Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Things I have learned.

Heehee! That's funny!Well,see Dave has hunted Alberta with Russ Thornberry so understands that when they stick you on those fields,those rutting Alberta whitetails show without warning,are always on the move and don't stop in those fields unless a hot doe is holding them;they are always going from "here to there",and by the time you laze them, the distance has already changed,and this can be from 50 yards to as far as you can hit......time is of the essence;those bucks don't dilly-dally and neither should you.....ditto a lot of the larger mule deer that I've killed,which are distinctly different in behaviour from the younger one's that lolly gag in the open...

So I say laze when you can,but when you can't......I'd rather have Dave's machine in my mitts than a slow-poke round showing 18-20" of drop at the 400 yard mark...that rig will have one in him while the Western Extreme crowd is still doping distance...besides,where I hunt,there generally is not a camera crew and 4 observers with the Kestral Wind meters and a fleet of Swaro range finders behind me calling the shots....giving the obligatory "SEND IT" command....

To 500 yards and under(the distances most stuff is killed unless you deliberately put yourself further out,a practice common on TV or when peddling Hawkemyer Scopes)I can't think of anything better than what Dave has built,and few things as good.I also doubt that outfit is gonna contribute to a bull elk's life span

Like my buddy RinB says..."Trophy hunting is different...."

Nice goin',Dave! Great outfit!

Ah, yes. Fascinating rig. You should start hunting Pronghorn with that "thing." Now there is an animal that flat trajectory means something to. Don't waste your time on those piggys and whiteys. E

Very nice!! would like to see you try some 169.5s in it though. My 270 Allen shooting 140 Accubonds at 3650 still flatter shooting though.

It Wildcat bullets can start delivering the 169.5s I might just have to have one of this.

Great write up about Alberta Bob.That should be required reading for anyone thats thinking about spending the money and time, going there for a deer hunt.
Not hard to see how I've been influenced buy the trips that I've taken there.Time constraints are a large part of the kind of hunting around the house here to.The difference between here,Pa and Alberta,is that here in Pa.The deer are mostly running for there lives.

Truer words were never spoken.
The first year I hunted with Thornberry was 1985.I was young dumb and full of cumm.I learned alot from him.I learned how not to get myself permanently damaged when its 35 degrees below zero.And your only hope of getting a deer is to go out and sit in it all day.He was a smart operator and did what he could for his clients.
He had a longrange rifle outfit even back then.It was one of the first custom rifles I ever got a look at.At the time I was running a factory M700 in what else a 270 WCF.
He had a 7mm/300 Weathbery built by Howard Wolf of Williamsport Pa.I dont remember all the details but it had a synthetic stock with a camo paint job.M700 action.Muzzle break and a fixed 20/24x Leupold.It was not a light weight.Im thinking it went 12 to 14 pounds.He also had big tripod mounted 56mm zeiss binos.And a very rare model 1917 Bausch & Lomb optical rangefinder.
This was 1985....
I got to tell you.I was like a kid in a candy store....
He told me it was for yotes and that his best shot on a yote was 1500 yards.
I asked him if he had ever used it for deer and he said he had, but that it was pretty limited.He didnt like it becaues it was to cumbersome.
His caliber,that he would recommend to anyone one that would listen,was a 25-06 with a 100g Partition.Hard hitting,flat shooting,low recoil.
Bob,your buddy RinB is right.Trophy hunting is different.
dave

Thanks E.
It wouldn't take much to talk me into the pronghorn thing.I'd like to try it for sure.
I've grown fond of the pig hunting in Texas.Multiple targets.
Its warm there.
Did I mention its warm there....
dave

man...threads like this are why i really need to get out of the air force and go contractor.

cool post man. thanks.

Great thread

Great thread - how bout a 2 year update on the rig?
What would you change?
Jason

Thanks for sharing.

Making stuff scream downrange has been a fun past time of many of us rifle looneys. I enjoyed reading about your project. Some of those monos just don't respond well to hyper speeds. I put some 150 E-tips into my 300 RUM and got 3850 or so. Wanted to be able to shoot to 400 yds without thinking about POI, same as you. Only one problem, the load SEEMED accurate at first.....

What ever you do don't look through a bore scope at your barrel. Just shoot it and report back on its performance and when the eventual demise occurs.

Updates are appreciated.

That looks like fun and it obviously works. If they end up splay legged after one through the boiler it works pretty good.

Speed demon! Nice write up & pics Dave.

Thanks

That's a bad azz mofo......

After the season is over Ill write up a "update"
Its been awhile and i've changed a few things around some.
Its still working.

dave

Dave, that really is a cool rifle. A gunsmith friend just twisted up a 6.5 STW and is using a 30" tube (I believe), and is shooting the 120 TSX around 3900fps using 50BMG.

And that rifle's color scheme is absolutely awesome. If I can scrounge up some dough after the Holidays, I'd love to have my 7 done up in that tan.

Reminds me of a wildcat a buddy of mine built on an A-Bolt

25 WSM shooting the 110 TSX at around 3500 IIR...

Still have it?

Just found this thread.. Very cool Dave.. Seems like it would be cool as another Mashburn sorta build as well. Might be kinda neat..

beretzs,

Been awhile since I wrote that.
Never could make myself happy with the 110g TTSXs.
The 110g GS-HVs shot ok untill I got into a new and different lot.Then they would not shoot.
I settled on 130g TTSXs.
I ended up running a load of Ramshot Magnum at about 3650 fps.
Think I smacked 3 freezer does with the 130 TTSX.
From 125 yards out to almost 300 yards the result was always the same.
At impact the deer would "flip" in the air and land on its back about 6 feet back from where it was standing.Kick a couple of times and die right there.
I've never seen anything put a deer down as fast as this thing.
It reminds me alot of what Parker Ackley said about the 220 Swift with copper mono Ackley CE bullets.
DRT.Bigtime.
I just took Ackleys concept and scaled it up a bit....
The 270 STW is not barrel friendly.At less than 500 rounds the tops of the lands are "frosted" about 3 inches down the barrel.Shame to do that to a nice Rock barrel but it is, what it is.
By contrast for the last two years I have been running a 7mm Mashburn.I do need to write it up.I have had long talks with Bob about it and I picked off 2 deer with the Mashburn.One with 150 Ballistic tip and one with a 168g Berger classic.
Both deer ran well over 100 yards after the shot.The BT deer ran 200.pumping blood all over the place.
All these shots were chest lung shots.
A 130g TTSX at 3650 in the chest will flip DRT a deer at least every time I used it.
The heavy 150g 168g bullets at 3100-3200 work and shoot fine.I got unreal accuracy with the 168 Berger.But for double lung shots, the deer will not go down.Dead deer running type of thing.

dave

Dave knows more about fast monos than I do. I shoot those old partitions.

The other thing going for the fast monos besides speed is rpm's..especially from faster twist rifles like Daves. Things add up to provide wound cavitation I guess.

Got an email from Dober last night. His wife killed a nice black bear with the 120 TTSX started 3600 from the Mashburn.

Man, that cartridge does sound pretty awesome.

Almost makes me wanna try some of the 132 BBC's I have in the Mashburn..

Bob, it sounds like that 120 TTSX is pretty serious. 3600 is blazing!

I brought this up just because photobucket works.

dave