This is getting to be an interesting thread. Came up empty handed with the crossbow this year. Here's that stuff mentioned in my previous post. This is everything that will be in the line-up for deer season, except for the 300 WSM & the 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser, which both filled tags for me back in September in S. Carolina, so they can sit out the gun season up here so that this array of ballistic diversity can get into the game.
. All are handloads except that 12 ga., factory loaded, Winchester/ BRI sabot slug, Left to right are as follows: 1..- 30-30 with a 170 gr. Hornady Flat Point averaging 2252 FPS. 2..- .308 with a 150 gr. Nosler Accubond; haven't chrono'd that one yet, but it's one of my old NRA High Power loads for the M-1A with a 150 gr. hunting bullet in place of a 155 gr. target bullet. Should be over 2700 FPS, which it was with the 155 gr. bullet. 3..- .303 British for the Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk 1*, with a 180 gr. Sierra Pro Hunter running an average 2416 FPS. Haven't seen any of those bullets available since pre-covid. 4..- 7.62x54R Russian for the Mosin-Nagant with a Privi-Partisan 150 gr. S.P. that travels around 2738 FPS. 5..- The newest arrival; a 444 Marlin with a 265 gr. Hornady FTX that goes 2088 FPS over the chronograph, for the CVA Scout single shot. Looking forward to hunting with this for the first time this year. A nice woodland whitetail thumper with plenty of power for its intended purpose, without having to step up to .45-70 levels. 6..- 44 Magnum with a 260 gr. hard cast, flat nose, gas checked, projectile. AKA a 260 gr. HCFNGC, which is north of 1200 FPS from the 7.5" barrel of the Ruger Redhawk. 7..- The previously mentioned, one ounce, 2.75" sabot slug, which Winchester claims 1350 FPS for, but actually is in the mid to upper 1200 FPS range from my fully rifled Rem. 870 slug gun. The 870 can use 3 inch shells but these 2.75" shells are a bit more accurate in my gun. Deer seem to die just as quick either way so accuracy was the deciding factor. The Ruger Redhawk will get used in the shotgun area where my friends land is, even though it could be used in any gun zone. Gonna concentrate on rifles in rifle zones this year. All that's needed now are deer in the crosshairs.
