About Ed Hale

I am an avid hunter with rifle and Bow and have been hunting for more than 50 years. I have taken big game such as whitetail deer, red deer, elk, Moose and African Plains game such as Kudu, Gemsbok, Springbok, Blesbok, and Impala and wrote an ebook entitled African Safari -Rifle and Bow and Arrow on how to prepare for a first safari. Ed is a serious cartridge reloader and ballistics student. He has earned two degrees in science and has written hundreds of outdoor article on hunting with both bow and rifle.

Tree Stand Shadow Man

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Ed Hale

It is August and a great time to place your tree stands for hunting. I was doing some research and found that this QDMA hunter placed a human silhouette in his stands by cutting it out of a 4×8 T111 panel. It helped in both hiding himself from a rear approach and got the deer to accept the camo form later to be replaced by the hunter. More, that he piles brush in the rear of his stand so that deer must cross in the visible range.

https://www.qdma.com/articles/deer-stand-tip-let-shadow-man-hunt-your-stand

On the .375 Ruger Guide Gun a Reader Writes…

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Ed Hale

On the .375 a Reader Writes…I have recently acquired a .375 Ruger GG,Guide Gun and was wondering if you’d be kind enough to share load data? I’ve read your reviews on this cartridge and some of the loads mentioned. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in getting started, especially with reduced power practice loads.

Kind regards,

Joe

Ed wrote back:

Congratulations! You have the rifle that can take the Planet’s game, if you reload, from rabbits to elephant. I can honestly shoot full power loads Nosler or Hornady 260 or 300 grain loads in my t-shirt when standing or using African shooting sticks and I am an older man. The gun pushes more that it kicks. Using the best recoil pad helps to reduce felt recoil up to 50 to 70%. Reduced Load data is hard to find or in fact for some loads non-existent. Are you familiar with .375 H & H Magnum “reduced load” data by Hornady? If so, that data may be helpful like it was for me. Unfortunately, I cannot share exactly what worked in one rifle that may not work in another one. The heartening part I found was that taken in baby steps, I never had a problem in working up a load and you shouldn’t either. I killed a red deer doe at 190 pounds on the hoof at 50 yards with the 225 flat nose with a starting load. She went 20 feet and piled up with a hole in her heart the size of my thumb and it exited the doe. There was so little recoil and the report was without the mighty crack of the rifle that my guide 200 yards away never heard the gun go off. It was like I was shooting my muzzle loader.

Mid-power loads are already published. Look into the Speer 235 grain Hot Core as a mid load and extrapolate starting loads, if you are so skilled.

It is when I am at the bench hunched over the rifle and locked in so-to-speak that can hurt, so I use a Simms Limbsaver® shoulder pad and a Pachmayr Decelerator® recoil pad to make the felt recoil so tame. You have found a great rifle and cartridge. Wow is it accurate! Enjoy! Good Luck! You will be just fine if you are a veteran reloader.

Good Hunting!

Hunting Ammo and Bullet Fragmentation by Ed Hale

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Ed Hale

I provide this thought provoking article for your education and mine on choosing your hunting bullet. Outdoor Life, in the article below, has more on the lead in rifle bullets used to kill deer and other big game for food. Man has been killing and consuming wild game shot with lead for hundreds of years. We are still here, but can we do better?

http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/hunting/whitetail-deer/accessories-gear/2008/12/update-lead-your-meat

Also, below is a Power Point Presentation on the Minnesota Study regarding lead fragmentation. Lead fragments have been found as far away as 18 inches from the wound with some high speed bullet types. Most slow muzzle loader or shotgun show no lead particles.The DNR report has x-ray images that you can see with your own eyes.

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/lead/index.htm

Prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you don’t want lead in your game meat you can shoot rifle bullets without lead in them. This is a 100% guarantee of “no lead” Or shoot a shotgun slug or muzzle loader that is slow enough not to fragment.

