Wednesday at the Rifle Range
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:38 am
I also posted this on a gun board, but some guys here are shooters and handloaders - you might find this interesting.
Well, it was a beautiful day here on Wednesday, not too cold and almost zero wind. A buddy suggested we go out ice fishing, but I can do that on a day with minus thirty and howling winds, it’s just part of the sport. Not so much shooting off a bench….
…….so I bundled up eight rifles, a bunch of ammo, my trusty handloading log book, a moving blanket to cover the cement shooting bench, spotting scope, rifle rests, targets, and all of the usual paraphernalia one needs for a range session and out I went to my local range. Some kind soul had plowed a path to the fifty yard targets but it was shank’s mare to the hundred yard targets, and a couple feet of snow to wade through. No sweat, I had worn my winter pants and boots for just that reason.
The conditions were really very much ideal – bright day, no wind, and maybe minus ten or so. I could comfortably shoot with a light glove on one hand and a bare hand for my trigger finger. I had a mix of new-to-me and not so new-to-me rifles and was very eager to try a couple of them out for the very first time. So onto the bench went a heavy-barreled custom Mauser in .219 Donaldson Wasp. I had bought it with dies and a whole whack of brass, some of which being made from .375 Winchester. Back in my gun room, I had loaded up four or five dummies, and all of them worked just fine in the rifle. BUT!!! When I attempted to fire the first groups, four of the eleven cartridges would not chamber. Like, bolt goes forward, will not lock, then will not go backwards without serious force. Doug is an unhappy camper – but the shots I did manage show great promise for accuracy. I suspect that the cases were just slightly too long for the chamber – so next step will be pulling all of the remaining loaded rounds, trimming the brass and loading them again. (Sigh…)
I have a Marlin 336 with a heavy barrel in .219 Zipper. I had shot it previously and got poor accuracy with heavier .224 bullets, so this time I had loaded up some lighter bullets. Of the three loadings, one just absolutely SHONE. It was 30.0 gr IMR 4064 behind a Speer 40 grain spritzer. Sub-moa at fifty, and moa at a hundred with five shot groups, unbelievable accuracy with a lever gun (and especially in my hands!) I am very happy with that rifle, and it has done everything I wanted, so it will be going to a new home.
It has been over a year I think since I last shot my Ruger 77 in 7 x 57 Improved. I had loaded some 140 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips with H4895 powder and some 160 gr Sierra Game Kings with IMR 4831. Well, my max loads with the 140s gave good accuracy, but were too hot, and my starting load with the 160s was too hot. More bullets to pull, and back to the drawing board!
I have a Sako AI in 6 PPC which I scoped with a Redfield Revolution that I formerly had on a .222. I found it to be a very good scope on that rifle, but the “circle x” reticle leaves a lot to be desired for very fine target work. 28.0 grains of H335 behind a Sierra 75 gr HP gave me a half-inch group at a hundred yards, but 29.0 grains opened the group to an inch, and I had some pressure signs (stiff bolt lift, flattened primers), so that is a max load and I will try 28.5 grains next time. I do have a bunch of the same bullet loaded with H322 but did not shoot any of those loads. This rifle has the neck diameter marked on the barrel at .268” and loaded rounds are just that, so the chamber is quite tight. I am relieved that I do not need to turn the necks………..
A couple old lever guns came out to play: a Savage 1899 in .25-35 Winchester, and a Winchester Model 1892 in .25-20. Both wear open iron sights, just to remind me that my eyes are not what they used to be. I had loaded up some .25-35 cartridges with a recipe from Chuck Hawks, which was supposed to replicate the original factory loading. That was 25.7 gr IMR 3031 and Hornady’s 117 gr round-nose bullet with an OAL of 2.600”. That cartridge is too long for the Savage rotary magazine, but single shells fed, fired and ejected reliably and gave me a nice vertical string at fifty yards (hello, operator error!) and then once I settled down a bit with the sights I got a couple minute-of-deer five-shot groups. I am thinking I might try to find a tang sight for the old gal. I have not yet loaded for the .25-20 but had some old factory ammo that I wanted to shoot in order to have brass to reload. Where those bullets went is still a mystery to me…………..but when I got the rifle home and inspected the bore, it was very heavily fouled with lead. So fifty or sixty cleaning patches later, I now can see the rifling in that barrel, and once I load up some ammo we’ll give the old girl another chance.
Maybe a year or so ago I got a nice custom Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .257 Roberts Improved. I had done some load testing last spring with H414 and 100 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. 47.0 gr seemed to be the sweet spot, half-moa, better than 46.0 and 47.5 grains (which was pretty much a max load). I used the same powder with 85 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, but only one of the groups even measured an inch at a hundred yards. Next loading will be with heavier bullets.
The last rifle was a Savage 111 Long-Range Hunter in 6.5-.284. It has not been out to play since the summer of 2013, and I quit shooting because of pressure signs in my hottest load – 51.1 gr H4831SC and a Sierra 140 gr Game King. But at minus ten the pressure signs were absent. Accuracy with that load in the summer was good at .75” at a hundred, but my first five-round group this time out was about three inches at a hundred!!! What the heck??? Upon closer inspection, the bullets had grazed the top of the snow enroute to the target, and had been hitting almost key-holed. OOPS!
I had the range all to myself for three and a half hours, and it was wonderful to smell burned gunpowder in that crisp air. With the exception of the .25-20 I was fairly happy with the results, and of course the Model 1892 was the only one that I shot with factory ammo. Hmmm…….
