What is a flat top?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc
Here is just some of the 11 deer(flattops) we saw that afternoon.
Odocoileus hemionus - often referred to as a 'mule deer'. Males have antlers, known as "bucks", the females have no antlers, and are known as "does" or more commonly "flat tops" by guys from Newfoundland.
Why? Flat tops are made up of a tissue on their bones that is called "jerky"
Where? Region 5-02D of Central BC
Who? Two of the most premier members of the intraweb team together, for the most epic hunting adventure to unfold since the Chadwick ram hit the dirt 150 years ago
How? grab a beer, even if it is 7am when you read this, and scroll down
Now some of you may say, Flat top hunting? that is boring. And, I would probably agree, the amount of skill/adventure required to take a mule deer doe in the Caribou region is about nil. Drive down the road, spot flat top, get out, slam your clip into the 300 magnum, and get the knife, go home, and mow the lawn
I dont own a 300 magnum, nor could I borrow one for my flat top hunt. I do however own a nice little rifle that is chambered in a cartridge that most would call marginal for coyotes. I would never suggest the use of a marginal cartridge for big game, but what makes a cartridge marginal, or "powerful" for that matter? Is it the amount of powder it burns? the speed of the bullet? the weight of the bullet? the diameter of the bullet? so many questions that have many different answers, depends on who you ask.
I have always been fascinated with bullet performance. Testing this, testing that - it fuels my curiosity and desire to gain experience and knowledge first hand. I've concluded over the years that just about everything kills stuff real well, providing the bullet is placed correctly. I've also realized that a bullet has to be capable of providing enough expansion and penetration to work, because if the bullet fails even when delivered into a good spot, it will still give undesirable results.
The rifle is a CZ 527 American chambered in the 221 Fireball. Basically a shortened version of the 222/223 that was originally designed for bolt action single shot pistols in the early 1960s. It's claim to fame was it gave, at the time, the highest muzzle velocity for a pistol cartridge ever. In a rifle, it's faster yet, but still lags behind a 223 by 400 fps, and a 22-250 beats it by about 700. Neither of those cartridges are commonly used on deer sized game, they are varmint guns.
A guy would be silly taking this rifle into the woods for deer. A very light bullet traveling at high speed is a bad combination for reliable performance.
A bullet company in Utah changed this in 2008. They designed a bullet that wasn't like your ordinary 22 caliber bullet. Barnes Bullets made a 45 grain Triple Shock X bullet, a 100% copper hollow point bullet designed to retain 99% of its original weight on impact. Hmmmm - this interested me.
I looked at the box of the bullets on the shelf at the local gun store for months. Curiosity got the best of me and I purchased a box. Here is a picture of one next to what is commonly accepted as a minimum deer bullet, a 100 grain bullet used in a 243 Winchester
Does that inspire confidence in you?
I loaded a few rounds to test fire for accuracy. 15 grains of powder (for you non-reloaders, in comparison a 300 Magnum burns between 65-75 grains) behind the 45 grain TSX proved plenty accurate enough with zero load tweaking. My initial groups ran around 1" for 3 shots at 100 yards from a makeshift rest over the hood of the truck. Velocity approx 3200 fps @ muzzle.
After many evenings of discussion about Flat tops & Fireballs, with a premier memeber of the intraweb, it was agreed that further testing was required before the Fireball could be pressed into service as a Flat Top KILLA
As the hunt grew closer, and time ran out - the testing would have to be done at no better place than - deer camp. As always when going on a trip from home, I bring a second rifle as backup in case something goes wrong with my main gun. This time, the 2nd gun was brought along for the extra firepower. A 260 Remington was chosen, a solid deer cartridge chambered in a very accurate rifle. Perfect for flat tops you'd think, which you're correct. But how much fun would that be?
Let the hunt begin....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc
Here is just some of the 11 deer(flattops) we saw that afternoon.
Odocoileus hemionus - often referred to as a 'mule deer'. Males have antlers, known as "bucks", the females have no antlers, and are known as "does" or more commonly "flat tops" by guys from Newfoundland.
Why? Flat tops are made up of a tissue on their bones that is called "jerky"
Where? Region 5-02D of Central BC
Who? Two of the most premier members of the intraweb team together, for the most epic hunting adventure to unfold since the Chadwick ram hit the dirt 150 years ago
How? grab a beer, even if it is 7am when you read this, and scroll down
Now some of you may say, Flat top hunting? that is boring. And, I would probably agree, the amount of skill/adventure required to take a mule deer doe in the Caribou region is about nil. Drive down the road, spot flat top, get out, slam your clip into the 300 magnum, and get the knife, go home, and mow the lawn
I dont own a 300 magnum, nor could I borrow one for my flat top hunt. I do however own a nice little rifle that is chambered in a cartridge that most would call marginal for coyotes. I would never suggest the use of a marginal cartridge for big game, but what makes a cartridge marginal, or "powerful" for that matter? Is it the amount of powder it burns? the speed of the bullet? the weight of the bullet? the diameter of the bullet? so many questions that have many different answers, depends on who you ask.
I have always been fascinated with bullet performance. Testing this, testing that - it fuels my curiosity and desire to gain experience and knowledge first hand. I've concluded over the years that just about everything kills stuff real well, providing the bullet is placed correctly. I've also realized that a bullet has to be capable of providing enough expansion and penetration to work, because if the bullet fails even when delivered into a good spot, it will still give undesirable results.
The rifle is a CZ 527 American chambered in the 221 Fireball. Basically a shortened version of the 222/223 that was originally designed for bolt action single shot pistols in the early 1960s. It's claim to fame was it gave, at the time, the highest muzzle velocity for a pistol cartridge ever. In a rifle, it's faster yet, but still lags behind a 223 by 400 fps, and a 22-250 beats it by about 700. Neither of those cartridges are commonly used on deer sized game, they are varmint guns.
A guy would be silly taking this rifle into the woods for deer. A very light bullet traveling at high speed is a bad combination for reliable performance.
A bullet company in Utah changed this in 2008. They designed a bullet that wasn't like your ordinary 22 caliber bullet. Barnes Bullets made a 45 grain Triple Shock X bullet, a 100% copper hollow point bullet designed to retain 99% of its original weight on impact. Hmmmm - this interested me.
I looked at the box of the bullets on the shelf at the local gun store for months. Curiosity got the best of me and I purchased a box. Here is a picture of one next to what is commonly accepted as a minimum deer bullet, a 100 grain bullet used in a 243 Winchester
Does that inspire confidence in you?
I loaded a few rounds to test fire for accuracy. 15 grains of powder (for you non-reloaders, in comparison a 300 Magnum burns between 65-75 grains) behind the 45 grain TSX proved plenty accurate enough with zero load tweaking. My initial groups ran around 1" for 3 shots at 100 yards from a makeshift rest over the hood of the truck. Velocity approx 3200 fps @ muzzle.
After many evenings of discussion about Flat tops & Fireballs, with a premier memeber of the intraweb, it was agreed that further testing was required before the Fireball could be pressed into service as a Flat Top KILLA
As the hunt grew closer, and time ran out - the testing would have to be done at no better place than - deer camp. As always when going on a trip from home, I bring a second rifle as backup in case something goes wrong with my main gun. This time, the 2nd gun was brought along for the extra firepower. A 260 Remington was chosen, a solid deer cartridge chambered in a very accurate rifle. Perfect for flat tops you'd think, which you're correct. But how much fun would that be?
Let the hunt begin....
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