Handloads at their best!

A friend recently asked me to load some ammunition  for his upcoming review of Ruger's new Scout Rifle. This is a handy  bolt action with a 10 shot magazine. I agreed to make the ammo and I got started as soon as I could fit it into my schedule. This rifle is chambered for one of my all time favorites .308 Winchester. I never got my hands on the rifle during the loading process so I had to rely on older data I had used on my .308 Ruger 77R. My goal was to create at least one round that would be suitable for this new rifle in a hunting situation.

I made 3 boxes of ammo in three different configurations and shipped the ammo to Colorado for the test.  Andy reported that the first two worked about as well as the factory ammo but box #3 was the ticket.  The 150 gn. Nosler Ballistic Tips were the best of the group. It is not uncommon to see a light weight rifle have a preference for one load or another. This load produced dime size groups at 100 yards and he was now comfortable taking the rifle afield to test on live game.

I am happy to report that Andy  took a Pronghorn Antelope out west.  It was a one shot deal as I hope all shots on game are.  The Nosler entered from the chest and passed all the way to the rear quarter and came to rest next to the hide. The bullet was fully mushroomed and  remained intact with much of it's original weight. This is the kind of performance I like to hear about. Did I fail to mention the animal was 500 yards away when the shot rang out. This is the longest shot I know of with one of my precision handloads.

Chris Short of Lancaster, SC reported to me this week that he took a nice whitetail doe with one of my recent handloads we developed for his bolt action Savage rifle chambered in .270 Winchester. He made his shot at 475 yards.  While taking a firearms and shooting class at Clemson University Short reported that his rifle was making 3 to 4 inch groups at 400 yards and he was ready to try a long  range shot. All worked well and the shot was on the money. I told Chris let me know if you ever plan on selling that rig.  It sounds like it shoots very good for a sporter weight hunting rifle.

Last but not least is my first born's Election Day buck shot last November.  Logan's cartridge of choice  was the almighty .300 Weatherby Magnum. Logan took his buck at about 50 yards as it  was running through chasing a doe. That 180 gn. Nosler Ballistic Tip hit he buck like a ton of bricks. That Nosler was moving somewhere around the speed of light and the deer never knew what hit him. Logan's rig has him set up for just about anything he may ever hunt unless he heads to Alaska for a grizzly. In that case an upgrade may be in order. 

I'm proud to say that in the last 30 years I have only shot handloads that I have made in all of my center-fire rifles except one. The AR-15 in .223 Remington shoots it up faster than I can reload it in most cases.  Be safe my friends.