The last time I was in Scheels in EP they had Federal 209’s. I’ll pick some up if I come across them again.

I figured I would update this, I have settle in a load for this rifle shooting the Berger 105 hybrids. I had a chance to proof it yesterday shooting at 1440 yards. Took me one shot to see my splash and correct for wind. The other 9 were all impacts on a 1.5 moa target. It’s pretty impressive what that little bullet can do. Muzzle velocity is 2850. I ended up going with Vihtavouri N140 powder. Jumping bullet 60 thousandths.

I have had a gravity series 560 for a couple years now

We always end up with pretty much all the midwest states plus Ontario and a few more. They are all pretty reasonable. I think South Dakota is the most expensive if I remember right. I think if you fish a lot, you will find that licenses are near the bottom of the list when looking at fishing related expenses

Randy Wieland wrote:

I over looked your pushing those out for the AI.

Couple years ago my brother n law had a hundred rounds for his 7multra mag to burn up. Couldn’t resist blasting rats with it. Needless to say we only found a few pieces

I thought about buying a bunch of bullets in the 70-80 grain range for out there. Might add a little to the fun factor.

Randy Wieland wrote:

I moved over to MagPro and really like the burn rate for that wsm. I slowed it down to about 3200 and the pressure wasn’t nearly as bad. I still need to full size the brass, but its nothing like the amount you have above.

The reason it looks like above is because i’m using Lapua 6 BR Norma brass and firing it in a BR ackley improved chamber. The die James and I use is a Whidden 6BRA full length non bushing die. I set it to only bump the shoulder back .0015″, so once they are fired in the chamber they definitely do not get sized way back down to 6 BR specs, that’s just showing the difference between a 6BR and a 6BRA.

Randy Wieland wrote:

Varget is such a fast burn I don’t see how that works in that round. But then there are few combinations that don’t make sense but works awesome. That H4350 has a moderate burn rate and is the winner for a few rifles I load for. In the 6mm, 270, and 280 its been very consistent for me to hit desired speeds over the chrony without reaching a compressed load.

These BRA’s are a pretty small capacity cartridge. You can only fit about 34 grains of H4350 in it with a drop tube before it starts getting really compressed. You can’t hardly get enough in it. Thats why a faster burning powder like varget can get you a little more speed, but not run out of case capacity. That said I’m not looking to hot rod this cartridge anyways both powders have really nice stable nodes around 2850 and i’m not compressed with H4350 at those speeds.

I cant wait to head out west this spring and create some red mist

gunsmith89 wrote:

Nice looking dasher! I remember a few guys in collage shot those. What powder are you running?

It’s actually a little different than a dasher, the dasher pushes the shoulder up the neck a little bit while the BRA just changes the angle of the shoulder.

So far I have been using H4350 and Vihtavouri N140. No real clear winner although H4350 has a little better case fill and seems like a softer recoil. I’ll probably shoot 10 of each at 600 yards on a calm day and see what has the best group and roll with it.

Varget and H4895 are definitely the popular powders for the BR cases, but I haven’t been able to find either of them in the quantities I want. Midway USA had H4895 yesterday but you could only get 2 pounds. That doesn’t really do me that much good.

Here’s a picture showing the difference between a 6BR and then the same case after firing it in the ackley improved chamber. It gives you a little more case capacity and changes the shoulder angle from 30 degrees to 40 degrees.

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I was down in Arizona hunting quail last weekend and gas was 3.80 for 87 octane

Pretty much every good walleye lake in northern Minnesota is a low light only bite during the ice season, but you can catch them all day long with a little chop on the water.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Pat, which one ya sippin?

I’d take a run at the Double Cask 100 proof.

I’ve just been drinking on the Small Batch Bourbon

Anyone drink Wyoming Whiskey? That’s what i’ve been drinking lately. Its really good!

You obviously have the right mentality with it. I’m sure you will be happy with whichever direction you head in!

Part of my reluctance with the whole red dot craze is that they are not all created equal, and there is a lot of cheap junk out there. Especially the little ones that fit on top of small frame pistols like the Hellcat or P365.

fishthumper wrote:

You are one of the few people who say they are Faster with open iron sights. Most of the top shooters are the two local ranges say the opposite. In fact most of them have a optic on their own personal carry guns.

I’m definitely not a top shooter, I usually only shoot a handful of club matches a year.

Red Dot Optics are sure fun to shoot, but I don’t think I would recommend one on a carry pistol unless your eye sight is bad, (cant see irons). I have a Vortex Venom on a G34 that I have shot some USPSA matches with. I’m sure i’ve shot several thousand rounds through it. It has definitely failed me a few times, bad battery connection and weak battery seem to always be the reason. I have suppressor height iron sites on it for that reason. The only red dot I would trust is a Trijicon RMR.

