Nomosendero
Well-Known Member
Last Friday we returned from a great trip to Wyoming,(with
some family & friends). Eight of us had 20 tags to fill, which we did. I convinced some to use either my or my brother's Sendero with the Wildcat 125 ULD. These 2 Sendero's were sent to Kirby last summer, He skim bedded, recrowned & Ackley Improved both & Accurized the receiver on mine. They were tempermental but now mine is a consistant .25-.35" performer & my brothers is a .50" shooter. Before this work his gun was a 1.5" gun & Kirby
told us the chamber was off-centered which he corrected!
I loaded this bullet with a stout load of RL25 for a velocity of 3,250 FPS. Richard informed me that this bullet
would be great for this type of hunt, plus any Varmit or
Target work. Kirby mentioned also that any shot except a
shoulder shot on a big White Tail or Mule Deer should be
fine for the cartridge used. This is exactly what we observed!!! Most of the shots were not long range but
it should give insight as to the capabilities of this bullet.
We harvested 3 Mule Deer & 6 Antelope with this load. My Son harvested a good Antelope Buck at 260 yards. At the shot the Buck turned to go down the hill & then I saw the
huge exit wound. He went about 10 yards. His insides were
jelly! About an hour later, he took his Mulie Doe at about
the same distance & again the exit was huge & the tissue
damage was extensive. I had a Buck Antelope tag & a Doe
Antelope tag. After my son tagged out (his first Western hunt) I saw a bedded Antelope Buck as we started over a hill, I saw it was much better than average for the area
& I merely raised up & shot him. I prepared for shots out to 500 yards or so, but this one was 80 Yards! Good Bucks are where you find them & I knew that if I let him get up, he would run over that hill & he may not stop until he reached Montana! At the shot he just dropped his head &
"light's out"! I shot him in the shoulder & the bullet busted his shoulder & junked his vitals & as expected at this range & vel., it did not exit. Big Brother took his 2
Antelope later that day, 1 at about 275 yards & the other at about 320 yards. The closed one showed extensive damage
& the other was a small Doe, the bullet went in between the ribs & exited the same way with moderate damage.
Later that day my friend's daughter, Betsy filled her Mule
Deer Buck tag. It was a nice Mule Deer Fork Horn, she shot
it at about 240 yards & it dropped at the shot. The tissue
damage was extensive along with a busted shoulder. This was
the end of day 1, Tuesday, Oct. 11.
The next morning, Big Brother filled his Mule Deer Doe Tag.
She was facing him a little downhill & he shot her in the
neck. The bullet busted the spine, traveled down her body
& exited just in front of her hindquarters!! The Rancher/
Guide who was with me at this point had no problem with me
shooting a little further. I spotted a Doe Antelope at just over 400 yards & got into position. I went prone & using my
Harris bipod & home made rear bag, I let fly. I thought just before my trip that my scope was canted & after getting it straight, it was 1/2" to the right & about 1/2
lower than I wanted at 100 yards. As it turned out, I hit
her about 3" to the right & about 2" lower than I wanted,
but it still impacted at the bottom edge of her heart &
took out big vessels. She was angled more than I thought
& the bullet exited, pulling out her guts. She took a couple
of steps & laid down. Instead of watching her bleed out for
5-10 minutes, I climbed up the hill & put a .22 slug in her
head from my pistol. This was a lesson learned. I failed to
account for the slight sight-in change & if it was 500 yards
it could have been bad as the change would have been further
magnified! It will not be happening again. After this, Little Brother filled his Doe Antelope tag at about 250 yards with a bang-flop. So, with this bullet, 4 of the 9
animals dropped at the shot, the other 5 went down quick, 1
Mule Deer ran 50-60 yards, which was the most that any animal ran. This bullet works as intended & I want to thank
Richard for that & Kirby for turning our rifles into precision tools! I have no qualms about shooting Antelope/
Deer at 500-550 yards with this set-up, Varmits out further
& target shooting on out further as well. I hope Old Bear
& others give this bullet a try on long range varmits!
I did not post last week because I did not know how to post the pictures & I still don't, but I wanted
to share this info. & provide the pictures when I can.
