Range report Howa 1500

C

Chaz88

New member
Howa 1500 in .223 with the Christensen Arms carbon fiber wrapped barrel on a Axiom stock. I topped it with a Hawke SideWinder 30 scope (mil-dot 6.5-20x42) on Burris rings and Weaver mounts.

I took the 1500 to the range today. Did some shooting and found that my new bore site is way low and right. Put some of the cheaper 50gr rounds through it and found they group fairly well. Used a few of the more expensive 55gr loads and the groups opened up quite a bit. I think with some hand loads and a bit more work with the scope it should be able to do some impressive shooting. I am also going to need to do some study on 223 ballistics, it was shooting higher at 100 yards than it was at 50.

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I think the carbon wrap makes a difference. 5 rapid shots and the barrel was just warm.
 
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it was shooting higher at 100 yards than it was at 50.
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Yep. It all depends on your zero range. And without a chronograph telling you the true velocity of your rounds, you won't be able to calculate ballistics.
 
Depending on how hight your scope is above your bore, the bullets can still be "rising" after 50.

Jimro
 
mrawesome...

For the bullet to still be rising at 1k the zero would have to be in excess of 1.75k by my rough beer math.... And then it would be rising several hundred feet over line of sight, and clearly not on target.

But thank you for your input.

Jimro
 
Thanks for the input. I was just surprised how much it was rising from 50 to a 100. For some reason I thought it was flatter than that. So I was thinking it would be a good idea to take a look at the typical parabolic curve for .223 just to have a better mental picture of what it dose. The 100 yard group even with the flier was 1 1/8" so I think this setup has some real potential once it is dialed in with a good hand load.
 
Jimro said "rising" ... in quotes. By that I think he said that bullets do not rise! They fall from the time they leave the bbl. Gravity is not forgiving. The bullet flight in relation to the line of sight gives the impression of "rising".

I always sighted in about 2" high at 100 yards then shot at 200 and 300 to find POI. Tweaked as I thought necessary. Then shot at 25yds! That was for head shots on grouse and ptarmigan to add to the freeze dired crud-food. Bullet flight path usually crosses scope LOS about 25-30 yds for a rifle sighted as above. This was a 7MMM (270, 280, 30-06, 308 are near the same) ... try yours, a good idea for any gun you take to the field. Works for snakes, too.

On a Mt Goat/Sheep hunt in N B.C. I also shot at 400 and 500 to get a feel for hold over. Turns out the ballistic tables were right on, but I felt better.
 
Rising is probably a bad term. It was shooting higher at 100 yards than at 50. I did not expect that and thought some more research was in order. It was also shooting a bit right at 50 and a bit left at 100.
 
Higher at 100 than 50 is simply a factor of where you are sighted.

Left or right "a bit" ... depends on how much a bit is ... but may not be a concern. Can be caused by many things, even how you hold/grip the rifle. Of course, down range wind, ...
 
The sight and barrel alignment allow the bullet describe a parabolic arc. If you pit a rifle into the air the bullet will rise until it runs out of inertia and falls. In a perfectly level barrel the bullet will begin to drop as soon as it leaves the barrel. This parabola is the basis of ballistics.
 
I have a .30-06 Howa 1500
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One of the reasons I went with Howa for the .223 is because of the S&W 7mm Mag and the Weatherby .257 Mag I have. I love both of them. they were made by Howa, before they started putting there own name on.
 
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