Fiftydriver
Official LRH Sponsor
This week is the last week of the general big game season here in Montana and as many of you probably know I have been working on developing three new rounds for the deer hunter which will work in the 500-600 yard range in sporter weight rifles and out to 1000 in heavies.
Well I wanted to get a little more field results using the Wildcat Bullets which will be the bullets used in my rounds to really increase performance at longer ranges.
I had a whitetail doe tag to fill yet so for this last week, every morning and evening I have been watching the big hay and oat fields around my house hoping to get a decent range shot on a big whtetail doe for some solid bullet testing.
I was using the 130 gr Wildcat Bonded Core FBHP out of a 30" #6 Lilja barrel driven to 3500 fps. THis bullet has a B.C. of .550 and an S.D. of .281.
Basically the equvilent of a 160 gr 7mm or a 225 gr 338 with basically the same B.C. as well. Only much faster then these bullets can be practically driven today without some very exotic wildcats.
Anyway, nothing had been moving Monday or Tuesday. It was warm and very windy, and the deer were just not moving.
I got up Wednesday morning and headed out to my spotting location and at first light I saw three deer at the far end of a neighbors oat field where I had permission to hunt.
The deer were about 1100 yards from my location which was to far for this rifle. I wanted something in the 400-600 range as this is what this rifle design will be intended for.
I could not tell what the deer were in the light but since they were the only deer I had seen all week I figured I better get in position when it was light enough to legally shoot.
I crawled into a concrete irrigation cannal that was nearby and took about 500 yards off the distance. I came to a headgate in the canal and stood up and the deer were still there. It was just legal shooting time now so I took a range and got two distance, one was in the 495 yard range and the other was about 625 yards. I figured the longer one was from some round hay bails behind the deer.
I crawled out of the cannal and set up the bipod in the big 257 and got things level for the shot. I adjusted the Weaver 4.5-14 Tactical to 12x and andjusted the AO to 500 yards.
Through this great scope I could clearly see that there was a doe and fawn as well as another mature doe by herself. This is what I was looking for, a big dry doe.
I checked teh wind which was pretty much right in my face, just barely coming from my left to right. The drop chart on the scope gave 11" of drop at 500 yards so I settled into the thumbhole of the big 25 and settled the cross hairs on the doe.
She was walking away for a few steps and then turned perfectly broadside with her head to the left.
I gave about 4" over the line of her back and 5" of windage into the wind and tickled the 2 lb trigger.
There was just barely a noticable difference from when the rifle barked to when I saw the bullet land true. There is nothing better then seeing that bullet land from a high velocity, low recoiling rifle(brake installed of course).
The time it takes for this round to cover 500 yards always amazes me.
At the impact the doe was literally knocked off her feet but she instantly regained her feet, ran about 30 yards and fell over dead.
I went back to the house and got the truck which had the deer cart in it and drove up to the location I had taken the shot from.
When I got out to her I could see that the impact was nearly perfectly placed in the hollow of her shoulder, I was very happy with the performance of the rifle adn bullet so far as I have been all season.
I found where she was standing at the shot and took three range measurements with the Leica 1200 to the truck. They were 511, 510 and 511. The trucj was about 8 to 9 yards behind where I shot from.
When I dressed the doe out and got to the chect cavity, the 130 gr WIldcat had slipped between two ribs leaving only about a 30 cal hole on the inside of the chest cavity coming in.
This is generally the toughest test for a premium bullet as there is no resistance to open the bullet before it reaches the vitals.
No matter in this case though, the lungs were gone as was 2/3 the heart with only the bottom 1/3 even recognizable.
On the offside, there was a 4" hole ripped in the rib cage which I was concerned was from bullet blow up but the exit on the hide was a perfect 3/4" round hole.
Obviously the Wildcat Bullet had fully expanded but retained plenty of weight to maintain high energy levels through out the deer when it landed on a rib on the off side making the large hole nad then exiting.
I was very impressed with the performance of this bullet this season as will as the 100 gr version which my wife used on her pronghorn buck.
The 257 STW performed great as well and with the extra 150 fps at least that my Allen Magnums will provide, the performance will only get better, especially with the heavier bullet we will be using such as a 150 and 160 gr .257" Bonded Core FBHP.
