- Location
- lloydminster
I told Dale Janzen I would do this for him, its a quick (and not terribly scientific lol) review of his newer Chinchaga 171gr Aluminum tipped 7mm Bullets. May be a little long winded for some... so I have pictures to look at lol.
Now in full disclosure I did get a box free from Dale but not on the terms of doing a review, but out of good business practice.
Because Dale take pride in what he does; a box with 11 bullets fell out of spec and when I met him at the Lloydminster gun show in January, he told me the first guy to buy a box 7mm would get this box for free. He did want to know how they shot though compared to the ones that were in spec.
So here we go!
These bullets if anyone hasn't had any in hand are very different from the norm. Using a machined aluminum tip that enhances BC (no number yet but Bryan Litz has a few on hand to get a number for Dale) compared to the Hollow Tip versions. These bullets still retain the Rebated Boat tail. Dale has them listed as RBT ULD AT. The cool abbreviation I'm dubbing them is: ATRBT
Compared to: 168 Berger VLD, 150gr TTSX, 120 Vmax.
Loading them up was easy. Because there isn't any load data for this bullet, what I did was cross reference Hornady and Sierra books and look above and below the ATRTB's weight and went with a powder that would share similar powder charges for the those weights. In this case H1000 (Yes I have some and no you can't have any). Starting with a charge weight of 61grs and worked up to 62.5 with 3 rounds per charge. I did the same with inspec bullets. 4 charges, 3 rounds per.
I know, 11 bullets 3 rds per charge, 4 loads... what I did was take another bullet from the in spec group. Did this affect the results? I don't think it did. This was the best way to get the most data with little components.
So I had 12 rounds loaded up for the out of spec bullets and 12 rounds loaded up with in-spec bullets.
Bullet seating was a concern when you see how much longer these things are compared to say a Berger. More in the tip than anything. Dale does tell people that you may have to drill out your seating stem with a 1/8th bit to allow the stem to cup the bullet properly. I was using Hornady Custom series dies and I checked for deformation after doing a test run and found no deformation on the tip so I proceeded. All bullets seated consistently and no issues arouse. I measured of the Ogive of the bullets and they were seated at 2.750". Roughly the same point as my Bergers.
NOW BE CAREFUL AS F***.... I stabbed my self like 5 times on these things when reaching over the casing tray to load powder lol. I never drew blood or anything, I just pricked my self. They are sharp tips.
Before I shot I swapped scopes with another rifle and hadn't sighted it in completely.
All shots taken at 100yds.
Now day one of testing should have been better. I fired my pet load of 120 vmax for a day of yote hunting and to verify zero (this is the group clustered above the center x circled.) and after that the wind picked up. All of the data is printed on the Target (See below) but at -2 and a steady wind mixed improper clothing I started to get a little shaky and chilled. I tried my best to squeeze rounds off as steady as a I could but as the Target shows I couldn't hold it together for all of the shots. Probably should have sat in the truck for a minute to warm up. However I did notice that all groups landed in the same POI. Which means I landed on charges that show constancy (see OCW loads if you haven't yet). Groups could have been better but I was shaky and the wind pushing the gun around didn't help. But you take what the lord gives.
Velocity couldn't be taken at the time because the buggers batteries died. Smallest group came in at .5".
Anything circled is not from the Chinchagas. The random single shots are from my 303.
Day 2 was better but I took a short cut. Temp was 0C and no wind. Knowing that all the loads were safe to shoot I shot the lowest and highest charges. THIS TIME... I would be shooting the IN-SPEC bullets. I had the Chrony with fresh batteries and I was ready to rock!! Again 3 shot groups.
I wasn't paying attention from the day before. I sighted the gun in with the 120's and made a correction but didn't shoot to confirm, I just went on to the ATRBT's.... So thinking the bigger bullets would be hitting lower going slower I adjusted what I thought was appropriate and was wrong. Short story is these bullets were roughly same POI as the 120's.
The group that is measured at .236 is the first group. the circle drawn in is where I figured by the first bullet would have in theory landed if I hadn't made a correction. I have the calipers on the page to give an idea of the spread. Take it for what its worth to you. My scope does track very accurately incase that was in question. The group that measures .450 is the highest charge load.
Please note I did hold to the right side with group 1 to avoid the other shots on target (120 vmax's that I was getting Velocities for as well) so to compare POI shifts there really isn't any. I was planning on shooting another group in to the top target but never did.
***All groups were measured after the caliper was zeroed at .284 to get center to center readings***
Velocities were really tight. Low side was 2562, 2565, 2552. High end was 2618, 2598, 2598. I didn't have a very big jump in charge weight as I didn't know what to expect. Never did hit pressure though so lots of room to go!
Overall I'll say these are very accurate bullets. When weighing the in spec bullets I didn't find one that was more then .1 gr difference in weight. As with any bullet manufacture lots will vary but still... high tolerances are being held by Dale. Buddies have shot his hollow point bullets and they have all shot very well. But these tipped bullets will be giving you better BC for your long range game.
Chrony was a Stienert Super Chrono placed 10 ft from muzzle. It works off the sonic boom from the bullet. Its a really cool little unit.
