A Ho Hum Antelope Hunt With The Wonderful 187 gr. LBT Bullet in .357 Magnum Carb

[Western Rifleman]

Howdy All . . .

Just a quick hunt report, as unspectacular and ho hum as it was.

 Well this was the quickest hunt I've ever been on, for sure; strange
 things happen; you just never know.  About 6 minutes into the hunt
 just after dawn, all of a sudden there are 2 doe Antelope in the
 desert sage, approx. 70 yards.  There was no opportunity to have them
 lined up one in front of the other at just the right angle to take
 both with 1 shot like I thought of doing, so I took them both with 1
 round each.  The 2 Antelope were about 15 feet apart, and the second
 was on the ground within 2 seconds of the first shot.  Both dropped
 instantly at the respective shot; neither took a single step.  I had
 to shoot pretty quick because the second was just about ready to hit
 the afterburners and bolt.

 The first Antelope took the bullet left side just above the lung,
 took out the under side of the spinal column and that was all she
 wrote...the bullet breaking the far shoulder bone and exit hole was
 1" X 2 1/2 inches.

 The second was a straight on shot facing toward me, the bullet
 entering the left side of the chest and running lengthwise down the
 body and exiting out the rear of the Antelope just to the right of
 the tail; similar exit would size, just a tad smaller.

 Bullet is the 187 gr. WFN (Wide Flat Nose) gas checked bullet
 designed by Veral Smith, that I cast at a BHN (hardness) of about 23,
 17.4 grns. H-110 and Winchester small pistol magnum primer (the
 Hottest primer) running 1825 fps. out of the Marlin 1894 carbine,
 with a 175 yard zero. I have my mould drop the bullets at .360 and I
 size them to .359, and I use LBT Soft lube.

 To see the bullet:  You can cast your own bullets or buy them here:

 http://www.castperformance.com/Detail.bok?no=6    HOWEVER: Cast Performance DOES NOT use LBT Lube, THEREFORE,  users will run into pressure problems at lower temperatures and with lighter loads than when using LBT lube.  Accuracy will not be as good either.   Montana Bullet Works sells them lubed with LBT Commercial lube and they'll deliver top notch  performance.



 This is an AWESOME combination for either hunting, or,
 for urban warfare if needed. It is unbelievably deadly and it is
 accurate, zilch recoil and QUIET QUIET QUIET. This combination has
 shot lengthwise completely through Elk up in Idaho; this bullet is
 the KEY to this combination to be able to have such capabilities.

 You can easily be effective to 300 yards with this combination, and
 it looks plebeian and Totally Innocent.  10 rounds of this as fast as
 you need to shoot and as fast as you can work that lever and
 shoot...its Fast!

 My other two tags are for Deer, so I'll take 2 deer w/ this little
 piece (either Mulie or Whitetail) within the next 2 weeks or so, and
 I shall report results.

 Keep ur powder dry and have lots of powder.

 Cas

[Veral]

  This 187 gr bullet is actually what I catalog as a 38 180 gr FN, but Cas's is heavy partly because it is over standard diameter, and partly because of a slight variation in setup length, when I set my mold lathe up, and both cause some weight variation. 

  It anchors deer, hogs bear and elk just as quick as these antelope.  Cas calls it a quiet, quiet, quiet load.  This is my wifes favorit gun and load.  She has hunted with me for 50 years and taken a lot of game, but she isn't a gun expert.  She calls it 'that quiet gun', because the report never hurts her ears, but she also loves it because of the very low recoil, yet sledghammer hit.  Both of us have taken elk with it.  Her very large bodied raghorn bull folded when the bullet hit, my large cow walked slowly for about 20 feet and went down without a kick.  The shot was angling from ribs forward and exited the opposite side from impact almost into the shoulder, straight out the front of her chest, with a one inch exit hole after 30 inches of penetration.  Only bones hit were a rib on entry.  Judy hit her bull broadside close enough to the heart to take out the arteries.

  Don't make the mistake of thinking you can duplicate this performance with any jacketed bullet.  For starters they drag in the barrel too much to develop the speed, and upon impact don't most will not stand up or penetrate, especially if large bones are hit.  LBT lube is mandatory to get the speed with accuracy and freedom from leading, at acceptable pressures.  So you understand clearly what I said in that sentence, I underlined the things which other lubes don't deliver.  Ditto for bullet design.  There is no other, except a copy, which can deliver this 458 winchester performance from a wonderful little  pop gun, which carries lightly, like a piece of broomstick, if used with iron sight.  A scope messes up the light carrying, but makes up for eyes that can't see well enough for iron sights.