Getting ready for mule deer season.

[ammohead]

There has been a serious shortage of pictures to look at on this page. So here is what I intend to hunt with in 4 weeks.

[IMG][/IMG]
I just finished making a lead boolit swage for my 38-55. They drop right at 235 gr with a nice hollowpoint and a recess in the base for tucking the paper up into. No target results or velocity info yet. Maybe tomorrow.

[white eagle]

looks like a winner
to me

[krag35]

Nice !!!

[quilbilly]

No snow on the Schell Mtns yet. The Forest Service has its webcams back up near Murray Summit.

[dlbarr]

No snow on the Schell Mtns yet. The Forest Service has its webcams back up near Murray Summit.

WEBCAMS?!?! What is the purpose of that...locating poachers?

[micky_blue]

How do you hunt mule deer with a 38-55? All the mule deer hunting I have done is spot and stalk and the deer were shot at 200+ yards. Do you do the same but just get closer or are you chasing them in a heavier cover? Just curious.

[ammohead]

How do you hunt mule deer with a 38-55? All the mule deer hunting I have done is spot and stalk and the deer were shot at 200+ yards. Do you do the same but just get closer or are you chasing them in a heavier cover? Just curious.

I didn't say it was easy!

They have archery and muzzleloader seasons for mule deer in every state out west. Some even for antelope. The 38-55 is a much better venue than either of those. Especially on follow-up shots with my model 94. And with any luck I will be hunting in the peak of the rut when the bucks come find the does. And the does will be hanging out wherever there are mahoganys and bitterbrush. Just poke along slow down on the benches near the routes to water wearing full camo and scent cover.

Very few of the mule deer I have taken in Nevada have been at more than 100 yards. You have been watching too much "Best of the West". Many of the shots taken on those types of hunting shows could be stalked much closer. But that wouldn't sell the long range stuff now would it. Not to say I have never taken a long shot. I do prefer the short ones though.

Easy Peasy.

[quilbilly]

Those web cams are at air quality monitoring stations. At that site in Nevada there are two cams. One facing east and one west. fsvisimages is the site name I believe. There are more than a dozen of those sites around the U.S. all with incredible (!!) views many of designated wilderness areas. Ammohead is right about those distances. My Nevada biggest typical mule deer buck (B.C. 182)was taken with a muzzleloader at a distance of about 75 feet and he was with four other magnificent bucks when the trigger was pulled. All but one of my shots at mule deer up here in Washington and Oregon have been at less than 80 yards even when I hunted with modern rifles sighted at 200 yards. dbarr - There is one webcam overlooking the Pasaten wilderness and I watched that catastrophic fire progress on that cam this summer as it almost took the webcam.
BTW Ammohead - I think we are telling people wayyy too much about Nevada.

[dlbarr]

BTW Ammohead - I think we are telling people wayyy too much about Nevada.

I have heard that NV is a pretty "user-friendly" state in many ways....I get the itch to move fairly easily.

[micky_blue]

I didn't say it was easy!

They have archery and muzzleloader seasons for mule deer in every state out west. Some even for antelope. The 38-55 is a much better venue than either of those. Especially on follow-up shots with my model 94. And with any luck I will be hunting in the peak of the rut when the bucks come find the does. And the does will be hanging out wherever there are mahoganys and bitterbrush. Just poke along slow down on the benches near the routes to water wearing full camo and scent cover.

Very few of the mule deer I have taken in Nevada have been at more than 100 yards. You have been watching too much "Best of the West". Many of the shots taken on those types of hunting shows could be stalked much closer. But that wouldn't sell the long range stuff now would it. Not to say I have never taken a long shot. I do prefer the short ones though.

Easy Peasy.

I don't really find 700 yard shots much of hunting. The time I have been out in Montana and Arizona hunting the shots were 2-300 yards. Getting inside of a hundred would have been quite a challenge, but I guess that is most of the fun.

[Harter66]

My long shot was 350yd . About 500 ft above the tree line in the Desatoyas . The other 5 would have been ML shots pretty easy. A short best of about 35yd.

