Whatcha Taking to Deer Camp?

I emerged this AM from the secret underground Shamanic Reloading Cave with the first of four rifles destined for our upcoming deer camp. The Rifle Opener is a week from tomorrow. I try to be ready well ahead of time.

There were several projects that I wanted to work on this year. They mostly had to get pushed aside due to the whole mess with the Left Nut. I was fighting existential issues when I should have been out at the bench testing loads. As a result, I’ve had to pull in my horns a bit this year.

The Big Projects that Did Come Off

1) First, I put a new stock on the Thompson Center Compass (7mm-08), and managed to get 50 rounds loaded for the upcoming season and a few seasons beyond. See: New Stock for the TC Compass . I’m still using the 139 grain Hornady Interlock SP over Varget. Last year’s first outing was spectacular.

2) I wanted to load 50 round each of Angus’ and Moose’s standard 30-06 load using H4895 under a Remington Corelokt 150 grain PSPCL and Rem 9 1/2 primers. This came off well. They will be using those new loads in their Winchester Mod 70’s.

3) At the same time I was doing my son’s loads. I decided to convert to 150 grain Hornady Interlock SP’s in my 30-06. Previously, I’ve been using 165 grainers. The reasons for this switch are that I want to conserve my 165 grainers for my Savage 99. I recognize that 150 grain will do as well on whitetail with 30-06, and I managed to get a lifetime supply of them a few years ago on the deal that brought me the Hornady LNL Progressive. Now seemed like a good time to switch.

4) I built a new shooting bench down at the farm. It is basically an updated copy of the old one, but I wanted to get it done so we would have a solid platform for testing out these new loads. It was the first thing I got done after the nut job. See: A New Shooting Bench

What Projects got Shelved for Next Year?

1) The big disappointment was that I did not have time to get the Whelenizer going. I had retired my Remington 7600 about a decade ago and I’ve toyed with a few loads. The latest was a 180 grain Speer bullet over H4895. I run them at hot Rem 35 velocities, well under their 35 Whelen potential, but still able to knock the snot out of a deer. I jammed the bloody thing up and had to take it to the smith to get it unjammed. The smith caught Covid and missed about 6 months of work. I got it back in the spring and had everything ready to go. I still have this project hanging fire, but it is not like I don’t have a backup. See: New Load for the Whelenizer

2) I’m still not done with my Remington 25-06 project. It’s OT’s rifle. I just have not found the ideal load for it yet.

3) I keep promising myself to go out with the M1 Garand. I have good deer loads for it. I’m just looking for a good excuse.

So Shaman, What Are you Taking to Camp?

After a bunch of agonizing, I finally decided to keep the unknowns down to a minimum.

The Thompson Center Compass in 7mm-08
The Ruger Hawkeye in 30-06 with the new 150-grain load
The Savage 99 in .308 with its regular 165-grain load
The Mauser from Hell with the same 175-grain load

I’ve touched nothing with the Mauser from Hell in a couple of years, and I’m keeping it as an ace in the hole. I would especially like to see if lightning can strike twice with the TC Compass, and I am itching to try to take something with the Hawkeye with the 150 grainers.

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