First post. 6.5x284 ladder test problem

[ShootnMathews]

Lol. I do most of my hunting with a longbow. Gun are just for fun. I do gun hunt some. Killed a nice 9 pt with my mosin nagant at 345 yards this year and a coyote and nice 7 pt with "stick and string"

[BrentM]

Something to keep in mind perhaps is that 2900 fps was at 4200 ft with a small bearing surface bullet. I was going to use that load as my hunting set up but I discovered the target bullet was not going to work for hunting. I changed to the hunting VLD and wound up with larger bearing surface loads. I re-tested and was in the 2850 range but higher speeds gave me pressure signs. That is the same day I had a can of Retumbo that Greyfox said to try. I loaded up two 57.5 and two 58.5 rounds. The 57.5 gave me 2975 and 2985 that day. 58.5 was around 3008 and 3020 if I remember right but I was seeing some signs of pressure and really dirty barrel. Not all the powder was being burnt up completly I beleive.

On another note, archery hunting for elk is my passion for sure when it comes to hunting. I had a great year last year and called in 25 bulls. That means called in to 60 yards or less.

[marioq]

Brentm,

Where you chase elk ??
I am trying to get some retumbo to load on my 111 but can't find any. I have. 4831 not sc and will try that as well as RL 22 and 25. As soon as I get my scope mounted and this dang wind in Vegas stops blowing 40 MPH, maybe I can start shooting

[BrentM]

I be in I-dee-hoooo.

I know what you mean about finding powder. I got super lucky and found 1 can at Cabelas and 1 at a local shop. I have not seen any new powder since. My shooting and testing days are pretty much over unless I want to spend the cash on a bulk order from Midway or something. I just don't want to spend 200 plus for an 8 lb keg. I tried to split it with a buddy but he doesn't want to spend the cash, ugh.

H4831 in either form is good. The sc is easier to load up. H4350 is fine too. I would expect 2750 to 2850 and good accuracy. My rifle did well with 48g 4350 and 51-51.5 of 4831. These were the loads that did not have pressure issues.

[AlanSipling]

BrentM,
25? Wow, that's quite a freezer full of meat!! How does the bow deal with elk? They are HUGE things!! It amazes me that if we were to shoot it with a rifle then we would feel under gunned with anything less than a .30 calibre. Twang an arrow at it and I would expect it just to get annoyed!! Lol.
I am shooting at about 100ft above sea level. This would I presume reduce my velocity( thicker air?)

[AlanSipling]

BrentM,
Good point, my velocity did not increase thru 0.6 grain increase. Will check my barrel for unburnt powder next time I shoot.

[BrentM]

LOL, I didn't shoot 25. In fact I did not shoot any elk last year. I shot a very large bodied bull the year before and had tons of meat left. Therefore I was being very picky and had a couple of large 360-380 class bulls I was chasing around.

Archery is extremely leathal. It is not uncommon for my 73 lb draw weight bow to fling a 460 grain arrow completely through an elk. I have dropped them in their tracks and had them run off 300-400 yards and DOA. The one thing I do know, hit them correctly and they are dead in a short period of time.

Yeah if you are not getting a change in FPS you are done. Back it down and look for accuracy. With a 30" barrel I would be looking at the slower burn powders personally. H1000, retumbo, etc. Give it a shot, might be worth the effort.