Went shooting... I was impressed!

[shortpants]

I finally got time to go test some more factory loads in my browning a-bolt .300wsm. Some of you have heard me say I'm in the process of saving up for reloading equipment and then a custom rifle so in the meantime I'm trying to squeeze the very best out of my factory gear. Anyway back to the point, I tested HSM 178 AMAX's and HSM 185 VLD's. I zeroed each at 100yds and then shot them at 800yds to compare them. I used my kestrel and bullet flight program to dope conditions. I called the wind and squeezed off some good shots. The AMAX's shot a 7 3/4" group at 800yds and the VLD's shot 8 1/4". Both wind calls were absolutely perfect and the conditions were tougher for the VLD's. The groups were more horizontal than vertical which I can blame mostly on subtle wind changes. There was a 4" vertical spread on the AMAX's and only 2" of vertical on the VLD's. On paper the VLD's will outperform the Amax's by a substantial amount.
Also thanks to all the amazing feedback and tips I've learned from you guys I've worked on my technique and am using a rear bag which worked awesome!!! Also this is only the second time using the Kestrel! It worked perfectly! I know MOA at 800yds is nothing for many of you but for me with factory stuff I was very impressed. I can't wait to see what I can do with custom stuff.
Thankyou for all the help guys, it's starting to show up more and more each time I shoot.

 

[barnesuser28]

I finally got time to go test some more factory loads in my browning a-bolt .300wsm. Some of you have heard me say I'm in the process of saving up for reloading equipment and then a custom rifle so in the meantime I'm trying to squeeze the very best out of my factory gear. Anyway back to the point, I tested HSM 178 AMAX's and HSM 185 VLD's. I zeroed each at 100yds and then shot them at 800yds to compare them. I used my kestrel and bullet flight program to dope conditions. I called the wind and squeezed off some good shots. The AMAX's shot a 7 3/4" group at 800yds and the VLD's shot 8 1/4". Both wind calls were absolutely perfect and the conditions were tougher for the VLD's. The groups were more horizontal than vertical which I can blame mostly on subtle wind changes. There was a 4" vertical spread on the AMAX's and only 2" of vertical on the VLD's. On paper the VLD's will outperform the Amax's by a substantial amount.
Also thanks to all the amazing feedback and tips I've learned from you guys I've worked on my technique and am using a rear bag which worked awesome!!! Also this is only the second time using the Kestrel! It worked perfectly! I know MOA at 800yds is nothing for many of you but for me with factory stuff I was very impressed. I can't wait to see what I can do with custom stuff.
Thankyou for all the help guys, it's starting to show up more and more each time I shoot.

Thats some good shooting! I am going to shoot drops in about an hour at 400, 600, 800, and 1000 yards for my dads 338 Lapua and 280 grain Barnes Lrx. I would be estatic with 4 inches of vertical at 800 yards let alone 2.

 

[royinidaho]

Great shooting including reading the wind!!!!

You are well on your way.

 

[barnesuser28]

Hey Roy you're going to get a kick outta this. So we went to a prairie dog town 35 miles from my house and we set up the target and moved back to 403 yards but the Savage 338 Lapua had a cold clean bore so my 10 year old brother shoots one of the fouling shots we had that were loaded with 225 grain Speer deep curl bullets infront of 80 grains of H4831 and guess what, that load proved to be too hot in that gun and we stuck the case!!! We didnt have a cleaning rod so we didnt even get to shoot at 400 yards for drops!!

Anyway, didnt mean to hijack the thread just thought i would share todays frustratment.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Shortpants,

Holy crap! 2" of vertical @ 800yds!? I'd have to say i'm a little green...

I would definitely be playing with that some more, see how much of the horizontal you can pull out.

Well done & thanks for posting.


gun)-------------------------------------------------------------------*ping

 

[shortpants]

Thanks guys!

