30 Caliber Deer Killer?

[DonMountain]

I live on a soy bean farm in mid-Missouri, and always wondered if my cast lead 30 caliber boolits would kill a deer. So this year I selected a French 36/51 MAS rifle and worked up a load with 32.0 grains of H4895 and an RCBS 30-180-SP with gas checks and some kind of hard blue lube I bought years ago. I was unsuccessful the first day, but the second day shot 3 does (it being doe season) in the soy beans off my field edge deer stand. All one shot kills. From 75 yards to 100 yards away with stock open sights. And I could have shot a dozen more as they milled around in the beans. We have been seeing 20 or 30 of them at a time munching on our soy beans. We only have 9 farm permits for my wife and I and our 18 year old grandson that lives with us. Yesterday he shot a Coyote with the .303 British with 200 grain cast lead boolits. And right now he is out in the soy beans and I told him to stop at 3 deer. Then its my wife's turn with her 356 Winchester! And its deer soup for the winter! Every day! [smilie=w:

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Boolits get er done for sure! Jerky is a good way to eat a bunch of deer meat, too!

[helice]

Great to hear of the successful hunt. Wish there were pictures.:coffee: Some of us are just never satisfied. [smilie=s:

[x101airborne]

Yes, I make about 100 pounds of raw meat into jerky every year. By April, we are out. And all I use is High Mountain cure. It is the simplest if not the best. Good on yall for the does. Pics if you could, please.

[UBER7MM]

You guys are making me hungry.....

Good hunting,

[Blammer]

Outstanding!

[Thumbcocker]

Home canned venison is mighty good too.

[Idaho Mule]

Good job on the deer and happy eatin'. Our season opens up here on the 10'th (Wed.) I can't wait for the fun to start!!

[DonMountain]

Well, the grandson killed his first deer with the .303 British loaded with a Lyman 314299 gas checked boolit over 30.0 grains of H4895 and some kind of blue lube. And he hit it way out in the soy beans maybe 150 yards! Had to put up the long range sight and set it for 300 yards and it was right on! Dead with one shot. I was impressed. :lovebooli I will try to get some pictures of the deer hanging in the shop tomorrow.

[HiVelocity]

Yummy!

Deer hamburger, deer butterfly steak, deer jerky! Had chili last week with a friend who made it with last year's deer hamburger.

A specialty here in SC is smoked meat sticks. A few of the local processors are making these meat sticks from deer meat, spices, amd a touch of jalapeno. OMG, are they good.

I just bought my hunting license for this year and 1 doe tag. Lets hope.

HV in SC

[MBTcustom]

And now you know the truth. Ask not how to make your cast boolits perform like jacketed. Instead ask how a jacketed bullet can ever perform like a cast lead boolit?
Cast lead boolits are pure core. There is nothing to come apart. They kill and make no apologies for their effectiveness. Its hard to get the long distance hole punching that jacketed gives, and you do need to take care not to damage the boolits, but if you can get a soft cast lead boolit to the target anywhere around 2000FPS, then it is hands down the best option.
Most folks get into casting to save money, but I would insist on a cast lead boolit even if they were more expensive than jacketed offerings. They just work better.

[DonMountain]

I am not sure how to attach pictures of the deer in our shop. But here goes an attempt.:


48449

[gkainz]

Nice story - thanks for sharing! What a target-rich environment! I got my muley buck with my TC Hawkins .50 muzzleloader in CO this year but had to put a lot of miles under my feet to get him. I do jerky, snack sticks and sausage with my deer and the elk (when I'm lucky enough to bag one) goes for steaks and roasts.

[**oneshot**]

Great shooting! Thanks for sharing.

[UBER7MM]

And now you know the truth. Ask not how to make your cast boolits perform like jacketed. Instead ask how a jacketed bullet can ever perform like a cast lead boolit?.....

What Goodsteel said!


It's just hard to give up that worked up jacketed load sometimes.

[Hickory]

I have killed a lot of deer with cast boolits and know their
abilities and shortcomings , which are few.

