djosselyn311
Regular
- Location
- Lawrencetown, NS
Thank you for the link to the target
The 1/4" @ 50 Yards Frustration Club Thread
- Thread starter RabidM4U5
- Start date
Thank you for the link to the target
My 2500X silhouette rifle when fed Midas will do it, but I am more interested in shooting 10-shot 2moa groups. Offhand.
The bench proves the rifle, off the bench and especially offhand prove the shooter.
Edited to add: I absolutely get the fun of chasing tiny groups off the bench, but I do have to wonder why there’s never a thread about the accuracy we can produce when we get off the sandbags?
Proof is in the pudding. Start a thread about exactly what ur talkin about. You are a gifted shooter no doubt but do it first before saying how easy it is. There is a huge difference between what ur gun is capable of and executing the plan once you put your hands on it. Pressure on the stock,recoil path,trigger execution with follow thru blahblahblah you know it all and then add wind and unknown ammo variables??? It will be much harder than you think. I will be the first6 to congratulate you when you do it and ur gun is a beauty pal. Cheers Chris and thanks for the photos to drool over.
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Back in the saddle again
Over the past few months I've been shooting a few bricks of Eley ammo that I picked up, since my usual supplier was short on Lapua and RWS. Overall, the Eley was a big disappointment. Most targets were lackluster with only a few close ones in all the attempts. I was beginning to think I might've damaged my barrel or something... Well, deep breath, relax, enjoy a thirst quenching Czech style Pilsner...
I got my hands on some more Lapua and RWS ammo recently, shot a couple boxes of each yesterday and came dang close yet again, so my rifle is still in good shape (phew!).
The Center-X has some fliers (no, them's ain't no "shooter errors"
, come on! That's just rimfire...) Maybe that's why it didn't make the Midas + grade, as it shoots quite well otherwise. The joys of rimfire, I know for sure the Eley I was shooting was just sub-par ammo despite the price tag. Why is it so hard to get one of those "good" lots??
The R-50 was dancing all around 1/4" too, still a few fliers but doesn't seem as bad as the Center-X
I did some base-ogive sorting of the ammo (above targets shot unsorted as a baseline). R-50 had a few major outliers as low as 13 and as high as 22. Vast majority of rounds were 18, then 19 and 17. Partial box of 16's and 20's. We'll see if the sorting helps cut out some fliers.
The Center-X sorted remarkably consistently with no real major outliers. Only one 19, three 20's, partial box of 24's. Majority of rounds were 22's, followed by 23 and 21. These are just arbitrary numbers that come up on the measuring tool, all that matters is the rounds are grouped together with those of the same measurement. Higher number indicates longer base to ogive, and therefore more engagement into the rifling when chambered. What's surprising is the fliers Center-X had, considering how consistent it sorted out. Probably means there is some other factor with the ammo responsible for the fliers than the base to ogive measurement. I'm doubtful the sorting will eliminate those fliers, but maybe it'll tighten up the "overall" groupings if the fliers are discounted.
So, with four bricks of decent and sorted ammo to go shooting with, I just might be able to get the better of this challenge, as long as those pesky fliers stay away! Since 1/4" is a "nothing left on the table" proposition, I also whipped up a benchrest plate adapter for my rifle. Yeah... I know... I may have repudiated these things in the past... but again, one cannot leave anything on the table when going for 1/4". I'm willing to try anything that might improve results. I shaped a piece of oak to the forestock of the rifle, gave it a camo paint job in the colour scheme of my stock and a high gloss lacquer clear coat. Not too shabby lookin', eh? Much better than some of those utilitarian pieces one might purchase for this purpose.
Well, I can report that while the plate made it slightly easier to hold the rifle steady, I have seen no discernible improvement in target results. In other words... I am not the limiting factor in shooting 1/4" groups. This is purely a rifle/ammo equation, and honestly I think it's just the ammo holding me back at this point. Who's hording all that good ammo?
Over the past few months I've been shooting a few bricks of Eley ammo that I picked up, since my usual supplier was short on Lapua and RWS. Overall, the Eley was a big disappointment. Most targets were lackluster with only a few close ones in all the attempts. I was beginning to think I might've damaged my barrel or something... Well, deep breath, relax, enjoy a thirst quenching Czech style Pilsner...
I got my hands on some more Lapua and RWS ammo recently, shot a couple boxes of each yesterday and came dang close yet again, so my rifle is still in good shape (phew!).
