mdbrown

i have a knight bighorn, im working up a load for an idaho deer hunt, we have to use loose powder, lead bullets or powerbelts. i have tryed hornady great plains, tc maxihunter. neither would group at all. then i tryed powerbelts. 295s, 348s and 405s. all with 70-90 grains of pyro. rs. i finally got the 405s to group 23/4 inch off the bench at 100 yardswith 90 grains of pyro. rs.but what im thinking is that the 405s are too much lead for a mule deer. a large one im hoping for. any way is does anyone have any ideas?

cayugad

All lead bullets.. you could try some Buffalo Bullet SSB's if you can find them in 375 grain. 405 grain powerbelts are not too much for deer. I shoot a 500 grain all lead conical with 70 grains of powder. I will plant that deer where it stands. You could also try some T/C Cheap shots. Load about 80 grains of powder and try them. They are all lead and they are a good deer load. Put them in the right spot, and they will get the job done, I have read.

sabotloader

mdbrown

Gee! i can not believe the Big Horn is that choosey... Since we can not use a sabot either - I shoot 460 grain Bull Shops during that season. They are a really good projectile... I shoot them from a GM barrel also.

You could get some 460 No Exuses out of Utah in couple of days - they are pretty close to the same thing - just a different lube....

Where are you at in Idaho - never mind I guess since you said Mule Deer you probably are in southern Idaho... I was thinking if you were up north I could get you some Bull Shops and you could try them....

And very importantly - Welcome to the Forum - this is an excellent place to be.

mdbrown

sabotloader
im from donnelly, but i drew a garden valley, unit 33,34 and some of 35 tag. it will be a mule deer hunt nov. 10-30 th. i have never went over 90 grains, do either of you think it would shoot better with more powder? also does anyone have any buck genetic info in that part of idaho? thanks for the help.Larry

cayugad

It depends on whether you have the 22 inch barrel or the 26 inch barrel. If it is the short Bighorn 100 grains of powder is about all you're going to push it. The longer barrel might burn off more powder. I shoot a Wolverine which is a Bighorn stripped down. One conical it shoots very well are Saber Tooth Conicals. I am not sure if they are legal as they are copper jacketed. It also shoots 270 grain Buffalo Ball-ets which are nothing more then a fancy roundball. It does well with them and you get a little more weight then with a roundball.

sabotloader

mdbrown

MC-Don - that is not as far as thought you might be.... spent a lot of time in that area when I was younger. I am in Moscow now - came here to go to school in the 60's and ever have left - The plan was to return to Boise - but it got to big... Hey if you come noth bring yer gun and we will go do some shooten...

Suggestion.... Call Dave at No Excuse... order a box of his No Excuse conicals and give them a shot. I use 90 grains of T7-3f in my GM-LRH-SS sidehamer which is a 1/28 twist and in the other sidehammers i use 80 grains (1/48 twist).

http://members.aol.com/nebullets/

Since you are limited percusson cap ignition - I would suggest the 3f powder as it is a lot easier to ignite, oops forgot you were using a pyro so that should not be a problem.

hope you get something to work for you.... As much as I dislike the PB the 2.75 group of 405 grain is not all that bad with open sites @ 100 - they will work just fine... most often when shooting pure lead - big lead is the way to go...

thumper50

I have shot the No excuses, 460gr, .503s out of both my Knights. Bighorn .50 w/26in bbl and mk-95, 22in bbl. I use 80gr 3f swiss and 3f goex. Very acceptable accuracy 1.5-2.5 at 100meters. Hang on though they will get your attention!! that was w/a scope though. Wouldn't be afraid to shoot that far w/a peep or open sites! Thinking of backing down to 70gr swiss.

FG

With the lead powerbelt, you cant go wrong with the 405. Use it, if it is accurate in the rifle and you are comfortable with the load. I would only recommend that you go for the lungs and not try to push it into the shoulder.

Aerotips or hollow points?