I'm an idiot, and bullet weight question for hunting.

[jamz]

I've spent the last month building up a load for my Ruger No. 1 in 30-06, and been using Barnes Triple shock bullets in 150 grain.

My hunting trip is next week, and I went through my last batch getting the rifle sighted in just right, thinking I'd pick up some more of the same bullet on the way home, build some more for the hunting trip and be all set.

However, idiot me forgot that I'd gotten the triple shocks via mail order, and not at a store as I'd thought. Add to this I took my scope off so I could sight in with the iron sights next tuesday and wednesday so I could go on the trip Thursday.

So I have no more bullets to make cartridges with. At the store, in desperation, I bought some 150 grain Nosler Partitions, and I am going to use the same load, but I was really happy with the Barnes.

Question is, will the point of aim/accuracy/load be terribly different using another spitzer 150 grain bullet? And as a long shot, does anyone have a few Triple shocks they could Fedex me and I'll pay handsomely?

-James

 

[spacemanspiff]

well, yeah it'll be different! you did check your nosler load info to make sure that powder and charge will be similar, right?

what else are you forgetting?



from my recent hunting trip:
tim: its 3 am, lets hit the road.
al: you got everything packed up?
tim: did that last night. lets go!
6 hours later....setting up camp.
al: wheres the rest of the groceries?
tim: hmmmm. probably in the car. at home.
al: okaay. well lets get out and start hunting, the moose should be just starting to move around now.
tim: hmmmmm. you got an extra rifle with you? mines next to the garage door. at home.
al: fer crying out loud!!! yeah we got an extra gun. got your tags and permit, right?
tim: hmmmmmmmm. that would be in my billfold. at home.
4 hours later, getting ready to turn in for the night.
tim: anyone got an extra toothbrush? mines in my bag. at home.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Only the rifle can answer your question. Put the scope back on and try -- you'll almost certainly need some sight adjustment.

 

[mr.trooper]

in 30 cal, almost any bullet weight will do. 120gr to 180gr.

Depends on what your hunting, but anything in that range will do for deer.

 

[sumpnz]

I feel your pain. Wish I could help you out. All's I've got are 6.5mm and 8mm bullets (and the 8mm's are all FMJ's).

 

[sumpnz]

Oh, and IIRC the Barnes XLC and TSX bullets use the same load data. If that's the case I seem to recall that they had substantially higher max powder charges listed because with the coating (XLC) and relief grooves (TSX) they have less friction with the bore and therefore don't develop as a high a pressure for a given powder charge. It's entirely possible that your charge, while safe with the TSX may well be too high with a Nosler Partition.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

in 30 cal, almost any bullet weight will do. 120gr to 180gr.

Depends on what your hunting, but anything in that range will do for deer.

But be careful. Most lightweight bullets (below 150 grains in .30 caliber) are designed for varmits or plinking -- not deer hunting.

 

[jamz]

Thanks guys. I'm just going to start from scratch with the nosler partitions, build a few up, re-sight in the gun, and just hunt with what I got, even if the groups aren't the best. I'll just adjust the range I'm willing to shoot at. My 52 grain load seems to be well within the range (at least according to the Lyman manual, the Hornaday seems to start at 55 grains) so I'll just go with that.

I'll be hunting in the woods in northern Maine, so my shots are probably going to be well within 100 yards, probably within 60 or so, so I'm not too worried about the 150 grain rounds. If I were trying to reach out a bit, I would certianly use something that would retain it's energy a little better.

-James

 

[bogie]

You sighted in the rifle, then took the scope off? Even with the most magical of removable scope dealies, you're gonna be off a little... That's called the "live with it" factor, if you wanna remove the scope a lot.

Here's how to sight in a rifle with minimal bad craziness.

Put a nice big white sheet of paper with no holes in it out at the yardage you're shooting at. 25 yards is interesting, but hey... the reason they do that in the army is recruits, not accuracy. Let's make it interesting - go to at least 100. Put a little orange dot in the middle.

Now use a rest and rear bag, or bed your rifle down ON TOP OF (not under....) some sandbags. If you have to, use an ammo can under the front sand bag, whatever.

Take off the little scope protective dealies, put the crosshairs on the orange dot, your shoulder behind the butt, load it, and pull the trigger. Hopefully a hole has appeared somewhere on the paper.

===

If not, take the bolt out/open the action/whatever, and look down the bore, moving the rifle on the sandbags until you have the big sheet of white paper centered in the bore. Dental mirrors will work for Garands, etc. Now, tweak with the scope adjustments until the crosshairs move to the orange dot. Check the bore again. Still on the white piece of paper? Congrats - you just bore sighted.

===

Okay... So now we'll assume you pulled the trigger on your boomstick, and a hole appeared somewhere on the paper. Now, get your rifle back on the sandbags, with the crosshairs on the dot. Now for the tricky part. Without moving the rifle around, tweak the scope adjustments to move the crosshairs to the hole. After you've done that, aim at the dot, load it, and pull the trigger. Did a hole appear close enough to the dot to make you happy? If so, you're done. If it's still off, you moved the rifle while you adjusted the scope, and you need to sight on the orange dot, and then without moving the rifle, move the crosshairs to the dot.

 

[VARifleman]

Remember to let minutes pass after that so the barrel can cool and shoot again, adjust if necessary, wait quite a few more minutes (like 20) and fire again. Come back the next day and see if the point of imact is still where it should be.

 

[MNgoldenbear]

Two notes:

1) The reason 25 yards is often used to begin sighting a rifle is that for most ranges you'll eventually want to zero for, the bullet first crosses the line of sight (on its way up) at around 25 yards. This varies, of course, but it's a lot easier to keep the first rounds on paper at 25 yards. (The zero point will be the second time the bullet crosses the line of sight, on its way down. Remember, the bullet's path is an increasingly steep arc, not a line.)

2) If you're bore sighting the rifle, remember that you have to move the adjustment knobs the OPPOSITE direction you normally would. Example: Normal scope adjustment might be if the bullet impacts to the left of point-of-aim, you click "right" until the shots hit POA. This essentially moves the scope to the left, forcing you to move the gun to the right to recenter the reticle on the target. When bore sighting, you center the bore on the target, then adjust the scope to point the same direction. When the target is centered, if the reticle is off to the left, you have to move the RETICLE to the RIGHT, which means you have to click "LEFT". I forgot this once when I was bore sighting a Contender. Couldn't figure out why my shots were farther off after adjusting than before. Then I realized what I'd done. Duh!

 

[MNgoldenbear]

Additional thoughts on VARifleman's point:

Yes, definitely want to have a cold zero for hunting.

Also good to know if the point-of-impact drifts as the gun heats up. Good information for follow-up shots. (But, of course, we're all OSOK guys, right? )

It can make a difference if you have cleaned the gun or not. May want to see where the first round (cold) goes with the barrel both clean and dirty. Many firearms will not put the first round (or several rounds) in the same place they do after they've been fouled. Could be worth the trouble to see how many shots it takes to get the rifle to settle into a consistent cold zero, then make sure you put that many rounds (or a few more) through it before an outing. Then again, if you're hunting in an area where long shots are simply not a factor, you may not want to worry about any of this and simply put something together that will shoot "minute of moose" and just go for it.