They won't shoot as fast or as far as jacketed bullets,
but they are just as deadly, if not more so at shorter ranges.

I have never felt the least bit handicapped using them, and
unlike some people I know, a 1/4 mile is too far for deer.

[waksupi]

I'm with these guys, I don't trust jacketed bullets for hunting anymore. I've had them fail, a cast boolit, never.
Sounds like you're having a good time hunting!

[4719dave]

OH YA MONSTER RACKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!love the BEANS every year the farmer plants soy beans my bucks are on steroids .

[RugerFan]

Excellent! The hunt is just that much more satisfying when you use a C&R gun. Love it!

[rexherring]

great shooting. I used to have a French MAS too, cool but strange looking guns.

[DonMountain]

great shooting. I used to have a French MAS too, cool but strange looking guns.

The MAS 36/51 I have is definately a different kind of gun than the "normal" bolt action American/German/Sweedish/English and etc. guns we all seem to have. This one I bought about 25 years ago for 50$ and when it came in the mail it was still covered in cosmoline and after cleaning it proved to be brand new, unfired. It has the cleanest, sharpest rifling of even the guns I did buy brand new. It has a very tight chamber and after case forming from Swedish Mauser cases I only neck size. And it will hit well out to several hundred yards with gas checked boolits sized to 0.309". And it even has the original bayonet and a NATO grenade launcher. I wonder where I can get NATO grenades for those big groups of deer?

:bigsmyl2:

[ammohead]

Yep. Never fired and only dropped once!

[pilot]

I thought firearms season didn't start until November 11 this year.

[DonMountain]

I thought firearms season didn't start until November 11 this year.

The regular season doesn't, but Missouri has several other seasons also. Look about 1/2 way down the list at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Deer Hunting Rules and dates: http://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/deer-hunting/deer-seasons

And I quote:

Deer: Firearms, Urban

In open areas

10/05/2012 - 10/08/2012

Only antlerless deer may be harvested. Check with local government for allowed hunting methods.

Permits and regulations available in July

Quick Reg Lookup - Deer

And my soy bean farm wasn't always in an "Urban" area. Its just that the "Urban" area people voted our land into the "Urban" area just in case I ever wanted to build an "Industrial Park" here intead of planting soy beans. :veryconfu

[DonMountain]

Yep. Never fired and only dropped once!

Just because it has a bent barrel doesn't mean it doesn't shoot well. And it helps me when I am shooting around the tree on the back side of my treestand! :bigsmyl2:

[357maximum]

Just curious....did yours come with the white flag on the bayonet?:bigsmyl2:

The first time I saew a mas36 I thought ...that has got to be the ugliest gun ever, but they have grown on me to the point that if I found the right deal.....:bigsmyl2:

[725]

Dried, chipped venison for SOS on a fresh bisket...............uuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Good hunting there. Love to hear it's a family thing.

[superior]

30 cal is no joke!

[DonMountain]

Just curious....did yours come with the white flag on the bayonet?:bigsmyl2:

The first time I saew a mas36 I thought ...that has got to be the ugliest gun ever, but they have grown on me to the point that if I found the right deal.....:bigsmyl2:

I think maybe mine was so new it was never handled by a French soldier, hence no white flag. But I do have the bayonet. And you are right about it winning the ugly gun contest. But it was so cheap when I bought it about 20 years ago that I thought I would take a chance with it. Surprisingly it is one of my best and most accurate of the antique military rifles I have collected. Only beaten by my Remington O3A3, and maybe my 30-40 Krag. They are easier to shoot and have much better triggers. :bigsmyl2:

[pilot]

The regular season doesn't, but Missouri has several other seasons also. Look about 1/2 way down the list at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Deer Hunting Rules and dates: http://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/deer-hunting/deer-seasons

And I quote:

Deer: Firearms, Urban

In open areas

10/05/2012 - 10/08/2012

Only antlerless deer may be harvested. Check with local government for allowed hunting methods.

