RUSSELL THORNBERRY OUTDOORS

Introducing the .257 Ferguson Hot Tamale

Introducing the .257 Ferguson Hot Tamale

Extreme velocity, pinpoint accuracy and devastating long-range results on game describe James Ferguson’s incredible wildcat.

By Russell Thornberry

For as long as ballisticians have been stuffing powder and bullets into brass cases, they have been engaged in an ongoing race with gravity. Since all objects respond to gravity’s pull at the exact same rate of drop, regardless of their weight and design, the object of the race is to launch the bullet as far as possible from the muzzle before gravity pulls the bullet into terra firma.

Magnum velocity (3,000 feet per second) was considered the ultimate conquest for many years. Today, however, we take 3,000 fps for granted. The next hurdle – 4,000 fps – remains somewhere on the very distant horizon for factory big game rifles. Notice I said “factory.”

After years of experimenting, gunsmith James Ferguson of Wharton, Texas, has actually achieved the formidable muzzle velocity of 4,000-plus fps in a caliber that will tantalize the imaginations of those who relish ultra-flat bullet trajectory – especially the .25-caliber aficionados. Ferguson has necked the 7mm STW case down to .257 caliber and, with a 100-grain bullet ahead of a specified load of Reloader 25, he’s managed to break the 4,000-fps barrier without exceeding safe pressure parameters.

Is Ferguson the first to wildcat a .257 x 7mm STW? Perhaps not. But to my knowledge, he’s the first to realize the staggering velocity of 4,000-plus fps muzzle velocity while maintaining half-minute-of-angle accuracy.

I received my Ferguson .257 Hot Tamale (my nickname for cartridge) last fall, and it put five shots into a 3/8-inch group off the bench at 100 yards. Recoil wasn’t excessive to me, but I am a big fellow and used to rifles that bite back.

Then, in December 2002, I met Ferguson in Laredo, Texas, en route to our destination for a whitetail hunt in Mexico (he’s also an outfitter). Hot weather slowed the rut to a crawl, and the mature bucks went underground for a few days. So, being anxious to feed the Hot Tamale to some wild critter, I suggested that we spend a few hours looking for some javelinas.

We found plenty of them at a variety of ranges. The first one was at 305 yards, according to our range-finder. “Hold dead on him,” Ferguson announced. I did, and the bristly little critter dropped in its tracks.

The next one we ranged at 410 yards. Ferguson repeated his previous instructions with confidence, but when I looked at the javelina through the crosshairs a quarter-mile away, something in my mind just wouldn’t believe I could just aim at him point-blank. So I held over him just a hair and touched off my shot.

“You shot over him!” Ferguson scolded. “Where did you you aim?”

“Uh -- a hair over him,” I confessed sheepishly.

“Aim right at the pig – I’m telling you that you don’t have to hold over him!”

The javelina was so far away that the first shot didn’t even register as a problem to him. I lowered my crosshair into the black silhouette and squeezed the trigger. I saw him drop through the scope before the recoil registered against my shoulder. To say that I was impressed was an understatement.

My rifle was zeroed at 350 yards. With a muzzle velocity of 4,060 fps, my 100-grain, all-copper J-36 bullet (manufactured by Lost River Ballistic Technologies Inc.) with a ballistic coefficient of .532, registered as follows:

+ 1.89 inches at 100 yards
+3.15 inches at 200 yards
+1.78 inches at 300 yards
Dead-on at 350 yards
-2.58 inches at 400 yards
-10.27 inches at 500 yards.

Incredibly, the velocity at 500 yards is still in excess of 3,000 fps. Energy in foot-pounds generated at the muzzle is 3,660, and at 500 yards, it still maintains 2,057 foot-pounds of energy – plenty enough for any whitetail!

Later in the week, a beautiful white-tailed buck crossed a sendero about 300 yards from my tripod stand. A center lung shot curled him up like a scalded spider. The Hot Tamale had spoken.