The Center-X has some fliers (no, them's ain't no "shooter errors"
, come on! That's just rimfire...) Maybe that's why it didn't make the Midas + grade, as it shoots quite well otherwise. The joys of rimfire, I know for sure the Eley I was shooting was just sub-par ammo despite the price tag. Why is it so hard to get one of those "good" lots??The R-50 was dancing all around 1/4" too, still a few fliers but doesn't seem as bad as the Center-X
I did some base-ogive sorting of the ammo (above targets shot unsorted as a baseline). R-50 had a few major outliers as low as 13 and as high as 22. Vast majority of rounds were 18, then 19 and 17. Partial box of 16's and 20's. We'll see if the sorting helps cut out some fliers.
The Center-X sorted remarkably consistently with no real major outliers. Only one 19, three 20's, partial box of 24's. Majority of rounds were 22's, followed by 23 and 21. These are just arbitrary numbers that come up on the measuring tool, all that matters is the rounds are grouped together with those of the same measurement. Higher number indicates longer base to ogive, and therefore more engagement into the rifling when chambered. What's surprising is the fliers Center-X had, considering how consistent it sorted out. Probably means there is some other factor with the ammo responsible for the fliers than the base to ogive measurement. I'm doubtful the sorting will eliminate those fliers, but maybe it'll tighten up the "overall" groupings if the fliers are discounted.
So, with four bricks of decent and sorted ammo to go shooting with, I just might be able to get the better of this challenge, as long as those pesky fliers stay away! Since 1/4" is a "nothing left on the table" proposition, I also whipped up a benchrest plate adapter for my rifle. Yeah... I know... I may have repudiated these things in the past... but again, one cannot leave anything on the table when going for 1/4". I'm willing to try anything that might improve results. I shaped a piece of oak to the forestock of the rifle, gave it a camo paint job in the colour scheme of my stock and a high gloss lacquer clear coat. Not too shabby lookin', eh? Much better than some of those utilitarian pieces one might purchase for this purpose.
Well, I can report that while the plate made it slightly easier to hold the rifle steady, I have seen no discernible improvement in target results. In other words... I am not the limiting factor in shooting 1/4" groups. This is purely a rifle/ammo equation, and honestly I think it's just the ammo holding me back at this point. Who's hording all that good ammo?
5 shot on 5 targets at 50 yards average of 5 .230
Sept 9/2018
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Sept 9/2018
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I don't know how it is possible to be simultaneously thrilled yet frustrated, but that sums up my results from the weekend. My range had a closure due to an incident of stupidity, and finally re-opened to members only after a month and a half. To date, I have only shot one group in the 0.0's in two years of shooting my CZ custom. This weekend, I shot two more, on the same target no less!! Super happy about that, while also ticked that 1/4" success did not coincide
I also had the "nearest miss" on 1/4" success to date. One group over, by a measly 0.015". Crack your calipers open and see just how little that is... Frustrating! Yeah, top right group would be under if I used 0.22" as a correction factor... I might've pleaded with underthegun to let me do so (wait a minute... I voluntarily use 0.215"...) so there... any closer and I'd have got it. I was good on the horizontal, despite the wind conditions of the day. I only lost this on the vertical. To that effect, three possible causes come to mind: MV variation of this ammo, tuning, and ignition. Could be any of those, or a stacking combo of them. I rarely use my chronograph these days so no idea how this ammo pans out for ES. Tuning is always a work in progress, and CZ ignition can't be made perfect. Doing this challenge with my CZ will be a happy occurrence of everything coming together perfectly for one target, that will surely prove difficult to repeat.
I also had the "nearest miss" on 1/4" success to date. One group over, by a measly 0.015". Crack your calipers open and see just how little that is... Frustrating! Yeah, top right group would be under if I used 0.22" as a correction factor... I might've pleaded with underthegun to let me do so (wait a minute... I voluntarily use 0.215"...
) so there... any closer and I'd have got it. I was good on the horizontal, despite the wind conditions of the day. I only lost this on the vertical. To that effect, three possible causes come to mind: MV variation of this ammo, tuning, and ignition. Could be any of those, or a stacking combo of them. I rarely use my chronograph these days so no idea how this ammo pans out for ES. Tuning is always a work in progress, and CZ ignition can't be made perfect. Doing this challenge with my CZ will be a happy occurrence of everything coming together perfectly for one target, that will surely prove difficult to repeat.
