Deer Season Will Be Here... Eventually

Freedom

When you’re an old guy, living on your own in the boonies, your life style seems to wander however it chooses. Today was four hours of tractor work, four hours of garden pruning, weeding and mowing the lawn. It was hot out, so the expression “Sweating like a pig” came to mind… more than once.

I knocked off around 7PM, took a shower, then sat in front of big fan, watching TV in my underwear, eating my waffle dinner. Not a metaphor or euphemism in that sentence. I am sure most would like to shake that mental imagery, but I wanted to say it doesn’t take much to be happy, and that freedom comes in many forms.

My current projects

I guess it was the way I was raised, or the period in time in which I was raised, that makes me reluctant to quickly discard things that stop working. No, I am not a hoarder, but I am a fixer. Subsequently, I have amassed few possessions, and those things I own are old.

My lawn mower and garden tractor are nearing the quarter century mark. The same with one snow blower, a chipper, and definitely my chain saws. Then there is my 2005 Ford Escape…

Many people do not know that Maine treats winter roads with salt, sand and ash. The process keeps us safe from snow and ice related accidents, but it rots vehicles as though they were dipped in battery acid. Prevention comes in the form of winter top and bottom car washing, and sheltering in a sub zero garage.

Repair center shop rates are through the roof, so I do what I can to save money and keep what I believe is better than new equipment in service. This time, there was some surface rust on the Escape’s bottom side and wheel wheels that needed to be addressed. Wire brushing and rust convertor seems to at least slow the progression.

A poly fuel filler tube shield was discovered. It was held in place with carbon steel fasteners through three stainless steel mount tabs on the filler tube. The fasteners were badly corroded and fell out when the shield was bumped during rust removal. Slip on nut plates were installed on the mount tabs, and some fresh 1/4″-20 stainless fasteners corrected the problem.

The car’s A/C is next on the project list. There is a leak at the evaporator that has been slow enough for me to get by with a seasonal system recharge. This time, unfortunately, the system pressure dropped to zero, which caused the AC low pressure switch to keep the compressor from starting. The system can’t be charged unless the compressor is operating.

So I need to disconnect the low pressure switch and jump its connector to get the compressor to run. Obviously, the switch was put on a fixture, and the rest of the car was assembled around it. Arms black and blue, skin shaved from knuckles, the switch untouched, the project was adjourned until next week. But it will get fixed…

I don’t have to spend $50k for a new vehicle with an undersized engine and drive train, controlled by electronics I could never service, and loaded with features I would never use. Some old things are worth keeping around.

1966 was a good vintage…

I have been going around in circles, trying to decide which rifle to use for Maine’s fall deer season, and wondering if I will actually kill a deer, or just enjoy being out in the woods… or sit on the back porch and look at the woods. Definitely one of those three.

No, this isn’t a PETA “Deer are people too” posture. It is just so much work dressing, hauling and butchering a deer, and I am not sure I really need to take on more work. Yes, I do like venison, but I also like hamburgers, and they are so much easier to track down at Hannaford, and get onto the table.

In any event, carrying this little carbine into the woods, or racked on the porch, holds the greatest potential for providing the most enjoyment, deer or no deer.

The stock geometry is intended to place line of sight through low metallic sights. Line of sight through a scope’s optical center places the shooter’s cheek bobble head high off the stock’s comb.

Fortunately, I have mastered holding my head upright without the aid of external support; neck muscles. Pulled into my shoulder, with my right hand at the pistol grip, right elbow up and parallel to the ground, left hand under the forearm with my left elbow pointed down. Very steady. My face need not play a supporting role.

No floating lights, no laser beams, no light reflecting disco ball…

With 1″ tube, 20mm objective lens and 1.455″ eyepiece, little light passes through the Weaver K 2.5x scope. Even if it did, the scope is secured with Weaver steel strap rings on Weaver aluminum bases, which might fly off at any time, on their own volition. Increment of adjustment is a 1/2″ click at 100 yards, and a screw driver or coin is needed to rotate for adjustment

The reticle is a simple crosshair arrangement. No tick marks or hash marks, or other such indexing, to tell me how big a deer is, how far away it is, or how much to compensate for wind drift and trajectory. No parallax adjustment. No batteries. No 20° rail.

