Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[benp]

@Cowboy254 have you tried using semi chisel when cutting the really hard wood?

I have had much better luck using it vs regular chisel with my big saws in real hard wood.

Again, awesome scrounge and great pictures!!!!!!!

You're definitely giving @dancan a run for his money with who can stuff a ute/minivan the most with firewood.

 

[JustJeff]

The fruits of my labors. Nice and warm in here boys.
Years ago a field and stream writer shot 4000 rounds through a .220 swift with a slender barrel. Cleaned it regularly and it still shot fine.
I found the 25-06 to be good medicine for deer, coyote and anything else within as far as I could see well. Decent poke to it though, not like 223.

 

[benp]

Don't doubt that one bit.

Cats have a pretty large individual range so folks won't see them everyday but they definitely are around. Although they will stick close to food sources.

There was a "cat lady" who lived north of Virginia in the early 90's and one winter there were many cougar sightings near her house. And not surprisingly her number of "pet" cats also decreased significantly.

Yep.

I've had them run in front of me while on the 4 wheeler and in the car just down the road.

The neighbor and I found a bunch of cat tracks behind the house a couple winters ago while snow shoeing.

My buddy, his brother, and myself had a very close, way too fricking close encounter with one while dragging a deer out of the woods in the dark.

That is a story for another time though.

Bears be always tryin' to steal my firewood! haha

Lol, mine are inspectors.

Here's Mr. Lawn Care Inspector.

Aaaaaand here's Mrs. Bird Seed Quality Inspector and her 3 little helpers.

The mom and 3 Cubs were by far the most unnerving. The bruin was just a lazy coward. I dealt with him a lot over the span of 4-5 years.

 

[H-Ranch]

Sorry for the thread derail fellas, I thought I'd put up a post about firewood.

 

[LonestarStihl]

Happy thanksgiving gents. Stay warm and plump

 

[svk]

Got me a .223 this year specifically for coyote hunting. I reload, so I'm thinking about tailoring a load for my .270 for if I ever get to go hunting long distances like some of the videos I've seen of 3-400 yards. I almost bought a 22-250, but one good day of prairie dog hunting (which I hope to use this gun for as well) will require a new barrel (just a super hot loaded .223 round basically and will shoot your barrel out.) Oh Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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I had a 223 bull barrel Remington 700. Real accurate gun but I sold it because I didn't use it much.

I've always wanted a 22-250. Cool cartridge.

In reality a 24, 25, or 26 caliber varmint gun makes more sense because you can hunt big game with it as well by just switching to heavier constructed bullets.

 

[tpence2177]

I had a 223 bull barrel Remington 700. Real accurate gun but I sold it because I didn't use it much.

I've always wanted a 22-250. Cool cartridge.

In reality a 24, 25, or 26 caliber varmint gun makes more sense because you can hunt big game with it as well by just switching to heavier constructed bullets.

Yeah I have my .270 for the bigger stuff. I want a .223 mainly for something that I can shoot cheaply enough that I can shoot it a lot, I want to get a good scope for it and take it to Talladega to the 600 yard range they have there and just figure out where I need to hold for the 200+ yard shots. I figured with the 22-250 by the time I get really used to the gun and where to hold it I'll have to get a new barrel and start all over again

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[chucker]

went from the 338 mag Remington and the same in .06 to a 243 Remington for yotes and head shots on deer. hoping to get a well placed shot on another bruin some time to see how well it works! usually have a shot at the bait station with a 30/40 yard distance . did manage a nice 10 point buck a few years ago with it at 225 yards... 100 gr. federal.

 

[tpence2177]

.243 is my wife's favorite caliber for deer. I had to go bigger cause I couldn't shoot the same as my wife lol. Plus I like how .270 is a pretty flat shooting caliber.

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[panolo]

I had a 223 bull barrel Remington 700. Real accurate gun but I sold it because I didn't use it much.

I've always wanted a 22-250. Cool cartridge.

In reality a 24, 25, or 26 caliber varmint gun makes more sense because you can hunt big game with it as well by just switching to heavier constructed bullets.

I have a .26 Nosler that I bought when Reeds had a sale. It's a browning. Thing is flat and hits hard but an expensive shot. Wouldn't be afraid to poke 400 all day with it. Thinking about a .204. Waiting to see what the holiday sales bring I have a 700 .223 as well. It's a boring gun because it shoots so well. Very reliable. If you are aiming right it's hitting it.