Shoot bullets whose lead is bonded to the jacket and is proven to retain most of its weight. Bonded bullets are new on the hunting scene in the past decade and add to the value of a controlled expansion bullet that often provides an exit wound and a blood trail.

The Nosler’s E-Tip : E in E- Tip® is for Expansion and retains virtually 100% of its copper weight, curles into a perfect mushroom, and leaves no copper in your barrel or the game you hunt.

On the Nosler AccuBond; I have killed game with the Nosler AccuBond® and find that it is true to its name and holds a high weight retention.

I hear good reports for high weight retention for Barnes Bullets made of soft copper and mushroom well but find that they leave copper in some of my rifle barrels not a big detractor just scrub your barrel well and more often.

The Hornady InterBond® bullet is a bonded lead core to the copper jacket and has high weight retention as does the Swift Scirocco® a bonded bullet that uses pure copper for the jacket and not gilding copper. Pricing of bullets for hunting are a little more for bonded and copper but they are worth it! Here is a chart of cost per shot using a .270 Winchester as an example. Note: Winchester makes a copper bullet not included here, maybe another article.

It looks like copper is slightly more per shot but data shows that they retain the most weight of the two types bonded vs copper and fully mushrooms or petals. Both bonded and copper stay together often leaving an exit wound for a blood trail. But only copper leaves no lead fragments in your meat! Choose you Bullets…WISELY!

Make Use of Your Bear

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Ed Hale

Bear season is around the corner in September here in New Hampshire. Bears have been hunted since prehistoric times for meat, fur and lubricating/protection oil/grease for your gun metal and leather and for cooking and frying and so much more.

Bear Meat

Bear meat like pork contains the Trichinella parasite thus the meat must be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. I have eaten bear bear burger in chili and found that to be excellent. I am not a large fan of the meat per se but when cooked correctly and at the right temperature it is a great protein meat. I would use my pressure cooker to exceed the temperature needed and to tenderize it. See from http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/bear_recipeguide.pdf

Bear Fur Rugs

Bear fur rugs are excellent if initially cared for after the kill by salting the hide and fast processing by a taxidermist.

Bear Grease & Oil

My brother was interested in making a bear grease years ago from a New Hampshire bear he killed and it worked well for leather and lubricating his rifle. The key for making the grease or oil is slow processing at lower temperatures so as not to cook/fry the fat at all. Here is a Wild Edible blog that provides the details. http://www.wildedible.com/blog/bear-grease-rendering-lard

Hunters for centuries used bear grease to lubricate and protect metal from rust and to soften and protect leather. Some say it is a great cooking grease too but I have never used it.

Bear Grease has been used for centuries by Native Americans and Settlers for

Waterproofing and conditioning leather
As a lubricant and anti-rust agent for metal and gun parts
Oil and grease for pastry making and for frying.
Making Soap
A great fire starter.
Medical; for Dry or Chapped Skin
For light as in lamp oil

The great part about rendered bear fat as a grease, the experts say, is that it does not require refrigeration but can be frozen too. Bear oil can also be part of the render process and it remains as an oil at room temperature.

Rifle and Shotgun State of the Art Recoil Reducing Pads

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Ed Hale

I just penned a very short article on muzzle brakes and believe that they are necessary on very large bore rifles such as .338 Lapua Magnum and the 50 Caliber’s but having said that, the best recoil tamer is a “state-of-the-art” recoil pad such as those tested and proven to significantly reduce recoil. I have tested Limbsaver™ SVL® and Packmayr Decelerator® slip-on type or precision-fit replacement pads. I have not only tested them, I use them every time I go afield or to the range. These pads can and do reduce felt recoil up to 70%. Yes that means that you can shoot a 30-06 and have it feel like recoil from a .243 Winchester. An investment here is for a lifetime of easy shooting! So go get one!

http://pachmayr.com/home/

Below a slip-on version and I own one and love it!

http://www.limbsaver.com/product/airtech-slip-on-recoil/

New from Limbsaver is the Airtech shown here as a slip-on with up to 70% recoil reduction. I have tested other Limbsaver pads and will ask to test this one. I am already a believer in the Limbsaver products for rifle and for Bow and Arrow so Check them out.

productairtechsliponstock

Muzzle Brakes?