James Ferguson’s son Jimmy shot several feral hogs with his rifle chambered for the same cartridge, and in each case the pigs dropped in their tracks. The amazing J-36 all-copper bullet displayed incredible penetration, driving completely through bone and heavy tissue of each hog and exiting in every case. Ferguson had originally loaded the cartridge with 100-grain Nosler Solid Base Ballistic Tip bullets, which performed exceptionally well in terms of accuracy. The softer lead-core bullet, however, expanded rapidly upon impact. It dropped animals, too, but at such velocities it didn’t always pass through and exit like the J-36 did.

I shot a blackbuck and an axis deer in the Texas Hill Country and numerous whitetails in Alabama after my Mexico experience, and in every case the bullet passed through, dropping the animals like stones.

Extreme velocity produces some astounding effects that seem to defy physical laws. This was brought to my attention years ago when I read an article in Volume I of P.O. Ackley’s classic “Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders.” Ackley noted that his experience proved that a .220 Swift was the most deadly caliber ever produced for deer and similar-sized game. His book was copyrighted in 1962, but his understanding of the compound effects of extreme velocity remains as true today as it was then.

In addition to some extensive shooting tests on animals, Ackley demonstrated his findings by firing two 48-grain bullets from a 220 Swift into half-inch armor plate on the front of a U.S. Army half-track. He also fired 100-grain bullets from a .270 Winchester and armor-piercing rounds from a government .30-06. All shots were fired from a distance of 30 feet.

The results were amazing. Both of the .220 Swift factory loads penetrated completely through the half-inch armor plate, leaving holes approximately 3/8 inch in diameter. The 100-grain .270 bullets managed no penetration whatsoever, leaving only shiny spots on the armor plate, and the .30-06 armor-piercing bullets made only shallow craters.

Suffice to say Ackley made his point about the compounded effects of hypervelocity (muzzle velocity of 4,00fps or more). His .220 Swift bullets exited the barrel at 4,100 fps, practically the same speed that the 100-grain .257 caliber bullet is leaving Ferguson’s Hot Tamale. That’s twice the bullet weight of the 48-grain .220 bullet at the same devastating speed! Little wonder the animals shot with the Hot Tamale were dropping in a heap.

Another and most important aspect of the effects of hypervelocity on game must be understood in order to fully understand its advantages. Liquid can’t be compressed, so when the force of hypervelocity impacts internal organs, the liquid contained therein becomes a deadly weapon in its own right. It explodes away from the impact with such force that it destroys all in its path. Crossing the 4,000-fps threshold of speed creates such intense hydrostatic shock within the animal that the liquid in its vital organs becomes something of an internal bomb. Magnum velocity of 3,000 fps does not approach this devastating threshold, regardless of bullet weights.

I refrained from mentioning the specific powder load used in my cartridges because it would be misleading and potentially dangerous as general information. James Ferguson doesn’t just build you a rifle and send it to you to develop your own load. He works with each rifle, measuring pressure generated and accuracy. Not only do you get a phenomenal rifle, but you also get a proven load that is safe and extremely accurate. That’s part of the package.

Two Ferguson rifles of the same caliber might not have identical handloads. One thing is for certain, assuming he makes a rifle for which factory loads are available: His handload recipes will exceed factory ammo both in velocity and accuracy. With a wildcat cartridge like the Hot Tamale, Ferguson’s predetermined loading data is an essential part of the equation.

I have long been enamoured with 1/4-inch calibers, so when Ferguson told me about his Hot Tamale, I had to have one. It has certainly exceeded even my wildest expectations. The hardest part of hunting with the Hot Tamale is believing that I can aim right at a critter at a quarter-mile away (and farther) and make clean killing shots without holding over the target. This rifle might put quite a hurt on the range-finder market.

