Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,746
- 5,822
My youngest son John grew up with a keen interest in firearms and the outdoors. He helped me handload at home, went to the range with me and tagged along on quite a few hunts. When he was old enough we went through the Hunter Safety course together, I took it as a refresher and to get some good father-son time. He did real well with a .22 rifle afield and at the range. He wanted to go deer hunting with me!
For his 13th birthday I gave him my old, but very nice, 6mm Remington 700 BDL. We quickly found out that the full-size stock didn't fit him real well, and my max-level handloads had a lot of muzzle blast, which was disconcerting for him.
I put the old (1974) rifle in a new Remington youth stock, and found that it fit the lad much better.
We also got busy at the loading bench, and he helped me load up a bunch of milder rounds, using Varget and Nosler's 95 grain ballistic tip. I chose the ballistic tip because it had proven very accurate in that rifle, and because I wanted a bullet that would expand even at the reduced velocity from these mild loads. First trip to the range confirmed that the shorter stock with the nice cushy recoil pad was a great match for the boy. The loads were accurate too. We dialed in the 3-9x Leupold at 100 yards and called it good.
John drew an "any deer" tag for the regular season. We had a great time and he missed a couple of shots at running deer. On the last day of the season the two of us walked slowly up a canyon, far from any other hunters. I saw several mulie doe on the hillside a half mile ahead. John and I stalked them until we ran out of cover at about 300 yards... We wiggled a bit closer, but they were starting to become suspicious. I had him fold out his bipod, dial a little more power on the scope and told him to hold right on the deer's back. The lazer read 274 yards. I watched through my scope as he pressed the trigger. The little 6mm cracked, and the doe collapsed immediately, falling down the hillside, obviously dead. John lost sight of the doe in his scope during recoil and asked me if he'd hit it. I laughed and replied "Oh yeah!"
We walked up the canyon, I was up on the hillside where the deer had been, he was in the draw. I figured he'd find the doe, and he did. The look of joy on that boys face was outstanding! We took a few photos, then he helped me field dress her. He stayed with the doe while I hiked back to get the truck and we took her to the barn, where he helped with the skinning too.
He was one real proud kid when we cooked up venison from his first mulie.
I was very impressed with the performance of the 95 grain ballistic tip. It hit low in the deer's chest, went through a lung and the heart, and exited through the off-side leg, shattering that bone. The lung was destroyed, the heart was obviously mangled, and the leg useless. No wonder she went down so hard!
Regards, Guy
For his 13th birthday I gave him my old, but very nice, 6mm Remington 700 BDL. We quickly found out that the full-size stock didn't fit him real well, and my max-level handloads had a lot of muzzle blast, which was disconcerting for him.
I put the old (1974) rifle in a new Remington youth stock, and found that it fit the lad much better.
We also got busy at the loading bench, and he helped me load up a bunch of milder rounds, using Varget and Nosler's 95 grain ballistic tip. I chose the ballistic tip because it had proven very accurate in that rifle, and because I wanted a bullet that would expand even at the reduced velocity from these mild loads. First trip to the range confirmed that the shorter stock with the nice cushy recoil pad was a great match for the boy. The loads were accurate too. We dialed in the 3-9x Leupold at 100 yards and called it good.
John drew an "any deer" tag for the regular season. We had a great time and he missed a couple of shots at running deer. On the last day of the season the two of us walked slowly up a canyon, far from any other hunters. I saw several mulie doe on the hillside a half mile ahead. John and I stalked them until we ran out of cover at about 300 yards... We wiggled a bit closer, but they were starting to become suspicious. I had him fold out his bipod, dial a little more power on the scope and told him to hold right on the deer's back. The lazer read 274 yards. I watched through my scope as he pressed the trigger. The little 6mm cracked, and the doe collapsed immediately, falling down the hillside, obviously dead. John lost sight of the doe in his scope during recoil and asked me if he'd hit it. I laughed and replied "Oh yeah!"
We walked up the canyon, I was up on the hillside where the deer had been, he was in the draw. I figured he'd find the doe, and he did. The look of joy on that boys face was outstanding! We took a few photos, then he helped me field dress her. He stayed with the doe while I hiked back to get the truck and we took her to the barn, where he helped with the skinning too.
He was one real proud kid when we cooked up venison from his first mulie.
I was very impressed with the performance of the 95 grain ballistic tip. It hit low in the deer's chest, went through a lung and the heart, and exited through the off-side leg, shattering that bone. The lung was destroyed, the heart was obviously mangled, and the leg useless. No wonder she went down so hard!
Regards, Guy
