Category Archives: reloading

Time To Begin Reloading

Posted on by
Reply

I have been reloading for pistol and rifle cartridges for hunting and target for over 40 years. It is time perhaps to enrich your inner self and reload. It’s fun and saves money too…in the long run.

RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Single Stage Press Kit

RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Single Stage Press Kit

My African safari hunt utilized all my custom handloads.

 

Not only have I saved thousands of dollars over the years but customized loads to accurize my guns. I started with this RCBS kit above. At just over $500 dollars, you also need cartridge dies, powders, primers bullets and brass. 

Midway USA sells all you need.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1023389781?pid=345426

Check it out!

 

Cartridge Reloading Gives Me More Shooting and Hunting Satisfaction

Posted on by

When store shelves are bare of your favorite rifle cartridge and bullet, I just reach into my reloading cupboard and load some up and go hunt or shoot.

Yes, sometime I run out of something but more than not, I have it before the big stores have your pet load.

Beyond that, my cartridges are customized to my rifle thus increasing accuracy. 

A sense of accomplishment? You bet!

Many years ago I purchased an RCBS Reloading press and never looked back. Reloading your own cartridges are a cost effective solution too, if you shoot regularly. I load pistol cartridges too.  

There are other reloading press companies and beginner kits out there to get you started.

RCBS offers the Explorer Reloading Kit for just $339.99.

https://www.rcbs.com/rcbs-kits/explorer-reloading-kit-2/16-9288.html

Explorer Reloading Kit 2

Or

Hornady Reloading Equipment

https://www.hornady.com/reloading/getting-started#!/

Go Hornady reloading with Rosie to get going! 

Great fun this spring!

 

 

 

Browning X-Bolt “Speed” 7mm Rem Mag – Fast Follow-up Shots with 168g Nosler ABLR at 150 yards

Posted on by

After sighting in my rifle, one of my moose hunting shot techniques is to shoot multiple “fast” long range shots like I am in the field, off my Bog Death Grip below as an example off my Bog with my heavy recoiling .375 Ruger.

I can hear my guide excitedly shouting; “Put another one in him!”

My Browning X-Bolt has a 60 degree bolt lift thus shortening the bolt throw time significantly and is a smooth push-feed.

 

Below, I shot a string of 2 fast shots, after my first and best shot (three total shots off my Bog Death Grip) at a paper target with no bullseye but shooting for the center of the 15 inch paper target at 150 yards.

If you look hard, you can see the target below. I used 8x to see the target face.

Veteran moose hunters suggest using just enough magnification that also allows a field of view for reacquiring the target after the first shot.

Your hunt guide can also help to see the con-trail of your bullet hit with his binoculars. 

Below is the 3 shot string target. Shot #1 is at the paper crease.  Rapid Shot #2 is below shot #1.The third rapid shot went left 4 inches. The outer cardboard is close to the overall chest height of a moose at around 30 inches or so.

 

 

Many big game animals such as moose often don’t fall at the shot.  And likely, are not really sure what just happened to them and can move quickly making a follow-up shot more difficult. 

I believe the hunter should be practiced for follow-up shots to drop the animal as fast as possible. Bench rest shooting does not qualify here. 

In Africa, close big wounded dangerous game require, for your life’s sake, to drop the animal before it drops you.

On that note, you should also chamber and cycle your ammo in the rifle you hunt with, especially if it is hand-loaded. We don’t like surprises!

It can be just as dangerous to have a 1000 lb. bull moose shot at less than 30 yards and he decides to charge and give you some smack-down with his massive antlers. Yea, a follow-up here, for sure as an 8 foot giant frontal moose image appears at 20 feet or less.  

More Soon!

© Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved. 

 

 

 

 

 

Ballistics for Elk: Ruger African 375 Ruger – Speer 235 grain Semi-Spitzer vs 260 grain AccuBond Spitzer

Posted on by

These days, purchasing hand-loaded bullets for an Elk Hunt is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The .375 Ruger is a “one rifle for the world” kind of gun, and my Ruger African shoots more accurately than any rifle I own with a broad range of bullets.  I don’t have a 300 Win Mag rifle in my safe either, as the .375 covers it well.

 

Even some veteran hunting folks have a tough time mentally (fear) when they think of the heavy felt recoil from some so-called Magnum rifles, but with a state-of-the-art recoil pad that reduces the recoil up to 50%, they tame well.

It has been established, as a guide, that delivered energy to kill elk be in the neighborhood of 1500 ft-lbs. Here we easily exceed that terminal/delivered energy with the .375 Ruger.

I have two boxes of .375 bullets in my cupboard for hunting elk. I have Nosler 260 grain AccuBond bullets and Speer 235 grain Hot-Core semi-spitzer bullets seen below. I think both are good choices. But is one just a bit better?  Sure, I might try some other bullets before my hunt this next fall if they can be purchased,  but here is some data on these choices.

 

Both are sub-MOA accurate at 100 yards. My goal is to harvest a bull elk with ranges near 300 to 400 yards. The 260 grain Nosler AccuBond has a muzzle velocity of 2800+ fps and at 400 yards (7000 ft altitude).  Its terminal velocity on elk is 2178 fps and 400 yard energy is 2740 ft-lbs with a 90 degree wind deflection of 17 inches. It drops 16.5 inches with a 250 yard zero.

The Speer 235 grain Hot Core has a muzzle velocity of 3000 fps and at 400 yards its terminal velocity is 2064 fps and 400 yard energy is 2224 ft-lbs with a 90 degree wind deflection of 17 inches. I drops 16.5 inches with a 250 yard zero. Same drop and wind deflection as the Nosler.

The Ballistic data confirms that the Nosler AccuBond has 516 ft-lbs more terminal energy than the Speer bullet. At over 2700 ft-lbs of delivered energy the Nosler will easily open-up and mushroom yet still penetrate likely with a substantial exit wound on a broadside shot. I am a proponent of exit wounds for blood trailing.

Note: I did book an elk hunt and later cancelled after making several calls to many experts and doing a Satellite image review with Google Earth Pro. It was a featureless flat dessert landscape and I wanted more photogenic landscape with hills and trees for the many thousands of dollars it would cost.  I’ll keep looking.

Good Hunting!

©Copyright 2021

 

 

 

Reloading Data Sites to Remember

Posted on by

For those who do research on line for hunting bullet load data you may already be aware of load data from the following sites from a powder perspective and a bullet perspective as well. Enjoy!

https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center   

The second site is Alliant Powder and similarly has rifle, pistol and shotgun load data.  https://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/index.aspx

Nosler has a load data site too for rifles that has great data for Nosler bullets. Click the Load Data below. 

https://load-data.nosler.com/

Speer also has rifle load data for Speer bullets below.

https://reloadingdata.speer.com/SpeerReloading/Rifle

Hornady has load data that has not been published in their handbook yet so it is limited.  In fact, the Hornady handbook #11 has loads and powders not shown even in their limited load data site.  Note: Hornady’s 11th Edition Handbook is specific to Hornady bullets. 

https://www.hornady.com/support/load-data/

There may be other sites I have not highlighted here but these sites cover much of the rifle load data except for companies that will not fully publish and desire you to purchase their handbook. 

Sierra has a limited load data site. 

https://sierrabullets.wordpress.com/category/load-data/