Range update...

W

wjarrell

New member
I posted last month that my wife bought me a Remington 700 ADL in 7mm Rem Mag for our anniversary. Well after Christmas I had enough money to buy a scope. I went with Talley one pice light weights and a Vortex Viper HS LR 4-16x44. I shot HSM 168 vld, Hornady SST 139, and Barnes TTXS 140. Shooting off a cement bench with a led sled, Hornady shot about a 5 inch group, Barnes shot a 5 shot 1.5 inch group. HSM was the best. 2 shots touching and the third about an inch low, let my barrel cool for about 10 minutes and shot back in to the same group, same thing, 2 shots touching and the third about an inch to the right. The entire 6 shot group measured 1.12 from center to center. Not bad for a gun that is all stock with a spongy heavy trigger. (Timney trigger is next)
I can't wait for load development and to start playing with the 168 vld's.
 
Hornady shot about a 5 inch group
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This always amazes me with factory ammunition. Last month I had one brand that wouldn't pattern on paper while three others were nice groups. A difference of one or two MOA I get, but 3.5+ puts a puzzled look on my face.
 
This always amazes me with factory ammunition. Last month I had one brand that wouldn't pattern on paper while three others were nice groups. A difference of one or two MOA I get, but 3.5+ puts a puzzled look on my face.
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It's always a brain twister for me, as well. It's not something I spend much time thinking about, when I get an outlier, but it does grab some attention.

For example, my Ruger 77 Mk II .270 Win does pretty well with every factory load it has ever seen, except for the one noted below. Generally you're looking at ~3 MoA for a "bad" load. Most factory loads will do 1.5 MoA or so.
ALL ballistic silvertips ("Combined Technology"), however, shoot roughly 5 MoA or worse out of that barrel. It doesn't matter if it's a handload or a factory load (Winchester Supreme), it won't shoot worth a crap!
I suspect it's the "lubalox" surface treatment on the bullets, since the barrel likes Nosler bullets otherwise, but I've never tested another coated bullet of any kind in that barrel. So, I just don't know.

That same barrel won't shoot 160 gr Partitions at all, even though it has the twist for it, and even though every other .270 in the family loves the load that one of my brothers worked up.

Every barrel is an island.... :rolleyes:
 
I know just over MOA for 6 shots doesn't mean much to most but to me it means my gun shows good potential with hand loads and that makes me excited.
 
For a new rifle with factory loads I would be very happy also because you know that with handloads and a new trigger it will just get better.
 
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