So I managed a little time at the range today. I didn't have a lot of time, it was pouring rain, and I only had factory Norma 130g and Federal Blue Box 150g ammo to try. I forgot my cleaning rod and I didn't bother with a Chronograph - I'll get to that when I reload.
Everything was tight, the mag, the bolt, the safety - all of it. Smooth, but stiff - I needed to push the bolt with similar force as my K31. A fellow showed up about an hour into my range time (I was there by myself prior) and he immediately walked up and asked to look at it, he recognized what it was immediately and had only seen one on the internet prior. Me too, prior to buying it online.
He was a big Tikka fan and had three with him in .308, so we agreed to do a gun swap later into the shoot. The Tikka T3 Varmit bolt was really smooth and light - I could operate it with my pinky. When he tried my Steyr, he thought that the cartridge was jammed as the bolt needed a good push to get it to close. I tried a Steyr bolt in the past, so this is not news to me, but the Tikka bolt action impressed me, to say the least. One of his rifles also had the new Trijicon 4-16x50mm illuminated scope
https://www.trijicon.com/na_en/products/product3.php?pid=RS29-C-1900020 and the glass was nice, though I didn't care for the large illuminated cross hairs.
What I learned about the Pro Hunter:
* The 8.7 twist rate balances 150g bullets well - much better than 130g, so this is a .270 with a punch. I can work with that.
* The trigger is 3.5lbs with only a couple of millimetres of creep - I will work on that.
* The machine tolerances are tight tight tight.
* Not sure how I feel about the synthetic mags - time will tell. They were stiff to load both cartridges into them and also rounds into the chamber, I'm sure they will loosen up.
* Takes along time to cool the barrel between 3 or 4 shot groups
* The stock comb height works well for me with high Talley rings and the cheek pad with only 3-4mm of height
* I kind of like the two stage mag insert feature - single load with the mag half in or tap and load from mag - great hunting option.
* This thing is loud for a .270 but the recoil is minimal compared to my 7mm that I usually shoot.
* The Nikon scope is easy to adjust and reset zero without tools - very nice optic for this rifle
Setting up - target tree is for my .22 CZ
Nikon Monarch 3 4-16x50mm
Off-hand first three shots at 100 yards with Federal Blue Box 150g (squares are 1")
Off-hand at 100 yards, trying to zero 1" high with Federal Blue Box 150g