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Ed Hale

The muzzle brake I have on the Savage 11/111 has not been tested yet, with the muzzle brake on, because – with a hunting jacket and the state of the art recoil pad on it – tames the rifle recoil enough for me. Rest assured… I will test it. But the noise (Decibel) level from the rearward gas that comes out of the brake requires the use of hearing protection else damage to your hearing is inevitable. Muzzle Brakes cost $300 or more to install. Hearing aids for hearing loss can cost up to $4000.

I have never owned a rifle with a muzzle brake due to the noise factor alone. Maybe the Savage Brake will change my mind. The value of the brake on the Savage is that with a twist it is turned on or off. On a cold deer stand day the use of ear muffs can be warm ears. A nice thing. If you plan to use the brake while hunting with others near you. I don’t recommend it. You may lose your friends in a hurry.

On the other more positive hand, if on a deer stand alone, it can be a large recoil reducing aid, if you are wearing ear protection and help you make that shot of a lifetime. It is up to you. Be safe out there…

muzzle brake

Remington Model 870 Express Tactical Magpul

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Ed Hale

A quick note for home defense folks. There is buzz in the air over shotgun home defense.

I met a young woman at the range pumping 12 gauge holes in a 6 inch bullseye at 25 yards with the Remington Model 870™Express® Tactical Magpul®. In fact she was having a good time and no issues with recoil or a stock that did not fit her. This is a woman that loves her shotgun! Bad guys beware!

http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/tactical/shotguns/model-870-express-tactical-magpul.aspx

NRA has this piece below on shotgun home defense. Check it out!

http://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2015/8/3/choosing-a-home-defense-shotgun/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=insider&utm_campaign=0815

Nosler Bonded and Copper Bullets Best for Meat Hunters by Ed Hale

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Ed Hale

It is a known fact that keeps the campfire talk burning, that if you shoot a deer with hyper-velocity 3000 fps plus, small lead core bullets, that there will likely be an explosion of damage on impact especially if a rib bone is struck on entrance, the bullet’s lead core will separate from the jacket and will fragment thus penetration will suffer and game may be harder to find lacking a blood trail. But there is more to this than meets the eye.

Further, that lead fragmentation is more widely distributed causing more loss of delicious venison suspected of metal and lead contamination. As a grandparent I want my grand-kids to eat the best venison I can provide so I shoot the best bullets that hold together.

Nosler provides one of the best bullet solutions among others but I trust Nosler. Simple as that! I have been shooting Nosler’s for decades when hunting.

To date, there have not been any cases of human illnesses linked to lead particles in hunter-harvested venison according to a study conducted by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Connection and Minnesota DOE et al. But better hunting bullets ensure to prevent this.

I had this lead bullet conversation with a friend the other day whose brother owns a 25-06, a fine long range rifle for deer and antelope at far distances. What happened was that the deer was struck in the lung area but no exit wound occurred. The deer ran off, the shooter later followed looking for a blood trail and found not a drop. The only thing the hunter had was the visual direction of the animal after the shot. He knew he hit the animal well but it took him a few days of searching to find that deer not far, in fact, from the hit. It had no exit wound to leave a blood trail. This hunter, like me, reloads his own ammo and decided never to use that jacketed lead bullet for anything but punching paper. I can’t say that I blame him because we hunters want a clean kill and the meat for the table too. Lesson Learned!

Best high power 20 and 30 caliber hunting bullets on game are bonded with lead to the copper like the Nosler AccuBond and maintain a high percentage of weight and negligible fragmentation.

Full copper bullets too like the Nosler E-Tip are designed to create a petal like a flower instead of a mushroom and keep an even higher percentage of weight and no-lead at all.

