littlehughey
Regular
- Location
- Central Alberta
Howdy Fellers,
I have always considered myself lucky being able to use all the other CGNers' test results and experiences in order to make educated buying decisions, so its time to pay it forward. Here are the results of my testing using Warne QD Rings on a Ruger M77 Hawkeye African.
The Rifle:
Ruger Hawkeye African
Leupold VX-2 2-7x33mm
Warne Ruger QD Rings 1R7L (1", medium, matte)
375 Ruger
Ammunition used is handloaded 300gr Hornady FMJ RN over a minimum load of H4350 just to fireform the brass for my future load development. I figured this would be the perfect time to test return to zero.
Now back in July, I loaded up 50 rounds and went to the range for initial sight in with the intention of shooting all 50. After 25 rounds fired, I had a headache from recoil and a bruised shoulder. But I did manage to check for Point of Impact shifting.
Here's my intitial results, groups connected by sharpie lines:
Not bad, but not conclusive by any means. I was fighting a mean flinch and pulling shots like crazy. For reference, its an 8 inch black bull on the target.
This leads us to today. Note that I changed my setup. I started using front rest only with a very low chair. This brought my torso into a more upright position and reduced felt recoil significantly. Flinching is gone, no pain, no headache, no bruises.
Here's what the recoil keys in the rings look like:
To reinstall the scope, it is important to apply forward and downward pressure while tightening the rings to the receiver. I do this by placing my left thumb to the rear of the elevation turret and my fingers grip the magazine floorplate pulling the scope tight to the action. I then tighten each ring a half turn at a time until both are snug. I then continue alternate torquing until they are as tight as I can get them by hand.
My testing consisted of firing 3 shots from a cold bore, removing and reinstalling the scope, firing 3 more, remove / reinstall, and so on until four groups had been fired at a single target. Unfortunately, I didnt think to start documenting this from the beginning, so the photos are from partway through.
Each group is connected into a triangle by sharpie lines. Colour coding would have been much nicer - hindsight 20/20 and all that.
Heres all four groups, notice one of the last shots landed in the same hole (far left)
Now these groups are each averaging around the 2 inch mark which makes it difficult to say how precisely these rings return to zero, but by eyeballing the center for each of these groups, I am confident in saying that they are close enough for my purposes. I may try this test again once I have zeroed in my hunting load.
I have always considered myself lucky being able to use all the other CGNers' test results and experiences in order to make educated buying decisions, so its time to pay it forward. Here are the results of my testing using Warne QD Rings on a Ruger M77 Hawkeye African.
The Rifle:
Ruger Hawkeye African
Leupold VX-2 2-7x33mm
Warne Ruger QD Rings 1R7L (1", medium, matte)
375 Ruger
Ammunition used is handloaded 300gr Hornady FMJ RN over a minimum load of H4350 just to fireform the brass for my future load development. I figured this would be the perfect time to test return to zero.
Now back in July, I loaded up 50 rounds and went to the range for initial sight in with the intention of shooting all 50. After 25 rounds fired, I had a headache from recoil and a bruised shoulder. But I did manage to check for Point of Impact shifting.
Here's my intitial results, groups connected by sharpie lines:
Not bad, but not conclusive by any means. I was fighting a mean flinch and pulling shots like crazy. For reference, its an 8 inch black bull on the target.
This leads us to today. Note that I changed my setup. I started using front rest only with a very low chair. This brought my torso into a more upright position and reduced felt recoil significantly. Flinching is gone, no pain, no headache, no bruises.
Here's what the recoil keys in the rings look like:
To reinstall the scope, it is important to apply forward and downward pressure while tightening the rings to the receiver. I do this by placing my left thumb to the rear of the elevation turret and my fingers grip the magazine floorplate pulling the scope tight to the action. I then tighten each ring a half turn at a time until both are snug. I then continue alternate torquing until they are as tight as I can get them by hand.
My testing consisted of firing 3 shots from a cold bore, removing and reinstalling the scope, firing 3 more, remove / reinstall, and so on until four groups had been fired at a single target. Unfortunately, I didnt think to start documenting this from the beginning, so the photos are from partway through.
Each group is connected into a triangle by sharpie lines. Colour coding would have been much nicer - hindsight 20/20 and all that.
Heres all four groups, notice one of the last shots landed in the same hole (far left)
Now these groups are each averaging around the 2 inch mark which makes it difficult to say how precisely these rings return to zero, but by eyeballing the center for each of these groups, I am confident in saying that they are close enough for my purposes. I may try this test again once I have zeroed in my hunting load.
