X95 is an amazing rifle! - latest range report
After my first X95 range report in Last March:https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1539913-X95-quick-review,
I haven't had lots of chances to shoot it and NONE of them was beyond 200 yard, round count 1077, including the 99 rounds shot yesterday. On this passed weekend, I finally had chance to shoot to 600 meters and was very happy with the results. So I think another follow-up report is
in order for everyone who might be interested in getting a X95. A little bit long, but hope it's not boring.
1. Personal Shooting Background: I started to shoot long gun last year, so far only own one bolt-action ruger american predator in 308(another amazing good value rifle, btw. hit 700 meter 2moa steel in 10-mile cross wind with my own handload), and X95 as my only semi(bought last Feb, first shot in last March)
2. Rifle Setup.
Since my initial review, I have done a few upgrade/addon to it.
a. first and most importantly is the geissele trigger and lightning bow. very expensive($700) but worth every penny!!!
b. Phase 5 littleboy muzzle brake. works very well, but a little hassle to install due to the design which block the use of lock nut. now I would prefer a standard lock nut setup.
c. Vortex PST Gen 1 1-4x SFP scope on ADM Mount specifically designed for X95(Model: AD-Recon-PB-H 30mm-Tac). I am near-sighted and have astigmatism, so using red-dot is out of the question.
[edit] forgot the important switchview throw lever. for the tight ring on PST scopes, they are a must-have add-on. I have it on all 3 of my PST scopes.
d. FAB T-POD G2 Foregrip/Bipod. Very nice addon. flexible and stable when used as Foregrip or Bipod.
e. pistol grip. just to be able to use trigger lock.
f. Savvy Sniper Quad X Cobra Sling, Dual QD MS. Great sling, very easy to adjust.
3. Ammo: American Eagle 55gr 223REM(500 round/box pacakge) - out of my X95 @ Velocity: 3019.76fps. SD: 20.46. I picked factory ammo vs my own handload(as well as the 4x scope matching common miltary setup) deliberately to see where the gun and my own limit is.
4. Snowshoe & Shoot Event & Rifle Target: the snowshoe & shoot event is a 7KM walking round-trip with all the gears on your back, including long gun(s), one holstered pistol, ammo, food/snack/water, shooting mat etc., as long as you can carry them. We walked about 3KM to 100 meter range, First shoot some paper with pistol @ 10 meters, then zero rifle @ 100 meters. The walk about another 1-1.5KM to anther range to shoot pitol steel, followed by 200-600 meters rifle with steel targets, including live size animal(bear, ram and something I forgot as I didn't shoot them), also 18"x24" plate which was what I was shooting. Due to the number of the people, most of the time we have to share one target between 2 people as a team, but luckily(for ME), my teammate's AR wasn't capable of longer than 500 meters, I was left alone to shoot that target(18"x24") at 600 meters which was the only reason I could know how I did because at 500meters and beyond, NO ONE either can hear the ding from a 223, nor can see through their spotting scopes. We tried two different spotting scopes) as well as one friend's scope on his rifle with NO LUCK. So, eventually we drove down to see how I did.
5. Full disclosure on the external factors which affect the results. The luckily part, there was not much wind that day. the not so lucky part, given no one can tell @ 600 meters where my bullets were landing, to ensure some hits, I made small adjustments on aming points, some at the bullseye(about 0.3mil in size @ 600 meters), some right at the left/right/top edge of the bullseye. So there is no way for me to tell what kind of grouping I was getting because the shots were all over the place on the plate.
6. Rifle shooting position @ 600 meter: Prone, front with bipod only, rear on shoulder without sandbag or another any rear support. As shown in the picture below. At 600 meters, targets are at the same line as the flag circled in RED.
7. Results:
@ 1-400 meters, shot 3-4 rounds each, heard the dings all the time, except when I was too jumpy on the trigger.
@ 500 meters, I don't think I do well at all, most due to my lack experience on the field. The powder on the ground was pretty deep @ 500 and @600 meters, I actually saw people kept walking back and forth in their shooting position without realizing they were trying to create a solid flat ground. I didn't even realize the problem until I borrowed my friend's rear sandbox as I first thought that my hands were not steady enough at that distance with a 4x scope. Then I finally realized it's the ground, the ground kept changing with any movement from my body. Then this distance was ruined.
@ 600 meters, I got some luck here as my teammate didn't even want to try his AR at this distance, and I learned from my mistake @ 500 meter and step out a solid ground for myself. I shot less than 30 rounds at the 18"x24" plate(3mags x 10 rounds, minus some 4-6 rounds @ the bear and ram near to the end when everyone else stopped shooting), I got 21(or 22, as on the very right edge it looks like 2 together, but no sure) hits on the plate. The picture was taken by the event organizer and he painted the target over after each shooting distance.
8. After thoughts:
Considering this is a 3MOA gun with M855 ammo and with effective range 500 meters, and the operator's limited experience(but may be compensated some by the amazing geissele trigger) , I think X95 is a great rifle, especially considering it's a non-restricted bullpup. With a higher power scope(maybe the newest 1-8x), more practice and customized handload(hornady 55gr FMJ-BT W/C @ 2990fps SD 9.59, Hornady GMX 55gr(@2930fps, SD 11.23, final fps & SD TBD, or even heavier bullets given the 1:7 twist barrel). The results could be much better and could even be used as a coyote and deear gun. Granted, it's way more expensive(~4000CAD) compared to a sub-MOA AR, but I will recommend to buy it if you like bullpup.
