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Post by contender on Jul 16, 2023 21:32:56 GMT -5
Posting pictures requires you using a picture hosting site,, (I use PostImage) and then copying & pasting here.
Another tip that might help your shooting.
Find a GOOD revolver shooter,, and have them shoot your gun. Sometimes,, the gun, the load & the action can have "less than stellar" performances. By having someone else try your gun & ammo, you can see if they do as good, better, or worse than what you've done.
Heck, I had a gun that used to shoot "low & left." I asked a FINE gentleman here to shoot it,, w/o any real info except I was wanting to see if it was me or the gun. After he fired a sweet, one ragged hole group,, I about had to get into a good old country wrestling match to get the gun back. The gun shot tight,, just low & left. I've since corrected that issue,, (It is a Vaquero,) but I can not take that gun back around that gentleman. He still covets that thing,, and I would likely lose it!
wilecoyote above has a good point. Dry-fire with a dime on the top of the gun. It'll help you learn a lot about control of the trigger & gripping methods.
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Post by bigbore5 on Jul 17, 2023 14:25:25 GMT -5
Posting pictures requires you using a picture hosting site,, (I use PostImage) and then copying & pasting here. Another tip that might help your shooting. Find a GOOD revolver shooter,, and have them shoot your gun. Sometimes,, the gun, the load & the action can have "less than stellar" performances. By having someone else try your gun & ammo, you can see if they do as good, better, or worse than what you've done. Heck, I had a gun that used to shoot "low & left." I asked a FINE gentleman here to shoot it,, w/o any real info except I was wanting to see if it was me or the gun. After he fired a sweet, one ragged hole group,, I about had to get into a good old country wrestling match to get the gun back. The gun shot tight,, just low & left. I've since corrected that issue,, (It is a Vaquero,) but I can not take that gun back around that gentleman. He still covets that thing,, and I would likely lose it! wilecoyote above has a good point. Dry-fire with a dime on the top of the gun. It'll help you learn a lot about control of the trigger & gripping methods. You wouldn't be talking about that fine Vaquero with the trigger to rival the nice old models ' would you? |
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rufus
.30 Stingray
Posts: 454
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Post by rufus on Jul 17, 2023 19:56:32 GMT -5
When checking loads from a bench, I use a large rifle bag that is kind of designed to squeeze the forend of the rifle. I take the bag and turn it 90* and allow the revolver to rest on top of the bag. But also push the revolver down into the bag so that it can actually sit on the bag without me holding it. Then I grip the gun with me elbows resting on the bench on a padded surface, the gun is supported by the bag not by me, I’m merely gripping and trying to make a clean trigger break and maintain an accurate sight picture. This allows me to be comfortable and consistent, I place either a 8x10 piece of leather or same size piece of fire hose between the gun and the bag to keep cylinder blast from destroying the bag. This method is relatively easy for me to replicate in the field by shooting off of a smaller bag or my pack. Comfort and consistency are both necessary for accurate shooting, if you force yourself into a position you use more muscle tension to maintain it and this causes your body to use more oxygen and leads to shorter clear vision. Some folks will shoot using the butt of the revolver as the rest, with it placed on a small bag or pad it works for them and seems relatively easy to replicate in the field. However you are required to supply all of the support to the gun to keep it steady and up on target. Trapr Interesting but I do about this exact same thing, bag and leather piece to protect the bag. It has been my most accurate testing setup to date. |
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Post by contender on Jul 17, 2023 21:12:20 GMT -5
"You wouldn't be talking about that fine Vaquero with the trigger to rival the nice old models ' would you? " Nope,, a different Vaquero. (I do have more than one,,,!)  |
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pete
.30 Stingray
Posts: 293
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Post by pete on Jul 20, 2023 0:56:35 GMT -5
Xae289,
Welcome to the forum and handgun hunting. You've gotten some xlent advice, please take it seriously.
As for your handguns, I have both. My Smith is a 6½" classic, they're primo revolvers. Mine will break clay pigeons at 100+ yards with a Lyman 250gr swc over 19.5grs of 2400. You can easily scope it by removing the rear sight and bolt one in, they're drilled and tapped from the factory. Mine has a Leupold base and 2x scope.
If you don't mind telling us where about you live, maybe one of us is close enough to help out with any questions you may have.
May I suggest you use the cast bullet loads for your practice and hunting? They'll be a bit easier to learn your guns without the excess noise and will handle any deer you care to invite home for the winter.
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xae289
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 29
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Post by xae289 on Jul 21, 2023 11:00:04 GMT -5
Xae289, Welcome to the forum and handgun hunting. You've gotten some xlent advice, please take it seriously. As for your handguns, I have both. My Smith is a 6½" classic, they're primo revolvers. Mine will break clay pigeons at 100+ yards with a Lyman 250gr swc over 19.5grs of 2400. You can easily scope it by removing the rear sight and bolt one in, they're drilled and tapped from the factory. Mine has a Leupold base and 2x scope. If you don't mind telling us where about you live, maybe one of us is close enough to help out with any questions you may have. May I suggest you use the cast bullet loads for your practice and hunting? They'll be a bit easier to learn your guns without the excess noise and will handle any deer you care to invite home for the winter. Thanks a lot, Pete. A lot of the advice here has definitely already helped me. I'm from NY, just a few minutes north of the city. As far as a scope, I have a Bushnell red dot mounted on a Picatinny rail, and would prefer to stick to a dot over a scope. Partially because of the weight and balance and partially because it's what I already have and have s practice with. To be honest, if I could get good enough with them, I would rather hunt with iron sights, but I'm definitely not there yet. When it comes to cast bullets, I already do shoot them more than jacketed. I just loaded 100 of the Matt's 280 gr RNFPGC in .44 Special cases over 9.0 gr of Longshot (1065 fps) to shoot over the next 2 or 3 weeks. By comparison, I also loaded some Hornady 300 gr XTPs (19.0 gr H110 for 1220 fps), but only 18 of them. As for cast bullets for hunting, I hear a lot of good things but my concern is that I hear they often don't lead to quick kills. I hunt on a small property where a deer running 100 yards could end up on another property. I have the same concern with my jacketed bullet insofar as I worry about it not expanding, but assume that if it does expand, would kill quicker. My current plan is to use whichever load I shoot more accurately come deer season, though I'm open to suggestions and advice. |
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Post by sixshot on Jul 21, 2023 12:56:33 GMT -5
X, have you thought about using a HP for your deer hunting? They aren't hard to kill with good bullet placement & a good 240 gr cast or jacketed HP. Some people like neck or head shots but that can be an iffy shot. No doubt it works if the deer does it's part but one little movement & it can be a disaster. Lung shots offer a large target area & you will almost always get an exit, leaving blood from 2 holes & a deer that's down very fast.
I doubt I've ever had a double lung shot deer go more than 40-50 yds, usually less. Also most bigger, HP's will break shoulders if the bullet is a decent weight, I've done it many times, sometimes on even bigger animals such as Kudu. Really no need for a gas checked bullet, especially at 1065 fps but some people like them & at times they can offer a bit more accuracy although I doubt you can tell the difference at deer shooting distance. Good luck hunting!
Dick
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Post by handgunhuntingafield on Jul 21, 2023 17:05:03 GMT -5
X, have you thought about using a HP for your deer hunting? They aren't hard to kill with good bullet placement & a good 240 gr cast or jacketed HP. Some people like neck or head shots but that can be an iffy shot. No doubt it works if the deer does it's part but one little movement & it can be a disaster. Lung shots offer a large target area & you will almost always get an exit, leaving blood from 2 holes & a deer that's down very fast. I doubt I've ever had a double lung shot deer go more than 40-50 yds, usually less. Also most bigger, HP's will break shoulders if the bullet is a decent weight, I've done it many times, sometimes on even bigger animals such as Kudu. Really no need for a gas checked bullet, especially at 1065 fps but some people like them & at times they can offer a bit more accuracy although I doubt you can tell the difference at deer shooting distance. Good luck hunting! Dick I second this. HP for shorter tracks and more blood loss. I use HP through elk without issues. |
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Post by boolitdesigner on Jul 21, 2023 17:36:04 GMT -5
HP for shorter tracks and more blood loss.
There is a lot more to it than that. A proper HP on a bullet cast out of a good ductile alloy basically drops a large amount of energy into the animals vital area and disrupts it immediately. I've watched the reaction of a lot of deer I just shot acting like they just got sucker punched, humping up then dropping in place. It looks like they just got hit by Thor's hammer. Ask sixshot to describe what he has seen before.
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Post by handgunhuntingafield on Jul 21, 2023 17:40:39 GMT -5
HP for shorter tracks and more blood loss.There is a lot more to it than that. A proper HP on a bullet cast out of a good ductile alloy basically drops a large amount of energy into the animals vital area and disrupts it immediately. I've watched the reaction of a lot of deer I just shot acting like they just got sucker punched, humping up then dropping in place. It looks like they just got hit by Thor's hammer. Ask sixshot to describe what he has seen before. You can skip the alloy part and just use a quality jacketed HP…..or a mono metal HP/fracturing. Taken quite a few elk, deer, and lope with both. Luckily haven’t had to trail an animal in a decade |
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Post by boolitdesigner on Jul 21, 2023 18:57:26 GMT -5
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Good luck on finding those............at any time in the future.
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Post by handgunhuntingafield on Jul 21, 2023 19:03:46 GMT -5
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Good luck on finding those............at any time in the future.  ? They are on the shelves now |
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Post by bigbore5 on Jul 21, 2023 19:26:44 GMT -5
With cast bullets the big question is do you cast your own or do you buy them?
If you are buying them, you really don't have control over the alloy or heat treatment. Most commercial cast bullets are to hard to reliably expand out of a handgun. It's the same reason they use hard lubes. Less chance of damage in shipping.
If you are casting your own, then you can tailor the alloy and heat treatment to your needs. My bullets are just hard enough to prevent skidding, but soft enough to reliably expand.
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Post by bigbore5 on Jul 21, 2023 19:38:08 GMT -5
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Post by boolitdesigner on Jul 21, 2023 20:14:14 GMT -5
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Good luck on finding those............at any time in the future. ? They are on the shelves now Sixshot wasn't talking about anything jacketed, OR what is a bought-en HP bullet. He casts those himself. Ask him! |
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? They are on the shelves now