Today I took my new Traditions Outfitter G3 in 44mag to the range for the first time. I bought it because I wanted a potent brush gun. Because I expect to only use it out to 100 yards or so, I thought I would mount a red dot as the optic. I’ve never used one of these before, but wanted to give it a try. I’ve mounted a Vortex Sparc II on it and I think it suits the rifle very well.
Once I got it sighted in at 50 yards, I was consistently getting groups of 1-1.25”. This really surprised me. I used Federal American Eagle 240gr HPs to get it on the paper, and then proceeded to shoot 3 shot groups of 3 incrementally hotter loads using Hornady 265gr FPs. I know that these are now obsolete, but I know these bullets well from my days loading for a 444 Marlin that used to be a tack driver with these. I managed to snag a couple hundred of them while Elwood Epps still had them in stock. I was delighted to discover that the rifle has a fairly generous throat and I was able to load these just off of the lands with a COL of 1.745”. SAAMI COL for the 44 mag is 1.610”. This allows for hotter loads than spec (more powder capacity), and also typically provides superior accuracy than when a bullet has to jump to the lands.
Using 23.8grs of H110 lit with a CCI 350 primer rendered an average chronographed velocity of 1825fps, with absolutely no signs of excess pressure, and group sizes of between 1-1.25”, which is just about identical to what I got shooting Federal American Eagle 240gr HPs out of my Henry Big Boy using a Leupold 1.5-5 at 5X. This is not what I was expecting, using a red dot. I am impressed.
https://bl6pap003files.storage.live.com/y4mljPwU2YKy8nr_1DFIO0lzVo33LVbSNYgtnPMWyjJmzFZo7iiIIon7VvIEzLzHK2qwRL_D9shZuvlCmDtzThbEQQ4dVAxGG###hcOB0bIy3195UTuLzMgRCsYL2yiFaPiUcUy_cX9PUJqY3zdOP2dcvp5shFjnj7ewQEjI5qlXtCqk2tvRXYZfbPNcI5L9tGU?width=1024&height=461&cropmode=none
The last group was only two shots, but consistent with the others. The two holes to the right are part of a group when I was sighting in with the 240s. I was getting about 2.5” groups with those, likely because of the long jump to the lands on firing. I think I can push this rifle further safely and plan to do so. However, all around today was successful, and proves to me that this rifle is going to serve me just fine with this red dot.
With the red dot mounted, this sweet little gun weighs less than 6.5lbs. It’s light, short and fast. And apparently accurate to boot. The trigger is excellent: very crisp and somewhere between 3-3.5lbs. Just what I was looking for. I’m a happy camper.
Once I got it sighted in at 50 yards, I was consistently getting groups of 1-1.25”. This really surprised me. I used Federal American Eagle 240gr HPs to get it on the paper, and then proceeded to shoot 3 shot groups of 3 incrementally hotter loads using Hornady 265gr FPs. I know that these are now obsolete, but I know these bullets well from my days loading for a 444 Marlin that used to be a tack driver with these. I managed to snag a couple hundred of them while Elwood Epps still had them in stock. I was delighted to discover that the rifle has a fairly generous throat and I was able to load these just off of the lands with a COL of 1.745”. SAAMI COL for the 44 mag is 1.610”. This allows for hotter loads than spec (more powder capacity), and also typically provides superior accuracy than when a bullet has to jump to the lands.
Using 23.8grs of H110 lit with a CCI 350 primer rendered an average chronographed velocity of 1825fps, with absolutely no signs of excess pressure, and group sizes of between 1-1.25”, which is just about identical to what I got shooting Federal American Eagle 240gr HPs out of my Henry Big Boy using a Leupold 1.5-5 at 5X. This is not what I was expecting, using a red dot. I am impressed.
https://bl6pap003files.storage.live.com/y4mljPwU2YKy8nr_1DFIO0lzVo33LVbSNYgtnPMWyjJmzFZo7iiIIon7VvIEzLzHK2qwRL_D9shZuvlCmDtzThbEQQ4dVAxGG###hcOB0bIy3195UTuLzMgRCsYL2yiFaPiUcUy_cX9PUJqY3zdOP2dcvp5shFjnj7ewQEjI5qlXtCqk2tvRXYZfbPNcI5L9tGU?width=1024&height=461&cropmode=none
The last group was only two shots, but consistent with the others. The two holes to the right are part of a group when I was sighting in with the 240s. I was getting about 2.5” groups with those, likely because of the long jump to the lands on firing. I think I can push this rifle further safely and plan to do so. However, all around today was successful, and proves to me that this rifle is going to serve me just fine with this red dot.
With the red dot mounted, this sweet little gun weighs less than 6.5lbs. It’s light, short and fast. And apparently accurate to boot. The trigger is excellent: very crisp and somewhere between 3-3.5lbs. Just what I was looking for. I’m a happy camper.
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These rifles have a decent rep for straight shooting.
