I finally had some time to shoot my rifle that Chad built for me. Let me preface this by saying I'm not the best shot from the bench. I can maintain minute of deer and minute of elk but my bench skills might not compare to some of you. I have been reloading for about 30 years, mainly because I'm cheap and didn't want to pay for factory ammo. I've always been very meticulous about reloading but after discovering LHR and reading the info shared by a lot of you I've learned that I didn't know as much as I thought I did and now I have started to become very ANAL. Any way on to the groups.
The barrel break in consisted of shooting one shot and clean for two shots, then two shots and clean for four rounds. After the first shot I could see a little copper at the muzzle. I ran one patch of Sweets and let it soak for a couple minutes, followed by a patches soaked in BBS wrapped around a 22-250 nylon brush. It took about 10 patches to remove all of the copper. The second round showed a little copper like the first and was cleaned using the same method. I then fired two rounds before cleaning. There was very little copper visible and it only took a couple patches to remove. After the second round of two shots there was no copper visible. So I figured that was good enough and moved on to loading some rounds for groups. My break in rounds were loaded in one grain increments from 63 to 66 grains of H-4831 over Federal 215 primers with Berger 168 VLD's set .010 off the lands. There were no pressure up to 66 grains so I figured I would start there.
For my group rounds I used virgin Remington brass with uniformed primer pockets, flash holes deburred and mouths chamfered inside and out, 66 gr H-4831, Federal 215 primers and Berger 168 VLD's. I followed Bergers recommendation of firing two three shot groups at varying seating depths.
The first were designated as O and set .001 off the lands. Groups 2 through 4 were set at .040, .080 and .120 off the lands.
The red numbers at the top are the order that the groups were fired. The small numbers in the bottom of the circle are the order in which those of different seating depths were fired.
Group 1
Fire one fouling shot, wait a few minutes then fire for group.
I believe I moved as I fired shot number 1 or that group would have been better
Clean and fire one fouling shot
Group 2
Fire one shot and wait a few minutes for barrel to cool between shots
clean and fire one fouling shot
Group 3
Same as #2 but didn't clean
Group 4
Fire one shot and wait a few minutes for barrel to cool between shots
clean and fire one fouling shot
Group 5
Fire three shots
Didn't clean
Group 6
Fire three shots
Didn't clean
Groups 7 & 8
All 6 shots were fired without cleaning
After the last 12 shots were fired there was no copper visible and the barrel cleaned up quickly.
All squares on the targets are 1"X1"
I'm hesitant to post these groups because I don't want my lack of shooting skills to reflect negatively on Chad's build quality. I am quite confident this rifle will shoot far better then I'm capable. I also appreciate those of you here who are willing to share your knowledge and information so I'm open to comments and suggestions.
Wes
The barrel break in consisted of shooting one shot and clean for two shots, then two shots and clean for four rounds. After the first shot I could see a little copper at the muzzle. I ran one patch of Sweets and let it soak for a couple minutes, followed by a patches soaked in BBS wrapped around a 22-250 nylon brush. It took about 10 patches to remove all of the copper. The second round showed a little copper like the first and was cleaned using the same method. I then fired two rounds before cleaning. There was very little copper visible and it only took a couple patches to remove. After the second round of two shots there was no copper visible. So I figured that was good enough and moved on to loading some rounds for groups. My break in rounds were loaded in one grain increments from 63 to 66 grains of H-4831 over Federal 215 primers with Berger 168 VLD's set .010 off the lands. There were no pressure up to 66 grains so I figured I would start there.
For my group rounds I used virgin Remington brass with uniformed primer pockets, flash holes deburred and mouths chamfered inside and out, 66 gr H-4831, Federal 215 primers and Berger 168 VLD's. I followed Bergers recommendation of firing two three shot groups at varying seating depths.
The first were designated as O and set .001 off the lands. Groups 2 through 4 were set at .040, .080 and .120 off the lands.
The red numbers at the top are the order that the groups were fired. The small numbers in the bottom of the circle are the order in which those of different seating depths were fired.
Group 1
Fire one fouling shot, wait a few minutes then fire for group.
I believe I moved as I fired shot number 1 or that group would have been better
Clean and fire one fouling shot
Group 2
Fire one shot and wait a few minutes for barrel to cool between shots
clean and fire one fouling shot
Group 3
Same as #2 but didn't clean
Group 4
Fire one shot and wait a few minutes for barrel to cool between shots
clean and fire one fouling shot
Group 5
Fire three shots
Didn't clean
Group 6
Fire three shots
Didn't clean
Groups 7 & 8
All 6 shots were fired without cleaning
After the last 12 shots were fired there was no copper visible and the barrel cleaned up quickly.
All squares on the targets are 1"X1"
I'm hesitant to post these groups because I don't want my lack of shooting skills to reflect negatively on Chad's build quality. I am quite confident this rifle will shoot far better then I'm capable. I also appreciate those of you here who are willing to share your knowledge and information so I'm open to comments and suggestions.
Wes
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