Well things ran late today and I didn't get to shoot the 150 rounds that I had planned. I shot exactly 45 rounds today, but 2 factory loads FTF'd.
Range conditions were 1000ft elev, overcast, very little to no wind, moderate barometric pressure, temp about 52°F. I shot off sandbags on a concrete bench.
First off that Tasco is a real turd. At 200 yards it's almost hopeless trying to get it to focus. I was so happy to hit the paper at all!
My bore sighting worked out pretty well, because I hit the paper (high) at 25 yards on the first try.
First group of the day: I shot three Federal's (marked FED) then had two fail to fire! Right away, I wasn't feeling good about this rifle. The group of 3 should be better but I was having trouble because the trigger is so light.
Second group : The five marked
MK are 65 grain Sierra Matchking Spitzers loaded by my buddy Bobby over 23grn H322. Now I had a handle on that trigger. Even at just 25 yards, when I saw that sub-1" group, I felt
very good about this rifle.
50 yards: (the X is not my shot)
I brought the scope down a bit and shot 5 Remington UMC 55grn Spitzers, way high & grouping very poorly.
I brought the scope down a little more & shot the group 22.5v, which were 5 of my loads, 75grain Hornaday Match slugs over 22.5 grains of Varget.
I adjusted the scope right too much and shot group 23v, with same 75gn over 23 grains of Varget. I screwed up and shot my bullets out of order. I wanted to shoot the 22grn loads first.
Still I was very pleased with group 23v.
100 yards:
5 shots 75grain Match over 22 grn Varget. A 1.75 inch group and it looks like maybe these were starting to Tumble.
200 yards:
Five 75 grain Hornady Match BTHP FMJ over 22.8 grains of Varget.
I have a tough time shooting at 200 yards with a crappy 9 Power Scope which didn't want to focus at that range. Lots of you guys could do it but my eyes suck so bad...
But my last shot of the day nicked the X-Ring at 200 yards, and I was happy as a clam.
These bullets did not seem to Tumble even at 200 yards. That 0.8 grns of extra powder made the difference.
All the handloads felt very consistent, and every one fired solidly on the first strike. It was cold and gloomy and we only had a short range session, but this was the happiest day of my whole week.
If you had added this up and realized I hadn't accounted for the last five rounds, it's because I shot 5 Federals (of the same batch which failed to fire) at the 25-yard Target and did not photograph it. I only scored about a 2 inch pattern with them, but I was still figuring out the trigger.