Thanks for the input so far guys. I thought about the 235s as well, but when I saw that there were some 200gr kicking around, I figured why not. I have them loaded behind 68grs of imr4064, so I will see how they work out.
As for how my super ugly Taylor turned out, well, in a word: phenominal. It went guiding with me this year, and I can't come up with anything to complain about with it. The FN action performed flawlessly, never binding or giving me grief at all. I had it in snow, in freezing rain, in sand, in a boat being splashed with river water... No matter what I did I couldn't get the thing to cause trouble. Anyone who complains about stainless steel vs blueing doesn't know what they are talking about. Just oil your rifle and you're fine. I have 8 hard weeks in the bush to attest to this.
But on the other hand, a few extremely minor things popped up. For one, the sight hood on the front ramp fell off somewhere in the bush, after being snagged on branches and stuff. Not a big deal. Oh and the wood stock gets the occasional ding here and there, but it makes for character.
As for accuracy, I can't give a really honest report, as I didn't have enough time before camp to work on pet loads or anything. All I had on hand were 43 rounds of 300gr hornady round-nose in front of 62 grains of imr4064. It shot those well enough, but I will sheepishly admit that those loads had me feeling the recoil a bit, so wasn't "doing my part". That being said, I was still getting groups of 2", so I know she's a shooter.
I'm hoping to get to the range on Tuesday, so I will get photos of how everything works. This time around I have my 300gr load, a 250gr load, and a 200gr load, so we will see how it works.
)
