wildcat junkie

My guns mate in the safe & new offspring appear mysteriously appear.. Fortunately the Mausers seem to be omnipotent as all of my new pups have M98 bloodlines. They are of various heritage including German, Yugolavian & even a Mexican that seemed to slip across the border at some point.

I'll get one taken & post it along W/my case head separation detector in the morning.

I started out W/the Nosler #4 Manual. Lots of good advice on the process. OP definitely needs a good manual to start out. I would recommend the Nosler manuals for the safety information & explanation. I don't know if anyone has hit upon it yet, but 6" a piece of wire bent in a "L" shape W/a < 1/8" leg on the end is good for checking incipient case head separation. I never found any until I started loading 30/40 Krag. The sloping case walls lead to a lot of brass flow & some of the cases I 1st started reloading have started to separate. Also, a small bell reducer pipe fitting, a 1/4" x 20 Allan head screw W/a nut & washer will make a functional case puller when an un-lubed case is inadvertently seized in the die. Just remove the die W/the stock case, drill out the flash hole W/a #7 bit & tap the 1/4"x20 threads. You can then thread the screw into the case & use the nut & washer pushing against the bell reducer that is pushing against the die to pull the stock case. The big end of the bell reducer must be large enough I. D. to allow the case head to enter.

Yes indeed, I left out calipers and an inertial bullet puller both of which are essential. The digital scale is also a lot more convenient than a balance beam IMO

I wear long johns that are polyester blend layer on the inside W/a layer of wool on the outer. I also wear Merino wool socks as they don't itch like regular wool can. As far as outer garments, modern technology gives the warmth of wool W/O the weight. Water resistant breathable shells repel water while it soaks into wool adding even more weight. Wool has it's place, it's great for inner layers like underwear or shirts/pants. No so much for outer layers compared to the modern stuff.

Which kit, the $130 version of the $267 dollar version? (Midway USA prices) Neither "kit" includes shell holding blocks/trays, or a case tumbler/cleaner. Both will be essential if you are going to load any volume at all. You should clean the case lube off the cases before they are used to prevent transferring case lube into the chamber of your rifles. The trays/blocks allow you to keep track of your cases in the various stages. A powder trickler is also desirable to adjust the weigh of the charges thrown by the measure. Here are the differences between the two. The higher priced version has a powder measure that has critical parts made of metal while the cheaper kit has an all plastic measure. The Higher priced kit also has a hand priming tool that is beneficial in feeling the seating pressure required to seat the primers. this is a very desirable trait. The higher priced kit has a case trimmer that is essential for safety as if case necks get too long for the chamber they will not be able to expand enough to release the bullet. That can raise chamber pressure dramatically. The higher priced kit includes a Manual, but load data is available online & you will probably be able to get more comprehensive data fro bullet manufacturers.

When I lived in S Indiana I did a LOT of squirrel hunting W/scoped 22rf. I found that when sighted in @ 50yds on the flat/level. all I had to do to pop a squirrel's neck vertebrae was to hold just under the back of the jaw. I practiced on black walnuts in my pasture. If you didn't hit them center they would fly off at an angle. If you centered the hard nut in the middle of the green husk, they disintegrated. I would settle the horizontal crosshair just under the bottom edge. We're talking about > than 45* upward angle here. As much as 5* or so won't make a difference.

Weather has tuned nasty. When it was warm, the wind was blowing, now it's going sub-zero. I shot a few rounds off the deck the other day to get it on the paper. It was about 4" high @ 25yds & 1" left although shooting off the door jamb I think I pulled the shot left. I adjusted the elevation & shot @ a football size rock on the bank from 60yds & hit it pretty much center. I'm going to load up some 8X57 tomorrow so I'll be ready for the 1st decent day to go to the range. I did find something interesting when I pulled the 3-9x42 Kales off. It was shooting a bit erratic last fall & I found a pinhead sized spot where the anodizing was worn off the bottom of the objective bell. I think it was contacting the front edge of the front base ever so slightly. I sold the VX-2 3-9x40 that was on the Mauser last season (2014) to a kid that bought the 7mm-08 AXIS-II & put the Kales on the Mauser last winter. It shot its usual boring <1/2 cloverleafs immediately after the swap. When I went out to verify the zero this last fall it was occasionally throwing flyers out about 2". I'm thinking that the scope contact was the culprit. I wish they hadn't used the wide duplex on the untralight. I used the duplex gap subtension as a range estimator. The gap on the 3-9x33 is 18" @ 100yds when @ 9x! The 3-9x40 was 6"

Italy Hill SF has trails along the ridges that are wide enough to drive a vehicle on if they weren't gated. They are accessible form the North and South. There is a nice camping spot on the North end that fills up for gun season but if you get there early on a Friday in Bow you should be able to get a spot.There is a foot trail that you can climb up onto the ridge from Italy Valley. The topography is very steep to the West of the ridge but there are some large gently sloping ares to the East.