My rifle is built on a Remington 700 long magnum action. The components of my rifle include a 26-inch, No. 4, fluted, Shilen Stainless Select Match Grade barrel — the finest barrel Shilen manufactures. The stock is a McMillan Remington Classic, and the trigger is a Jewell Hunting Trigger set at 40 ounces. Ferguson has built numerous .257 Hot Tamales on other actions as well, according to the preferences of his clients.

Extreme velocity, pinpoint accuracy and devastating results on game describe the Ferguson .257 Hot Tamale.

If P.O. Ackley were still around, I have no doubt that he’d agree that the .257 Ferguson Hot Tamale is now “the most deadly caliber for deer and similar-sized game ever produced.” And I can’t imagine a more lethal sheep gun, especially in terrain that makes judging distances difficult. The Hot Tamale is truly a rifleman’s dream.

Post Scrpt
Since this article was first published in Buckmasters GunHunter Magazine, the Hot Tamale has been used successfully on several continents. It has take the largest of game including Alaska,Yukon moose, bull elk,  prairie bison and African eland with a single shot through the point of the shoulder. Even on these large species the 100-grain, all-copper bullets achieved complete pass through and dropped these animals in their tracks!

Ferguson Custom Rifles
www.fergusonrifles.com
5320 FM 1299
Wharton, TX 77488
(979) 533-0140

 

The TrailCam Revolution

 

Trail cameras are undoubtedly the greatest assets to modern deer hunters since the invention of binoculars -- that 24-hour-a-day eye peeking into the deer’s world that the hunter would otherwise never be able to see or know.  Trail cams make getting pictures of wildlife a sport unto itself.  They extend the hunting season by months each year and tell hunters what they need to know about where and when they need to hunt.  There is that rush of anticipation every time we upload our latest trail cam photos.  The simple entertainment value is immense.

From a trophy hunting point of view trailcams are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Many an average buck’s life has been spared thanks to trailcams.  Why?  Because the hunter knew there was a better buck in the area, even though he might have never seen him other than on his trailcam photos.

There is also the aspect of learning more about the social order of bucks.  If your trail cam is set up near a food source during late summer when the bucks are still in bachelor herds, trailcams allow you to see which buck is the boss (dominant) buck.  We tend to think antler size equates to dominance but that is not always true. If you are hunting “the dominant buck” in an area you might be surprised to know that the buck with the biggest rack isn’t necessarily the boss.  I was able to observe social behavior among a group of bucks this past summer, and to my surprise, a stubby-racked 10-point with short tines dominated several significantly larger-racked bucks of the same age class.  From the photos I gleaned of the bucks’ behavior when they were together, it appeared that attitude had more to do with dominance than antler size or age. One such incident was captured well on one of my trailcams:

 

Photo No. 1 shows an encounter between the 10-point buck (still in velvet) and a 9-point with a larger rack, already stripped out of velvet. Note the dominant posture displayed by the buck in velvet.

Photo No. 2 shows the 10-point buck aggressively clashing antlers with the 9-point. Usually a buck will not spar while still in velvet, but this was an exception, further illustrating the 10-point buck’s determination to dominate.

Photo No. 3 shows the larger-racked 9-point buck retreating with his tail between his legs – a sign of his submission to the other buck.

There might be more to the story than meets the eye but this insignificant 10-point ruled the roost. What I learned was that I wasn’t at all interested in shooting the dominant buck in that group.

My friend John Bott of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada, makes ultimate use of numerous trailcams in his preseason scouting, and judging from the pile of antlers in his back yard, the benefits are obvious.  I whole heartedly agree with his following comment on the use of trailcams:

“I must say - since Dad and I invested in trail cams - the average score of our archery bucks went UP markedly, and immediately. What was once considered "likely the biggest buck around here" was being passed up because we had a hit list of bucks we KNEW were bigger. If I was to point at the single most beneficial tool in my hunting tool kit to come out in the last few years - digital trail cameras would be right at NO. 1.”

