Well I finally put aside an entire day to do this....... I was told I had to take the holidays I had left over from 2011, so I booked some time off before they expired......
Of the 50 ish long guns I have I chose 4 that were more or less ready to go. By that I mean there was a combination of known accurate loads made up, scopes zeroed and I felt that they met the “requirements” of the test..... Well almost..... I’ll let the “jury” decide if my guns/groups qualify.... 2 of the rifles utilized factory shells, one of which may surprise you!
The wind was a bit gusty, from 10 to 20ish.
I was planning on arriving at the shootin spot at first light, get set-up etc and get this done by lunch-early afternoon....... This is not a CFO approved range, it is exactly that a “shootin spot”. Everyone and their dog shoots here. Last I was out I noticed that the target boards were completly covered in snow so I brought some with me. My plan was to pull in stop in the middle (the approach comes in at the middle of the range) unload the target stand, carry it to the end of the range, then pull up to the shooting bench (so the truck could be right there) and then walk the range back and forth........ Not to be.
I got stuck.......
Proper stuck.......
2 hours with a shovel stuck...... And I still had to call a buddy to come pull me out!
Needless to say I didn’t get shooting till noon........
And what a crap load of walking!
First up;
Browning X-Bolt in .223 Remington. My one and only centrefire Browning rifle. After buying this one I figure I should look at buying some more. I purchased this in 2012. Leupold 3-9x40 VX-II rifle scope.
Groups
.495
.451
.442
.320
.312
Avg. .404
In full disclosure, when cold the first shot is usually high about ¾”. The 5th shot is usually a half inch low from 4 to 9 o’clock....... This is why you won’t see this rifle in the Precision rifles thread of this nature......
Second;
Winchester Model 70 in 30-06. My only Centerfire Winchester as well. I purchased this at a gun show about 2 yrs ago. It is early 80’s manufacture. As an interesting side note, it was originally ordered by the Saskatchewan government for their conservation officers. They ordered 250 if my info is correct. From a retired fish cop I know this rifle was “as issued” when I received it. I added the scope mount to the factory mounting holes and mounted a scope. There is no bedding, the trigger is factory Winchester, the barrel is 19” long and is somewhere between a sporter contour and a varmint contour..... Rifle is wearing leupold rings and a Redfield 4-12x40 scope.
For some reason this is the only rifle I took a picture where you can see the entire range.....
Largest group is a squeeker..... Fracking wind!
Group size;
.998
.837
.736
.717
.366
Avg. .731
This is probably the most accurate “factory” Winchester I have ever owned......
Third Rifle;
Remington Model 700 243 Win. Rifle is wearing a Redfield 4-12x40 in Leupold rings. I have had this rifle forever....... Literally. My Dad bought it in ’71, I shot my first deer, coyote, porcupine, skunk, etc with this rifle. I have taken over 20 deer with it. It has always been an accurate rifle, I was kind of spoiled that way and it has colored my thinking about rifles...... This is the 3rd scope that this rifle has ever worn. The first 2 were fine when they were new, but when you buy cheap it shows by not holding up......
This one may not qualify for the challenge as it has a Boyds Prarie Hunter stock on it. There is a whole story about that, which I really don’t want to get into here, but suffice it to say, I spent $750 on a rifle worth only $450 because it was broken and I HAD to have this rifle repaired for my Kids and Grandkids, from my fathers hand to mine, from mine to my sons, from my sons to my Grandchilds (hopefully)..... It still has the factory bolt, the original barrel (1/2” shorter) & trigger. It started out life as an ADL. It now has a DM.
Groups;
.356
.361
.444
.488
.506
AVG .431
This rifle behaves almost the same way as the X-Bolt above. The first shot (from cold) is usually about an inch and a half high. The trick with this one is to fire a 5 shot group, let it rest so that it is still warm to the touch, fire 4 shots (good nice tight groups) but the 5th shot is almost always (50% of the time) off the rest of the group by a half inch or so (if not the 5th shot then the 6th shot for sure)..... After that its anybodys guess! It's still a good rifle as it is still minute of deer out to 300y from the first cold shot to the 10th shot!
Fourth and Last rifle;
This is a 338-06 that I had built by Jace Steckle at TNT Gun Works in Regina SK. Remington Model 700 was the base rifle. The only original parts are the bolt, action and the bottom metal (DM). All in I spent WAY more on this than I anticipated when I started. I could have bought a Cooper for less cheddar.....
HS Precision stock, Hart barrel 1:10 twist sporter contour, Extra large recoil lug. Action is bedded in the stock. Scope bases are bedded to the action. Scope bases were lapped. Action was trued. So it isn’t a “factory rifle” anymore, but it looks like one if you can look past the fancy paint on the stock. You may see this one in the Precison rifle thread, but I’m all out of rounds (I guess it's back to to the loading bench!). I did shoot one 5 shot group, but it doesn’t quite measure up...... Oh and its wearing a Redfield 4-12x40 scope. The astute ones will be seeing a simularity between optics......
The .900 (.562”) group is 5 shots of 250 gr SGK the rest of the 3 shot groups are 225 gr Hornady Interbonds.
Groups;
.672
.606
.502
.475
.397
Avg. .530
And I'm finally done!
I swear it took me longer to write this up, take pics, load em to photobucket etc than it took me to shoot the groups!
Cheers!
