That load was pushing around 3050 fps and grouped about an inch to an inch and a half on paper at 100 yards which is perfectly ok for hunting, but I wanted to experiment and try to get it better. I started playing around with IMR 4895,  which is a faster burning powder, under the 85 grain sierra and think I finally got a load that I really like. With 36 grains of the 4895, the 85 grain bullet is pushing right at 3100 fps. After the velocity test through the chrono, I shot a four shot group on paper at 100 yards to test the loads accuracy.

All four shots were no more than a half inch apart, so I thought I probably should call it good and leave it alone! Just for the heck of it I decided to set up a dr pepper can I emptied while I walked down to check my target. When I got back to the table I was shooting from, I fired my last two rounds at the can from 100 yards. When I retreived the can I was very happy to see two shots touching each other, almost forming one neat hole right through the center of the can! 

So actually I gained 50 fps velocity and tightened my groups up with seven grains less powder using the 4895. I will continue to try and improve because I get bored and like tinkering, but I think I found the load for the old 788 .243.

Even though I was not really looking to buy a new gun, my dad called me the other day and told me about a guy who had some Remington 788s for sale. We went over and looked at the rifles and I ended up buying a 788 he had in .243. I really like the .243 caliber because that is what I started out deer hunting with and also took my first buck with. It is a great caliber in my opinion, and will be good for Michele and the kids to use when they hunt.

The 788 was remingtons economy rifle back while they were being produced, and I have heard several different stories as to why they quit making them. One of the main ones I hear about why they stopped making them was because they were more accurate than their model 700, and it was cutting into the sales of their more expensive line of rifles. I do not have any idea if that is the reason or if there is any truth to that or not,  but I can say that the 788 is just as accurate as the couple of  700’s  I have owned.

The old 788 is not very pretty to some people I guess, but to me they just look like a rugged hunting rifle and thats beautiful to me! I have wanted one for a long time just to have since they do not make them anymore, and because thats the rifle that comes to mind when I recall my earliest memories of  beginning to notice and take an interest in guns and hunting.

My dad told me he bought his first Remington 788 chambered for .222 brand new for $89.00 years ago. He has traded, bought, and sold several over the years when I was just a kid, but still everytime we start a discussion about rifles he will say, ” I have never had a rifle that would shoot like that old Rem 788 6mm I had”. Well mine cost me $400.00 and that is pretty high since new they sold for $100.00 or less but I am glad to have it. 

I bought 2 boxes of Federal 100 grain factory ammo the day I got the 788  just to see how it shot. It grouped about an inch at 100 yards, not too bad and plenty good enough for hunting, but I know that I can get it to do better by handloading for it. I ordered some RCBS .243 Dies, and some85Grain Sierra hollowpoint boattail  bullets for it this week and I plan on working up a load for it soon. I hope to work up a load that will at least produce a three shot group I can cover with a quarter!  It might be impossible but the guy I bought it from said it will group about an inch with 100 grain bullets, but will put the lighter bullets all through the same hole. I know he was tellin the truth about the 100 grain bullets, now I hope the other part was true about the lighter bullets!  

I know my 788  is actually an old rifle, but it’s still new for me and I can’t think of any other specific rifle I really had longed for except a Rem 788. The one thing that really stood out to me on this rifle is that the stock trigger, with no modifications done, (according to the guy I bought it from), has a much cleaner, crisper, and lighter trigger pull than my Ruger M77, and I had a $60.00 trigger job done on my Ruger by a gunsmith!

Well I am excited about handloading for this rifle and finding out what it really likes best. If everything works out ok and I get a load I like,  I plan on leaving the 7 mag in the case this year and breaking the new old Remington 788 in right on some hogs and deer this year!

Seems that computers and video games have taken over the kids of today. Nowdays when you hear kids ask about playing a game of  football or baseball,  it doesn’t mean getting their buddies in the neighborhood together  for a game in the yard,  it means getting them together for a game on the xbox or PlayStation! Nothing wrong with that I suppose to a certain degree, but I believe they would learn more and be a lot more productive if they would get their heads out of the video games,  get up off their rear ends,  and get outside!

