- Location
- Edmonton, AB
My XR 100 is back. Last year I was having all kinds of grief with the accuracy. A previously solid load started patterning like a shotgun. So I went back to development. No joy. So the Iceman steps up to the plate and offers to have a look at it. Turns out it needed to be bedded better, and free floated some more. I sent my preferred powder and bullets along with some fireformed brass for some load development too. Iceman never really played much with Varget or 40 grain Nosler BTs, which my rifle LOVED. Or at least did.
I was already at my wit's end because I knew what it was capable of, seeing (i shoulda kept it) the 5 round ragged hole punched at 100 yards with WHITEBOX ammo!
So, the Iceman did his thing. He even cleaned it
Now, this one really shocked me, because This rifle saw more time getting cleaned than anything else I have. I don't even clean my prized 1911 this often. my routine for cleaning was a patch soaked in Hoppe's #9 wrapped around a brush, and give her a good scrub. Let the Hoppe's do it's thing for a few minutes (normally about 10-15 minutes) and then go at it with clean patches until they come put looking like they went in. Well, they always came out pretty clean, (never used more than a couple dozen patches until they were coming out pure white) so of course I thought that the barrel was awesome. Always nice and shiny. Or so I thought. Dennis got all kinds of green gunk outta there, which really disturbed me. It's amazing what a different solvent can do.
So once the rifle was back together, our Viking Madman loaded up a few different loadings, his pet loads, and my pet load.
In total, 16 different loadings (12 with the 55gr Hornady SPSX, 4 with the 40gr Nosler BT) were tried out. Three round groups. I've posted the best three targets, but at 100 yards, ALL OF THESE LOADS grouped at 1" or smaller at 100 yards.
I'll let Dennis chime in here to give you guys the rest of the details, and you're all more than free to publicly ostracize me for piss poor cleaning techniques. I use the same methods on all my guns, when I decide to clean them (in the case of my 1911 and .22, it's a cold day in hell when I get around to it, because they're both plenty accurate and reliable when dirty nasty.)
Here she is:
Load data chart
Target 1
Target 10
Target 12
One of these days, I'll try out the 55gr Nosler BTs, and some lighter SPSX to see what happens. I ran a load of Sierras for a brief spell, but wasn't pleased with their performance. But then again, if people are willing to mail me a dozen or so bullets in different weights and brands, I'll be more than willing to send some 40 gr Noslers back your way in return. Until then, I'm going with load #10. Seems to work REAL good.
I was already at my wit's end because I knew what it was capable of, seeing (i shoulda kept it) the 5 round ragged hole punched at 100 yards with WHITEBOX ammo!
So, the Iceman did his thing. He even cleaned it
So once the rifle was back together, our Viking Madman loaded up a few different loadings, his pet loads, and my pet load.
In total, 16 different loadings (12 with the 55gr Hornady SPSX, 4 with the 40gr Nosler BT) were tried out. Three round groups. I've posted the best three targets, but at 100 yards, ALL OF THESE LOADS grouped at 1" or smaller at 100 yards.
I'll let Dennis chime in here to give you guys the rest of the details, and you're all more than free to publicly ostracize me for piss poor cleaning techniques. I use the same methods on all my guns, when I decide to clean them (in the case of my 1911 and .22, it's a cold day in hell when I get around to it, because they're both plenty accurate and reliable when dirty nasty.)
Here she is:

Load data chart

Target 1

Target 10

Target 12

One of these days, I'll try out the 55gr Nosler BTs, and some lighter SPSX to see what happens. I ran a load of Sierras for a brief spell, but wasn't pleased with their performance. But then again, if people are willing to mail me a dozen or so bullets in different weights and brands, I'll be more than willing to send some 40 gr Noslers back your way in return. Until then, I'm going with load #10. Seems to work REAL good.