Moments like these are why I reload rifle cartridges.
When you hit one of those magic combinations that gives surgical accuracy, it's almost enough to make you want to get up and dance.
I haven't shot much this summer, so I felt a little rusty. I've only handled my guns this summer to check them for rust, which is always a threat in humid weather.
With dove season approaching, however, my thoughts are on hunting. Specifically, I am nursing a bitter grudge against the coyotes in our little corner of Hot Spring County. They raided my melon patch Tuesday morning about 1 a.m., and they ate all but one watermelon and a bunch of honeydews.
We plucked the surviving watermelon and ate it Tuesday evening. It was about a week from perfection, but it wouldn't have lasted that long. The coyotes gnawed on the rind a little, but I guess they can tell which ones are ripe and which are not.
So, I sat down at my reloading bench and worked up a little coyote medicine.
The rifle is a Savage Model 10 Predator Hunter in .22-250. I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with this rifle because when it's good, it's really, really good. When it's bad, it's horrid.
As its name suggests, the Predator Hunter is built for killing bigger stuff than prairie dogs and woodchucks. It shoots heavy bullets in the 50- to 60-grain range more accurately than light bullets. I've worked up some very accurate loads with 50-gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips, 55-gr. Speer Soft Points, and 60-gr. Nosler Partitions.During the winter I got a great deal on Gunbroker.com for 500, 55-gr. Speer TNT hollowpoints. The lot sold as one piece, and I got them for about $7 a box. The Speer Reloading Manual No. 14 says that unlike the 50-gr. TNT, the 55-gr. version is designed to withstand extremely high velocities, so (I paraphrase) don't be afraid to make 'em scream.
I cooked my first batch with 35 grains of Varget powder and a Remington large rifle primer. The target was 118 yards away, down a steep hill. Those rounds were accurate enough to kill coyotes, but they weren't up to my standard.
I should add that I've stopped using my Caldwell Lead Sled because I don't like the way it detaches me from the gun. I've gone back to my Shooter's Ridge rest and putting the gun against my shoulder. I'd rather "shoot" than merely pull a trigger. I don't expect the accuracy I was accustomed to getting when shooting off the sled, but it makes me try harder.
My next load was 36 grains of Winchester 748 powder with CCI large magnum rifle primers. Again, these loads printed well within "minute of prairie dog," but they didn't excite me. I suspected I contributed to the generous width of the group. It was hot Tuesday, and I fought to keep sweat out of my eyes. My windup and pitch were probably not as meticulous as they are in cooler weather.
Then came the last load, 55-gr. TNTs in front of 40.5 grains of Hodgdon 380 and CCI large magnum rifle primers. Shooting at one of the 3-inch circles on the corner of the target, the first shot hit about 2 inches high, dead center. The next two shots almost went through the same hole, about a half-inch below the first hole.
I don't have a chronograph, but the Speer Reloading Manual lists this load at about 3,400 feet per second. However, the maximum load for H380 and the 55-gr. TNT is 42 grains, a compressed load. My load practically filled the case, and it is definitely compressed. I don't see how it's possible to cram another grain and a half into it.
The final load was 60-gr. Nosler Partitions powered by 37 grains of 380 and a Remington large rifle primer. This load printed printed a decent pattern dead on at 174 yards that would be good for deer hunting.
For all my .22-250 work I've reloaded the same, cheap Winchester white box cartridges. I only size the necks, and I've reloaded some of them four times.
I've lost a few to split necks, but otherwise they've held up very well.
Sports on 08/21/2014