Outlaw, the interesting thing is the ES on the AMAX's was 19 and on the VLD's it was 49. That was only for the 5 shots fired at 100yds for each load. I did not use the chrony at 800yds. This is just a start and I plan to do more testing. I had to adjust velocity for each to get the #'s on the program to match up exactly. I went with 2840 on the AMAX's and 2834 for the VLD's.

 

[WildRose]

I finally got time to go test some more factory loads in my browning a-bolt .300wsm. Some of you have heard me say I'm in the process of saving up for reloading equipment and then a custom rifle so in the meantime I'm trying to squeeze the very best out of my factory gear. Anyway back to the point, I tested HSM 178 AMAX's and HSM 185 VLD's. I zeroed each at 100yds and then shot them at 800yds to compare them. I used my kestrel and bullet flight program to dope conditions. I called the wind and squeezed off some good shots. The AMAX's shot a 7 3/4" group at 800yds and the VLD's shot 8 1/4". Both wind calls were absolutely perfect and the conditions were tougher for the VLD's. The groups were more horizontal than vertical which I can blame mostly on subtle wind changes. There was a 4" vertical spread on the AMAX's and only 2" of vertical on the VLD's. On paper the VLD's will outperform the Amax's by a substantial amount.
Also thanks to all the amazing feedback and tips I've learned from you guys I've worked on my technique and am using a rear bag which worked awesome!!! Also this is only the second time using the Kestrel! It worked perfectly! I know MOA at 800yds is nothing for many of you but for me with factory stuff I was very impressed. I can't wait to see what I can do with custom stuff.
Thankyou for all the help guys, it's starting to show up more and more each time I shoot.

Wait a minute!

We have the following:

Novice shooter.

Factory rifle.

Factory Ammo.

Holding MOA at 800yds?

You should be very pleased.gun)

Outstanding. Keep it up!

 

[WildRose]

Thanks guys!

Outlaw, the interesting thing is the ES on the AMAX's was 19 and on the VLD's it was 49. That was only for the 5 shots fired at 100yds for each load. I did not use the chrony at 800yds. This is just a start and I plan to do more testing. I had to adjust velocity for each to get the #'s on the program to match up exactly. I went with 2840 on the AMAX's and 2834 for the VLD's.

The ES you have with the VLD's is enough to account for a good bit of your vertical spread.

Again, nice shooting.

 

[shortpants]

The ES you have with the VLD's is enough to account for a good bit of your vertical spread.

Again, nice shooting.

That's what's interesting about it WildRose, the VLD's are the ones that only had 2" of vertical!

Thanks for the kind words!
Jason

 

[WildRose]

That's what's interesting about it WildRose, the VLD's are the ones that only had 2" of vertical!

Thanks for the kind words!
Jason

Run it through your ballistic program with 50fps lower than your actual average.

Let me know what you get for a difference in drop at 800yds.

 

[shortpants]

Run it through your ballistic program with 50fps lower than your actual average.

Let me know what you get for a difference in drop at 800yds.

There is a 6" difference.

 

[WildRose]

There is a 6" difference.

Cut that in half since we're talking averages and that pretty much is eliminating your Vertical string... .gun)

 

[MSLRHunter]

Good shooting! Just shows that you don't have to have a custom rifle and meticulously loaded ammo to learn a lot, have a good time, and oh yeah shoot some impressive groups! You are on the right track my friend.

 

[shortpants]

I see your point but it's still hard to believe this factory gear with me behind it shot like this. I've been trying to accomplish this for a long time. It wasn't until I found the great info on this site that I really started to put it all together. I still have a long way to go with reloading just around the corner but in the meantime at least I've got something to practice with. If there is one thing I can pass on to those attempting to shoot at distance the huge difference maker for me was going from a B.C. of .441 to .549. B.C. makes a huge difference! I've spent years shooting factory ammo out to 1000yds with mixed results. Never anything that gave me any real 1 shot confidence past 600yds. Now at least I have hope. Like I said there is more testing to be done. Also my Kestrel and ballistic program right on my phone is a huge asset.

Thanks for letting me share my excitement with you all!