Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

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Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by Ranch Dog »

Just could not find a mule deer to point it at. I've been really looking forward to this hunt, heading to the Rolling Plains of Texas rather than my usual haunt in the Texas Big Bend. The hunt took take place in Garza County where this very isolated herd of mulies are located in a complex set of canyons, quite a distance across the flat country to where other mule deer are found.

I arrived on Wednesday and spent the remainder of that day scouting and then with my three hunting buddies we spent all of Thursday on the scout and deciding just how we would hunt. Unfortunately at midmorning on Friday, the front that has been influencing the entire country rolled through dropping a huge amount of rain, where rain is not the norm, and the deer went to ground for the entire three day weekend. I did not see a mule deer Friday through Sunday and was treated to a seven hour drive home through some of the heaviest rain I've driven in.

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It doesn't look like much but the canyons drop out of the rolling plains toward a fork of the Brazos River. They are steep, rocky, and clogged with junipers. Once the rain hit the rocks and dirt, it was impossible if not dangerous to hunt. One of my friends shot his first mule deer right before the weather hit and that was about it for deer sightjngs from the four of us.

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Of course, we had a great time and despite the weather really enjoyed each other's company.[hr]
I had intended to take my R92 chambered in 454 Casull but two days before the leaving on the hunt I had a complete case separation, just ahead of the web of the case. I had just gone from new Starline cases to once fired and this was only the third cartridge fired from that reloading lot. There was no difference in the bang other than the bullet striking the 100 yard target about 18" low, centered. The brass did not want to eject and when I forced the lever it popped open with just the case web exiting the rifle. I let the rifle cool and then dropped an appropriate diameter roll pin down the barrel and it ejected the remainder of the case.

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I'm not too disappointed in the failure, I will figure it out after hunting season, as it gave me an opportunity to do some shooting with the Rio Grande 45-70 Govt. I honestly think that this rifle, out of all the leverguns I own, the most accurate. It is a solid 1.25 MOA rifle out through 200 yards with my 424-grain cast bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1895 FPS. I was really on the fence about taking the 454 Casull as it cannot complete with its big brother. The 1:30 used in the 92 series does not do them any favors down range.

I shot the Rio Grande 52 times in a day and a half prior to leaving, some shooting that I've wanted to do but never could see to find the time.

Here is my load...
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... and what I had intended to apply to a mule deer.

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I'm going to kill a whitetail and a hog with the RG here on my place as I promised the rifle a hunt.
Michael
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Re: Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by akuser47 »

I hate it when mother nature is being a pain. There's always another hunt of some kind. Glad No one got hurt. +guns
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Re: Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by pacificpt »

Glad you did not have any ill effects from the case separation. Do you plan on continuing to reload that batch of brass?
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Re: Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by Ranch Dog »

pacificpt wrote:Glad you did not have any ill effects from the case separation. Do you plan on continuing to reload that batch of brass?
Not sure what I will do with any of it right off the bat, no time, as we are only midway through our hunting season. My specific hunting season midday projects where to get my three Load-Master progressive presses turning out pistol ammunition after they have been sitting idle for over a year. Once that is done, there will be pistol bullet casting to feed them. The rifle was placed in my project rack along with the remaining ammunition. The 454 has 6 others ahead of it; a shame, as it sat for about a year waiting for me to deal with the cartridge guides.

When I can work it into the schedule, I will get a strain gauge on the barrel. Once the gauge cures, I will shoot the remaining loaded ammo to see if there are any other failures. The brass is once fired Starline, 100 cases, three years old. I've since started separating the initial lots into smaller numbers. This rifle is strictly used for big game hunting so I would now start with only 25 cases in the lot. What I've learned is that I can monitor the brass better and in this case, I might have only had to toss 25 vs. the entire lot of 100. The load I was shooting should have been producing about 48K PSI but the lot of brass has experienced pressures up the the SAAMI limit of 65K PSI. It would be impossible to predict which cases have been subjected to the higher pressures, if that is what indeed caused the failure.

The brass was annealed at the start, never had any problems with that but that must be considered. I do all my annealing on my machine so it is very uniform plus I use temperature indicators at intervals during the run. I monitor temperatures on the brass so as not to exceed both high and low limits.

The powder in use was Lil'Gun and it is a very volatile powder. I might switch this rifle's cartridge back to H110. It is rock stable compared to Lil'Gun.
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Re: Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by GasGuzzler »

H110

Once again, 45-70 is just a giant .357 it seems.
Last edited by GasGuzzler on 09 Dec 2016 13:37, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by Ranch Dog »

GasGuzzler wrote:H110

Once again, 44-70 is just a giant .357 it seems.
The H110 is for the 454 Casull, not the 45-70.
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Re: Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by GasGuzzler »

Dang. I see.
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Re: Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

I've always liked H110 as it seems stable and consistent across the temperature range that I shoot in. For that reason and a lot of experience I don't worry about pushing toward max loads if that's what the bullet and rifle/handgun want.

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Re: Rio Grande Goes Mule Deer Hunting but...

Post by Ranch Dog »

Ohio3Wheels wrote:I've always liked H110 as it seems stable and consistent across the temperature range that I shoot in. For that reason and a lot of experience I don't worry about pushing toward max loads if that's what the bullet and rifle/handgun want.
I was doing some thinking this morning and I don't think that the H110 is going to help as these powders are very similar in pressure performance. The difference between the two is that H110 delivers about 4% less velocity for a given pressure. If it is the Starline brass, I will go back to Winchester. Winchester is about twice as expensive as the Starline but the lot I have on hand has 5 reloads on it with no ill effect. The treatment the Winchester brass has received has been the same as the Starline.
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