My 13 yr old son and 10 yr old daughter have been around hunting and fishing since they were born. On the weekends that they come and stay with us if the weather permits we always go to the deer camp to fish or shoot, ride the ATV, cookout, or just do something to get them outdoors and off the video games and computer for awhile.

Recently Michele’s dad sent her three boys some 22 rifles. He sent her 14 year old son a lever action Henry Golden Boy and her 7 and 8 year old boys a Savage single shot and a Marlin single shot with a scope.  The youngest has claimed the Marlin with the scope!  I have let them shoot my 22 before and they liked it but  now that they have their own guns, they really love it! They are gettin’ pretty good too, they can shoot a box of shells quicker than you can blink your eye!

I really love helping  kids, or anyone else regardless of age, who wants to learn to shoot, hunt, fish, and enjoy the outdoors. If we as hunters and outdoorsmen don’t take the time to teach and pass on what we have learned to the kids of today, let them sit around all day playing video games and computer surfing, then I don’t see a very bright future ahead for our kids. They may not all enjoy hunting or fishing,  and that is understandable if that is not for them, but at least get them outdoors doing something and let them breathe the fresh air and learn a little about  nature and some of the simple things in life.

I have shot a 7 mag for years and to me it’s the ultimate cartridge but thats just my opinion based on what I have used it for and the ballistic tables I have read on it. I know that mine has sent alot of deer and hogs to the freezer, and bobcats and coyotes to their demise!

To be honest the place I hunt really doesnt require a magnum rifle because 150 yards to 200 yards is about the longest shot you will get and most bein alot closer but I have takin a few deer over 300 yards with it before neighbors bought and moved on the property next to ours. Most shots are about 85 to 100 yards in our woods and over our small food plots we have for hunting.

So there you go, Yep my mag is probably overkill where I hunt. But one thing I do believe and will always believe, “It’s better to have it and not need it,than to need it and not have it”! And there ain’t no such thing as killin somethin too dead!

Even though I love my 7 mag I have been thinking  about gettin me a 7mm-08 also because I like the 7mm caliber so much for one thing ,and I could also use the same powder and bullets to handload for the 08 that I use for my 7 mag.  But after reading an article about reduced loads and managed recoil loads in a handloading magazine I decided to start experimenting some on my own!

Now my own tried and true load for my 7 mag is 64 1/2 grains of IMR 4350 powder, 140 grain Sierra Soft Point bullet, a CCI 250 mag primer, and Federal brass. This load gives me 3150 fps velocity and dime sized groups at 100 yards and is a total nightmare for deer and hogs. I also have some IMR 4895 powder, (which is a faster burning powder), that I had been playin around with and found that 56 grains of 4895 gave me the same velocity and bullet groups as my 4350 load. That was awesome to me because since I can get the same exact performance with 8 1/2 grains less of 4895  that means I can get 17 more loads out of a pound of 4895 than a pound of 4350!

So today I decided to try experimenting some more. I started playing around with reducing the load a grain at a time until I could get it around 7mm-08 velocity. I would load 3 rounds up the same and shoot thru the chrony to check for consistancy starting with 54 grains. What I eventually found was that 51 grains of IMR 4895, pushed the 140 grain bullet at 2790 which is like 7mm-08 velocity! Now all I had to do was load 3 more, shoot a 3 shot group from 100 yards and see what happened on paper!

I keep the scope on my rifle zeroed in to be  1 inch high at 100 yards for my pet load and I was determined I was not gonna touch my scope  for this reduced velocity load.  If it was way low or left or right I was just gonna forget it because after all I was just playin around. My rifle shoots way too good for me now to be screwin around with the scope. 

I taped a paper plate to our target backstop,  placed a 2 inch red sticker in the middle of the plate,  and drove down to the 100 yard point. I shoot  resting across the hood of my truck using my sandbag. I fired three shots aiming at the red sticker on the plate waiting 2 mins between each shot. I would turn my scope up to 9x between shots trying to see if i could see any holes in the white plate but couldnt see any. Figured that they were way low.

