I recieved my VTR from a fellow gunnut about a month ago, today was the first chance I had to fire it. I should say that today was not the best day to do any accuracy testing, the winds were strong, coming from the north and directly down the shooting lane. It was swirling heavily and rocking the plywood backstop several inches. My best shooting was done between gusts, but even that didn't help much.
I tried three types of ammunition: Federal's bulk pack and Winchesters Dynapoint and X-Pert loadings. Right off the bat the X-Pert was put away. The bullet shape, softness of the lead and larger hollowpoint failed to feed every single time. I never even fired a single one down range. Next up was my favorite, the Federal bulk pack. It shot ok, but today I could hear several shots from the batch I was firing were weaker with a quieter report. More often then not, those quiet reports resulted in a failure to eject or a stove pipe. I didn't get the best accuracy out of these cartridges, but they were the most reliable.
The Winchester Dynapoint gave me results very similar to the Federal's, but the volume of the weaker reports was less noticable. They were however still audible and I could predict when I would have a misfeed. Accuracy was better, but that could have been due to less wind when firing some groups. You'll notice the target has some good groups, some bad. The better groups were when the winds were lower.
As for the rifle itself, it was very comfortable to shoot, load and handle both off hand and from a rest. It is a heavier rifle but it seems very well made. The action and trigger are standard 597. The butt stock and pistol grip are standard AR-15 A2 style. The stock mount, barrel mount, side plates and fore end are solid metal, probably aluminum. The barrel is a heavy contour of 16 inches. I recieved two high capacity 30 round Remington magazines and one factory 10 round magazine. One of the 30 round mags would not cycle at all. The other offered ok performance with on average 1 FTF per mag loading. The 10 shot mag worked best with only 9 shots loaded.
All rounds fired were off a solid bench with sandbags at appox. 30 yards, in a semi-rapid fire style. My scope is a Bushnell Trophy 1.75-4X32mm with a circle reticle, set on 4 power. The backstop was a 4x8 sheet of plywood. Winds were around 50 kph with stronger gusts. Each bull had 9 rounds loaded in the double stack magazine, some have lesser shots due to FTF.
The Dynapoint loads:
The Federal loads:
Unless I decide to chase some coyotes this Winter, this rifle probably won't be fired again until Spring. I will give it a thorough cleaning and try again on a calmer day.
I tried three types of ammunition: Federal's bulk pack and Winchesters Dynapoint and X-Pert loadings. Right off the bat the X-Pert was put away. The bullet shape, softness of the lead and larger hollowpoint failed to feed every single time. I never even fired a single one down range. Next up was my favorite, the Federal bulk pack. It shot ok, but today I could hear several shots from the batch I was firing were weaker with a quieter report. More often then not, those quiet reports resulted in a failure to eject or a stove pipe. I didn't get the best accuracy out of these cartridges, but they were the most reliable.
The Winchester Dynapoint gave me results very similar to the Federal's, but the volume of the weaker reports was less noticable. They were however still audible and I could predict when I would have a misfeed. Accuracy was better, but that could have been due to less wind when firing some groups. You'll notice the target has some good groups, some bad. The better groups were when the winds were lower.
As for the rifle itself, it was very comfortable to shoot, load and handle both off hand and from a rest. It is a heavier rifle but it seems very well made. The action and trigger are standard 597. The butt stock and pistol grip are standard AR-15 A2 style. The stock mount, barrel mount, side plates and fore end are solid metal, probably aluminum. The barrel is a heavy contour of 16 inches. I recieved two high capacity 30 round Remington magazines and one factory 10 round magazine. One of the 30 round mags would not cycle at all. The other offered ok performance with on average 1 FTF per mag loading. The 10 shot mag worked best with only 9 shots loaded.
All rounds fired were off a solid bench with sandbags at appox. 30 yards, in a semi-rapid fire style. My scope is a Bushnell Trophy 1.75-4X32mm with a circle reticle, set on 4 power. The backstop was a 4x8 sheet of plywood. Winds were around 50 kph with stronger gusts. Each bull had 9 rounds loaded in the double stack magazine, some have lesser shots due to FTF.
The Dynapoint loads:
The Federal loads:
Unless I decide to chase some coyotes this Winter, this rifle probably won't be fired again until Spring. I will give it a thorough cleaning and try again on a calmer day.