After my first X95 range report in Last March:https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1539913-X95-quick-review,
I haven't had lots of chances to shoot it and NONE of them was beyond 200 yard, round count 1077, including the 99 rounds shot yesterday. On this passed weekend, I finally had chance to shoot to 600 meters and was very happy with the results. So I think another follow-up report is
in order for everyone who might be interested in getting a X95. A little bit long, but hope it's not boring.
1. Personal Shooting Background: I started to shoot long gun last year, so far only own one bolt-action ruger american predator in 308(another amazing good value rifle, btw. hit 700 meter 2moa steel in 10-mile cross wind with my own handload), and X95 as my only semi(bought last Feb, first shot in last March)
2. Rifle Setup.
Since my initial review, I have done a few upgrade/addon to it.
a. first and most importantly is the geissele trigger and lightning bow. very expensive($700) but worth every penny!!!
b. Phase 5 littleboy muzzle brake. works very well, but a little hassle to install due to the design which block the use of lock nut. now I would prefer a standard lock nut setup.
c. Vortex PST Gen 1 1-4x SFP scope on ADM Mount specifically designed for X95(Model: AD-Recon-PB-H 30mm-Tac). I am near-sighted and have astigmatism, so using red-dot is out of the question.
[edit] forgot the important switchview throw lever. for the tight ring on PST scopes, they are a must-have add-on. I have it on all 3 of my PST scopes.
d. FAB T-POD G2 Foregrip/Bipod. Very nice addon. flexible and stable when used as Foregrip or Bipod.
e. pistol grip. just to be able to use trigger lock.
f. Savvy Sniper Quad X Cobra Sling, Dual QD MS. Great sling, very easy to adjust.
3. Ammo: American Eagle 55gr 223REM(500 round/box pacakge) - out of my X95 @ Velocity: 3019.76fps. SD: 20.46. I picked factory ammo vs my own handload(as well as the 4x scope matching common miltary setup) deliberately to see where the gun and my own limit is.
4. Snowshoe & Shoot Event & Rifle Target: the snowshoe & shoot event is a 7KM walking round-trip with all the gears on your back, including long gun(s), one holstered pistol, ammo, food/snack/water, shooting mat etc., as long as you can carry them. We walked about 3KM to 100 meter range, First shoot some paper with pistol @ 10 meters, then zero rifle @ 100 meters. The walk about another 1-1.5KM to anther range to shoot pitol steel, followed by 200-600 meters rifle with steel targets, including live size animal(bear, ram and something I forgot as I didn't shoot them), also 18"x24" plate which was what I was shooting. Due to the number of the people, most of the time we have to share one target between 2 people as a team, but luckily(for ME), my teammate's AR wasn't capable of longer than 500 meters, I was left alone to shoot that target(18"x24") at 600 meters which was the only reason I could know how I did because at 500meters and beyond, NO ONE either can hear the ding from a 223, nor can see through their spotting scopes. We tried two different spotting scopes) as well as one friend's scope on his rifle with NO LUCK. So, eventually we drove down to see how I did.
5. Full disclosure on the external factors which affect the results. The luckily part, there was not much wind that day. the not so lucky part, given no one can tell @ 600 meters where my bullets were landing, to ensure some hits, I made small adjustments on aming points, some at the bullseye(about 0.3mil in size @ 600 meters), some right at the left/right/top edge of the bullseye. So there is no way for me to tell what kind of grouping I was getting because the shots were all over the place on the plate.
6. Rifle shooting position @ 600 meter: Prone, front with bipod only, rear on shoulder without sandbag or another any rear support. As shown in the picture below. At 600 meters, targets are at the same line as the flag circled in RED.
7. Results:
@ 1-400 meters, shot 3-4 rounds each, heard the dings all the time, except when I was too jumpy on the trigger.
@ 500 meters, I don't think I do well at all, most due to my lack experience on the field. The powder on the ground was pretty deep @ 500 and @600 meters, I actually saw people kept walking back and forth in their shooting position without realizing they were trying to create a solid flat ground. I didn't even realize the problem until I borrowed my friend's rear sandbox as I first thought that my hands were not steady enough at that distance with a 4x scope. Then I finally realized it's the ground, the ground kept changing with any movement from my body. Then this distance was ruined.
@ 600 meters, I got some luck here as my teammate didn't even want to try his AR at this distance, and I learned from my mistake @ 500 meter and step out a solid ground for myself. I shot less than 30 rounds at the 18"x24" plate(3mags x 10 rounds, minus some 4-6 rounds @ the bear and ram near to the end when everyone else stopped shooting), I got 21(or 22, as on the very right edge it looks like 2 together, but no sure) hits on the plate. The picture was taken by the event organizer and he painted the target over after each shooting distance.
8. After thoughts:
Considering this is a 3MOA gun with M855 ammo and with effective range 500 meters, and the operator's limited experience(but may be compensated some by the amazing geissele trigger) , I think X95 is a great rifle, especially considering it's a non-restricted bullpup. With a higher power scope(maybe the newest 1-8x), more practice and customized handload(hornady 55gr FMJ-BT W/C @ 2990fps SD 9.59, Hornady GMX 55gr(@2930fps, SD 11.23, final fps & SD TBD, or even heavier bullets given the 1:7 twist barrel). The results could be much better and could even be used as a coyote and deear gun. Granted, it's way more expensive(~4000CAD) compared to a sub-MOA AR, but I will recommend to buy it if you like bullpup.
Last edited:
