YIPES!!! 2047 grain projectile

 I was "refining" my Rem 700ml shooting capabilities yesterday, firing 435 grain buffalo spitzer sabots with 100 grains of cleanshot. Set up targets at 30, 75 and 100 yards. First shot at 30 yards was a bit to the right and 3 inches high. Next shot at 75 yards was 5 inches high and a bit to the right. Third shot at 100 yards was one inch low and 1 inch to the right of center bull. Thought that was a bit of a dramatic drop from 75 yards to 100 yards so I loaded another round to check for poi. I was shooting prone with sandbags. Settled into position....got my aiming point....squeezed the trigger....BLAM!...the recoil caused the scope to "make contact" with the bridge of my nose and right eyebrow.  I was sorta "numbed" for a for minutes. A beautiful amount of blood was dripping down off my nose. Pulled a tissue from my pocket , folded it and compressed the hit area, then went looking for a mirror. I mighta thought that my nose was broken at that point.  :o) The truck side mirror showed a beautiful "skinned back" area on the bridge of my nose and a pretty "quarter moon" "tatooed" through my right eyebrow. By the time the blood stopped flowing I was ready to try again. I really thought I had held the stock into my shoulder wrong, causing it to slip down and the piece to recoil back a bit too much. Much to my suprise....when I went to drop in the next charge...my ramrod was missing. No where around the reloading area or the shooting area....then it hit me ...I had shot my ramrod!!!!! Found it today, forty feet beyond the 100 yard target, stuck in the ground at a shallow angle. It's crookedier than a pup crapping on a briar bush.

I have a set of electronic scales at home that are accurate to .01gram, so I weighed the ramrod. It weighs 104.45 grams. I plugged that into a convert progran I have and 104.45 grams is equal to 1611.91 grains. If you add in the 435 grains of lead peojectile and account for a bit of the ramrod chewed off the end... I shot a 2047 grain projectile! The only reason I didn't crack any teeth was because I was wearing a plastic "anti teeth grinding" retainer. Sorry to say, but there isn't much of a mark on my shoulder at all. It was a bit like getting hit between the eyes with a 2x4 and all the neck bones going CRUNCH.

So..how did I let this happen? I had loaded the 435 grain sabot...placed the short starter back on the ramrod and tamped it five times lightly to provide my "standard compaction" to the charge. As I set the short starter down, I lifted up the barrel of the piece and swung it to the left, out of my direct vision. My mind was on the next several shots with the .50 Rem ML and getting in some shooting with my 30-06 too, before it got too dark. There were just too many things on my mind and I got careless. As it turns out, the incident could have been worse, and I realize I had a "wake-up" call. Now, I certainly have an appreciation for those individuals who shot elephants with those huge lead balls.

There was a "perfect" sideways imprint of the 435 grain spitzer as it keyholed 16 inchies high and 3 feet to the left of the bull.

Safe Shooting - samchap

I really like Hodgeton 777. I can get the same velocities using 30 grains less than the 70 grains of blackpowder. It also kicks a heck of a lot lighter.

NH_Hunter