 

[nomad_archer]

View attachment 539018 The fruits of my labors. Nice and warm in here boys.
Years ago a field and stream writer shot 4000 rounds through a .220 swift with a slender barrel. Cleaned it regularly and it still shot fine.
I found the 25-06 to be good medicine for deer, coyote and anything else within as far as I could see well. Decent poke to it though, not like 223.

Happy thanksgiving! Those 25-06 are nice calibers. I kind of want a 7mm-08 to compliment my 300 win mag. But the Game commission now has the ability to include semi's for hunting so I want to give that a few years and see what happens. I may need to get a larger caliber AR of some sort because I like them but could never justify buying a gun I couldn't hunt with.

As for the 270 it is a flat shooting gun but flat shooting doesn't mean anything once wind gets involved. I like the 300 win mag when shooting at distance since it can handle heavier bullets and still has enough energy down range to take care of business. Now in a applied sense for hunting in PA anything will work. I don't think I have ever had a shot at a deer over 100 yards. I sight my rifle in at 200 yards so in a hunting situation there is no thinking about distance just point and shoot.

 

[MustangMike]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I have had a 270 and currently have a 270 WSM, 300 Win Mag, 30-06, several 223, and a 220 swift and 348 Win & 30-30.

Put a lot of hot rounds through the swift, and a lot of downloaded rounds through the 300, and neither are as accurate as they used to be. But the Swift will still do less than 1/2", so it is OK.

In the heavily wooded area we generally hunt in the Mtns, the 30 cal guns seem to be a lot more effective than the 27 cal ones, so I currently use the 06 cause if is much lighter than the 300, and as accurate as the 300 used to be. I load it hot, to 270 pressures. Gives performance like a 300 H&H from a very light weight gun (Ruger American Rifle). Shoots less than 1/2" w/o and modification. I currently use the Barnes 168 gr bullets. Not the most accurate, but good, and near indestructible.

To be effective with the 220 (compared to a 223) you have to be very good at wind doping and really have clear shots, there is a lot of stuff you don't see when you go over 300 yds. For woodchucks, etc, I would be good with the 223 any day of the week. The heavy 26" barrel 220 is not fun to lug around. But when it was new, that gun would put holes in holes at 100 yds, and was a lot of fun to bring to the range. I shot the crap out of it.

 

[chucker]

all my center fire rifles are sighted in at 1" high @ 100 yards ... rim fire is dead on @ 100 yards to drive roofing nails with zero wind and a 3x7 scope. eye popper!

 

[MustangMike]

I don't think I have ever had a shot at a deer over 100 yards. I sight my rifle in at 200 yards so in a hunting situation there is no thinking about distance just point and shoot.

Very few over 100 yds, none over 200. Probably none over 150. A hot loaded 06 w/165 gr premium bullets seems perfect to me, and the gun is much lighter, something I appreciate a lot more now than I used to.

I think the 30 cal bullets have more gyroscopic action than the smaller diameter bullets, making them more reliable for going through brush and staying on target.

 

[MustangMike]

I sight in 1.5" high at 100 yds, keeps me good out to 200. I make targets with the aim point 1.5" below the "box" I want the bullet to go in. (box is 1.5").

Put 3 target on a page, landscape printing. Saves time running back and forth to your target. Can often put two pages on a stand.

 

[chucker]

it's more mass that makes a bullet a brush separator then spiral rotation ! rotation is the work for accuracy and distance like a football! found this out when the government handed me an m-16 shooting 600+ meters. no "Maggie's drawers" for me!

 

[svk]

There have been many tests about true "brush rounds".

Lower velocity is better but they all suck beyond a few feet after first striking brush. Nothing short of a 400 plus grain Elephant round did much good beyond a few feet.

 

[olyman]

There have been many tests about true "brush rounds".

Lower velocity is better but they all suck beyond a few feet after first striking brush. Nothing short of a 400 plus grain Elephant round did much good beyond a few feet.

when the carmicheal used to be guns editor of outdoor life was testing them years ago,, even a 550 grain round would deflect..........

