I'm about to start testing some 150gr Barnes TSX (tipped, triple shock x bullets) in my 7mm Rem Mag. I found where the bullet jams and it's quite a bit longer than the magazine so I'm going to start a little shorter than C.O.L. for that round, which is 3.230. I selected 3.227 to start. I could load longer and single shot load, usually do that anyway, but look at the photo of the bullet below. It seems pointless to me to load longer, say .020 shorter than jam.
I'm using H1000. A friend of mine suggested the bullet because the exit wound of my kills with a Berger VLD wasn't up to his standards. Personally I've always been comfortable with the deer being dead. It's not like we had to walk more than 30 yards past where I shot it. To be fair, tracking a deer with a sparse blood trail in brush country sucks, but we never had to do that on my kills. I digress... The first deer I shot with the TSX was impressive. It was only 120 yards away, I hit where I aimed and the deer reared up on his hind legs, almost vertical. Blood spurted about 5' out of each side, it fell over on it's back, rolled over, and died. The deer watches me when I walk by every morning. I think he's still mad at me. I'd never seen anything like that.
Initially I thought about trying to develop a load with the TSX that would reach out to 500 yards reliably and accurately. Low ES, good groups, etc... When I started comparing the 168 VLD's to the TSX I noticed a glaring problem. Do you see it? VLD left, TSX Right.
Seated, Just under C.O.L. the end of the case is just below the top of the top groove. The groove is just barely visible, Guess what else is at the top of the top groove. Both ogive comparator bushings (different vendor). So the first thing I had to contend with was being happy with C.O.L. not base to ogive. To me the red flag is those grooves. I can't see that as being anything more than friction and instability enroute to the target. I'm no Bryan Litz, not even close, but I know a little about flow (hydrocarbons). Bumpy things bad... So I stopped load development all together right? Weeeeelll...
Not really. I still need some hunting rounds. I'm going to go through the motions and try to pick a load with a decent ES, assuming I can find that. I'm not going to do different powders. Then check groups at that length. I may shorten the length .003 at a time and try to find a node. Those grooves hurt my eyes so probably not.
So now you know why I need my LabRadar to not miss any shots, which is what the real point of the post is. I need good ES data (it'll be sparse. I only loaded 3 per powder charge. I'll be shooting for ES and groups.
I haven't used the LabRadar I have in about 4 years and the first two times out recently it sucked. I was testing pistol ammo and to be fair it was all user error. It's got the latest firmware now. I went through the settings with instructions, this time I was not guessing, and I think I have everything set right. My 7 Mag has a muzzle brake and it has holes every 45 degrees circumferentially for a full 360 degrees. I don't have full confidence that I knew where to place the muzzle of the rifle for the test. Or if I need to use a barrier. I set the distance in the settings to 18" but I could set it back to 12".
Thoughts appreciated. Bulletbitching eh... ok Doesn't matter to me. I've got a box of 40. That's a lot of deer seasons.
I'm using H1000. A friend of mine suggested the bullet because the exit wound of my kills with a Berger VLD wasn't up to his standards. Personally I've always been comfortable with the deer being dead. It's not like we had to walk more than 30 yards past where I shot it. To be fair, tracking a deer with a sparse blood trail in brush country sucks, but we never had to do that on my kills. I digress... The first deer I shot with the TSX was impressive. It was only 120 yards away, I hit where I aimed and the deer reared up on his hind legs, almost vertical. Blood spurted about 5' out of each side, it fell over on it's back, rolled over, and died. The deer watches me when I walk by every morning. I think he's still mad at me. I'd never seen anything like that.
Initially I thought about trying to develop a load with the TSX that would reach out to 500 yards reliably and accurately. Low ES, good groups, etc... When I started comparing the 168 VLD's to the TSX I noticed a glaring problem. Do you see it? VLD left, TSX Right.
Seated, Just under C.O.L. the end of the case is just below the top of the top groove. The groove is just barely visible, Guess what else is at the top of the top groove. Both ogive comparator bushings (different vendor). So the first thing I had to contend with was being happy with C.O.L. not base to ogive. To me the red flag is those grooves. I can't see that as being anything more than friction and instability enroute to the target. I'm no Bryan Litz, not even close, but I know a little about flow (hydrocarbons). Bumpy things bad... So I stopped load development all together right? Weeeeelll...
Not really. I still need some hunting rounds. I'm going to go through the motions and try to pick a load with a decent ES, assuming I can find that. I'm not going to do different powders. Then check groups at that length. I may shorten the length .003 at a time and try to find a node. Those grooves hurt my eyes so probably not.
So now you know why I need my LabRadar to not miss any shots, which is what the real point of the post is. I need good ES data (it'll be sparse. I only loaded 3 per powder charge. I'll be shooting for ES and groups.
I haven't used the LabRadar I have in about 4 years and the first two times out recently it sucked. I was testing pistol ammo and to be fair it was all user error. It's got the latest firmware now. I went through the settings with instructions, this time I was not guessing, and I think I have everything set right. My 7 Mag has a muzzle brake and it has holes every 45 degrees circumferentially for a full 360 degrees. I don't have full confidence that I knew where to place the muzzle of the rifle for the test. Or if I need to use a barrier. I set the distance in the settings to 18" but I could set it back to 12".
Thoughts appreciated. Bulletbitching eh... ok Doesn't matter to me. I've got a box of 40. That's a lot of deer seasons.
), but it sure does mean my tracking skills have suffered. Massive trauma to the brachial plexus does some pretty weird things, separate and apart from the deer never being further away than they can flop. One of mine did a back flip this year. Last year one dropped in his socks and never twitched. I'm a believer in copper bullets!
So we started criss crossing in the general direction. I found the first tiny spot of blood. I think the guide saw it first and knew what was coming so he wandered way off. I found another smaller spot and the general direction was toward the "tube of death" in the brush. The others wandered off in different directions, included the kid that shot. I ended up 1 mile in (about 25 yards give or take), crawling on my hands and knees finding blood as I went but not much. I'm not exaggerating (this time). The drops were 1/8" across at best. Anyway, found one more drop and then maybe a couple of yards away, there was the deer. It was dead so at least it was easier to drag out. They all helped me from that point. They stood outside of the tube of death yelling encouraging words like- (1) I'm hungry, hurry your *** up, (2) why is it taking so long, (3) you realize it's getting dark and it's a long walk to the house if you don't get out of there soon (4) you're going the wrong way.
