Want to read about my hunt? I shot a buck.

[Clark]

I drove 900 miles from the Pacific Northwest to East of the Rockies.
I took 3 rifles with me:
a) VZ24 with Lothar Walther barrel I chambered for 7mmRM
b) Browning 1885 in 7mmRM
c) Rem700 with 26" #3 Shilen barrel I chambered in 7mmRM. I drilled the receiver for the Holland recoil lug pin. I made concave pillars with a boring head that fit the receiver radius. I had a large un trimmed Limbsaver recoil pad. I have a Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40mm. Matte, standard duplex, CDS. I put glow in the dark tape on the elevation turret and wrote on it with a sharpie. I had it marked for 200, 350, and 435 meters.

I could not get my range finder out of the meters mode.

I was shooting 140 gr Nosler Ballistic tips with 70 gr H4350 [from a jug that is 4% slow]. It chronographed at 3200 fps.

To my surprise the third rifle was shooting best during target practice. At 475 yards, the three shots missed the bullseye by 2", 3", and 5".

The first day of hunting season I went West of town and at sun-up I had plenty of shots at mule does and white tail does, but I wanted a buck.
I went East of town for the evening, and had shots at mule does, but I still wanted a buck.
The next morning a friend took me way East of town out in the sage brush looking for bucks. I could see does, but the other guy spotted a buck bedded down. The antlers sticking up out of the sage brush lit up when the sun came up.
He wanted me to stalk the animal, but I was sure I could hit it at 477 yards.
I had seen him two days earlier stalk an antelope buck to 75 yards before shooting.
That is not me. I like to shoot at long range.
I had a swivel bipod in front and rear bag attached to the sling. I was prone.
I could see the antlers, head, and neck of the bedded down buck, but waited until I could see the body.
I aimed for the front 1/3 of the body.
The bedded down buck rolled over with the feet in the air and never got up.
The other guy said he would not have believed it if he had not seen it.
He could hear the bullet hit the animal from inside his truck with the windows rolled up.
The bullet went in the right shoulder and came out making a big hole in the left lung.

Pictures:
a) deer and rifle
b) entrance wound
c) exit wound
d) buck location
e) shooter location

 

[markopolo50]

Very nice shot and write up. Got a chuckle out of your rangefinder in meters so you had to shoot in meters. Good eating there and all the good cuts are not damaged. Nice job

 

[MR.SWIFT]

very nice. excellent shooting

 

[varmintH8R]

Awesome! I love the "here and there" pictures. Nice shooting!

Not to get off topic, but how do you feel about the 7Mag?

Sweet buck, good story, great shot! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Len Backus]

Great job!

 

[Jamesonj]

Nice going. Cool write up.

 

[trebark]

Not to get off topic, but how do you feel about the 7Mag?

Although a great write-up and pics, I wondered a little bit about your load. It was surprising to see you shooting a 140grain bullet in a 7rem mag. You would see much better ballistic performance from a 160+ grain bullet and for longrange work (beyond 600) the 180grain bullets really shine. My guess is that you are shooting the 140s so that you can shoot the same load in all three rifles.

 

[Clark]

I have killed enough animals with 7mmRM with 130 gr ballistic tip, 150 gr Ballistic tip, 162 gr SST, and 180 gr VLD. I have shot a lot of 175 gr Hornady spire at the range.

The 140 gr BT zero'ed at 200 gr needed only 3.5 moa correction for 475 yards, even though Quickload and Quicktarget calculated 5.25 moa.

The rifle with scope, bipod, sling, ammo, cheek pouch, and rear bag, weighs 11.5 pounds.
The mass that recoils in reaction is more like 7.5 pounds. That load is 11 gr over Hodgdon published max. It kicks like a mule.