When I got back down to the target I found that the reason I couldnt see the bullet holes they were all 3 in the red sticker! One dead center and the other two holes were touching just inside the top edge of the sticker! Bingo! I got my 7mm-08 and my 7 mag all in one rifle and dont even have to touch my scope settings! If I am hunting somewhere I need the full power mag loads I just stuff one in and and its good to go still a inch high at 100 and  if  I am just huntin deer and hogs in our woods I just use this load and save on powder. I can get 137 of em out of 1lb of 4895!

Cant wait to try ‘em on some pigs and deer this fall! Bad news is that I no longer have an excuse to buy a 7mm-08! Except maybe,  Michele needs one! Yep that’s a good excuse, thats what I will use! I,ll convince her she needs one! Let ya’ll know how that turns out later on.

For myself there are several advantages to handloading and #1 is cost.For a person who shoots standard cartridges like the .308 , 30.06 , .243 etc , they may not notice a big savings on handloading but for the ones that shoots a magnum rifle like myself I believe that you can handload your ammo for almost half the cost. Example you can pick up a 1lb can of smokeless powder for around $22.00.  Bullets vary in price depending on what you select but the sierra gamekings I use run about $25.00 for 100 and about $4.00 for 100 primers. Im not sure how much brass runs on cost because I have never had to buy any I kept all mine from factory loads I have shot and have gotten some from the other guys I know who shoot the same cartridge as me but don’t handload. If you do have to purchase some brass though as long as you don’t try to load your loads to hot, (which is dangerous and shouldnt be done anyway), you will get several loadings out of it and shouldn’t have to purchase it that often.

I shoot a 7mm magnum and the cheapest factory ammo I have found for it is $20.00 for a box of 20.  For the premium ammo that uses the premium bullets like the Nosler Ballistic Tip or the Sierra Boattail Gamekings like I use in my handloads are around $40.00 for a box of 20! For $51.00 I can reload 100 rounds of the load I shoot! Now even with the cheapest factory ammo its saving over half the cost but a huge saving over the premium stuff!

Now for the guys who shoot standard cartridges who may not see as much difference in cost there are other advantages also. It means you can be assured you are always gonna get to shoot the same load and not have to hope they have some of what you shoot down at the local wal mart or sporting good store. You can experiment with different loads and tune a load to your gun and get greater accuracy. Believe me when you have 3 bullet holes touching each other at 100 yards from loads you handloaded yourself you feel pretty good. Also its pretty rewarding and satisfying when you take a animal with your own custom load you created and tuned! And its FUN!

Now I wont suggest that a guy who shoots his rifle 10 times a year to get it sighted in and take a deer with it start handloading because it will be of little advantage to him and it costs a little bit at first to get set up. But for someone who likes to shoot and hunt alot its  fun and rewarding. Also you can get as technical about it as you want (digital scales, electronic powder dispensers,etc ) but me I just like to keep it simple! My loading setup includes a RCBS press,  redding beam type powder scale, powder measure, and a case trimmer mounted on a work table I built myself. You can get a loading setup like the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit  for around $300.00 from cabelas, basspro, or amazon , then all you need are the die sets for the cartridges you want to load. Die sets run all different prices, just depends on what you wanna spend. For me I like to use the RCBS die sets, loaded hundreds of rounds with my 7 mag die set and have never had a problem with em yet.

Another useful tool in reloading that comes in handy but is not a necessity is a chronograph. I handloaded for years without one just going on what the books say about the ballistics and velocity of different loads. Couple of years ago my dad got us a Beta Chrony for measuring the velocity of our handloads, and I can tell ya this thing is a nice tool to have. Don’t have to wonder what velocity your bullets are going just shoot through it and find out!

Like I said before if you shoot alot you will enjoy it but if you don’t it will be more trouble than its worth. But who knows the way the government is now days with all the gun laws and crap they are tryin to pass we may not be able to just go down to wal mart and get a box of ammo so that alone may be worth gettin started handloading!