If you're interested in these bullets contact Dale at chinchagabullets@hotmail.com or 780 618-8896
Now in full disclosure I did get a box free from Dale but not on the terms of doing a review, but out of good business practice.
Because Dale take pride in what he does; a box with 11 bullets fell out of spec and when I met him at the Lloydminster gun show in January, he told me the first guy to buy a box 7mm would get this box for free. He did want to know how they shot though compared to the ones that were in spec.
So here we go!
These bullets if anyone hasn't had any in hand are very different from the norm. Using a machined aluminum tip that enhances BC (no number yet but Bryan Litz has a few on hand to get a number for Dale) compared to the Hollow Tip versions. These bullets still retain the Rebated Boat tail. Dale has them listed as RBT ULD AT. The cool abbreviation I'm dubbing them is: ATRBT
Compared to: 168 Berger VLD, 150gr TTSX, 120 Vmax.
Loading them up was easy. Because there isn't any load data for this bullet, what I did was cross reference Hornady and Sierra books and look above and below the ATRTB's weight and went with a powder that would share similar powder charges for the those weights. In this case H1000 (Yes I have some and no you can't have any). Starting with a charge weight of 61grs and worked up to 62.5 with 3 rounds per charge. I did the same with inspec bullets. 4 charges, 3 rounds per.
I know, 11 bullets 3 rds per charge, 4 loads... what I did was take another bullet from the in spec group. Did this affect the results? I don't think it did. This was the best way to get the most data with little components.
So I had 12 rounds loaded up for the out of spec bullets and 12 rounds loaded up with in-spec bullets.
Bullet seating was a concern when you see how much longer these things are compared to say a Berger. More in the tip than anything. Dale does tell people that you may have to drill out your seating stem with a 1/8th bit to allow the stem to cup the bullet properly. I was using Hornady Custom series dies and I checked for deformation after doing a test run and found no deformation on the tip so I proceeded. All bullets seated consistently and no issues arouse. I measured of the Ogive of the bullets and they were seated at 2.750". Roughly the same point as my Bergers.
NOW BE CAREFUL AS F***.... I stabbed my self like 5 times on these things when reaching over the casing tray to load powder lol. I never drew blood or anything, I just pricked my self. They are sharp tips.
Before I shot I swapped scopes with another rifle and hadn't sighted it in completely.
All shots taken at 100yds.
Now day one of testing should have been better. I fired my pet load of 120 vmax for a day of yote hunting and to verify zero (this is the group clustered above the center x circled.) and after that the wind picked up. All of the data is printed on the Target (See below) but at -2 and a steady wind mixed improper clothing I started to get a little shaky and chilled. I tried my best to squeeze rounds off as steady as a I could but as the Target shows I couldn't hold it together for all of the shots. Probably should have sat in the truck for a minute to warm up. However I did notice that all groups landed in the same POI. Which means I landed on charges that show constancy (see OCW loads if you haven't yet). Groups could have been better but I was shaky and the wind pushing the gun around didn't help. But you take what the lord gives.
Velocity couldn't be taken at the time because the buggers batteries died. Smallest group came in at .5".
Anything circled is not from the Chinchagas. The random single shots are from my 303.
Day 2 was better but I took a short cut. Temp was 0C and no wind. Knowing that all the loads were safe to shoot I shot the lowest and highest charges. THIS TIME... I would be shooting the IN-SPEC bullets. I had the Chrony with fresh batteries and I was ready to rock!! Again 3 shot groups.
I wasn't paying attention from the day before. I sighted the gun in with the 120's and made a correction but didn't shoot to confirm, I just went on to the ATRBT's.... So thinking the bigger bullets would be hitting lower going slower I adjusted what I thought was appropriate and was wrong. Short story is these bullets were roughly same POI as the 120's.
The group that is measured at .236 is the first group. the circle drawn in is where I figured by the first bullet would have in theory landed if I hadn't made a correction. I have the calipers on the page to give an idea of the spread. Take it for what its worth to you. My scope does track very accurately incase that was in question. The group that measures .450 is the highest charge load.
Please note I did hold to the right side with group 1 to avoid the other shots on target (120 vmax's that I was getting Velocities for as well) so to compare POI shifts there really isn't any. I was planning on shooting another group in to the top target but never did.
***All groups were measured after the caliper was zeroed at .284 to get center to center readings***
Velocities were really tight. Low side was 2562, 2565, 2552. High end was 2618, 2598, 2598. I didn't have a very big jump in charge weight as I didn't know what to expect. Never did hit pressure though so lots of room to go!
Overall I'll say these are very accurate bullets. When weighing the in spec bullets I didn't find one that was more then .1 gr difference in weight. As with any bullet manufacture lots will vary but still... high tolerances are being held by Dale. Buddies have shot his hollow point bullets and they have all shot very well. But these tipped bullets will be giving you better BC for your long range game.
Chrony was a Stienert Super Chrono placed 10 ft from muzzle. It works off the sonic boom from the bullet. Its a really cool little unit.
If you're interested in these bullets contact Dale at chinchagabullets@hotmail.com or 780 618-8896
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