Well, that's done.
I had some ammunition loaded up in neck turned brass from last year so I decided it would suffice for test ammo. It was loaded with 150 grain Sierras ahead of 4895 and the seating depth was about right for this chamber.
Conditions today are not great for testing ( I wanted to throw an excuse out there right away). It has rained lightly and is now sunny. The wind is fishtailing ENE to ESE at from 5-10 mph (my range faces east). Mirage is very, very heavy.
I started out at 100 yd. I boresighted on the target and fired a shot. This hit at about 7 o'clock, 3/4 inch low. Good enough. I moved to another target and fired a 5 shot group. It looked pretty good and measured out OK at .241".
Of course 100 yd groups don't mean much when prepping for a 300 meter shoot so I clicked it up 5 1/2 moa and moved to the 300 meter distance. Here, the mirage was way too heavy to have any chance of seeing bullet holes so I was shooting blind. I allowed about 1 1/2 moa for the wind which was now pretty steady at ENE and fired my 5 shots holding in what I hoped was the appropriate spot for each shot. When I walked up to the target I discovered that I had under estimated the wind by a full minute but had been fairly consistent in this. I had four shots in .720" with one out to the right by two inches. If I had managed to center the group in the 300 meter "X", that shot would have been a 10 at best. Nonetheless, the rifle shows a certain amount of potential and should do better with a little load development. The vertical dispersion was only .7".
I like to do my load developement when conditions are calm and clear (early morning or late evening. To heck with the neighbours!). I want to be certain of the rifle's capabilities before I start practice. Today I shot from the bench but from now on will shoot prone from a rest. Time's short. Regards, Bill.
I had some ammunition loaded up in neck turned brass from last year so I decided it would suffice for test ammo. It was loaded with 150 grain Sierras ahead of 4895 and the seating depth was about right for this chamber.
Conditions today are not great for testing ( I wanted to throw an excuse out there right away). It has rained lightly and is now sunny. The wind is fishtailing ENE to ESE at from 5-10 mph (my range faces east). Mirage is very, very heavy.
I started out at 100 yd. I boresighted on the target and fired a shot. This hit at about 7 o'clock, 3/4 inch low. Good enough. I moved to another target and fired a 5 shot group. It looked pretty good and measured out OK at .241".
Of course 100 yd groups don't mean much when prepping for a 300 meter shoot so I clicked it up 5 1/2 moa and moved to the 300 meter distance. Here, the mirage was way too heavy to have any chance of seeing bullet holes so I was shooting blind. I allowed about 1 1/2 moa for the wind which was now pretty steady at ENE and fired my 5 shots holding in what I hoped was the appropriate spot for each shot. When I walked up to the target I discovered that I had under estimated the wind by a full minute but had been fairly consistent in this. I had four shots in .720" with one out to the right by two inches. If I had managed to center the group in the 300 meter "X", that shot would have been a 10 at best. Nonetheless, the rifle shows a certain amount of potential and should do better with a little load development. The vertical dispersion was only .7".
I like to do my load developement when conditions are calm and clear (early morning or late evening. To heck with the neighbours!). I want to be certain of the rifle's capabilities before I start practice. Today I shot from the bench but from now on will shoot prone from a rest. Time's short. Regards, Bill.
)
