- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Thought I'd share my experience with the old round, and see what falls from the arm chair.
I first went to the field with my '92 Winchester about ten years ago. It took most of two years to come up with a load I considered accurate enough to hunt with, and when I did, it floated along at a leisurely 900fps.
Velocity kills eh? well I guess those should have bounced off. But they didn't.
I used the cartridge as a 'dogging gun' round, and only on pushes that were in heavy cover where my shots would be very close.
I had finished the first half of the push, climed a ridge, and parked my butt, to wait for my heart to settle down. (this was pre-operation)
As I sat there, I watched a doe come out from cover into an open stand of beech, some 200 yards away. I looked down at the old gun, figured the angle for the shot, took aim and ... NOT!
I patiently waited, and watched the doe, figuring a way I could get closer, when she walked around a bush, and turned towards me. I raised the old rifle to minimize movement as she got closer, and waited. She began to climb the ridge. Closer, and closer, passing just below me, I thought, keep going up, it'll save me dragging, but she began to turn away, and at 50 feet, I shot her through the lungs. She flopped over at the shot, wedged against a tree, kicked about twice, and lay still.
The 215 grain Winchester bullet made a nice 44 cal entry, and, not much bigger, two exits, breaking one rib, I presume was the secondary projectile.
Last year, I took the old rifle to field again, this time, to sit in a dense grove of cedar with a heavy deer trail for the afternoon. Didn't get that far. On my way in, I heard a small noise, and was quite surprized to see a small black bear aproaching down an ancient logging road that appears and disappears in the thick bush. He too just kept coming. I made like a tree, but got my rifle ready, and tracking him. By this time I had worked up a more powerful load that was fairly accurate, at 1600 fps, it was a tad more reasonable.
I shot him at the base of the neck, as he approached dead on straight towards me. He made not a sound, just flopped over. He was still breathing when I aproached, so a head shot ended the game.
Try as I might, I could not find the danged bullet. Until later, at home when I bit a piece of it.
From what I gathered, the old round works just fine at close range. There are some caveats however. Don't expect miracles from it. Pic your shots if you intend to try it.
Remember that in days of old, the round was used on every game animal in North America, with varying levels of success to both the animal, and the shooter. Times were different.
Today, it's a deer and BLACK bear round, and to be used with care for those. Expansion is not great unless you hit bone, you are much dependent on caliber size for the damage done. Penetration at close range isn't bad for the game intended.
In a time of magnums, and super velocity, it's a revelation to hunt the old way. You know going out that the long shots are not going to happen. You need to get closer. Guile, and stealth are your friends.
I first went to the field with my '92 Winchester about ten years ago. It took most of two years to come up with a load I considered accurate enough to hunt with, and when I did, it floated along at a leisurely 900fps.
Velocity kills eh? well I guess those should have bounced off. But they didn't.
I used the cartridge as a 'dogging gun' round, and only on pushes that were in heavy cover where my shots would be very close.
I had finished the first half of the push, climed a ridge, and parked my butt, to wait for my heart to settle down. (this was pre-operation)
As I sat there, I watched a doe come out from cover into an open stand of beech, some 200 yards away. I looked down at the old gun, figured the angle for the shot, took aim and ... NOT!
I patiently waited, and watched the doe, figuring a way I could get closer, when she walked around a bush, and turned towards me. I raised the old rifle to minimize movement as she got closer, and waited. She began to climb the ridge. Closer, and closer, passing just below me, I thought, keep going up, it'll save me dragging, but she began to turn away, and at 50 feet, I shot her through the lungs. She flopped over at the shot, wedged against a tree, kicked about twice, and lay still.
The 215 grain Winchester bullet made a nice 44 cal entry, and, not much bigger, two exits, breaking one rib, I presume was the secondary projectile.
Last year, I took the old rifle to field again, this time, to sit in a dense grove of cedar with a heavy deer trail for the afternoon. Didn't get that far. On my way in, I heard a small noise, and was quite surprized to see a small black bear aproaching down an ancient logging road that appears and disappears in the thick bush. He too just kept coming. I made like a tree, but got my rifle ready, and tracking him. By this time I had worked up a more powerful load that was fairly accurate, at 1600 fps, it was a tad more reasonable.
I shot him at the base of the neck, as he approached dead on straight towards me. He made not a sound, just flopped over. He was still breathing when I aproached, so a head shot ended the game.
Try as I might, I could not find the danged bullet. Until later, at home when I bit a piece of it.
From what I gathered, the old round works just fine at close range. There are some caveats however. Don't expect miracles from it. Pic your shots if you intend to try it.
Remember that in days of old, the round was used on every game animal in North America, with varying levels of success to both the animal, and the shooter. Times were different.
Today, it's a deer and BLACK bear round, and to be used with care for those. Expansion is not great unless you hit bone, you are much dependent on caliber size for the damage done. Penetration at close range isn't bad for the game intended.
In a time of magnums, and super velocity, it's a revelation to hunt the old way. You know going out that the long shots are not going to happen. You need to get closer. Guile, and stealth are your friends.