Hinge the shooting opening door @ the top & put some rubber flashing on the hinge line to create a roof over the opening when it is propped open. That will allow you to shoot W/O "weather" interfering. You could put a small shed roof or an eave overhang over the opening for the same purpose. When I was a senior in High school I happened upon a shooting shed. I asked the owner if I could use it & he graciously gave me permission. It had a target butt @ 100yd against a steep hillside. This was in PA in the late '60s when deer season was a local holiday. The Serro Scotty travel trailer factory where I worked at closed down for the 1st 2 days of the PA gun season & only did limited catch-up work on Wednesday-Friday. Since you wont be shooting in high winds anyway, a single opening will still allow you to keep it tolerably warm inside W/a kerosene heater if the rest of the structure is weather-tight and you keep it small.

VX-III or VX-3? Just to be clear.

Forgot I had this picture of the buck in my old tilt cart. I took this right were I loaded him. I thnk I had to unhook the cart from the tractor to get it closer to him.

Except for a pig, I don't cook any mammals W/the skin on.

Couldn't quite get the Gilson to my 2nd buck this year, had to drag him 10 feet. (I take the tiller/PTO deck off & put a tilt trailer on it in the fall)

Deer liver & onions tonight. It's the only "venison" my wife will eat.

They cook it with the skin on? Yuck.

I won't set foot in that shithole. This is my backyard.

That's all you got?

Even the best shooter can't shoot well with a dog of a rifle. I had a M700 Mtn Rifle DBM in .280 that wouldn't shoot better than 3" groups @ 100yds. In contrast, my M700 Mtn Rifle DBM in 7mm-08 would shoot < 1/2 groups.

6A my property, 74ac: Myself - 2 bucks My Son - 1 spike Pretty good year, saw several does on repeated occasions.

Wicked Tuna!

Another big plus W/the Savage is that you can swap barrels with nothing more than a barrel nut wrench & a head-space gauge. You could swap any standard length .473" head cartridge. .270, .280. 25-06 35 Whelen, 8X57, 7X57, etc.right in your garage or basement if you have a vice mounted on a bench..

Due to Savage's barrel system that allow exacting head-space adjustment, the Savage bolt action are some of the most consistent "out of the box" tack drivers.

It does change the focus though. I also have astigmatism so W/O my glasses the crosshairs look tilted. Even with glasses there is some tilt, but it isn't as bad. Yo level my scope reticle & have to look through it with my left eye that has 20/20 vision W/no astigmatism. I should have learned to shoot left handed but it's too late now. Besides, I do OK anyway.

Let's have a look at a .270, 130gr bullet W/3100fps Mv shall we. 1st the graph for 3" + or - maximum PBR. Note that @ 300 yds a center of the vitals hold would still result in a clean kill shot. @ 400yds holding on the top of the withers would also result in a clean kill shot. No need for any calculating. If the deer covers your 5 MOA duplex gap, just hold dead on for the center of the vitals. If the deer fills 3/4 of the gap it is approximately 400yds. If it fills less than that, don't shoot! Look at the deer between your duplex, aim, bang, flop, quick & easy. Now, lets look at the trajectory graph for the same bullet, at the same Mv sighted in for 100yds. Anything beyond 200yds is going to require some hold over. Now, @ 300yds the bullet is 10" low so to hit near the vertical center of the vitals we could hold on the top of the withers. Not that hard, yet. Lets say that the deer is standing there long enough for us to use a range finder to establish that the deer is now 400yds distant. Now, the deer must stand there while you calculate or consult your hold over chart. OK, 24" of drop from LOS, 10" from the withers to the center of the vitals, 24-10 = 14" hold above hair. Lets see, how do we establish how much 14" is. But you can use your turret clicks you say. OK, now the deer has to stand there even longer while you fiddle W/your elevation dials all the time it doesn't notice your movement. Once my scope is sighted in I don't want to touch any adjustments! Now honestly, which method would be easier in the heat of the moment when one is probably staving off the affects of buck fever?