Every time this topic comes up, it seems that I get two or three e-mail messages wanting to know how effective I think that roundnose Gov't bullet from Lyman is.
Thing is that I did not choose the bullet initially because it was a killer, but because my rifle really liked it.
I fired this group at 100yds on July 24, 2005 shortly after I took delivery of Big Nose Kate. I used a load that Bill Bagwell recommended and it worked like a charm. I really have not experimented with anything else since it shoots so well........though I have expermented a bunch with various sight combinations.
I know that a lot of fellows, including some of my good friends, believe that you should have a flat point bullet to better kill deer sized game. Well, Texas deer vary quite a bit. Most are rather small compared to something you might see in Missouri or Kansas but they are what I have to shoot at. Most of them drop where they stand. Here is the first one I killed with Kate not a trophy, but I was on a culling hunt:
Last year I shot several deer with the rifle and they all pretty much folded up. Here was a typical doe. I shot her and she fell in her tracks, kicked a bit and died.
Nothing fancy, but I don't think a more modern rifle would have done any better and almost no edible meat was damaged.
I used a load that Bill Bagwell recommended and it worked like a charm. I really have not experimented with anything else since it shoots so well........though I have expermented a bunch with various sight combinations."
Steve, as a novice BPCR shooter, I am curious of the load that you speak of. Also what sights do you you when hunting?
"Never miss a good chance to shut up." -Will Rogers
The pictures tell the whole story.
I think you have a deadly combination; shooter, rifle,sights and the ammo.
I like the knife in the picture, can you provide some info?
David
On the knife. Bill surprised me with that one. He built two skinning knives out of a single piece of damacus steel. He carries one and I carry the other. Kinda reminds me of him when he isn't around.
This knife has a "hungry" edge. It simply slices through everything.
I skinned six deer and three aoudad wiht it last year with only a touchup on the stone. It has a handle made of petrified walrus penis bone (Where the hell somebody comes up with that I don't know!) and it is very comfortable to use.
The load, very simple. 70gr Goex Cartridge in RP cases fired in this rifle, wax paper wadover a .030 Walter's wad and CCI BR2 primer. Nothing fancy, but it is a killer.
It's obvious that some of you need to get out more before you get too adolescent about this.
The handle on Scott's knife is made out of oosic which is the proper name for fossilized walrus penile bone. It is between 10,000 and 15,000 years old and is found in the Alaskan permafrost. Oosic is gathered by the native people and is an ivory like material, much prized by them as a material used to make such things as harpoons and the haft for lances. In an environment where iron is not available for the manufacture of certain artifacts, any dense bone like material is valuable and highly sought after. Some oosic specimens are over 30 inches long and are used as a badge of office by village elders and chieftans.
Inasmuch as oosic is found in the permafrost and is tens of centuries old, it will have absorbed minerals that may be in the soil, and thus will exhibit beautiful colors that have taken thousands of years to penetrate and permeate the ivory like oosic. It is much like mastadon ivory.
Oosic is not commonplace like exotic wood, but it is often used as a handle material on high end custom knives and is regularly available on a limited commercial basis. Unlike elephant ivory which is taken from a living animal, oosic is gathered from animals that have died in their natural environbent and have left behind this testament to their presence in an earlier era.
The use of oosic for the handle of a knife that was made by hand by a skilled bladesmith who MADE THE STEEL OF THE BLADE ITSELF by hand in a forge is a salute to the artifact and its history and a statement of the esteem that the artist has for the recipient of the gift. rdnck said that.
Chairman, Phd
Caddo Lake Chapter
FES
Charter Member FBASS
Walrus penis-Oosic, used by northern Natives for hundreds of years. They used anything and everything they could get their hands on. That's all they had and it served them well.
I still can't get over Scott's results with that Bagwell load. I've got to get moving and load some up so I can see what it does in my Sharps.
I'm sorry guys, I could not remember the proper name for the handle material and I did not anticipate that anyone here would draw some sort of adolescent thrill from my description of the handle material.
This knife, along with a fighting Bowie that Bill made for me some 20 years ago, are among my few treasured possessions. They mean something for me because the maker means something to me. Nothing "kinky" about that.
Bagwell and I worked for Soldier of Fortune Magazine back in the 1980s. We were surrounded by folks who did not understand our country boy logic and ways. Bagwell was the knife editor and did a good job of it. I ran the security detail and was liason between the Clark County Sheriff's Department and our people at the annual convention in Vegas.
We lost track of each other for years and the love of the fine rifles made by Shiloh was something that brought us back together. Bill has been sharing my campfire and hunts for several years now, and he built something special out of the kindness of his heart to present to me as a gift last year. It is insulting to call something like that "kinky" and I'm sorry that kind of thing even exists here.
I don't blame the poster, I suppose he could not know what this was all about.
Personally, I really like your knife, and I enjoyed the history of the blade and handle materials. Any chance of posting a picture of the Bowie as well? Quality knives are really an art form all their own.