4+1 and no backup

The magazine is tubular with four round capacity. There are no detachable magazines, no high cap magazines, and no hard pointed bullets. I can only hope deer are not arming these days, so I can avoid a wildlife firefight. Clearly this rifle is not… optimal.

No turnbolt, no levers, maybe a little gas….

The 44 Magnum Carbine has an appearance similar to the 1964 Model 10-22 rimfire rifle, but similarities end with external appearance. The 10-22 is a blow back rimfire with an aluminum receiver. The 44 Mag carbine has a locking breech, gas operated, short stroke piston driven action.

Piston travel is only 5/16″. To accommodate the pressures and strains associated with the 44 magnum cartridge, the receiver is machined from a solid chrome moly steel billet. Still, the carbine is… tiny and weighs only five pounds and change.

For all of its lack of adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, lane centering, and collision avoidance system, it does seem to be very effective at killing deer, hogs and other similar size game.

What does the 44 Mag look like to a hunter?

There are numerous rifle and handgun 44 Remington Magnum loads in the Real Guns® reloading section, as well as in 44 Mag related articles on the site. But for the coming deer season, I did not have to launch into a development exercise, I just needed to select one that had previously been loaded and tested.

The cleanest performer, with this rifle and for this purpose, is the 225 grain Hornady FTX. The pliable tip permits use in the Ruger Carbine’s tubular magazine.

The FTX possesses a better ballistic coefficient and sectional density than similar weight flat tip 0.430″ bullets, so it holds onto velocity and associated ballistic properties longer.

The jacket is one piece and swaged to a hard lead core. Proper expansion occurs over a wide velocity range; short and longer range velocity.

If there is a drawback to using this bullet, it would be the impact of its long ogive and cannelure location on reloading. Hornady instructs reloaders to trim the 44 Magnum case from 1.275″ to 1.255″, which makes for non spec 44 Magnum case inventory, and and longer than spec 1.645″ COL.

To make maximum COL, the case needs to be trimmed back 0.075″, to a case length of 1.200″, which reduces net case capacity to 23.5 grains of H2O. Adjustments are made to charges to compensate for the reduction in net case capacity from the Hornady instructions and load data, but not anything major.

Sometimes I use these bullets in concert with revolver handloads, using a 44 Special case. However, with a case length of only 1.153″ and the bullet seated to its cannelure, net case capacity is reduced to 19.0 grains and a 1.563″ COL. I find the1.200″ shortened 44 Mag case and spec COL function the best in the Ruger Carbine.

The final hunting load that was assembled…

Hornady 225 Grain 0.430″ FTX
Case trimmed to 1.200″
COL 1.610″
Hodgdon Lil’ Gun 22.0 grains
Large Rifle – Magnum primer
100 yard three shot group performance 1.25″
MV 1732 fps ME 1500 ft. lbs.

Best Zero Results
Near-Zero – yards.		15		Mid Range – yards.		76
Far-Zero – yards.		130		Max Ordinate – “		+3.0
Point Blank – yards.		138

Best Zero : Range 0 – 300 yards
Yards		0	50	100	150	200	250	300
Velocity – fps		1732	1514	1326	1176	1067	990	932
Energy – ft.-lbs.		1498	1145	878	691	569	490	434
Momentum – lbs-sec		56	49	43	38	34	32	30
Path – “		-1.50	2.32	2.33	-2.62	-13.86	-32.71	-60.41
Drift – “		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Time Of Flight – sec.		0.00	0.09	0.20	0.32	0.45	0.60	0.76

Point blank, +/- 3″ along line of sight is 138 yards. Probable shooting distance is closer to 50 yards. Decent kinetic energy, good penetration and a large wound channel are all that I need.

And now I am all set.