Ernie
SPONSOR
I have a good friend in Texas, and it has been four years or more since we've been able to spend any time together.
This past week, I was able to spend a number of days with him and we had a lot of fun. Sometimes we were feeding cows or setting up for some irrigation, but most of the time, we were either shooting, or hunting, or something related to that.
When I am with him, he is always challenging me to do something that I've never been before, or to push me out of my comfort zones in some way. It's one of the traits I enjoy about him.
Many people here know, that I do most of my hunting with some kind of handgun, but I also used rifles on this trip, specifically his rifles, for some of these kills.
I hunted with a customized Smith & Wesson 357 (RAAP) magnum revolver built by Chris Rhodes/Bayside Custom Gunworks, and a center grip custom Remington XP-100, chambered in 22 GT.
I was just running factory Hornady ammo with the revolver, using the 158 grain XTP.
The 22 GT, has a 15.9 inch barrel, heavy varmint taper, Holland Radial Baffle brake, 1-7T.
McMillan stock. Peter Angelos of Omega Precision did the build.
MV with the 88 grain ELDM is 2886 fps.
I was really pleased with the performance of the 88 grain ELDM on Texas sized deer.
The revolver kill was just under 50 yards, and the 22 GT kill was around 140 yards.
I was only shooting does for management, and my third one was taken with one of my friends rifle, which was a customized Remington 700 fast twist in 223 Remington using the 60 grain VMAX on a intentional head shot under 100 yards.
I need to say, that on my very first attempt on the first afternoon that I got there, I missed with my revolver. It sure wasn't the Revolver's fault. We did do some spot and stalk hunting at night with two different rifles. A Remington 700, 308 Winchester, using 168 Grain Hornady tap ammo.
An AR-15, was our second night gun, using some newer all copper bullets that had been given to him for testing on tissue. I'm not gonna mention the brand or anything else, as these are under development.
I will start with the hogs.
We spotted a boar way out there, that ended up weighing 208 pounds.
Then, we needed to figure out how to keep the wind in our favor and get closer. Because of the wind, we were able to stalk within to around 40 yards. 168 grain ELDM did the job nicely, from the standing position using a tripod.
on the last night I was using the AR-15 with the new experimental bullets, and we got up on two sows, right at 100 yards. Again, using a tripod, I dropped the first one on the spot, and the second one ran to the right, and then went out about 20 or 30 yards and then gave a little pause and I quickly put one on her and hit, but it was a little far back, and she was able to escape in to heavy brush, but it was not a survivable, we are both pretty sure of that. we tried to find her, but we're unable.
The farmer whose land we are on, is just thrilled to get some more pigs off his land that are destroying his crops.
The shots on deer was just under 50 yards with the revolver, right around 140 yards with the center grip 22GT XP, and then around 100 yards with the 223 Remington.
The hogs, was full out hunting, while the deer, was simply culling (MLD tags). All of the meat was already assigned to multiple families.
Between the revolvers, and the XP, then one of my friends new to him tikka T3 6.5 Swede rifle we shot at 50 yards, 100 yards, and 700 yards on steel.
I must admit, that right now I am just flat out exhausted, as I did not get my normal amount of sleep, but it was worth every minute!
This past week, I was able to spend a number of days with him and we had a lot of fun. Sometimes we were feeding cows or setting up for some irrigation, but most of the time, we were either shooting, or hunting, or something related to that.
When I am with him, he is always challenging me to do something that I've never been before, or to push me out of my comfort zones in some way. It's one of the traits I enjoy about him.
Many people here know, that I do most of my hunting with some kind of handgun, but I also used rifles on this trip, specifically his rifles, for some of these kills.
I hunted with a customized Smith & Wesson 357 (RAAP) magnum revolver built by Chris Rhodes/Bayside Custom Gunworks, and a center grip custom Remington XP-100, chambered in 22 GT.
I was just running factory Hornady ammo with the revolver, using the 158 grain XTP.
The 22 GT, has a 15.9 inch barrel, heavy varmint taper, Holland Radial Baffle brake, 1-7T.
McMillan stock. Peter Angelos of Omega Precision did the build.
MV with the 88 grain ELDM is 2886 fps.
I was really pleased with the performance of the 88 grain ELDM on Texas sized deer.
The revolver kill was just under 50 yards, and the 22 GT kill was around 140 yards.
I was only shooting does for management, and my third one was taken with one of my friends rifle, which was a customized Remington 700 fast twist in 223 Remington using the 60 grain VMAX on a intentional head shot under 100 yards.
I need to say, that on my very first attempt on the first afternoon that I got there, I missed with my revolver. It sure wasn't the Revolver's fault. We did do some spot and stalk hunting at night with two different rifles. A Remington 700, 308 Winchester, using 168 Grain Hornady tap ammo.
An AR-15, was our second night gun, using some newer all copper bullets that had been given to him for testing on tissue. I'm not gonna mention the brand or anything else, as these are under development.
I will start with the hogs.
We spotted a boar way out there, that ended up weighing 208 pounds.
Then, we needed to figure out how to keep the wind in our favor and get closer. Because of the wind, we were able to stalk within to around 40 yards. 168 grain ELDM did the job nicely, from the standing position using a tripod.
on the last night I was using the AR-15 with the new experimental bullets, and we got up on two sows, right at 100 yards. Again, using a tripod, I dropped the first one on the spot, and the second one ran to the right, and then went out about 20 or 30 yards and then gave a little pause and I quickly put one on her and hit, but it was a little far back, and she was able to escape in to heavy brush, but it was not a survivable, we are both pretty sure of that. we tried to find her, but we're unable.
The farmer whose land we are on, is just thrilled to get some more pigs off his land that are destroying his crops.
The shots on deer was just under 50 yards with the revolver, right around 140 yards with the center grip 22GT XP, and then around 100 yards with the 223 Remington.
The hogs, was full out hunting, while the deer, was simply culling (MLD tags). All of the meat was already assigned to multiple families.
Between the revolvers, and the XP, then one of my friends new to him tikka T3 6.5 Swede rifle we shot at 50 yards, 100 yards, and 700 yards on steel.
I must admit, that right now I am just flat out exhausted, as I did not get my normal amount of sleep, but it was worth every minute!