Doug
Well, it was a beautiful day here on Wednesday, not too cold and almost zero wind. A buddy suggested we go out ice fishing, but I can do that on a day with minus thirty and howling winds, it’s just part of the sport. Not so much shooting off a bench….
…….so I bundled up eight rifles, a bunch of ammo, my trusty handloading log book, a moving blanket to cover the cement shooting bench, spotting scope, rifle rests, targets, and all of the usual paraphernalia one needs for a range session and out I went to my local range. Some kind soul had plowed a path to the fifty yard targets but it was shank’s mare to the hundred yard targets, and a couple feet of snow to wade through. No sweat, I had worn my winter pants and boots for just that reason.
The conditions were really very much ideal – bright day, no wind, and maybe minus ten or so. I could comfortably shoot with a light glove on one hand and a bare hand for my trigger finger. I had a mix of new-to-me and not so new-to-me rifles and was very eager to try a couple of them out for the very first time. So onto the bench went a heavy-barreled custom Mauser in .219 Donaldson Wasp. I had bought it with dies and a whole whack of brass, some of which being made from .375 Winchester. Back in my gun room, I had loaded up four or five dummies, and all of them worked just fine in the rifle. BUT!!! When I attempted to fire the first groups, four of the eleven cartridges would not chamber. Like, bolt goes forward, will not lock, then will not go backwards without serious force. Doug is an unhappy camper – but the shots I did manage show great promise for accuracy. I suspect that the cases were just slightly too long for the chamber – so next step will be pulling all of the remaining loaded rounds, trimming the brass and loading them again. (Sigh…)
I have a Marlin 336 with a heavy barrel in .219 Zipper. I had shot it previously and got poor accuracy with heavier .224 bullets, so this time I had loaded up some lighter bullets. Of the three loadings, one just absolutely SHONE. It was 30.0 gr IMR 4064 behind a Speer 40 grain spritzer. Sub-moa at fifty, and moa at a hundred with five shot groups, unbelievable accuracy with a lever gun (and especially in my hands!) I am very happy with that rifle, and it has done everything I wanted, so it will be going to a new home.
It has been over a year I think since I last shot my Ruger 77 in 7 x 57 Improved. I had loaded some 140 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips with H4895 powder and some 160 gr Sierra Game Kings with IMR 4831. Well, my max loads with the 140s gave good accuracy, but were too hot, and my starting load with the 160s was too hot. More bullets to pull, and back to the drawing board!
I have a Sako AI in 6 PPC which I scoped with a Redfield Revolution that I formerly had on a .222. I found it to be a very good scope on that rifle, but the “circle x” reticle leaves a lot to be desired for very fine target work. 28.0 grains of H335 behind a Sierra 75 gr HP gave me a half-inch group at a hundred yards, but 29.0 grains opened the group to an inch, and I had some pressure signs (stiff bolt lift, flattened primers), so that is a max load and I will try 28.5 grains next time. I do have a bunch of the same bullet loaded with H322 but did not shoot any of those loads. This rifle has the neck diameter marked on the barrel at .268” and loaded rounds are just that, so the chamber is quite tight. I am relieved that I do not need to turn the necks………..
A couple old lever guns came out to play: a Savage 1899 in .25-35 Winchester, and a Winchester Model 1892 in .25-20. Both wear open iron sights, just to remind me that my eyes are not what they used to be. I had loaded up some .25-35 cartridges with a recipe from Chuck Hawks, which was supposed to replicate the original factory loading. That was 25.7 gr IMR 3031 and Hornady’s 117 gr round-nose bullet with an OAL of 2.600”. That cartridge is too long for the Savage rotary magazine, but single shells fed, fired and ejected reliably and gave me a nice vertical string at fifty yards (hello, operator error!) and then once I settled down a bit with the sights I got a couple minute-of-deer five-shot groups. I am thinking I might try to find a tang sight for the old gal. I have not yet loaded for the .25-20 but had some old factory ammo that I wanted to shoot in order to have brass to reload. Where those bullets went is still a mystery to me…………..but when I got the rifle home and inspected the bore, it was very heavily fouled with lead. So fifty or sixty cleaning patches later, I now can see the rifling in that barrel, and once I load up some ammo we’ll give the old girl another chance.
Maybe a year or so ago I got a nice custom Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .257 Roberts Improved. I had done some load testing last spring with H414 and 100 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. 47.0 gr seemed to be the sweet spot, half-moa, better than 46.0 and 47.5 grains (which was pretty much a max load). I used the same powder with 85 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, but only one of the groups even measured an inch at a hundred yards. Next loading will be with heavier bullets.
The last rifle was a Savage 111 Long-Range Hunter in 6.5-.284. It has not been out to play since the summer of 2013, and I quit shooting because of pressure signs in my hottest load – 51.1 gr H4831SC and a Sierra 140 gr Game King. But at minus ten the pressure signs were absent. Accuracy with that load in the summer was good at .75” at a hundred, but my first five-round group this time out was about three inches at a hundred!!! What the heck??? Upon closer inspection, the bullets had grazed the top of the snow enroute to the target, and had been hitting almost key-holed. OOPS!
I had the range all to myself for three and a half hours, and it was wonderful to smell burned gunpowder in that crisp air. With the exception of the .25-20 I was fairly happy with the results, and of course the Model 1892 was the only one that I shot with factory ammo. Hmmm…….
Doug