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Post by whitworth on Sept 18, 2017 10:48:21 GMT -5
The third annual JRH Holiday came to a close last Friday the 15th of September. Hondo, Texas was hot and dusty, but the attendees were enthusiastic and ready to go when it kicked off. Held again at Action Outdoor Adventures of Hondo, Texas. We kept a much more measured pace this year in an effort to gather data more thoroughly. For the uninitiated, the "Holiday" is an invitation only gathering of terminal ballistics handgun hunting truth seekers willing to put their loads/bullets/theories on the line on large bovines (other game is included, but bovines are the preferred media). I will add more detail as we go along. First up, with his gorgeous blued Model 29 was Jack Huntington. This man's shooting ability is something to behold. This wildebeest was his first animal of choice to start the blood letting. He was shooting vintage Norma Triclad loads. They worked but left something to be desired. His first shot reached and destroyed the heart, yet the animal was able to move off a couple hundred yards at least, again proving the point that each and every animal is a law unto itself. While heading back to the skinning shed with Jack's conquest, we saw this hog off in the distance. A rare occurrence during the day and this heat. We jumped off the truck, and tradmark and I discussed who would do the honors. He insisted I go and use his newly massaged Super Redhawk in .454 Casull (tweaked by Jack Huntington), loaded with Lehigh Defense flat-nosed 300 grain solids. The moving target was put down with a shot to the forehead. Decisive.....
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Post by whitworth on Sept 18, 2017 10:49:06 GMT -5
Day two started with CraigC taking this water buffalo with his Super Redhawk in .44 Magnum, loaded with Grizzly Cartridge's Punch Bullet loads that ran a scorching 1,400 plus fps over the chronograph. Craig displayed some really fine shooting! Next up was Pasco's Ibex with a Super Redhawk in .480 Ruger loaded with Hornady 325 grain XTP loads. He was running and gunning and shot really well offhand. Jordan, an associate of Jack's shot this Watusi initially with a Contender in .375 JDJ. He finished the job with his revolver (a Redhawk in .44 Mag with a Dan Wesson barrel and shroud) even though it was fatally hit with the first shot.
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Post by whitworth on Sept 18, 2017 10:49:42 GMT -5
Day three was a busy day. It started off with my bull water buffalo. He was nearly an albino with a golden color. We nicknamed hi "Blondie." We had a number of touchy encounters with him over the previous couple of days. He aggressively followed us when we weren't hunting him and we actually had to back out of a couple of situations to avoid him. He was also over a ton in weight on the hoof. I took him with my BFR in .500 JRH loaded with Punch bullets right around 1,350 plus fps. I center punch his chest with the first shot, puncturing his heart. He ran off (I tried to hit him running through the thick brush) and slowed up allowing me to put one in his shoulder. At this point he looked as if he would charge, but I changed his mind with another Punch bullet. He ran off a short distance and piled up. Wasn't able to recover any of my bullets.
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Post by whitworth on Sept 18, 2017 10:50:17 GMT -5
These others will be out of sequence. This is the water buffalo shot by tradmark with his BFR in .460 S&W. He was shooting Grizzly Cartridge's 300 grain Swift A-frame load. It worked like a charm to say the very least, and as usual his great shooting was on display. This is Michael with his goat nicknamed "wildegoat" because its horns resembled a wildebeest. He used a scoped GP100 .357 with a 140gr Barnes and I believe a 180gr A-frame. This Watusi was taken by Mike -- another attendee -- with his BFR in .45/70. I believe he was using Lehigh solids. Tradmark can fill in the blanks here. It was good work and great performance. CraigC took a second water buffalo with his SRH in .44 Mag, stoked with Grizzly Punch loads. That is one great bullet/load combination for bovines and again, Craig shot really well. The eleventh hour tenacious handgun hunter award definitely goes to our very own James from Jersey! He shot this Sika deer in the near dark with his .475 Linebaugh FA 83, while the rest of us were enjoying a barbeque. James is what I would describe as "hardcore," and was a welcome addition to our gathering!
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Post by whitworth on Sept 18, 2017 10:50:28 GMT -5
More to come.....
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Post by tradmark on Sept 18, 2017 11:21:48 GMT -5
It was definitely fun to be in on all the hunts with the video cam. I missed a few of pasco's rams and james sika but good shooting guys. We have a very standardized method of penetration testing. We sit the animal straight up on its front legs and can with complete control standardize shots and placement and compare. To me, the most telling results were two fold. 1) how awesome premium expandables work on animals of this size. 2) how much the nontraditional solids allow a smaller caliber to do the work of a much larger caliber. The barnes busters and punch bullets passed completely through the animals on level shoulder shots. When heavy bone was encountered it took a tough bullet to make it through and even had a 500 linebaugh cast slug literally turn into birdshot on the onside hide where a 454 buster went straight thru nearly perfectly. We were able to find that bullet in a dirt berm. The solid coppers and punch bullets blew on thru and could be seen skipping thru dirt and trees. More telling results. The aframes and barnes work extremely well and on brain shots a 357 180 gr aframe at 1100 fps held its integrity and penetrate deeper than a 315gr cast in the same animal type skull. The best part of the hunt was the aggressiveness of the animals and skittish nature and so it was very much reminiscent of chasing cape buff thru africa. The 454 i used did well with even medium loads and solid copper 300 grain bullets blew thru thick bone and skulls where my 340gr btb hardcast was nearly ground down to 150 grains on a similiar shot. The best performing cast were from matt's bullets in arkansas i believe. Slight nose flattening and a touch of smearing on one but really good integrity on those.
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Post by CraigC on Sept 18, 2017 11:27:34 GMT -5
I'm still shocked at how well the A-frame did at .460 velocities. I'm definitely going to try them in the .454 and .450BM. Blondie was a real menace. He was always between us and the rest of the buffalo when we were on the ground, not at all impressed with our presence. Sneering defiantly and very obviously contemplating stomping us into a pulp. We all know this ain't chasing Cape buffalo along the Zambezi river but it ain't shooting cattle in a pasture either. These critters routinely make things interesting and most definitely do not like being hunted. It's part of the reason why we hunted in groups, not only because we are unapologetic voyeurs but also to stop a charge if necessary.
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Post by magnumwheelman on Sept 18, 2017 11:38:00 GMT -5
awesome pictures... would love to try that some year
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Post by tradmark on Sept 18, 2017 11:48:09 GMT -5
Where are u at magnum? Would love to have you.
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Post by magnumwheelman on Sept 18, 2017 12:58:29 GMT -5
I'm in MN... I'd have to call it a visit to my sisters... she's in Austin area... kinda... lives in the "lost pines" area... where are you guys shootin???
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Post by tradmark on Sept 18, 2017 13:10:42 GMT -5
Hondo
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Post by magnumwheelman on Sept 18, 2017 13:17:19 GMT -5
well... that's really close to where my sister lives, taking into account how big TX is... really sounds like a good time
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Post by 500fksjr on Sept 18, 2017 16:48:59 GMT -5
What ranch are you on in Hondo?
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Post by whitworth on Sept 18, 2017 18:42:54 GMT -5
What ranch are you on in Hondo? Action Outdoor Adventures.
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Post by dougader on Sept 18, 2017 19:35:45 GMT -5
What an experience. Great hunting, guys!
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