For ultra long range there may be better rounds but for 500 to 600 yard deer hunting with a rifle in the 9 lb range, I feel these rounds will be very hard to beat and the best thing is youwill be able to spot every shot you take without the need for a spotter.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Kirby Allen(50)
Well I wanted to get a little more field results using the Wildcat Bullets which will be the bullets used in my rounds to really increase performance at longer ranges.
I had a whitetail doe tag to fill yet so for this last week, every morning and evening I have been watching the big hay and oat fields around my house hoping to get a decent range shot on a big whtetail doe for some solid bullet testing.
I was using the 130 gr Wildcat Bonded Core FBHP out of a 30" #6 Lilja barrel driven to 3500 fps. THis bullet has a B.C. of .550 and an S.D. of .281.
Basically the equvilent of a 160 gr 7mm or a 225 gr 338 with basically the same B.C. as well. Only much faster then these bullets can be practically driven today without some very exotic wildcats.
Anyway, nothing had been moving Monday or Tuesday. It was warm and very windy, and the deer were just not moving.
I got up Wednesday morning and headed out to my spotting location and at first light I saw three deer at the far end of a neighbors oat field where I had permission to hunt.
The deer were about 1100 yards from my location which was to far for this rifle. I wanted something in the 400-600 range as this is what this rifle design will be intended for.
I could not tell what the deer were in the light but since they were the only deer I had seen all week I figured I better get in position when it was light enough to legally shoot.
I crawled into a concrete irrigation cannal that was nearby and took about 500 yards off the distance. I came to a headgate in the canal and stood up and the deer were still there. It was just legal shooting time now so I took a range and got two distance, one was in the 495 yard range and the other was about 625 yards. I figured the longer one was from some round hay bails behind the deer.
I crawled out of the cannal and set up the bipod in the big 257 and got things level for the shot. I adjusted the Weaver 4.5-14 Tactical to 12x and andjusted the AO to 500 yards.
Through this great scope I could clearly see that there was a doe and fawn as well as another mature doe by herself. This is what I was looking for, a big dry doe.
I checked teh wind which was pretty much right in my face, just barely coming from my left to right. The drop chart on the scope gave 11" of drop at 500 yards so I settled into the thumbhole of the big 25 and settled the cross hairs on the doe.
She was walking away for a few steps and then turned perfectly broadside with her head to the left.
I gave about 4" over the line of her back and 5" of windage into the wind and tickled the 2 lb trigger.
There was just barely a noticable difference from when the rifle barked to when I saw the bullet land true. There is nothing better then seeing that bullet land from a high velocity, low recoiling rifle(brake installed of course).
The time it takes for this round to cover 500 yards always amazes me.
At the impact the doe was literally knocked off her feet but she instantly regained her feet, ran about 30 yards and fell over dead.
I went back to the house and got the truck which had the deer cart in it and drove up to the location I had taken the shot from.
When I got out to her I could see that the impact was nearly perfectly placed in the hollow of her shoulder, I was very happy with the performance of the rifle adn bullet so far as I have been all season.
I found where she was standing at the shot and took three range measurements with the Leica 1200 to the truck. They were 511, 510 and 511. The trucj was about 8 to 9 yards behind where I shot from.
When I dressed the doe out and got to the chect cavity, the 130 gr WIldcat had slipped between two ribs leaving only about a 30 cal hole on the inside of the chest cavity coming in.
This is generally the toughest test for a premium bullet as there is no resistance to open the bullet before it reaches the vitals.
No matter in this case though, the lungs were gone as was 2/3 the heart with only the bottom 1/3 even recognizable.
On the offside, there was a 4" hole ripped in the rib cage which I was concerned was from bullet blow up but the exit on the hide was a perfect 3/4" round hole.
Obviously the Wildcat Bullet had fully expanded but retained plenty of weight to maintain high energy levels through out the deer when it landed on a rib on the off side making the large hole nad then exiting.
I was very impressed with the performance of this bullet this season as will as the 100 gr version which my wife used on her pronghorn buck.
The 257 STW performed great as well and with the extra 150 fps at least that my Allen Magnums will provide, the performance will only get better, especially with the heavier bullet we will be using such as a 150 and 160 gr .257" Bonded Core FBHP.
For ultra long range there may be better rounds but for 500 to 600 yard deer hunting with a rifle in the 9 lb range, I feel these rounds will be very hard to beat and the best thing is youwill be able to spot every shot you take without the need for a spotter.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Kirby Allen(50)