I went to Ben Avery today to set the rifle up. Fortunately for me, there was an old-timer working there (Tom) whose knowledged and tools I unashamably used. Together, mounted my Weaver two-piece bases. Then we mounted the Valdada heavy duty 30mm rings and lapped them. Then on went toe IOR 2.5-10x42 scope which was torqued down.
Then I began to shoot one and cleaaaaan, etc while at the same time zeroing my scope in at 25 yards. I found that my cleaning rod was too short to push the brush all the way through without reversing in the bore, so I just used patches and jags. I cleaned with Shooters choice, and, every other cycle or so, used Sweet's 7.62, using isopropal alcohol to purge the bore of the chemicals so the two did not mix.
After about six rounds or so, the temp had risen from 75 degrees to near 90 degrees. I decided to shoot for groups. Three shots and back to the cleaning cycle. I started with Portugese surplus off almost stable sandbags which gave me about 2MOA. I used that as the fouling shot for my match ammo. My Savage trigger at the factory setting (several pounds)is one of the stiffest I have seen. It is one thing aiming at a target at 25 yards as you finger struggles to make things go bang. But at 100 yards...that MP8 reticle was dancing to either side of the mark by nearly and inch.
My first test of match ammo was Winchester Supreme Match (168 grain). Time was running out on the 15 minute shooting cycle at Ben Avery range, so I may have rushed it a bit. The fist two shots were centered and about half an inch apart. The third shot opened the group up to nearly .75 inch.
Some more cleaning, another shooting cycle later found the thermally crosswind picking up as the temperature increased to about 87 at that time.
Next up was Federal Gold Medal Match Sierra Match King 168grainers. I slowed up my shooting, allowing the barrel to cool a minute or more, as time allowed. The first two shots were centered again, and were about 3/8ths of an inch apart. The pressure was on. The second shakey shot was launched with a minute to go in the shooting period. Not bad.
When the next shooting period began, I began with an essentially cool barrel, whereas the others were ever-so-lightly warm to the touch. I stuffed the butt deep into my shoulder to dampen the shakes of the trigger, the unstable sandbags, and my poor breathing habits. Off it flew.
Dang. It woul have been nice to see that shot go in between the first two, but it ended up to the right of the second shot by just under a half an inch. another .75 inch group.
I had planned on waiting a while to order the SharpShooterSupply trigger. Maybe I will delay the purchase of the $100 rifle case and get the trigger instead. In the meantime, I will have plenty to keep me busy working up come-up charts and other tactical-type stuff.
While I was doing the Savage testing, my buddy, aka "TimW" was shooting my DSArms-imported Argie FAL with a DSArms "Zero-Movement" scope mount with a Leupold Vari-X II Compact 2-7x33 scope. He had his AzEx FAL (non-scoped) as well.
We tested Radway Green, the deadly CAVIM surplus, Portugese surplus, Argie surplus, Malaysian, and a couple of others.
My 20" FAL did best with Portugese, garnering groups well under 1.5MOA at 100 yards. One was at 1MOA, and I think there was one under 1MOA (Tim has the data, I am just going off memory). I think I will be going with the Port surplus. Tim's 18" barrelled AZ-Ex dis well with both Radway and Portugese surplus, with the Radway giving his non-scoped rifle something along the order of 2MOA, give or take, maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 MOA better than the Port for his rifle.
Just for giggles, I shot three rounds of Winchester Supreme Match though my Argie FAL. It gave me 1MOA. Then I wondered why I had spent all that money on the Savage. I was answered, in part, when I looked at what the FAL ejector and extractor had done to my match brass. Gnawed and dinged the hell out of it.
However, it does show that decent hand-loads for battle rifles will tighten those groups up. While I might not spend the bucks for really good brass for my FAL, I do have 1,000 spent cases just waiting to help me find the optimal load for my FAL. I hear that 1,000 rounds of 147 grain NATO bullets cost about $60. It should prove a worthy experiment, when I find the time.
Time to go clean some rifles.
Rick
Then I began to shoot one and cleaaaaan, etc while at the same time zeroing my scope in at 25 yards. I found that my cleaning rod was too short to push the brush all the way through without reversing in the bore, so I just used patches and jags. I cleaned with Shooters choice, and, every other cycle or so, used Sweet's 7.62, using isopropal alcohol to purge the bore of the chemicals so the two did not mix.
