Hopefully this was the one that's been knocking over the neighbor's trash cans and digging up her garden. Smith and wesson 1854 in 357 magnum using 250 grain sub x handloads from about 25 yards using a DNT Hydra hs219. Humidity was about 80%.
This is the same raccoon last night from about 27 yards according to the rangefinder on the Goyojo. Humidity was about 80%. I adjusted the image settings on both to get the clearest picture. The base magnification on the Goyojo is higher than the DNT. To me it looks like the DNT has more contrast but the Goyojo is clearer. I'm happy with both so far for their price of about 800 usd.
A few weeks ago I got a DNT Hydra hs219 so I could see the raccoons at night without having to place lanterns around the property. As I was choosing which entry level scope to get, DNT and Goyojo were two that appeared in searches most frequently. The Texas Plinking review is ultimately what sold me on the DNT, but I was still curious about how the Goyojo compared.
So now I have the DNT for the 357 magnum lever action, and the Goyojo GRS225RF for the 22lr bolt action. So far the Goyojo is impressive. The packaging was nice, the shipping was fast, it was about the same price as the Hydra, it has a built in laser rangefinder, the app connects and works well to transfer pictures and videos, I like the image adjustability, and to my eye the image looks clearer than the Hydra.
I'll go to the range tomorrow to zero it and test it thoroughly to get it dialed in and be confident with it before I do any hunting with it, but so far it looks like a great, especially for the price. For my use case of hunting raccoons and groundhogs from about 75 yards or less, it looks like it will do just fine. I'd also like to test the battery life compared to the hydra. Maybe I'll do a more detailed comparison after using the two for a few more weeks.
They've been putting in overtime on tearing up the property recently. A sudden rain storm broke the extreme heat and soon after it stopped raining I got a notification from a trail cam that a groundhog detected. Hopefully I'll see the others soon. Gun is a smith and wesson 1854, ammo is 250 grain sub x 357 magnum handload, and optic is a dnt hydra hs219. Distance: about 15 yards.
About 60 yards away with a smith and wesson 1854 in 357 magnum using the 250 grain handloads. Thermal is a DNT Hydra hs219 on 8x zoom.
Dnt hydra hs219 from about 30 yards away. I regret not getting the thermnight or higher resolution hydra
For the initial recipe, I was using a coal of 1.96" and 9 gr of lil gun. That works well, but my wife was complaining that she could hear it inside of our house whenever I would relocate groundhogs outside, even though I use a suppressor. So I switched to 7 grains of hs-6 and reduced the coal to 1.845". This produced the same ~1000 fps as the lil gun recipe, stays within safe pressures and is just as accurate, but all of the powder is burned quicker so it's much more quiet and keeps the wife happy.
When using the OBT in Gordons Reloading Tool, I'm shown errors that prevent me from computing the nodes. I've measured my case lengths, water volume, bullet length, coal, and every other data point to use with GRT to get accurate predictions, but it consistently predicts the velocity and pressure to be much higher than reality. I entered my chronograph data, and it says that the velocity isn't possible unless I make initial pressure 1 psi and increase my coal to 1.9". Am I missing something? I'd like to be able to get more accurate predictions for load development.
250 grain sub x 357 magnum out of a smith and wesson 1854 from about 20 yards
Smith and Wesson 1854 in 357 magnum using 250 grain sub x hand loads. About 60 yards away using the DNT Hydra hs219. I forgot to hit record for this one, but I'll try to remember for next time.
Had to make them close to the max length for my 1854's chamber, but they go in and extract smoothly, and produced a decent group at 50 yards off the bipod. They're subsonic, quiet with the suppressor and pack about 550 ft lbs of energy. Recipe is starline 357 magnum case, cci 550 primer, 9 gr lil gun, 250 sub x, 1.960 overall length, and a light crimp.
First round went well. Clean hole on 50 yard target, extracted easily and showed no signs of over-pressure. About 850 fps. Second round also chambered easily, fired and made a clean hole on the target, then on extraction I see just half of the case. Figured the other half was stuck in the chamber, so I packed up and went home to take case of that and inspect. After inspection, everything looks fine with the gun, and the case isn't in the chamber. Must've flown down range or fell out on the way home. Not sure.
Thanks to kak for doing it first and showing that it's possible. Still kinda nervous. 38 case, cci 550 primer, 9 grains lil gun, big ol bullet, 1.61" overall length, moderate crimp, safety squints.
My 1854 in 357 magnum doesn't seem to want to group less than about 3 moa. I've tried multiple variations of handloads, and so far the best has been from using a starline 357 case, cci 550 primer, 4.5 gr titegroup, berrys superior 158 gr plated flat nose bullet, 1.6" coal and a moderate crimp. The group pictured was shot using a bipod and 6x scope from 50 yards. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I ordered some 180 grain hollow points, and some 250 grain sub x's to try. Maybe the 1:14 twist barrel would do better with heavier bullets.
Should've done less defined green lines, but oh well. It will wear in.
Just tested some subsonic 38 special and spicy 357 loads. The 38 special is hilariously quiet. The 357 loads could be a decent deer load this year. I'm loving this 1854 so far. 38 recipe: 4 grains of titegroup, cci 500 primer, 158 gr x-treme plated bullet, light crimp. 357 recipe: 18 grains of lil gun, cci 550 primer, starline brass, hornady 158 gr fp xtp. Rpp forend. Primary arms slx 1-6. Magpul elg stock. Oss rad 9.