M70, Leupold and 20moa base

Quick update. Got the rifle on paper today and reclaimed exactly 6 MOA of vertical dial-now have full 30 MOA to work with.
Completed break in with some 130g coreloks and all the cleaning mumbo jumbo.

Then moved on to the 156g Hammer Hunters. I can confirm that these bullets are not seating depth sensitive at all. I loaded the same 54g H-4831sc at .05, .075, .085 and .10 off. All shot exactly 1 MOA clovers and zero pressure signs. Time to figure out the powder charge and tighten the groups. Great to have her back and shooting.

TysonLeal said:

Quick update. Got the rifle on paper today and reclaimed exactly 6 MOA of vertical dial-now have full 30 MOA to work with.
Completed break in with some 130g coreloks and all the cleaning mumbo jumbo.

Then moved on to the 156g Hammer Hunters. I can confirm that these bullets are not seating depth sensitive at all. I loaded the same 54g H-4831sc at .05, .075, .085 and .10 off. All shot exactly 1 MOA clovers and zero pressure signs. Time to figure out the powder charge and tighten the groups. Great to have her back and shooting.

Click to expand...

With Hammer's ogive they should be about as insensitive to seating depth as any bullet on the market as they will ride gently into the lands and self align with ease.

Glad you'e making progress.

TysonLeal said:

Quick update. Got the rifle on paper today and reclaimed exactly 6 MOA of vertical dial-now have full 30 MOA to work with.
Completed break in with some 130g coreloks and all the cleaning mumbo jumbo.

Then moved on to the 156g Hammer Hunters. I can confirm that these bullets are not seating depth sensitive at all. I loaded the same 54g H-4831sc at .05, .075, .085 and .10 off. All shot exactly 1 MOA clovers and zero pressure signs. Time to figure out the powder charge and tighten the groups. Great to have her back and shooting.

Click to expand...

Try this. Work with the seating depth you have in your best group, adjust the charge till it tightens up and then tweak the seating depth and see how quickly it comes together for you.

Works well for me.

WildRose said:

Try this. Work with the seating depth you have in your best group, adjust the charge till it tightens up and then tweak the seating depth and see how quickly it comes together for you.

Works well for me.

Click to expand...

This is exactly where I'm headed WR.
Thanks to all for your input, what a great place for collaboration.

Does the VX-5 have the push button , CDS style , zero lock turret ? If so , you are limited to 2 revolutions of total adjustment travel at 15 MOA per revolution , until it hits the stopping point . Try using an allen wrench to slightly loosen the elevation turret , lift it up just a small amount , and re-tighten the screws to hold the turret to the elevation stem , then try adjusting the vertical upward . You should gain free-range adjustment , and be able to have access to full range of vertical adjustment . However , you will no longer have a workable zero-stop turret .
I have a VX-6 , with the zero-stop turret , and I had to lift my turret cap as I described to gain full elevation travel .

DMP25-06

With the turret lifted as I described in my earlier post , adjust the elevation to stopping point , then adjust to opposite direction , counting total revolutions and MOA of travel . If it does not total 75 MOA , contact Leupold and return it to them . They WILL make it good or replace it for you .

One other small secret with the hammer bullets, once your brass is prepped, remove the expander from your sizing die and run brass back through. This will give a little more neck tension on the hammers which will help to tighten your groups. I was shooting right at 1" groups with 300WSM shooting 166 grain sledgehammers. Steve from hammer and another friend told me this trick, tried it and same bullet and powder charge went to 0.35" at 100 yards...basically a ragged hole.

Confirmed the scope is all good and has full travel. I'll be able to get dial beyond 1000 with the gains-my max is 700. Thanks for the tip on the turret!

TN that's a slick trick on the Hammers! I'm going to try it next time around. Still not sold that H4831sc is the right powder for these 156g, time will tell.

TN David said:

One other small secret with the hammer bullets, once your brass is prepped, remove the expander from your sizing die and run brass back through. This will give a little more neck tension on the hammers which will help to tighten your groups. I was shooting right at 1" groups with 300WSM shooting 166 grain sledgehammers. Steve from hammer and another friend told me this trick, tried it and same bullet and powder charge went to 0.35" at 100 yards...basically a ragged hole.

Click to expand...

There's some definite logic in that.

What I found was going the opposite route where I leave the neck fairly loose to where I can almost easily seat them by hand and then simply use a factory crimp die to put a very slight crimp right at the junction of the neck and bullet.

Either way will work but the goal is to end up with the most consistency possible with respect to NT.

As long as I can load them into and from the mag without pushing the bullets in, I'm happy.

TysonLeal said:

Confirmed the scope is all good and has full travel. I'll be able to get dial beyond 1000 with the gains-my max is 700. Thanks for the tip on the turret!

TN that's a slick trick on the Hammers! I'm going to try it next time around. Still not sold that H4831sc is the right powder for these 156g, time will tell.

Click to expand...

Great news.

Seriously take a hard look at RL23 and especially RL26, I think you'll find a very happy place particularly with the latter.

WildRose said:

Great news.

Seriously take a hard look at RL23 and especially RL26, I think you'll find a very happy place particularly with the latter.

Click to expand...

I've seen same thing with RL26. Also agree with as long as fits magazine, feeds and consistency is key.