After about six rounds or so, the temp had risen from 75 degrees to near 90 degrees. I decided to shoot for groups. Three shots and back to the cleaning cycle. I started with Portugese surplus off almost stable sandbags which gave me about 2MOA. I used that as the fouling shot for my match ammo. My Savage trigger at the factory setting (several pounds)is one of the stiffest I have seen. It is one thing aiming at a target at 25 yards as you finger struggles to make things go bang. But at 100 yards...that MP8 reticle was dancing to either side of the mark by nearly and inch.
My first test of match ammo was Winchester Supreme Match (168 grain). Time was running out on the 15 minute shooting cycle at Ben Avery range, so I may have rushed it a bit. The fist two shots were centered and about half an inch apart. The third shot opened the group up to nearly .75 inch.
Some more cleaning, another shooting cycle later found the thermally crosswind picking up as the temperature increased to about 87 at that time.
Next up was Federal Gold Medal Match Sierra Match King 168grainers. I slowed up my shooting, allowing the barrel to cool a minute or more, as time allowed. The first two shots were centered again, and were about 3/8ths of an inch apart. The pressure was on. The second shakey shot was launched with a minute to go in the shooting period. Not bad.
When the next shooting period began, I began with an essentially cool barrel, whereas the others were ever-so-lightly warm to the touch. I stuffed the butt deep into my shoulder to dampen the shakes of the trigger, the unstable sandbags, and my poor breathing habits. Off it flew.
Dang. It woul have been nice to see that shot go in between the first two, but it ended up to the right of the second shot by just under a half an inch. another .75 inch group.
I had planned on waiting a while to order the SharpShooterSupply trigger. Maybe I will delay the purchase of the $100 rifle case and get the trigger instead. In the meantime, I will have plenty to keep me busy working up come-up charts and other tactical-type stuff.
While I was doing the Savage testing, my buddy, aka "TimW" was shooting my DSArms-imported Argie FAL with a DSArms "Zero-Movement" scope mount with a Leupold Vari-X II Compact 2-7x33 scope. He had his AzEx FAL (non-scoped) as well.
We tested Radway Green, the deadly CAVIM surplus, Portugese surplus, Argie surplus, Malaysian, and a couple of others.
My 20" FAL did best with Portugese, garnering groups well under 1.5MOA at 100 yards. One was at 1MOA, and I think there was one under 1MOA (Tim has the data, I am just going off memory). I think I will be going with the Port surplus. Tim's 18" barrelled AZ-Ex dis well with both Radway and Portugese surplus, with the Radway giving his non-scoped rifle something along the order of 2MOA, give or take, maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 MOA better than the Port for his rifle.
Just for giggles, I shot three rounds of Winchester Supreme Match though my Argie FAL. It gave me 1MOA. Then I wondered why I had spent all that money on the Savage. I was answered, in part, when I looked at what the FAL ejector and extractor had done to my match brass. Gnawed and dinged the hell out of it.
However, it does show that decent hand-loads for battle rifles will tighten those groups up. While I might not spend the bucks for really good brass for my FAL, I do have 1,000 spent cases just waiting to help me find the optimal load for my FAL. I hear that 1,000 rounds of 147 grain NATO bullets cost about $60. It should prove a worthy experiment, when I find the time.
Time to go clean some rifles.
Rick
First three shots at 25 yards (hoping to be on the paper) went into a .75-inch group a half inch from the bullseye. So, moved it to 50 yards and put 5 shots into 1 inch. Moved to 200 yards and put six shots into 1-and-a-half inch. All of these groups were dead-on for windage and elevation. For me, that's good shooting. Next week I'm going to have my shooting buddy (who's an ex-marine and excellent marksman) wring it out to see what it can really do. I guess I was one of the lucky Savage buyers because my trigger, while slightly heavy, is smooth and caused no problems. I still think, like you, that I will install a SharpShooter trigger to achieve a lighter pull. I am really pleased with this set-up, especially for the price. Several guys at the range were giving it a look-see and asking questions. Potential converts?