Post Script
On the evening of November 8, 2009, John Bott finally bagged the buck shown in the trailcam photo at the top of this article after hunting him for three years, lending even more credence to the value of trail cameras! Below is the photo of one happy John Bott at the end of a long challenging 3-year hunt.

What's Up With Deer Droppings

Many hunters mistakenly think they can distinguish buck droppings from doe droppings.  They incorrectly assume that bucks make the clump of compressed droppings while does leave the single pellet droppings. This theory is absolutely false. Both bucks and does leave both types of droppings.

The clumped droppings indicate that the deer has been bedded down and ruminating, which, in cattleman’s terms, means chewing its cud. Deer, like cattle, have four-compartment stomachs. They feed and then bed and regurgitate the coarse vegetation they have eaten and chew it up into finer bits and swallow it again. Then, when they emerge from their beds, their first droppings are compressed in clumps. After that, as they feed and move about, their droppings are formed as single pellets.

So when trying to determine buck sign from doe sign, don’t be fooled by the false theory about droppings. Deer droppings may vary in size in accordance with the animal’s body size, but not according to its sex.

The Truth about Broadhead Effectiveness

Hemorrhaging

First let’s define the multifaceted term “effective.”  Since broadheads kill through the process of hemorrhaging, the more blood loss they create in the shortest amount of time, the more effective they are.  There are dozens of broadhead designs on today’s market, but when it comes to effectiveness, the sharper they are, the better.  How sharp is sharp enough?  If the blade will not shave hair from you arm effortlessly, then it is ineffective.

No matter what the manufacturer claims, in the end it all depends on punching razor shaving sharp blades through the vitals of the animal you pursue.

 

Penetration

The most effective broadhead is one that cuts easily through both sides of the animal, leaving an exit wound.  In this respect, all broadheads are not created equal.  No matter the size of the entry hole, without an exit wound the broadhead has failed.  No treestand hunter would argue this point.  Understanding the physics of broadhead penetration ultimately comes down to tip design. To illustrate my point consider the results of a broadhead penetration test I did 20 years ago.  I had a pressure gauge made that allowed me to insert a 12-inch arrow shaft into it with the broadhead of my choice screwed into the tip.  The subject for the test was a freshly killed, 200-pound wild boar.  The hog in its entirety was laid on its side and I pushed the arrow shaft tipped with a broadhead between the ribs of the hog until it penetrated and sunk into the vitals of the lung area.

 

 

 I tested three specific types of broadheads: a simple 2-blade, cut-to-the-tip head, a 3-bladed chisel-tipped head and a 3-bladed conical (bullet) tipped head.  I pressed each broadhead into the pig’s side three times and noted the average amount of foot pounds of energy that each head required to penetrate. The results were astounding.  The 2-blade cut-to-the-tip head averaged 1 ¼ pounds of energy to penetrate the hide and slice into the lungs.  The 3-blade head with a chisel tip averaged 55 pounds of energy to accomplish the same task, and the 3-blade conical-tipped head averaged 82 pounds of energy to penetrate. This static test left no question about effective penetration.  The cut-to-the-tip was in a league if its own.  If penetration is achieved best when the least amount of arrow inertia is utilized in breaking through an animal’s hide, then every pound of inertia lost in this process robs the arrow of ultimate penetration.

The second part of my test was a dynamic approach.  I propped the hog up on his belly and shot all three broadhead types with three arrows each, to see how they would penetrate on a 660-grain shaft shot from an 80-pound bow at a distance of 30 yards. The dynamic test further affirmed the results of the static test.  All three arrows with the 2-blade, cut-to-the-tip broadheads shot completely through the hog with ease.  The 3-blade chisel-tipped heads were less effective.  Two of them entered the chest cavity without penetrating the offside.  The third arrow broke through the skin about three inches on the offside and stopped.  The conical-tipped heads were astounding failures.  The first two arrows bounced off the hog and the third one entered the vital cavity because it hit a previously cut hole.

