Hunting

Working up my .223 loads

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Now that I’ve some time, I’m working up my .223 Remington loads, with the goal being finding a good hunting load.

This will be shot out of a Bushmaster Super Light Carbine. 5.56 chambering, 16″ chrome-lined slim-profile barrel with 1:9 twist.

The basic ingredients:

Bullet: Barnes TSX .224″ 62 grain

Case: new Remington brass, .223 Remington

Primer: CCI #41

C.O.L.: 2.250″

The powders are where I’m varying things up. I want to experiment and see what sorts of results I’ll get. I have three powders: Varget, H4895, TAC. Using Barnes Reloading Manual #4 data, I’m starting at the minimum load then working my way up in 0.5 grain increments. For example, according to the Barnes data I’d start with 22.5 grains of TAC. So I’d load 3 with 22.5 grains, then 3 with 23.0 grains, then 3 with 23.5 grains, then 3 with 24.0 grains. The max charge is 24.5 grains and for now I’m going to stay away from max. Each powder has a 2.0 grain range, so 4 steps is enough for now. Granted I could probably go to max and be fine (it is a 5.56 chambered rifle and I am loading .223), but 1. I think this is enough curious data collection for now, 2. things are kinda tedious and I want to get things done so I can go to the range and chrono tomorrow so if I can keep the number of rounds to reload down, that’ll work. And yes, just loading 3 of each. I figure 3 should be enough for me to get a basic idea if it will work or not and what sort of performance I’ll get, yet not cost me a ton in components (mostly bullets).

These are the first rifle rounds I’ve ever reloaded. I learned a few things:

  • You need a lot less case lube than you think. I had no idea how much I really needed and apparently less than I thought. I dented the shoulders of my first few cases due to too much lube. Oh well, live and learn.
  • I tried priming using the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme press, but it just didn’t feel right — I couldn’t seat the primers down far enough. I used the hand-primer tool instead and was able to get things seated all the way down. Not sure exactly what the deal is, but it was a tight primer fit. Given the way rifle reloading’s process flows vs. handgun reloading, I’ll probably use the press for handgun priming and the hand-tool for rifle priming. Of course, my Hornady Lock-n-Load press is coming so I doubt I’ll do much more handgun on the single-stage press.
  • Lee shell holders don’t fit the RCBS hand-primer tool.
  • I’m glad I bought a powder trickler. I set up the powder drop to drop the min charge. Then I’d use the trickler to add the 0.5 increments. Should have some well-measured charges.
  • TAC does meter very well, but because it just flows so nicely it bounces out of the brass scale pan and makes a mess. Meanwhile, the Varget and H4895 often cause the powder drop to not throw, but they don’t bounce around and makes such a mess. As well, it’s easier to clean up the Varget and H4895, whereas the TAC takes forever to clean out of the powder drop and the powder trickler.

Foo.c and I will head to the range in the morning. He’s going to let me use his chronograph to see how things perform. I’m going to take some other .223 ammo with me as well to get some “factory” readings for comparison.

Stay tuned.

The things my kids do and say….

/ hsoi

Oldest also received a deer call in his Christmas stocking from Grandpa.

He’s sitting at the back door making some doe sounds, seeing if he can get a buck to wander into the backyard area.

Youngest is sitting next to his brother adding in his own calls like…. “She’s available!!!”

Heh heh. 🙂

Ah, what a time

/ hsoi

Spent the weekend with the in-laws. Good times.

Father-in-law got me a Woods Wise “Buc-N-Doe Plus Snort” deer call. Video tutorial and in action. I’ve got some practice to do. 🙂

Also got a gift from the FedEx man. Rifle gunpowders and primers. Looking forward to working on that .223 load over the next couple weeks.

Next couple weeks should be relaxing and fun.

On high velocity hunting cartridges

/ hsoi

There are endless stories of deer being killed with a rifle chambered in .22 LR. So if a little .22 LR is sufficient to kill a deer, why do we need anything more powerful? Isn’t .243 Winchester good enough? Isn’t .30-06 Springfield good enough? Why do we need this big-ass rounds like .300 Win Mag, and 7mm magnums? It’s not like they can make the deer any more deader.

Basically, shooting at longer distances.

An article from Field & Stream on the topic.

High velocity by itself does not kill anything, nor does it kill anything faster than standard velocity.

I started out believing devoutly in lots of speed, but 40 years later, having shot creatures of all sizes with just about everything that goes bang, I’ve never been able to find any correlation between bullet speed and sudden animal demise.

[…]

Not only do super-speed cartridges not kill any faster, but there are distinct disadvantages to them as well. First, let’s consider recoil and muzzle blast…. Second, when you get bullets traveling at 3000 fps and over—these days, way over—even the strongest and slowest-expanding of them makes a mess of whatever it hits…. Third, barrel life for the super-speed cartridges is considerably shorter than it is for standard-velocity loads.

[…]

Given all these drawbacks, why is it that high velocity keeps getting higher, and new and horrific super loads keep appearing? Because nothing makes hitting at long range easier than a good dose of feet per second. If you think you will need to take a shot at 300 yards and over, high velocity is your very best friend.

[…]

However, speed alone will not solve all your problems in hitting at long range. You also need resistance to wind drift and momentum, or the ability to sustain velocity way out there. The way you get it is by going not to light bullets that give the highest initial velocity—but to the heavier slugs in a given caliber, and to bullets that are streamlined.

So what it comes down to is context and selecting the appropriate tool for the context. If you’re out hunting big elk in the Rockies, 300 yard or more shots are likely and so a big gun helps. Here in Texas, 200 yards might be the extent of it and consider I’m working on a .223 Remington load for Texas whitetail and feral hogs. Heck, my father-in-law, who is a lifetime hunter, says that he’s tried just about everything out there over the years and he finds the .25-06 about the best thing for Texas hunting.

