41mag
Well-Known Member
Well I have been getting a little Sako Forester .243 ready for the grandson to try out on a few small porkers this fall. I picked it up second hand for a decent price about two years ago, and it has for the most part just sat in the safe. I got it out a few weeks ago to try and figure out how to fix him up with a scope with out having to cut the stock off. After deliberating on it for a few days I decided to order a EER scope rather than ruin a perfectly good piece of wood.
I picked up a Bushnell 3x9 from Midway for about 60 or so bucks that fits the bill great. I can get a full view from the very butt end of the stock on 9x so it should work out great for him. I had planned to work up a few loads while at the range but with the threat of rain, I decided to just leave the tools at the house and run some factory through it to get it on paper. I headed to the local sports store and picked up a box of the cheapest Winchester ammo I could find. Plain jane 100gr. Win. Power Points. I had cleaned the rifle up two weeks ago and it took the majority of a day and a half to get a clean patch out the end of the barrel. I now figure I know why the thing was traded off.
So I bore sighted the scope, and set up a target out at the 100yd line. The first shot was dead on but left just a tad. I figured that since I would be working up a few reduced loads for him that would sufice for the time being. I decided to see what sort of group it would make and ran another down. I looked very hard at the target, but still noted only one hole. So I sent one more down to join the others. When I walked down I was very pleased to see the three shots nestled inside just one hole.
For those of you who measure this sort of thing on a regular basis, here is a better pic, I really have never measured groups other than from outside to outside.
My friend has a couple of these rifles and I knew they had potential, but never expected to do this myself. It sure hurts the handloader in me to see this sort of thing, as pleased as it makes the shooter in me. Now the task of building him some hunting ammo that he can shoot becomes the chore.
While I was there I decided to form up a few more cases with my Thompson for the 223 A.I. barrel. I have been shooting it mostly at vermin here and there when I have it along. The ammo is the Winchester USA Varmint packs which feature a 45gr JHP and come packed 40 rounds to a box.
I loaded it up and got steady on the rest and shot a decent 5 shot group rather quickly. Not really looking to make anything impressive, just forming a few more cases.
After this I pulled the target and walked over to the 300yd line where a target had been left by a previous shooter. I figured while I am here why not. I have never shot this thing out past 200 so didn't have a clue as to where to hold. So I got my handheld out and pulled up the factory loads for this round on Exbal and guessed at the velocity to get my dial ups. I fired two initial shots to check the chart and found that I was low but on paper. I made a big adjustment and ended up at the top of the paper. I cranked half of the correction back down and shot. Seeing the holes was tough but I managed to see where the last one landed. I made one more adjustment and fired off another round. I noticed that with the wind I was off to the right a bit, but decided to forgoe any other corrections. I shot for a group.
After seeing where they were grouping I held off to the left of the black and touched off the final two rounds looking to hit the bull.
I guess that enough of a good thing is too much some times, as I pulled both of them and knew it when the hammer fell. Still I figure I did a decent job with the little poppers, and had a fun time of it. Now if I can do the same with the bigger ones, I will be set for hunting season. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I picked up a Bushnell 3x9 from Midway for about 60 or so bucks that fits the bill great. I can get a full view from the very butt end of the stock on 9x so it should work out great for him. I had planned to work up a few loads while at the range but with the threat of rain, I decided to just leave the tools at the house and run some factory through it to get it on paper. I headed to the local sports store and picked up a box of the cheapest Winchester ammo I could find. Plain jane 100gr. Win. Power Points. I had cleaned the rifle up two weeks ago and it took the majority of a day and a half to get a clean patch out the end of the barrel. I now figure I know why the thing was traded off.
So I bore sighted the scope, and set up a target out at the 100yd line. The first shot was dead on but left just a tad. I figured that since I would be working up a few reduced loads for him that would sufice for the time being. I decided to see what sort of group it would make and ran another down. I looked very hard at the target, but still noted only one hole. So I sent one more down to join the others. When I walked down I was very pleased to see the three shots nestled inside just one hole.
For those of you who measure this sort of thing on a regular basis, here is a better pic, I really have never measured groups other than from outside to outside.
My friend has a couple of these rifles and I knew they had potential, but never expected to do this myself. It sure hurts the handloader in me to see this sort of thing, as pleased as it makes the shooter in me. Now the task of building him some hunting ammo that he can shoot becomes the chore.
While I was there I decided to form up a few more cases with my Thompson for the 223 A.I. barrel. I have been shooting it mostly at vermin here and there when I have it along. The ammo is the Winchester USA Varmint packs which feature a 45gr JHP and come packed 40 rounds to a box.
I loaded it up and got steady on the rest and shot a decent 5 shot group rather quickly. Not really looking to make anything impressive, just forming a few more cases.
After this I pulled the target and walked over to the 300yd line where a target had been left by a previous shooter. I figured while I am here why not. I have never shot this thing out past 200 so didn't have a clue as to where to hold. So I got my handheld out and pulled up the factory loads for this round on Exbal and guessed at the velocity to get my dial ups. I fired two initial shots to check the chart and found that I was low but on paper. I made a big adjustment and ended up at the top of the paper. I cranked half of the correction back down and shot. Seeing the holes was tough but I managed to see where the last one landed. I made one more adjustment and fired off another round. I noticed that with the wind I was off to the right a bit, but decided to forgoe any other corrections. I shot for a group.
After seeing where they were grouping I held off to the left of the black and touched off the final two rounds looking to hit the bull.
I guess that enough of a good thing is too much some times, as I pulled both of them and knew it when the hammer fell. Still I figure I did a decent job with the little poppers, and had a fun time of it. Now if I can do the same with the bigger ones, I will be set for hunting season. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