[Afro408]

There has been a serious shortage of pictures to look at on this page. So here is what I intend to hunt with in 4 weeks.

[IMG][/IMG]
I just finished making a lead boolit swage for my 38-55. They drop right at 235 gr with a nice hollowpoint and a recess in the base for tucking the paper up into. No target results or velocity info yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Nice looking boolits, Ammohead and good luck with the hunting.
How about showing us the swage tools that you made. I'm interested
What alloy are they made from?

[ammohead]

The boolits are pure lead with a small amount of tin for mould fillout. I want them soft for expansion. The swage alloy is just high carbon 7/8-11 allthread. I am not swaging copper just very soft lead so no need for oil or water hardened steel die body. The hollow point/extractor pin is turned from water hardening drill rod that I hardened to keep it from bending when tapping the boolit out of the body, and the plunger is just cold rolled round stock. I will post some pictures soon. No time for cameras tonight.

I got about a 1 3/4" group at 50 yards and averaged around 1740 fps. The extreme spread was quite high. I should try some different powders. But for the time have left to get ready...these will hunt. A friend with a lion tag will hunt with me and carry my 270 in case a monster shows up outside of 150 yards, but I really want to take my buck with these babies.

[Grendel99]

Those look like they would definitely get the job done. Good luck with the hunt! Is the swaging tool for HP'ing the bullets?

[NVScouter]

You know I was trying to not not play with my 38-55 until after season. Now I'm warming my mold.......

[ammohead]

Those look like they would definitely get the job done. Good luck with the hunt! Is the swaging tool for HP'ing the bullets?

The mould is not exactly the same shape as the final product. So the swage forms the final shape of the boolit, installs the hollowpoint and puts the dimple in the bottom for folding the paper into. With soft lead it will shape from moulds that are waaaay off shape. It will flatten lube grooves but not eliminate them entirely. They can still be seen but no way effect the shape.

[ammohead]

Sorry this has taken so long.

[IMG][/IMG]
To the left is the ram that mushes the boolit into the die body pictured to the right of ram. The slender pin forms the hollowpoint in the nose and is used to remove the boolit from the die with light tapping with a hammer. (More than light tapping if you forget to lube the boolit before it goes in the die!) At the top of the die and barely visible is a spring plunger set screw. It applies light side pressure to the top of the pin to keep it from falling out of the die when you remove the completed boolit.

I went to the range today and after shooting found this spent boolit in soft sand. It started out at 235 gr and weighs 217 gr as shown. Not bad for a dead soft projectile. If it performs this well in a live Nevada mule deer buck I will be pleased and tagged out. After some adjustment the sights are set to dead on center of bead for 150 yards. At 200 sight with bottom of bead. and at 100 use the top of the bead for a 6:00 hold. Anything under 100 yards aim for a heart shot and call it good. This is with a tang aperature sight.

I head for Ely a week from Wed. Some snow would be nice but I am not holding my breath.

[Afro408]

Thanks for showing the tools, Ammohead.
Did you harden them? Especially the die?

[CastingFool]

Good luck on your hunt, Ammohead. Sounds very exciting. Looking forward to pics and stories.

[ammohead]

Afro408,

Only the pin has been hardened for making the hollowpoint and pushing the boolit out of the die with light taps from a hammer. I bent the first one so I hardened this one. I am using dead soft lead with only a small amount of tin to help with mould fill out. I seriously doubt that i will ever wear out the die. It is made from 7/8-14 allthread from MSC. I looked them all over in their big catalog and picked the one that sounded toughest and hardest. The plunger is cold rolled steel. I need to remake the plunger about .004 larger as it leaves a skirt around the bottom if I really put the pressure to it. It is easily removed with a fingernail but I would like to try one that fit better. I hope to perfect the method and have some for sale some day. I have about 6 years left to retirement and hope to supplement my meager SS with projects like this similar to what Buckshot is doing now. I have a way to go before going commercial but it is fun to learn and plan for the future.