New Handi - got results!

[thejanitor]

Hi all,    I have been gone for a while. I did buy a new 7/08 handi and went through the extraction problems but after reading about the oil- ANY OIL in the chamber issue and finding the problem with leaving any "one shot" on my cases causes them to stick in the chamber... I am learning. But did use a 120 sierra to take a small buck on the opening of MN deer rifle season. After no blood and no exit hole I did find the bullet on the inside if the second shoulder blade. No lead just the mushroomed jacket. With a 75 yd shot I thought this was not good since the bullet chronographed at over 2800 fps. So went home that night and loaded all the nosler solid base 120 gr I had with the same load I had found accurate with the sierra. only had to move the scope two clicks to be "on" and about the same group size at 100, 1 1/8 inch. So the next day I hunted in a stand a friend asked us to come and hunt with them kind of slow but the end result was a 80 yd shot on what I knew was a nice buck but until I walked up didn't realize the handi had put the best buck of my life down. 193 lbs 7 point  spine shot and then a neck shot to keep him down. And then on the last day of season Another friend asked for help on a drive to fill some open tags, I opted to carry the 7/08 again and had a chance to take a 135 lbs doe at about 60 yds running straight at me.  I Had the best season of my life with the most deer I shot (6) and three were with the handi. I hope to find some better bullets since Nosler quit the 120 solid base and I only have 20 some left. but they performed better than sierra in the situations I had used them in. Sierra may have worked fine if I could have kept that 1st shot behind the shoulder blades.
  I can tell you this, everyone in my hunting group now sees the handi as a hunting tool not to be overlooked! I would like to Thank all those here who post information and help us wanna bees to keep the sport growing. I learn something each time I check these forums. Thanks Brent

[bladerunner]

CONGRATS      :grin:

[.308]

Good going Brent, Congrats.

[MSP Ret]

Congratulations Brent, now keep the posts and visits here on a regular basis. You have a great start at becoming a Handiholic and it even seems as if you may have already planted the seed to infect others in your hunting group!!! :-D  :-D ....<><.... :grin:

[safetysheriff]

brent'

you are one of the bunch.   you are not a wanna-be.   you are learning just like all the rest of us are.   just stick with it, if you will, and you'll be more and more happy with this hobby as time goes on.

God-family-country-job-friends-shooting and hunting!

what could be easier than that?

congratulations, deer slayer.  

i'm wondering if you weren't using a too-light/varmint bullet since you were shooting a 7mm projectile of only 120 gr's in the sierra.   i'd recommend a 120 gr' Spire Point in the Hornady, even though it's varmint-rated -- because Hornady's spire points oftentimes penetrate more than one would expect.  otherwise i'd go with their 139 gr' flat-base spire point in the 7mm-08.  it's an interloc' and will penetrate without losing its jacket on a whitetail.

in any event,  congratulations once again.

take care,

ss'

[slayer]

I can relate man!! For years in my long gone .270 Model 700`s I used 150 grain round nose Remington  bullets that exited everytime with minimal damage. For curiosities sake, I loaded 130 Sierra Spitzers and shot a 5 point buck right behind the shoulder, well it went thru allright, but the exit hole was like 3 inches wide and took alot of guts and meat with it. The bullet must have exploaded. my theory now is heavy and hard, no more explosions!! Congrats-Jack.

[thejanitor]

I have wanted to keep my bullets light just because I think if you have a flat shooter why over kill with the heavy bullet that won't let the gun shoot to its potential. In my .270 I have always shot 130 gr. speer, nosler or barnes. My buddies rag on me for the meat grinding of a ballistic tip but last year the barnes bullets flat out blew up the meat just as bad. So I thought I bought a mild recoil gun ( 7/08)for my kid to shoot and she liked the .270 last year so well I pretty much had to like the handi cause I wasn't getting any where near the .270 the days she hunted. :-)  So after proving my point that it doesn't have to be a bolt to be good, I may have some competition next year with the 7/08. although she did shoot two more this year with the .270 and she brags  ( with good reason) that she broke tradition and hasn't hit gut yet.. :oops: . last year 225 yds heart shot, this year  one at 200 heart shot and one at 175 lung shot. So I must say she should like that gun its been good to her.  I was with her for all three, but one night she sat on a stand with her grandma and Lizzie saw two deer almost 300 yds away in tall grass and she couldn't get a lung shot so she didn't even take off the safety and grandma kept telling her to shoot.... She will not be sitting with Grandma again. I was proud of her judgment call there.  Sorry I started bragging myself there... But She loves jerky otherwise she would not want to shoot them. Oh yeah  bullets... I am going to see what I can find, Nosler has a 120 ballistic, I know the 130 ballistic in a .270 comes out the back side of most of the deer we have been shooting and we get a blood trail! That is HUGE when it comes to no snow tracking. So I may experiment with those next fall but they aren't noted for the best penatration.  I know hornady makes a plastic tip bullet that is interbond or something but not in a 120.... So I guess I am just beating a dead horse, Any bullet will do the job if I take the time for that perfect side lung shot, Maybe I should learn from my kid this time.... Thanks for the replies everybody! Brent

[Mac11700]

Congrats on a good season...have you thought about going with the new 120 grain barnes Triple Shocks?...Seems like it might get you what you want in the weight class...http://www.theextremehunter.com/site/448423/product/TSX-28442

Mac