The county I live in ( Western Pa) now permits Deer hunting with any straight walled cartridge.
At one time, rifle hunting was legal here but was eventually no longer permitted.
Shotguns, muzzlers, archery became the norm and rifles waited for their season in all the counties except "Special regulation " counties.
I shot a deer with a Savage model 30 20 ga at about 35 to 40 yds and the following year bought an Ithaca 12 ga Deer slayer and a few bows / crossbows. I've been fairly successful with a Ten Point FX4.
I was helping instruct a Hunter Ed class and the Game Commission officer informed us that rifles using straight walled cartridges were now permitted given the ballistics were close to that of modern slug guns.
I looked around for a used .44 mag single shot or lever gun with no luck. A couple months ago I ordered a Henry in .44 mag.
I was in Phoenix boarding a plane and got a call from my LGS that the Henry was in.
2 days later, I picked it up. I had already ordered a large loop and a scope base.
2022-05-01_06-53-02 by poofy27, on Flickr
I had an older Bushnell 3X9. I put the large loop on, lapped the rings, installed the Bushnell and was ready for a range day.
I had about 4 or 500 rounds loaded for my Ruger RedHawk so took those.
I had about 4 different loads to try and had issues getting on paper.
After a few dozen rounds, I felt the scope was a problem.
Came home and exchanged the scope for a Leupold VX1 3X9.
Today was my second range day.
I had existing rounds loaded with W296 (24.0 gr) under 240 gr IMI soft points.
I reloaded more of those but loaded them like I would a rifle round.
I also loaded the same bullet over some H110 (24.0 gr) and some I4227 (23.5 gr).
I had old stock factory loads ( Rangemaster 240 gr jacketed HPs) as well.
I used the older W296 loads to get on paper ( I had no small mirror to bore sight the rifle).
The trigger had a very short takeup and a nice crisp break. The takeup seemed to almost go away with more shooting.
I wasn't impressed with the grouping yet but will work on a good accurate load given more time.
The new loads of W296 ( mag primer) averaged 1716 fps.
The H110 loads (also mag primers) avgd 1774.
The I4227 loads ( std LPP) avgd 1514 fps
I bought a new Magneetospeed chrony ( the cheaper version) and it wouldnt read until I mounted it sideways. Flickr is slow so that pic is in limbo.
I'm really happy with the rifle and hope I can get a load that groups well.
I looked at a Maximun point blank range calculator and with a BC of .175, a speed of 1725 fps, the near zero is 13 yds, the far zero is 149 yards and the maximum point blank range for an 8 inch (deer vitals) target is 174 yards ( 3.77 inches high at 100 yds).
I figured this rifle to be a 125 gun.
All in all, I'm very happy with it, its fun to shoot and I can't wait for our "old mans and young kids rifle doe season" this year.
I bought 1K of these IMI 240s 10 years ago so the cost per round is quite a bit lower than a Remington copper solid ( now discontinued anyway) slugs which were my go to sabot till now.
At one time, rifle hunting was legal here but was eventually no longer permitted.
Shotguns, muzzlers, archery became the norm and rifles waited for their season in all the counties except "Special regulation " counties.
I shot a deer with a Savage model 30 20 ga at about 35 to 40 yds and the following year bought an Ithaca 12 ga Deer slayer and a few bows / crossbows. I've been fairly successful with a Ten Point FX4.
I was helping instruct a Hunter Ed class and the Game Commission officer informed us that rifles using straight walled cartridges were now permitted given the ballistics were close to that of modern slug guns.
I looked around for a used .44 mag single shot or lever gun with no luck. A couple months ago I ordered a Henry in .44 mag.
I was in Phoenix boarding a plane and got a call from my LGS that the Henry was in.
2 days later, I picked it up. I had already ordered a large loop and a scope base.
2022-05-01_06-53-02 by poofy27, on FlickrI had an older Bushnell 3X9. I put the large loop on, lapped the rings, installed the Bushnell and was ready for a range day.
I had about 4 or 500 rounds loaded for my Ruger RedHawk so took those.
I had about 4 different loads to try and had issues getting on paper.
After a few dozen rounds, I felt the scope was a problem.
Came home and exchanged the scope for a Leupold VX1 3X9.
Today was my second range day.
I had existing rounds loaded with W296 (24.0 gr) under 240 gr IMI soft points.
I reloaded more of those but loaded them like I would a rifle round.
I also loaded the same bullet over some H110 (24.0 gr) and some I4227 (23.5 gr).
I had old stock factory loads ( Rangemaster 240 gr jacketed HPs) as well.
I used the older W296 loads to get on paper ( I had no small mirror to bore sight the rifle).
The trigger had a very short takeup and a nice crisp break. The takeup seemed to almost go away with more shooting.
I wasn't impressed with the grouping yet but will work on a good accurate load given more time.
The new loads of W296 ( mag primer) averaged 1716 fps.
The H110 loads (also mag primers) avgd 1774.
The I4227 loads ( std LPP) avgd 1514 fps
I bought a new Magneetospeed chrony ( the cheaper version) and it wouldnt read until I mounted it sideways. Flickr is slow so that pic is in limbo.
I'm really happy with the rifle and hope I can get a load that groups well.
I looked at a Maximun point blank range calculator and with a BC of .175, a speed of 1725 fps, the near zero is 13 yds, the far zero is 149 yards and the maximum point blank range for an 8 inch (deer vitals) target is 174 yards ( 3.77 inches high at 100 yds).
I figured this rifle to be a 125 gun.
All in all, I'm very happy with it, its fun to shoot and I can't wait for our "old mans and young kids rifle doe season" this year.
I bought 1K of these IMI 240s 10 years ago so the cost per round is quite a bit lower than a Remington copper solid ( now discontinued anyway) slugs which were my go to sabot till now.
