Well got to get out this morning to get some shooting in... it was a beautiful morning - wouldn't have matter if it wasn't any morning you can shoot is great morning.

Don't have any paper I can show you I went back to my fun game, it is actually more fun with two people to match shots, but I set out 20 clay pigeons from 75 yards to 175 yards, various angles and heights. Then load up and start shooting.

I had decided that I was going to concentrate on shooting the 10mm 200 grain XTP with a 110 grains of T7-2f. But part way the shooting I got the urge to shoot some 250 grain Speer Gold Dots also and it was that time I noticed an interesting difference....

When shooting the 10mm from 75 to 100 yards when I hit the clay pigeon near the middle of the bird I would blow out the center of the bird yet the edge would remain intact - fractured but intact. This is not not new for me because I have been shooting birds with centerfires for years (get tired of shooting paper in one spot). Centerfires often pierce the pigeon woth out breaking it up but I really felt a ML bullet would comepletly break it up. The next part of the picture came when I would should the second pigeon at the same range with a 250 grain GD the pigeon would be reduced to bit and pieces - no peices big enough to shoot again. The last part of the experiment occured @ 130 yards - both the 200 and the 250 grain at this distance reduced the pigeon to bits again nothing big enough to shoot the second time.

Another discovery and one that I am really happy with, when I placed the 150 yard birds I placed then in the snow on a stump with snow packed in behing to hold them up, but I did not notice until I got back to the bench was the two 150 yard birds were in behind some light slash. I could not get a clean shot at the birds - I had to shoot through the slash. Because of this I decided to shootthem with a 250 GD. Not a problem boom-smoke-no vison - but when i looked with the scope then the binoculars - no bird nothing barely could see any bits. Well, that worked so darn good I thought I would try a 200 but i was really concerned the deflecion would cause a miss, actually I thought the 250 migh deflect also, almost decided to shoot aNosler 300 grain to get to them... but anyway loaded up a 200 touched it off- no bird left after shot. I KNOW I was hitting small branches- there is now way I could get the bullets in without hitting some slash but it all worked great.

It was a fun morning wish you all could have been there...

And you keep saying your not competative.

Nice shooting Mike, wish I could have been there. Matt keeps asking me if we can go shooting when we come over to the wrestling tournament. I keep telling him I don't think so, but if I leave it up to you and him, we will probably just skip the tournament and go shoot.Might provide an interesting discussion when momma asks him how he did.

Did the ice melt?

Nice shooting. The Ultra Mag is a most fun rifle to shoot without a doubt. That is pretty surprising about your penetration observations through slashing. I always avoid that stuff at all costs. Maybe I will have to play around and shoot through some of that myself...

cascadedad

If'n it is up to us - I vote shooting - any day is a good day fer shooten.... and I am pretty sure we could twist yer arm... that will happen as soon as you pick up dis .17 dat I gots here...


UC

Nope! - still had to four-wheel in and out - but is is goin... should be gone in the lowlands by mid March - sides a little ice never stops ya - looky at them guys that sit on ice all day to catch a fish... you gotta love what you are doing...

The 50/40 200gr combo has never ceased to amaze me, now you have added a new perspective to the over look.
As a point of interest do you have a velicity on that load? Lee

lemoyne

2150/2200 fps - they are zipping along... the other thing that amazed me today I was holding on the bottom of the bird all the way out to 130 yards then beyond that out to 175 yards I held right in the middle - even with 9 power the birds were awful small that far out... Also! - same hold for the 250 grain Speer GDots although I did not shoot them beyond 150 yards. I was really happy with the ability of those 250 GD's also...

I did the brush test years ago when I was young and dumb and didn't believe stuff I was told. I of course back then used center fires. We were told to hunt deer in northern michigan woods you needed a brush bucking big bore round nose bullet. I didn't have or know any one with a 35 Remington so it didn't get tested. A 30-30 Winchester 94, 308 winchester in a Remington 700, and a 243 winchester in a Remington 700. My test showed that the slow heavy bullets deflected easier in smaller brush than the 243 did. The bigger slow heavy bullets were able to shoot thru some 3 and 4 inch trees that the 243 couldn't.
I called it a wash but do use the smaller bore when shooting could happen in tag alders. And the 30 cals when hunting in the Hemlocks where there are lots of small sized trees.

Al