Deer Season. Anyone hunt?

[Vezo, Part II]

I’ve finally got my Savage .308 dead on. I’ve wanted a wooden stock for a long time so I pulled the trigger on a Remington 700 CDL SF Ltd in 6.5 Creedmore. Paired it with same Leupold 4.5 X 16 X 50, in 30 mm. as my Savage. Hindsight, wish I would have upgraded magnification, because I’m interested in shooting a little further distance. Hunting SC and NC primarily, 400 yards seems about farthest shots. Both rifles more than capable.

My Savage loves Remington CoreLock 150 grain. I have had that gun zeroed with Hornady Whitetail 150 grain, but went back to the Corelocks.

Hornady basically did all the research on 6.5 Creedmore bringing this caliber into its current popularity. But now shooting a Remington, it would be easy to stay with the Corelocks. Going to try each to break in the barrel, in approximately 140 grain, as close as I can get in each load. I have ZERO interest in making my own handloads! Any input? TIA.

Vezo, Part II

[thehermit]

I shoot the .308 CoreLocks out of my Remington 742 but I don't get to take 400 yard pokes in the woods of Vermont.

Just curious how your 100 yard zero changed with the amo change?

[Vezo, Part II]

Hermit, the most honest explanation/excuse is I zeroed with Hornady in December ‘16, hunted with it and cleaned it in January. The next time I brought the gun out, MONTHS later, I bought Corelocks out of habit. Still shot groups but they were off almost 3.5 inches at 100 yards. So I zeroed again, and stuck with what I knew. My brother and other partner still shoot the Hornady’s, and wanted me to make the switch so we could exchange rounds in a pinch. Good theory until I dropped the ball.

Also, I hunt one week a year in Rocky Mount, NC, with a bunch of guys I grew up with in Jersey. Union electricians, elevator men, and a couple other very successful blue collar deer killing Sicko’s. Hunt over flatland farmed peanuts and sweet potatoes where a 300+ yard shot is pretty common. Some beautiful country with deer similar in size to SC. Very close to flooded currently. Can’t wait to shoot the 6.5 and our annual hunt!

Vezo

[flyingfrizzle]

A friend of mine did a test one time and pulled the lead in 10 rounds (30-06) and found that each round had different amounts of powder in each. Not a big difference but a slight variation. He also noticed the distance the lead was pressed into the shell varied slightly. This was not high grade $50+ a box ammo but common Wal-mart stuff so I don't know how the better high end nickel plated Hornaday stuff would compare (mainly what I use now). Anyway he ended up handloading 150 grain and 180 grain rounds and made changes till if found a load the gun liked. I ended up purchasing one of the 30-06's from him and he gave me a fair amount of loads to go with it. Once I ran out years latter I did notice a big difference in production fusion rounds I got at a local shop. His rounds shot sub moa at 100 yards but I could never get production rounds to do so. I wanted to learn the in's and outs of hand loading and get into doing my own stuff but like you mentioned I never ended up wanting to take the time to do so. Also shooting across the creek behind the house at 350ish yards but mostly with a 300wsm. I do enjoy hunting with my 3.5" 12 gage the most tho.

[Vezo, Part II]

I agree Frizzle, any box off the shelf is going to provide inconsistencies. Heck, for that matter, probably one or two out of a box of twenty. That’s why some of the guys I hunt with do build their own loads. Like you, I have no interest in that. I’m going to break in barrel and hope to zero today. Going with Corelocks and Hornady Whitetail, in similar grain to see which the gun likes. Will report back.

Vezo.

[strick]

Used to hunt. Still have all my rifles. Western US deer are a bit further away at times. Have 300 Win Mag that I bought when I was 18 years old. That gun could tell many stories if it could talk. Have a new 7mm Rem mag Thompson single shot...has yet to draw blood..took it out only once. for some reason I'm not into hunting as much as I used to be.

strick

[Vezo, Part II]

I really enjoy hunting as much as fishing and boating. Putting a post about hunting on CSC is like someone has asked me many times in the past 26 years:

“You live on Hilton Head Island and don’t Golf?”

“No, I live on an island, own a couple of boats, and fish. Golf is expensive.” Haha

Vezo

[FLexpat]

My experience is that the CoreLocks are good brush bullets but not as good at long range.
Some rifles love one bullet but are awful with just a slightly diff one:
My BAR in .270 Wby is terrible with Weatherby 150 grains; maybe 6-10 MOA with 5 shots.
With the Weatherby 140 grains it is ~1MOA.
With the Weatherby 130 grains it is ~2-3MOA.

Anyone want 130 or 150 .270 Wby rounds?

[mnwnvc]

I have a Remington 700 in 308 caliber and have found Horniday Superformance 168 grain SST bullet is the best for hunting. One inch or better groups at 100 ypards.
I hand load 168 grain HPBT Sierra bullets and can shoot sub one inch groups. I have never found a commercial round that could do as well. The older I get the less it matters. I like my Savage ML with smokeless powder and a 45 cal HP in a sabot.

[Vezo, Part II]

Mitch, would you be interested in hunting Utah, using Park City as a base? I owe my roommate from college a visit. Is it the Top of the Bucket List, or bottom? I’d like to ship three shotguns, my two rifles, and possibly pheasant hunt two days, and hunt moose or elk possibly three days. Not sure if that would require traveling from Park City, to a five day lodge and back to Park City. A search brought up some day trips from PC. Maybe plan a year out? What do you think?

Michael.