Large calibers like .375 and 40 calibers with lead cores that are un-bonded will fully penetrate because of the bullets large size and its weight/momentum and will fragment little.

A blood trail is necessary in bow hunting and in gun hunting big game for a fast recovery. In order to have a blood trail to follow you need an exit wound. Now there are some out there who do not believe an exit wound is needed. Nuts! It is your best chance for a fast recovery and flavorful meat with less stress hormones in the meat which can make the meat taste less inviting. Keep the hunting bullets that are not bonded for paper punching unless they are sizable 150 grains or larger. On the further down side is the fact that lead bullets that can fragment often require more of the surrounding meat to be tossed out suspecting fragments in the meat.

In the many articles I have written, bullets like the Nosler E-Tip and AccuBond are designed not for the target shooter but for hunters who want to maintain bullet weight while mushrooming thus creating a large wound channel for blood to flow and full penetration with an exit wound and to prevent fragmentation.

Accordingly, the Nosler E-Tip is one of the finest hunting bullets available providing full Penetration and little or no fragmentation, a no-lead solution.

Further that the E-Tip is gilding alloy copper and leaves no appreciable copper in the barrel, and no one likes scrubbing copper out of barrels. Go buy some Nosler AccuBonds or E-Tips Today! You will be glad you did. © 2015

Bullet Wind Drift Correction – by Ed Hale

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Ed Hale

If you want to know calculated wind drift correction at long ranges of 200 to 600 yards you need accurate data from a chronograph and an on-line ballistic calculator such as the JBM Ballistics calculator at www.jbmballistics.com. Go to trajectory data input.

Here is a wind table I have created of wind correction in inches needed to be on a 6 inch target if the rifle was zeroed at 250 yards with a BC of 0.489 and bullet muzzle velocity of 2950 fps. To the left is wind speed and to the right is the wind correction needed to keep the bullet on target at distances out to 600 yards.

At the bottom of the table is the bullet drop as it is affected by gravity. This table now needs to be proven at the ranges and corrected as needed for real world data. I interpret that at wind speeds of 5 mph or less that you can shoot all the way out to 294 yards as the True Max Point Blank Range without need to compensate for gravity to stay in a 6 inch circle. At 400 yards the bullet will drop at the same rate 32 feet per second per second no matter what the wind does and will drop 15 inches (in yellow) based on its ballistic coefficient (wind drag) or you can compensate by turning your vertical adjustment up 3.5 MOA.

Tools:

Chronograph (cost 80 to 120 dollars)

A Camera stand that can connect to the Chronograph base

Data of Ballistic Coefficient for your bullet

A Ballistic Calculator such as www.jbmballistics.com

Once you shoot your rifle to get data for your bullet speed using the chronograph, In theory many serious hobby ballistician’s use the 6 inch circle as the ideal target bullseye of the heart lungs of a whitetail deer when plugging in data to the calculator. Some will use 8 inches for Elk heart and lungs. The lungs of a deer are laterally longer than 6 inches but you get the idea. So you have a little print out of this field tested data on your stand. You note a buck is standing at 500 yards facing left and the wind is blowing right to left at 10 mph where should you aim? I mean if you are practiced at this. Laterally you should aim around 17 inches to right of the lungs just forward of the rear ham muscle and adjust your vertical height on the scope accordingly to compensate for the 33 inch drop which is 6.4 MOA. This kind of shot needs to be practiced in training to be sure of the shot. If you have not practiced this kind of shot then let the deer walk away. Perhaps another day he will be at 100 yards, right? It is about the ethics, a clean kill and training.

Savage 11/111 Long Range Hunter Rifle and Leupold VX-6 Scope and Nosler Bullets Out of the Box (Part 1) By Ed Hale

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Ed Hale

I chose this 7mm Remington Magnum caliber to test because of the availability of ammo and brass for reloading and its outstanding accuracy record at any hunting distance. I chose the rifle because it has so much versatility with the built in cheek rest and muzzle brake. Due to the popularity of this rifle, it took my friends at Savage some time to obtain one for me to test for NH Rifleman publication. We will be testing this rifle with the Leupold VX-6 3-18 44mm CDS Illuminated Boone and Crockett system and with Nosler E-Tip Expandable solid gilding copper bullets in 140 and 150 grains.

