Stretching the barrel.
Quite some time back I bought a scope that had top turret on it,this was on my .22lr for awhile but I took it off as kept bumping it off zero...sold turret to happy chappy for minimal cost..fast foward a year or two and another new,old scope came to me and it too had top turret on it..took it off and its been sitting in my bitn n bobs container for months...but...it kept nagging at me.
The lovely Howa .270 is a very accurate rifle...well it has been when ever Ive bothered to shoot paper to check zero any way.... but she is long n not the lightest,so for last year or two the other rifles have gone walkies and its sat in gun safe.... driving long hours with bugger all else to occupy mind can be a bad thing,that turret kept nagging at me....
My good Wife came out for wander with me last days off and helped clear a bit of track that has been sadly neglected for last year,the deer sign was still plentiful and the bush edge clearings full of big poohs....hmmmmm
Google earth was looked at,the fancy pants measuring stick used....hmmmmm again.... 300 from here to there...400 from here to there...hmmmmm
so after a good sleep I carefully got rifle out of cabinet,inserted my boresighter/collimeter,checked zero...then fitted that pesky top turret that had been nagging at me...
then consulted my Nosler reloading manual.... the rear section contains ballistics...hard paper copy ballistics
two different 150 grn .277 calibre projectiles listed.... with a 200yard zero both are looking to be 21-22' extra drop at 400....if projectile travelling at 2700-2800fps hmmmmm
foggy brain struggling with the maths.....pretty sure thats going to be 5 n bit inches extra lift at hundy... time to "phone a friend" as the millennial's say.... well flick brother @Billbob a message with my thoughts..... he got flash harry gonkulater out and pretty much confirmed my findings (but his were much more precise than mine,Im a hori and proud of it)...so with collimeter still up the gunger,I peered through scope and did some twiddlin n fiddlin thingies..... well buggermesideways,the crosshairs do move the right amount and it does do so consistantly and repeatably.....hmmmmm
now that turret moving thing..... out comes silver felt tip vivid (bought for marking black vacumn pak bags) nice thick line drawn facing shooters eye with rifle still zeroed for 200yards...just because alright..... that sort of put mind at peace about the moving thing.Have further thoughts on this,involving rubber bands or just insulation tapping it still.
So now I have rifle with a rough n ready way to shoot 400yards and be nearer to hitting than the near enough method I have adopted since forever.... with it zeroed at 200 still I can point n shoot to 250 without thinkng about drop etc.... simple works for this Kiwi.
Work has been hectic this round,by 5th shift/2nd night shift I knew zombie day wasnt going to be flash....warned wife,as hard as I try to be a nice fella,zombie day brings out the worst in me...in short I become an obnoxious prick to be around,short fuse and snappy.... so I decided in interests of continued marital harmony that heading away for a hunt over night ,leaving home zombie day was prudent move.
Got home at 06;00 after long nightshift,managed 4 hours sleep,couple more of snooze then got up...blobbed around for a bit,then packed truck...biggest part of that was preparing the sleeping chamber..sleep is VERY important to me,so I now make damn sure ,when possible to make it as comfortable as I can.
4" foam mattress goes on top of old squabs in rear of terrano,topped with mink blanket...then the sleeping bag and liner AND even put in proper pillow!!!
cold kahawai smoked fish pie put in icecream container would do me for tea,hot cuppa tea in travel mug made and off I go with Poppy happily perched in back right in middle of MY bed...bitch.
Hunting area reached a few hours before dark. truck parked up off track...thats camp sorted lol.
Rifle ,ammo,knife,new /old 50% off bino/monocular stuck in pocket and off we went...still plenty of deer pooh along grass edges,good to see they still about,reached my intended viewing spot after trimming a bit more gorse with the long handled bacho loppers,great bit of kit them things.Sat down and proceded to just chill out and watch,much to Poppies confusion..this is not how we hunt Dad???
from our vantage spot we had long clear bush edge below us...about 200 yards worth,nice!!! looking across some dead ground there is that clearing right at 400 that started the whole turret thing off....nice,but still looks a looong way for this bush hobbit....
Standing up can see another clear bit a bout km away that ALWAYS loaded with deer prints and just below that another small clear bit just visible,happy days.
This sitting and just watching caper sure takes a bit of getting used to..but what the heck,cant really do much else with limited time before dark and the deer HAVE been feeding here..... just as well cellphones have digital time telling department or the ticking of clock wouldve been deafening....look,look,look some more..nope nothing moving....
sit,stand,look some more...for about an hour then...whats that over there??? looks suspicious,that 400yard away clearing seems to have..YES it DOES have a deer on it now!!! Broadside on too....YEAH RIGHT says Poppy,you are not going to shoot it from here you plonker....
Wise man always listens to his dog...so we pick up our gear and head off closer,checking deer still there...only 350 from here dog...she just rolls her big brown eyes and keeps walking....only 300 from here dog..... she keeps walking,then two unseen deer break out of creek below us and scarper into bush,catching us both by suprise, glimpses in scope is all I get even though they only 50 yards away..lots of heavy beech trees between us.... poohs n wees!!! that wouldve been too easy dog,we slipping,shouldve had one of them.....too focused on getting after deer on far clearing....oh well,how sad too bad....drop excess gear beside path we will return on..remember to put torch in tit pocket and head off again...
nothing else encountered,remmbered to not fall into the cannibal pigmy trap AGAIN!! little huas set them in the darndest places to catch a fat fella out.
stalked up through last bit of beech before clearing,Dog quietly walking beside me..well quietly apart from the steam train like panting going on that is... past where our Daughter got stung in the head by bastard wasps...had great delight in filling that nest with carbaryl powder...right Dog,should be getting close now...easy does it,walking quietly around steep bit of hillside trying not to arse up,peer around bush and yip nice deer standing broadside on looking my way..up comes rifle,check there are no plurry tree butts in way THIS TIME, Xhair on shoulder and down he went....
150grn speer grandslams dont take prisoners at THIRTY FIVE paces LMFAO.....
let Poppy walk me up to animal that is well dead...bit of a chew for her... roll him down hill into open spot semi flat. out with knife to do poohs n wees bit... get out trusty bit of string to put around his head and other end onto stump, bum downhill to drain...open throat to help let heat out...think better of it so cut top side shoulder right open too,seperate it from ribs and lay it back so carcass can cool even more...right that will do nicely till morning.
wandered slowly back the way we had come,stopped to collect rest of gear and let Poppy jump in creek for drink...carried on down to wagon,much nicer without plurry gorse.
got to within 400 yards of wagon and see 3 more deer out in open between wagon and myself..well whats a fella to do??? one of them came home too lol
great nights sleep was had ,then up at 05;30 for a dingoes breakfast,off at 06;00 to retrieve young stag,front end and steaks into day bag,hind quarters over shoulders and rifle in hand we set off back towards wagon..SLOWLY ,these reds dont get any lighter as I get older but with gorse trimmed it was not such a bad walk back... into wagon goes the venison,Poppy got to travel home on front seat as boot full of deer and back seat full of bedding. deer now hanging in my garage waiting for processing this after noon..... and that top turret.... will see...both deer shot at 35 yards LMFAO.

.here goes trying photos...

That's nice. And yes, GrandSlams are great bullets. I've always considered them the cheapest "premium" bullet out there. Shame more MFGs don't load for it in factory ammo. I also reload 150 gr GrandSlams in a 270.

-DallanC