 

[muddstopper]

Used to have a post 64 model 70 win in 243. Had a 3x9x44mm scope set up on see thru mounts. Killed crows at 400yrds. I reloaded everthing I shot and had a load that was flat out flat shooting. Partially because the scope was set up so high, but the rife was dead on at 100, 2in high at 200, dead on at 300 and 2.5in low at 400. Better hold hair in the cross hairs or you would miss. Never had enough room to bench rest anything longer. Been a long while since I had that rifle, but favorite bullet was a speer point in 80 grains. Killed several deer at 300plus yards with the gun. I have a 25-06 in a New England arms now. Single shot break down. Have a high country 6x24 scope on it. Shot less than a box of shells thru. Cant zero scope, cant even keep it on paper. Sent gun back to company and they claim nothing wrong with it. Been planning on trying the scope on a known shooter to see if its the scope, but just never gotten around to it. I use a rem 742 in 30-06 for hunting trips and my ruger 44 mag carbine for local hunting. I've killed more bear with my model 29 smith in 44mag, 8 3/8 barrel, than I have with a rifle. Then there is the sub 2000 in 9mm, just because. A sporterized 8mm mauser thats a real tack driver at 100yards. Been looking for a 300winmag for a long rangegun, but not really ready to plop out the cash for one just yet.

 

[Cowboy254]

@Cowboy254 have you tried using semi chisel when cutting the really hard wood?

I have had much better luck using it vs regular chisel with my big saws in real hard wood.

Again, awesome scrounge and great pictures!!!!!!!

You're definitely giving @dancan a run for his money with who can stuff a ute/minivan the most with firewood.

G'day Ben, nah I reckon @dancan still has me well covered with van loading even if he is a bit out of practice now he has his newfangled truck-type contraption. I have a 1969 Holden (GM subsidiary) Premier sedan that my grandfather bought new and I used to keep a bow saw in the boot and cut up anything up to 6 inch logs into three round lengths and wedge them into the boot sideways then cut them up when I got home. At the time, a full boot load would keep the fire going for a week since we'd damp it down through the day while we were at work. Didn't have a chainsaw then but kept Cowgirl warm for several years that way but when the Cowkids came along and the fire had to be kept going strong all day, my right arm couldn't keep up. I remember standing next to a long 4-6 inch log with the bow saw in my hand and thinking "Bugger this", put the bow saw back in the boot, left the log and drove home. Bought my first chainsaw the next day.

I've never used semi chisel. To be honest, I didn't know what it was until I started reading here - I knew what I needed to know to cut enough wood without getting caught out or dying from chainsaw related (as well as snake, spider, scorpion and drop bear related) injuries and not that much more. I've learned a lot of good stuff from here and I think you might be right. I thought I had this dry bluegum covered as I have three stihl duro chains for the 460 and one for the 661 as well as my regular chains. I used to like the carbide tipped chains because I could cut 10 cubes with them easy before getting them ground and the local guy charges $8 per chain which I reckon was ok - and my hand filing used to be a bit iffy back in the day. I don't often use the carbide chains now but dusted one off for the dry, hard limb material figuring it would save me filing every 15 minutes. All of the first three tanks in the 460 were used cutting branches that were off the ground but when I had a glance at the chain it looked like it had picked a fight with the wrong bloke at the pub - teeth broken and missing everywhere. I was dead certain I hadn't hit the ground with these branches a foot or more off the ground. Oh well, it was the oldest of the duro chains and the tips were smaller with less contact area with the underlying link, maybe they're weaker as a result. Put a second duro chain on. It is also now missing several teeth. Bloody hell! the duro chain cutters might be hard but it looks like they're more brittle and prone to breakage in really hard dry wood. I thought they'd kick ass in this stuff . They've always been ok in green wood which is what I have historically cut, as well as dry candlebark and peppermint, and really good in termitey wood that has dirt termited through it. This stuff is much harder when dry than the other common species around here. I've gone back to a regular chain now which hasn't suffered any damage. I'll have to see if the dealer has some semi-chisel but I haven't seen it on display (well, ok, I haven't had a really good look).

Here's a coupla bonus pics from the last few days, first puny trailer load of bluegum bits.



The lady farmer's faithful fiend, Bob the dog came for a run with me one day. For a working dog he wasn't much use, he didn't put a single piece of wood in the trailer. Slack.



Second puny load of bluegum.



Plenty of BTUs in that puny trailer all the same.