to head up in and take a look for the buck, and they said they had a hunter up there, a Dr., who had waited 17 years for his tag. We informed them that Kim had also waited 17 years for his High Country draw and they told us that if we went up, we would be interfering with a hunt which was against the law in Colorado. If we came within 150 yards of their hunter. We then asked where they had come up through and why we hadn't seen them, and they told us they came through below us. Yes, 80 yards below our shelf we had been glassing off of. They were even as bold as to tell us they knew where we were and didn't want any issues. Seems a guide can get within 150 yards of you hunting, but not vice versa in their minds. I realize that guy paid big bucks for them to guide him, but a tag is a tag. It was a bad situation. Anyways, our hunt was ruined, so we backed out and headed back for camp. The only buck in our hopeful range was gone. Wednesday we woke and decided to once again split up to glass. Kim headed back for the glassing spot where he had seen the 200 incher, and I headed for a nearby ridgeline above our basin. I told Kim I would make signals to him with my hat if I saw anything. I glassed the opposite side of my ridge and spotted 3 deer, with one being a smaller buck, and one larger, but I needed to move to get a better look at him. I turned to look at Kim and spotted 3 bucks in our basin. He was on the far side of the basin. The 3 were above him. I looked below myself, and 5 bucks were below me by a creek I had crossed. Our Basin was a big meadow, and they were all feeding. Below me, the group had one buck that wasn't horrible. Probably in the 140 range, not like the 170 above, but better than a tag sandwich, and I signaled to Kim there were bucks below he should take a look at. I scoped the bucks and put my binocs on Kim. He had a doe standing 15 yards below him staring at him. I was watching him and the doe, and she takes off, and then I hear the shot. I switch to the scope to see the buck down. He wasn't anywhere hear what we were hoping for, but a fine first buck, and far better than a tag sandwich. As far as Antler Quest goes. I have hunted with them twice, and he knows where the game is. BUT - both times I hunted, we dealt with people. Other hunters and hikers. When you're hunting muley's, the hikers don't really bother them much, so that's not a big deal. You have to also keep in mind that Jeff Coldwell has to do the scouting by himself. And he has alot of ground to cover, and has to be able to tell the hunter how to get there. So, he's not going to really get too far off of main trails. I would expect to see game, and see shooter animals. We were 1 for 3 last year with Muzz for Muleys, but we all had shots, and I hit a 170 in no mans land, stupidly forgetting about the fact that I was on an extremely steep hillside, and he was 150 yards, but shot like 100. I hit where I was aiming. But - expect to see people too. More than he tells you you'll see. I will use his service again. It's worth it. If you go with a couple of guys you split his fee, and he scouts for you. If you're unable to get to Colorado to scout for yourself for $800 (or a portion of that if you're a group), then I would use him. I'm heading back this year for Elk, first rifle with my buddies. Taking the 308, and hoping Pygmy can work me up a load. This year archery and gun was good to me. Maybe it was Karma from going with Kim and busting my butt. I don't know, but I don't expect another year like that any time soon. Both NY bucks. One in Livingston County and one in Allegany.