Thanks: Rod Smith
some family & friends). Eight of us had 20 tags to fill, which we did. I convinced some to use either my or my brother's Sendero with the Wildcat 125 ULD. These 2 Sendero's were sent to Kirby last summer, He skim bedded, recrowned & Ackley Improved both & Accurized the receiver on mine. They were tempermental but now mine is a consistant .25-.35" performer & my brothers is a .50" shooter. Before this work his gun was a 1.5" gun & Kirby
told us the chamber was off-centered which he corrected!
I loaded this bullet with a stout load of RL25 for a velocity of 3,250 FPS. Richard informed me that this bullet
would be great for this type of hunt, plus any Varmit or
Target work. Kirby mentioned also that any shot except a
shoulder shot on a big White Tail or Mule Deer should be
fine for the cartridge used. This is exactly what we observed!!! Most of the shots were not long range but
it should give insight as to the capabilities of this bullet.
We harvested 3 Mule Deer & 6 Antelope with this load. My Son harvested a good Antelope Buck at 260 yards. At the shot the Buck turned to go down the hill & then I saw the
huge exit wound. He went about 10 yards. His insides were
jelly! About an hour later, he took his Mulie Doe at about
the same distance & again the exit was huge & the tissue
damage was extensive. I had a Buck Antelope tag & a Doe
Antelope tag. After my son tagged out (his first Western hunt) I saw a bedded Antelope Buck as we started over a hill, I saw it was much better than average for the area
& I merely raised up & shot him. I prepared for shots out to 500 yards or so, but this one was 80 Yards! Good Bucks are where you find them & I knew that if I let him get up, he would run over that hill & he may not stop until he reached Montana! At the shot he just dropped his head &
"light's out"! I shot him in the shoulder & the bullet busted his shoulder & junked his vitals & as expected at this range & vel., it did not exit. Big Brother took his 2
Antelope later that day, 1 at about 275 yards & the other at about 320 yards. The closed one showed extensive damage
& the other was a small Doe, the bullet went in between the ribs & exited the same way with moderate damage.
Later that day my friend's daughter, Betsy filled her Mule
Deer Buck tag. It was a nice Mule Deer Fork Horn, she shot
it at about 240 yards & it dropped at the shot. The tissue
damage was extensive along with a busted shoulder. This was
the end of day 1, Tuesday, Oct. 11.
The next morning, Big Brother filled his Mule Deer Doe Tag.
She was facing him a little downhill & he shot her in the
neck. The bullet busted the spine, traveled down her body
& exited just in front of her hindquarters!! The Rancher/
Guide who was with me at this point had no problem with me
shooting a little further. I spotted a Doe Antelope at just over 400 yards & got into position. I went prone & using my
Harris bipod & home made rear bag, I let fly. I thought just before my trip that my scope was canted & after getting it straight, it was 1/2" to the right & about 1/2
lower than I wanted at 100 yards. As it turned out, I hit
her about 3" to the right & about 2" lower than I wanted,
but it still impacted at the bottom edge of her heart &
took out big vessels. She was angled more than I thought
& the bullet exited, pulling out her guts. She took a couple
of steps & laid down. Instead of watching her bleed out for
5-10 minutes, I climbed up the hill & put a .22 slug in her
head from my pistol. This was a lesson learned. I failed to
account for the slight sight-in change & if it was 500 yards
it could have been bad as the change would have been further
magnified! It will not be happening again. After this, Little Brother filled his Doe Antelope tag at about 250 yards with a bang-flop. So, with this bullet, 4 of the 9
animals dropped at the shot, the other 5 went down quick, 1
Mule Deer ran 50-60 yards, which was the most that any animal ran. This bullet works as intended & I want to thank
Richard for that & Kirby for turning our rifles into precision tools! I have no qualms about shooting Antelope/
Deer at 500-550 yards with this set-up, Varmits out further
& target shooting on out further as well. I hope Old Bear
& others give this bullet a try on long range varmits!
I did not post last week because I did not know how to post the pictures & I still don't, but I wanted
to share this info. & provide the pictures when I can.
Thanks: Rod Smith