Like all things in life, you can pick the wrong tool for the job and still get the job done. But picking the right tool for the job often yields to the best and most satisfactory end results.

Whitetail Record

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Check out this story about a (possible) record whitetail deer.

It could have the longest antler beams ever recorded.

He’s huge.

Lots of pictures at the above link, and the story of the buck too. Just awesome.

Anatomy Lesson – Pigs & Deer

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

You hear various mantras about shot placement when hunting for certain animals.

“Only shoot them broadside.”

“Take out the shoulders, they won’t go anywhere.”

“Headshot.”

“Right in the neck, takes out the spine.”

“Texas heart shot.” (bleah)

I don’t think there’s any one and only right way, other than the way that puts the animal down as quickly and humanely as possible. What that is remains the subject of much debate.

What I think ultimately gets you there isn’t just having some blind or relative notion of where to shoot. That is, it’s not just about “broadside, just up the leg” because that only tells you how to shoot in that particular instance. If that shot doesn’t present itself, you’re out of luck or you may end up taking a marginal shot. I think a better course of action is to understand anatomy. If you can know the animal’s actual anatomy, you can adapt and make better, more informed decisions about what is presented to you and if it’s a good and ethical shot.

Whitetail Deer Anatomy

Take a look at the pictures from deerhunting.ws’s anatomy page (I’ve made a PDF of that page, in case it ever goes away). I like how it shows the animal, the muscles, the organs, the circulatory system, and the skeleton. Layers, so you can better understand how all the parts fit together. Plus they keep an outline of the animal’s body around so you can learn relative placement of these things.

This article on about.com discusses some of the possible shots. Every hunter will have their own assessment of “what is ethical” and this article provides a good starting point for the discussion.

Feral Hog Anatomy

Found this picture:

I’m not sure where the picture came from or who made it (if you know, please let me know so I can properly attribute it). It’s a good illustration of their anatomy.

TexasBoars.com has this great write-up of pig anatomy, including pictures taken of an actual pig in various states of field dress so you can really see how it looks on an actual pig. This is very important because you need to learn where that “shield plate” is. They also have another picture at the top of this page that shows the kill zone.

Another good article from the California Hog Blog. It shows not only a good kill zone (and also discussions of neck shots), but also argues against the head shot.

Night Hogs

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Steve at The Firearm Blog has a posting about hunting feral hogs with night vision.

As of this writing Steve’s posting actually has a mix-up regarding the hog hunting businesses, but a bit fortuitous as he writes-up the Night Hogs outfit that I went hunting with back in July 2009. I notified Steve via a comment, and hopefully he’ll remedy things soon.

I’ve actually had some thoughts about calling Randy and Gerald back up and doing another hunt. Just not right now… too cold. 🙂

First Roast

/ hsoi

A lot of Wife’s family are coming over to our house today for the annual Christmas season gathering. Should be fun.

I decided one of the roasts from my recent deer hunt would make for a fitting course. I also found some feral hog backstrap in the freezer and since we needed a little more meat to feed everyone, I thought making both would be good.

I decided to try out the crock pot approach.

Simple enough: flour, salt and pepper the meat then brown it in the skillet just to seal things up. Roughly cut up potatoes, carrots, onion. To the venison I added some whole cloves (started sticking them in the meat but it was so tedious I stopped and just put them in the pot). The pork got a mushroom-based broth. The venison a beef-based broth. Both enough liquid to cover everything (meat and veggies). A couple bay leaves in each. Also added a sliced up bell pepper and minced garlic to the pork.

Going to slow cook them for about 8 hours on “low” and we’ll see how they turn out.

It could be great. It could be a big disaster. Either way it’ll be fun to learn. 🙂

Updated: They turned out pretty good.

The cloves with the venison was an interesting twist. First, you have to like cloves (I do). If you do, give it a try. It added a really nice flavor to the venison. Nothing too strong, just a nice and different flavoring. The cloves also made the potatoes taste really cool. I don’t think we’ll use cloves all the time, but certainly it was cool to discover this mix.

The bell pepper made all the difference for the pork. It turned out very tender and just so flavorful from that one large bell pepper.

One key thing to do when serving is to keep all of the liquid the meat cooked in. Put some roast on your plate, shred it, then ladel some of the liquid onto the meat. Mmm.

.223 Remington for hunting?

/ hsoi / 23 Comments

If you bring up the topic of using the .223 Remington cartridge for hunting, invariably strong opinions arise:

“It’s great! Works just fine.”

“Only for varmints; I wouldn’t shoot deer-sized or larger game with it because that’d be inhumane.”

“Anything less than .30 caliber isn’t a real hunting round.”

“If you use it, you better make sure your shot placement is perfect.”

and it goes on.

Of course, some people have no opinion whatsoever because it’s illegal to use that caliber for game hunting in their state. As well, some people use the fact it’s illegal in some states as justification for why you shouldn’t hunt with it (ignoring all the other ways it’s illegal to hunt that could actually be beneficial, like using suppressors). Here in Texas, it’s legal to hunt with .223 and many people have reported successful deer and hog hunts using .223. Of course as well, there are many stories of failures with a .223 and those one or two stories someone has are reason enough for them to say it’s inadequate. The simple reality is any round can fail, no round is a magic bullet (pun intended). Yes you cannot pick your ammunition blindly, but in the end if you pick the right equipment and you do your job — which you should be doing no matter what you’re using, a .22 or a .300 magnum — it can be effective.

This isn’t any sort of definitive piece about hunting with .223 and shouldn’t be taken as such; it’s merely me thinking out loud and presenting things I’ve found on the topic.

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