Travis' Reloading
Below are the loads that I use in my rifles. The reloading data provided is appropriate for my rifles. I make no claims as to their safeness in any other rifles. When reloading, consult multiple reloading manuals before choosing what is "right" for you.
I'm not the greatest shot in the world and I attribute much of the success with the two rifles mentioned below to the optics. Burris Posi-Lock scopes are undoubtedly the toughest scopes that I have ever used. My Remington 7600 groups shrank dramatically after replacing the Redfield Tracker 2-7X (this was a good scope) with a Burris Signature Series 1.5-6X Posi-Lock scope. The optics are similar... I'm not going to claim that Burris has better optics than any others... But what I will claim is that my rifles are used and used hard. That said I have not made adjustments to my scopes in the last 3 years! To me that's amazing, when in the past, I have always had to make minor adjustments from year to year. My guns do not travel in a gun cases and in many cases they are on the dash board or between the seats in the truck, always at the ready when on the back roads. I actually slipped last fall and landed hard on my Browning on a well packed fireroad. I was very nervous the rest of that hunt as to whether I had bumped something. After work the following day I took the rifle to the range and to my great surprise... You got it... a 1" group! That made me a believer!
My rifles are sighted in at 2" high at 100yds. For me, this is the best "happy medium" for a variety of shooting distances. I have killed deer at both short and long range with both rifles. I have yet to kill an elk with my rifles but expect that in the next few years I'll have my chance.
For those that think that the two targets below are isolated incidents... To the contrary. I have a large number of targets with similar results. I have tried other rounds in my .338 with very good success. My .30-06 on the other hand is a bit more finicky. So far I have not found a combination that will shoot as well as the Speer Mag-Tip and IMR 4350. I've tried Nosler Ballistic Tips, Barnes X, 110 & 150 Hornady Spire Points, Several other Speer bullets, and even some 190 gr Hornady Spire Points. None of these bullets grouped better than 1.5". I will admit that this was BEFORE the Burris Posi-Lock so maybe it's time to try again. Right now however, I've never had a round that was as consistent at "blistering" deer. There's an old saying "If it ain't broke..."
Enjoy the targets and lemme know what you think! You may visit the Burris Posi-Lock Site by clicking here...
.30-06 Remington
338 Winchester Magnum
Check out my BEST 100 yard group ever with the Browning BAR .338 Winchester Magnum! It was just my luck that I had put the stupid target up upside down. The gun was sighted 2" high with Nosler Ballistic Tips and hits about 3" high and slightly left at 100 yards with Hornady Spire Points (200gr).
I've also scanned in some new images of recovered bullets. Most have been recovered from hardwood blocks. I have only put together recovery's from the Barnes 160gr X bullet at about 3000fps, the Speer 250gr Grand Slam at 2650fps and the Speer 150gr Mag-Tip at 2700fps. They're all pretty good performers. I like the 150 grain Mag-Tip the best of them all for whitetail.
"RUSHTON"
My Favorites ...
Or click on one of the following links...
Gunpowder
- Firearms - Bullets
- Optics - Reloading
Gunpowder - Firearms - Bullets - Optics - Reloading
