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Old 05-04-2004, 10:09 AM
  #29  
Delpndjeepcj7
 
Join Date: May 2004
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Posts: 11
Default RE: what's your biggest booboo.....be honest?

Back 17 years ago or so, my father and I decided to try handloading a "killer" deer round for our .280 rem Model 70's. Found out why you don't take 160gr X-bullets and grind the points to needlesharp, and then assume you took off about 20 grains, then load according "fill the case to nigh on the brim, cause it sure as heck looks like it supposed to be chock full of powder", (apparently the bullets actual final weight was around 156 grains, when we took charge out of the unfired bullets, average charge was 14.8 grains too much) we went right out to hunting after handloading without shooting in the bullets at all, they did hit within 2" of aiming point on an 8 pointbuck at 50 yards, but first shot out of fathers gun cracked the head of his bolt and burst the case so bad we had to get a gunsmith to get it out, then when said 8point didn't drop I who was standing next to my father at the time took a crack at it, I got away real lucky, split the barrel bout 2" past the chamber and the split sent gases and metal flyingl that happened to shred the front half of my swarvoski scope, fortunately our only injuries were bruised shoulders, empty wallets (we ended up buying brand new guns and scopes, ours were trashed) and sore feet from tracking a buck that was in fact double lung shot, just the needelsharp bullet never expanded and left the tinniest little bit of damage, causing the deer to take us over 1/2 mile before it fell over.

Needless to say we have never done something that utterly idiotic again, always check charge weights to bullet weights, and never, ever, ever, try to "improve" on a bullet
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