I would say i’m definitely more accurate with a red dot especially at long range. I’m still faster with irons at close to medium range.

I own mostly Glocks, but I have shot all three of those guns. I prefer the P365 over the Hellcat.

Having a little bit longer barrel doesn’t hurt anything. It’s always the grip that’s hardest to conceal anyways.

shawnf wrote:

Pat, Why did you switch halfway through the season was it not enough power to get through the thicker ice just wondering

Once you start getting around 20″ of ice it takes a lot more power to drill through that much ice, ice chips, and slush if you have that. The 24V still has plenty of power to deal with it, but it does tend to drain the battery a little bit faster. The battery capacity of the 40V makes sure I can drill holes all day even when the ice gets really thick.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I am convinced that this record has been broke multiple times out of Mille Lacs over the years but the fish was always released. Since this fish died, getting it weighed on a certified scale for potential state record recognition is a no brainer.

Honestly I disagree… there’s a couple Mille fish every year that get labelled as the state record if they kept it. But have you ever seen one reported with a length/girth combination that put it bigger than this fish? I personally can’t remember one. A very special fish.

THIS

Charlie W wrote:

So cool. So big.

Makes me wonder though, what is the biggest ski in the lake then??? 😳

It likely was

blank wrote:

That’s a beast! Pretty cool to see the official weight record being broke.

The post says “I felt that tap on my Thorne Bros 9’6” XXH I’ve been searching for all fall”, does anyone know what bait/lure they were using? Since he said “that tap” does that imply he was using a live sucker?

I have no idea what they were throwing, but a lot of times when a musky inhales a big rubber bait like a bulldawg, medussa, or paddletail, all you feel is a tick and slack line.

Dang, I had seen pictures last night, but didn’t see the girth pictures. Straight up 57.75 X 29 will be tough to beat. I hope the muskie police don’t attack them too bad for keeping it! Cool to see the record be broken.

No doubt the 25-06 will do what you want it to.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I do wish that we were in a place where I could pull the proverbial trigger on something–anything!–tomorrow. I’m finding absolutely nothing anywhere for any rifles I’d reasonably consider. And components? Ug. Depressing just thinking about it. I’m OK on primers and powders, but cases and bullets are just a complete mess right now. When’s it gonna be over?

It does really get old tracking down components. I’m in the process of having TS Customs finish up a 6BRA and I finally have all the components I need to reload for it. I’m really looking forward to shooting that.

tswoboda wrote:

Also in a totally different tier though, no? Roughly 30% more recoil?

Not in a different tier at all. Based on the fact that he is considering a .257 Weatherby Magnum he’s obviously okay with a little more recoil.

I guess I just don’t understand why you would go with a .257 over a 6mm or 6.5mm. Bullet selection is so much better for them.

Unless you go with a custom barrel, you’re stuck with a 10 twist barrel that probably won’t stabilize anything over 120 grains so you’re not going to be able to take advantage of higher BC bullets.

I’ve been extremely happy with my 6.5 PRC. Seems like it would do everything the 25-06 would do and more + it’s in a short action.

Better selections of bullets would be a great bonus.

New season should air the 21st

Muzzle Breaks are amazing. I have shot 50 rounds through a 300 Norma Mag doing load development the last few weeks. The recoil is not bad at all. Thats 85.5 grains of powder pushing a 230 grain bullet 2925. I would not hesitate to hand it to my 120 pound girlfriend and let her shoot it.

I guarantee it is nasty to shoot without a break. Would not be fun.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gunsmith89 wrote:</div>
….and with the right bullet produce great results…

This is exactly right, and the good news is that we have fantastic bullet choices and performance these days. Modern bullet performance makes cartridges that used to be considered “marginal” for big game, now be considered more than enough.

For example, basically since its introduction the 243 Winchester has prompted sideways glances from a big section of the shooting public that considers it marginal for deer size game. Between what I’ve shot and guests at the farm have shot with my 243, I can tell you that 10 deer in a row have literally died in their tracks after being shot with this “marginal” cartridge. I put that down to today’s bullet performance.

6.5 mm cartridges used to be considered no man’s land in America. Many considered 6.5 to be too big for varmints/predators and too small for deer. Almost nobody thinks this way now and why should they? Bullet performance is so good now, the 6.5s are more than enough.

I agree with everything said here, but if I was buying a rifle specifically for Moose / Elk / Caribou, I would go at least 7mm, but that’s just me.

If you are looking for a magnum .30 cal I would look hard at the 300 PRC

Big Bore has the best Texas style BBQ i’ve had outside of Texas. I live a mile away, so I have eaten there a lot.

I like the goodyear duratracs

Congratulations! Looked like an awesome trip!