Permits and regulations available in July

Quick Reg Lookup - Deer

And my soy bean farm wasn't always in an "Urban" area. Its just that the "Urban" area people voted our land into the "Urban" area just in case I ever wanted to build an "Industrial Park" here intead of planting soy beans. :veryconfu

Gotcha. I wasn't thinking urban when I read the thread. I'm kinda chomping at the bit. I probably will go to the farm tomorrow for three or four days of bow hunting.

[FergusonTO35]

The 7.5 French cartridge was ahead of its time for sure. Hey, what do you guys think of the Lee C309-150 F as a deer boolit in the .30 WCF? I have no doubt about my ability to put it in the right spot but should I get a mold that produces a boolit with a bigger meplat?

[DonMountain]

The 7.5 French cartridge was ahead of its time for sure. Hey, what do you guys think of the Lee C309-150 F as a deer boolit in the .30 WCF? I have no doubt about my ability to put it in the right spot but should I get a mold that produces a boolit with a bigger meplat?

I am more enthused about using heavy for caliber bullets for deer hunting, hence the 190 grain RCBS round nosed boolit I used out of the 7.5 MAS this year, and the 200 grain Lyman for the .303 British my grandson used. And last year I used a 520 grain RCBS boolit out of my 45-70 for deer. With that boolit you don't have to track them as they usually take several steps backwards with their feet off the ground. :bigsmyl2: :redneck:

[runfiverun]

I think maybe mine was so new it was never handled by a French soldier, hence no white flag. But I do have the bayonet. And you are right about it winning the ugly gun contest. But it was so cheap when I bought it about 20 years ago that I thought I would take a chance with it. Surprisingly it is one of my best and most accurate of the antique military rifles I have collected. Only beaten by my Remington O3A3, and maybe my 30-40 Krag. They are easier to shoot and have much better triggers. :bigsmyl2:

the triggers on french rifles are not designed to function.
they were put there to just look like everybody elses guns.
they also provide an excellent gripping point so the flag on the bayonet can be hoisted high enough to be seen over the trench and waved vigorously without accidentally dropping the rifle untill the appropriate time.
if the enemy doesn't see the flag and you accidentally drop the rifle in the mud, you have to clean it, this would definatly cut into the wine drinking time.

[DonMountain]

the triggers on french rifles are not designed to function.
they were put there to just look like everybody elses guns.
they also provide an excellent gripping point so the flag on the bayonet can be hoisted high enough to be seen over the trench and waved vigorously without accidentally dropping the rifle untill the appropriate time.
if the enemy doesn't see the flag and you accidentally drop the rifle in the mud, you have to clean it, this would definatly cut into the wine drinking time.

I probably should be offended of your prejuduce toward the French, since my great great grandfather came over from France. But I see that you are only prejudiced against the triggers on French rifles and not their wine. And I think French pastry is one of the best also. But my great great grandfather left France for some reason also. He didn't like it there either. Unfortunately he had to go back to France during WWI after learning how to shoot an American rifle like an American. :bigsmyl2:[smilie=l:

[Rooster59]

I'm in the St Louis urban area but our does read the same link you posted. They disappear on 10/4 and reappear around the 10th. LOL

Jeff

[DonMountain]

I'm in the St Louis urban area but our does read the same link you posted. They disappear on 10/4 and reappear around the 10th. LOL

Jeff

I thought all deer could read? During regular deer season in November I can never seem to find a buck after watching them eating my soy beans all summer long. But this year the beans were still in the field during the Urban Deer Season which is exceptionally early so they didn't get the hint of combining off the beans the week before deer season. But we usually see 20 or 30 deer at a time in the fields during the summer. And in the winter they start to disappear as we see them on the side of the highway after they have been hit. So we figured that we might as well eat them instead of the buzzards eating them on the highway. And we still have half the freezer empty and 5 more farm tags. And we can always buy more doe tags if we really wanted to get obsessive and eat deer for breakfast too. Although we did make about 50 pounds of deer breakfast sausage and eat it 3 or 4 times a week with our eggs and pancakes and bisquits and gravy before a hard day on the farm. :holysheep :roll: :Fire:

[roverboy]

The French rifles are an interesting design. I've never seen many of them personally.