Well with less than 2 weeks to go till my son's elk hunt, I went to the range yesterday to do some final tweeks to the sight inon the Magbolt and Optima and took the new Apex I bought for my son out for it's first outing. Overall I think I've got most of the kinks worked out.

Both the MB and Optima have scopes with mil dot style reticles. I set both up to be on at 100 yards. With the loads their set up for it allows the first mark down to be used for 150, the next for 200. After that the loads energy is getting lower than I'm comfortable shooting at an elk size animal.

The Apex was a shot in the dark as far as a load goes. I mounted a standard reticle scope on it and decided to set it up for max point blank range on a 6" target. I also chose to start with 130gr of Pyro pellets to maximize the range of the 250SW. I sighted it in 3" high at 100 yards and it grouped about 1.5". I thought that was pretty good for the first load I tried. I did have to swab between shots to get that accuracy, it was more like 3" without swabbing. I ran out of time and only got to shoot 1 shot at 200 yards, it hit 3" low and just to the right of center but I'm pretty sure I pulled it right a bit, I'm not use to the trigger yet.

Next week I will have my son out practicing with the new rifle so he will be ready for the hunt next weekend. If he can't get the hang of his new gun he will use my rifle that he's already been practicing with.

I hope everyone has a safe and successful season this year.

Best of luck to both of ya'll. Have fun, but remember safety always comes first.

It sounds like you are getting it all together. Good luck hunting.

Man - that's a dynamite load you developed. There's a sweet spot with every Ml. Hope your son gets the chance to harvest one. Keep us informed on what develops.

[size=2]
Keep Your Powder Dry Folks
. . . . . . . Joe [/i]

Thanks for the replies and the good wishes.

I was happy the first load in the Apex worked out since we only have a week and a half to go. The load is accurate enough for elk but when the season is over I will put it through it's paces and find a more accurate load, hopefully several. The gun is about 3 years old and has been well taken care of. The bore seems well broken in and free of problems. This is the first stainless steel gun I've ever had so I need to get use to something other than blue. It is also the first camo stocked gun I've ever had, it looks good and fits just right. It sure feels solid and sturdy. The trigger is slightly different than the other guns I have, something about the angle it hits my finger at just feels different. It has a bit more trigger pull weight than my MagBolt but it's similar to the Optima. Over all I think my son is happy, he had a puzzled look on his face when I pulled it out and handed it to him, then he realized it was for him and he started grinning from ear to ear. He turned 15 this year but he still acts like a big kid, and at 6'6" and 250lbs I guess he is.

Anyway, thanks again and good luck to everyone.