Originally Posted by
Kilo Charlie
I have been shooting a fair bit the last couple years. Mostly I just develop handloads and shoot for accuracy. Often I load up a box of .30-06 or .280 and shoot them off just for fun. I am a member of a local range that is pretty lightly used, especially in winter.
Last week I tried some 5-shot groups at 50 yards, offhand. The results were sobering. It was difficult to hold groups under 6 inches so I need to practice. Mind you, I have only ever once shot offhand at a deer that far; usually I will use a sapling to hold steady or something.
Fox, you will only get flamed if you hunt with .410 slugs, not plink with them. I checked the ballistics charts a few years ago, and I don't recall if it was 2.5 or 3-inch .410 ammo, but the MUZZLE energy of a .410 slug is almost exactly equal to the energy of a 170-grain .30-30 round at 300 yards. For some reason people think they are equivalent to .44 Mag pistol ammo. Nope, not even close.
Mind you, a dead deer trumps ballistic theory every time, lol! I know full well the .38-55 is not a 200-yard moose gun, but my great-grandfather dropped two moose at that distance.
I am going to try something new to me. I just bought a Win 1885 falling-block single-shot in .38-55 and I plan to try her with smokeless and black powder (actually Triple Seven) cast-bullet loads. I think it would be pretty cool to take a deer with that rifle using the tang sight.