It was a good day at the range. A bit cooler than last time, but still freakin' hot by the end of the session. Only 8 shooters showed up at 8am. Then it petered down to 2 of us, then 4-5 more guys showed up. But, then I left (about 11am). I was beat.
Had a good session. Played with some different ammo in the RPR. My best group was with "cheap" factory ammo! Then my last target was with the SCAR-16S. Will post target pics after I've processed them. :grin
My best group was with the cheapest factory ammo. Go figure!
It was not as hot as a month ago... but, it was HOT.
I started with confirming my zero with the Copper Creek custom ammo:
Then I switched to Federal Gold Medal Berger 130-gr.
With this target, I did not change the turrets. Note that the groups are consistently about an inch (1-moa) low.
Did 3 more groups without touching the turrets. Then on the last group (lower right), I made the adjustment. I entered the offset in Strelok. So now, when I use this ammo, Strelok will automatically give me the right turret settings.
Last target with the RPR was with Hornady Black (cheaper factory 6.5CM). Did the same thing, entering the vertical and horizontal offset in Strelok:
Took out the SCAR-16. Open sights. Not bad for old eyes.
In this case, I was lining the top of the front sight with the center of the red bullseye. So, I could see (sort of) the top half of the red bullseye above the top edge of the front sight.
If I "lollipopped" the entire red bullseye on the front sight, I would have been dead on, eh? Well... and a bit to the left. Next time! Thanks!
Had fun meeting up with BeerHunter. The firing line was at 200 yards today. It was a nice day, but the heat eventually got to us, and it was time for lunch!
I played with three flavors of ammo. Funny thing... It seems that regardless of the ammo, I have some great groups and some not-so-great groups. To really come up with a true winner, I think I'd have to run the numbers through a spreadsheet and get some averages. It's not obvious (to me) that one stands out. Though, I think if I was testing at longer distances, I might see some more obvious differences.
And, now for the traditional bearing of my ballistic soul... :grin First... every group I shot was sub-MOA! Holy cow. I guess I should be happy with that. Some were around 1/2-MOA. I had a few fliers that I called.
The view!
First up was my custom loaded ammo from Copper Creek (Hornady ELD 140-gr bullet):
Then it was on to factory Hornady ELD Match 140-gr:
Yes. RPR. I've noticed that, too. But, I didn't know if it was the gun getting hot, or ME getting hot (and tired).
That said... my target pics above are in order. And, two of my sub-1/2-MOA groups were on the last target (with Berger 130-gr, which USED to not work that well for me in this rifle). Gun was fairly hot by then.
So, here's the weird thing. In the beginning... almost a year ago, when I got this rifle... the ammo seemed to make more of a difference. Now, as I'm getting better (?), the ammo doesn't seem to make as much of a difference.
Is it because my skills are improving and converging with the limits of the barrel? My buddy (who is a very accomplished competitive rifle dude - NRA Distinguished Rifleman) thinks that I'll see even more improvement with a better barrel (Krieger or Bartlein).
Anyway... I just thought it was remarkable that I'm not seeing as much difference with different flavors of ammo as I "should" be seeing.
PS... I've got 1,650 rounds through this rifle (got it last Christmas).
Factory Hornady ELD-M 140-gr: 0.721-MOA. <--not a typo... EXACTLY the same as the custom loads (sample: 5 groups)
Factory Federal Gold Medal Match Berger 130-gr: 0.649-MOA. (sample: 4 groups)
The weird thing was that when I started out with the RPR, trying various ammo flavors, the Federal GMM Bergers did not do as well as the Hornady ELDs. Now they're better???
Had a good day at the PBSO range today with racer. I'll try to post targets soon and can only wish my groups were consistent. With only 220 rounds through the barrel on the stock borrowed from Bob Harvey (need to bring that back ASAP, Bob!) and 170 rounds on the Bell & Carlson I mounted last month, I'm sure I'm still working on my rifleman skills and need more training. :rifle
Will be interesting to see what it’ll shoot with that new load. Perhaps you are at a point where distance is the deciding factor....? In other words, test the loads at further distances.
Yep. I've considered that, as well. The problem around here (as you know) is a lack of longer distance ranges. Eventually, I'm going to try to get a range date at the Port Malabar club (600-yards).
The only thing about comparing different loads (for groups) at the longer distances is having wind as an additional variable.
For now, 200 yards is the best distance I can get on a somewhat regular / convenient basis.
Even though I understand the fundamentals, I'm thinking I'd like to find an Appleseed course shooting with iron sights, which I don't have nearly enough experience with, IMHO. I also want to take Bob's rifle fundamentals and advanced courses, culminating with his weekend long range rifle course. Right now I'm not sure I'm consistently getting the basics right for every shot.
Unfortunately I'm out of town that 3-4 November weekend but I may be available that 17-18 November weekend for the 100 & 300 yard firing line that Saturday and Sunday, respectively. :dunno
To measure the groups? I use OnTarget TDS. Pretty nifty program, once you get the hang of it. Sure... you can measure your groups with a caliper and do it manually. But, I like the "hi-tech" way.
I previously tried a phone app that does the same thing, "Range Buddy Pro." But, I found it cumbersome to do with a phone touch screen. I like doing it on a laptop with a mouse much better.
There are two versions of the program, "OnTarget PC" and "OnTargetTDS." Check'em out!
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