Hunting Washington Forum
Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: snowshoes22 on September 01, 2012, 08:21:49 PM
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I'm looking for a load for a young shooter that will be effective on mule deer. He is a good shot with my 17 Remington but might not be able to shoot full house rounds in legal calibers. Here are my caliber choices: 6.5 creedmoor, 270 win, 7 mag, 30-30, 30-06, 44 mag rifle. I had a manual with reduced loads but cannot find it now. Anyone have experience with these loads? He can shoot the creedmoor well but it weighs 14 pounds.
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What age and size kid we talking about here? I was shooting a .300 Savage when I was 9 years old, and loved it.
If nothing else....
Set the kid up on a ridge, to watch with the Creedmoor...
Or keep the range 100 yards or less and shoot the 44 Mag. the recoil in a rifle will be very light.
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He is 11 but pretty small for his age. I just want him to be comfortable and not thinking about recoil. I need to get him out and maybe try the 270. He has shot the 44 mag last year but he didn't like it much.
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He is 11 but pretty small for his age. I just want him to be comfortable and not thinking about recoil. I need to get him out and maybe try the 270. He has shot the 44 mag last year but he didn't like it much.
Recoil is all about gun fit and how he will respond to the gun going off... granted for a kid his size, the 06 is going to be a bit much, and I would think the 270 would be too. Whatever you do, do not force him to shoot a gun he is scared of.. he will let a deer walk before he pulls the trigger or make a bad shot....
You may want to find a 7mm-08, .257 Roberts, .260 Rem. or .243 fairly soon and let him get comfortable with that... it seems you have lots of trade stock to get him a gun he can shoot comfortably.
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He is my cousin and his parents can worry about a permanent setup for him. :P I'm just trying to get him through this season with what i have. My other 13 year old cousin is coming along too so i might just pack the creedmoor so there is only 1 muzzle to worry about.
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Out of the choices you have the most sensible caliber to use would be the 6.5 Creedmoor. The Creedmoor is very close to the 6.5X55 Swede. Use lighter bullets, 95 grains to 120.
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Give the 30-06 a try, but use some TrailBoss powder in there. A 200gr bullet at around 1300 fps would be a pretty effective short range load.
Here's how to determine charge weights.
http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf (http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf)
Andrew
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i found some loads using SR 4759.
130 GR 270 1998 fps for 4.4 ft-lbs of recoil.
130 gr 7 mag 2084 fps for 5.3 ft-lbs of recoil.
165 gr 30-06 1941 fps for 6.1 ft-lbs of recoil.
looking up the muzzle energy now and energy at 100 and 200 for max range for an ethical kill.
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Thanks for the trail boss info. I knew that trail boss would work but lost the info.
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My 6.5 only generates 6.9 ft-lbs with a 140 VLD but it weighs close to 14 lbs. He can pop milk jugs with it at 500 yds no problem. It is just heavy to pack very far. If the above loads don't work i'll just pack the creedmoor and let him shoot it. I have 2 tags to fill anyway. I have a second deer tag.
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The energy looks ok for short range shots.
270 -4.95" at 200 with a 150 zero and 786ft-lbs at 200
7mm 130gr -4.54" at 200 150 zero and 854.8ft-lbs at 200
30-06 -5.1" at 200 150 zero and 990ft-lbs at 200
7mm 160gr -4.28" at 200 150 zero and 1150ft-lbs at 200 and only 7.6ft-lbs of recoil
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What model is the Creedmoor? Is there any chance of swapping out the stock to trim some weight off?
Maybe let the boy carry a lighter rifle for while you're walking in and see something while you pack the Creedmoor in. That way you can have one rifle ready in case a target of opportunity pops up, but you still have the heavy gun for the he wants to shoot. If he isn't comfortable shooting the larger caliber he can just pass it over to you to make the shot.
Andrew
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I think the 270 would be your best bet.
H4895 is a good powder to use for reduced loads.
Here's some info from Hodgdon: http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895%20Reduced%20Rifle%20Loads.pdf (http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895%20Reduced%20Rifle%20Loads.pdf)
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the 6.5 is a Savage model 12 LRP with a Vortex 4-16X Viper PST
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the 6.5 is a Savage model 12 LRP with a Vortex 4-16X Viper PST
No matter what you do with that rifle, it will never be light! :chuckle:
Andrew
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I pack the LRP around coyote hunting all the time it doesn't bother me but i want the kid to have a rifle to pack around so he gets the full experience. Also so he can learn muzzle control and to work for his game. I can pack everything but i don't think he would learn as much.
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This is the 130gr 270 load at the range. the 7mm was about the same but i didn't get a picture of it. this group was shot at 100 yds