Hunters can spend many thousands of dollars on a fine hunting rifle and never equal the engineered quality of this Rifle at this price point MSRP of $1136. Yes it is not cheap but for what is in this rifle it is truly amazing if it can shoot as well as they say. Read on…

For the Techies like me…The rifle is for right handed shooters with a barrel rate of twist of 9.5 thus for 140 grains to 175 grains bullets are stable. Stability is calculated at http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmstab-5.1.cgi where bullets are very stable above a factor of 1.5.

THE RIFLE

The rifle weighs in at 8.65 pounds without scope. Barrel Length is 26 inches and includes a 2 inch muzzle brake that can be turned on and off by a simple twist. Ammo capacity is three rounds and the cartridge is based on the large .375 Holland & Holland Magnum and necked down to 7.2mm or .284 inches. I think of this rifle as a 24 inch barrel with a 2 inch muzzle brake. So what is so engineered? I liked the Savage videos below to share with our readers all the details. The adjustable cheek rest needs an allen wrench to change the height.

Stock – The AccuStock is engineered to seat the floating barrel firmly in a metal housing. A video presentation makes this clear. http://savagearms.com/accuracy/accustock/

Trigger – Next is the innovative and Adjustable AccuTrigger which allows low trigger weights and with Safety primary. The trigger on this rifle is set just under 3 pounds at 2 pounds 15 ounces and breaks crisply. Video http://savagearms.com/accuracy/accutrigger

Barrels are button rifled with a floating bolt head and head-space control and video clips are seen here. http://savagearms.com/accuracy

Recoil Pad and Muzzle Brake

The rifle has a state of the art recoil pad and absorbs lots of felt recoil. But the best option is the Muzzle Brake. Savage added a 2 inch Muzzle Brake that can be turned on or off, adding more or less to velocity and recoil absorption (Pictured below with the brake activated. See the background through the center holes)

THE SCOPE

The Leupold Scope is the VX-6 3-18 44mm CDS Illuminated with Boon and Crockett Reticle. We will set the scope on 10x for 100 yards with no Illumination. The body of this scope is too short for the existing mounts on the rifle so a set of high rings and a longer forward mount was purchased from Weaver to move the rings closer together.

THE BULLET

See the You Tube videos of Nosler bullets and E-Tips on the internet.

On one video the bullet began expand on impact of ballistic gel and at 5 to 6 inches and beyond it creates a maximum wound channel of 4 inches for an ethical kill and maintained more than 95% of bullet weight throughout and mushroomed perfectly.

BULLET GROUP TESTS (OUT OF THE BOX) SUB MOA August 7, 2015

Bullets were reloaded according to SAAMI spec’s and Nosler Manual Powder and Load recommendations for each bullet. IMR 4831 powder was chosen because it was available and had a starting load that was already proven to be accurate.

140 grain 100 yard Test at a MV of 2950 fps with 62 grains of IMR 4831 with the Muzzle Brake turned off ( Recoil was very acceptable with 140 grain bullets)

DATA and Photo’s

Group 1 = 1.06 inches

Group 2 = 0.812 inches

Group 3 = 0.687 inches

Average = .853 inches

JBM Ballistics Table for Drop, Velocity, Energy and Max Point Blank Range MPBR for a 6 inch target. Max Point Blank Range is 293 yards when sighted for 250 yard zero. If the wind was 10 mph the shot would be limited to 220 yards without any correction. The maximum height of bullet flight is at 3 inches high at 141 yards.

I was thrilled with the rifle, scope and bullet set up as this combination shot sub minute of angle right out of the Box! WOW!!!

November 2024

Author Archives: Ed Hale