 

In the infancy of American bowhunting, the simple 2-blade cut-to-the-tip broadheads were about the only kinds of heads commercially available, but as bowhunting grew more popular other designs were offered.  Though some of them were terrible, the fact that you could screw the broadhead on and go hunting without having to sharpen them had wide appeal.  The old 2-blade cut-on-contact took a distant back seat to the flashy newer heads with replaceable blades.  Very few bowhunters had any idea of their effectiveness and many sung the praises of their broadheads based simply on speculation.  Had they tried the same penetration test I did, they would have been shocked.  A few old timers who knew the truth about cut-to-the-tip penetration superiority were considered old fashioned.  Slowly however, the truth bubbled to the surface, which resulted in a new trend of commercial broadheads, many of which have cut-on-contact tips.  So in a sense, in pursuit of ultimate penetration, we have come full circle.  Never have there been more excellent broadheads on the market.  The number of blades isn’t the issue.  The issue is the ease with which the tip slices its way into the animal, the subsequent sustained amount of kinetic energy, the razor edge of the blades and a well-tuned arrow flying from a well- tuned bow.

 

While tuning bows and arrows are matters apart from broadhead evaluation, ultimate broadhead effectiveness in terms of penetration depends 1) on an arrow flying perfectly on its axis so that every ounce of energy is utilized in penetration and 2) razor sharp blades to achieve maximum hemorrhaging. 

Editor's Note:

The broadheads shown in the article are three heads that meet every criteria for effectiveness.  At top of page in the new, 3-blade, G-5 Montec CS, 25% sharper than the stainnless Montec of the same design.  The middle photo is the Muzzy 4-blade and the bottom photo is the 2-blade SilverFlame broadhead made by German Kinetics.

Big Rubs = Big Bucks?

Trying to determine the size of a buck by the size of the tree or bush he rubs with his antlers can be deceiving. The prevailing theory on the subject says that big bucks rub big trees and little bucks rub little trees. However, this theory is simply untrue.

When you see a tree as big around as a grown man’s thigh, that’s been stripped of its bark and the inner wood gouged away, you can rest assured the damage was not done by a small buck with spindly antlers. It was done by a mature animal. Conversely, when a small sapling the diameter of your little finger is rubbed bare but still standing, you can be fairly sure it was rubbed by a small, immature buck with very small antlers. So far, my examples favor the theory that I am disputing. But, here is the difference.

Mature, large-antlered bucks often rub on small saplings and bushes, too. But when they do, they do not leave them standing. They shred them and break them off or rip them out of the ground. The rubs of mature bucks on small shrubs are not delicate like the efforts of young bucks with dainty racks. The older bucks violently rip them apart. The key is in being able to differentiate between the evidence left on smaller shrubs, since both large- and small-antlered bucks are likely to rub them.

Getting Kids Steady

Sometimes a youngster’s desire to hunt exceeds their capacity to handle a rifle like an adult.  Typically the rifle is too heavy for them to steady without a solid rest.  Just finding a rest for the forend of the rifle isn’t the full answer to the problem.  The child still has to deal with some of the weight of the rifle, which is hard for them to shoulder and hold rock solid.  Such was the case when my grand daughter, Ivy Patterson, went on her first deer hunt with me when she was just 9 years old.  Because she is a small person, I cut down and reformed the walnut rifle stock to fit her. Then I found a rifle holder designed to attach to treestands.  With a little imagination I altered the rifle holder to mount on a tripod.  This system held the full weight of the rifle.  All Ivy had to do was snuggle in behind it, pull it into her shoulder, get steady and shoot.  The vertical and horizontal adjustments on the head of the tripod were just tight enough to enable her to move the rifle under a bit of tension, which kept her steady.  It enabled her to shoot like a pro.  The tripod gun rest is portable and easily set up in a ground blind or box blind.