Fiftydriver
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Mark Hampton asked if I would post on a new XP-100 he had me build for him here on LRH. Some of you may know that I have released my Raptor receiver project. I have also however designed what I call my Raptor XP which uses a double recoil lug design which dramatically strengthens the recoil support of the XP-100 handgun design and allows some very serious chamberings to be used in this platform. In this case, the XP is not chambered for anything huge, its the new 6.5x47 Lapua but this handgun was built for precision shooting and the Raptor XP design works just as well for this purpose as well as extreme strength.
Here are the specs:
Fully trued Rem XP-100 receiver
Sako extractor
Two Holland Comp recoil lugs (one machined for trigger hanger)
APS Raptor Double Recoil lug barrel contour, 18 3/8" finish length
APS Slim Painkiller muzzle brake
Bead blast matte finish on barrel/brake
McMillan Desert camo XP stock
APS pillar bedding
Trigger set at 1 lb
Burris one piece base
Burris 30mm Signature rings
Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x40mm LR w/ B&C reticle
Mark wanted me to develope loads with the 120 gr Ballistic tip as well as the 123 gr SMK. Using RL-15 and the CCI-450 primer. Top comfortable load with each bullet produced 2763 and 2740 fps respectively for each bullet. Extreme spreads were a bit higher then I wanted to see running around 20 fps but over the useful range of this chambering, I was not worried. These loads were very comfortable. I am sure that you could easily push pressures higher and get 2800 fps but there is no real advantage to this.
Its been very wet around here lately but yesterday morning I was able to take my wife and little girl up to do some shooting.
Conditions were not ideal but not terrible. variable winds from 5-10 mph from our 4:00 position. Because its so wet up here I was unable toget to far off the road to set up so we had to settle in at 575 yards. Still a fair poke for a round in this class.
It took a few shots to get close to point of aim but once it did I was very happy with the results. I started with the 120 gr Ballistic Tip just because I was most interested in shooting the 123 gr SMK so the 120 gr BT were to be used mainly to get the XP dialed in at this range. Fortunately, it did not take many shots to get on point of aim. Once I got it dialed in, I let the barrel cool off a bit and then shot three to see how it was grouping. I was shooting at a target rock that was roughly 1 moa in size measured off a NF NXS NP-R1 reticle with 1 moa line spacing mounted on my Raptor LRSS rifle. The first shot landed on the top left quater of the rock. The second shot landed between the center and right edge, dead center height wise. Third shot landed just an inch or so below the first shot. The group was right at 3/4 moa, maybe SLIGHTLY larger. Not to bad for a handgun at nearly 600 yards.
I was plenty happy with that for the conditions as most of the variation I saw was horizontal, likely because of the winds I was shooting in.
Next up was the 123 gr SMK. I moved to a smaller target rock at roughly the same shooting range, this one easily smaller then 1/4 moa but it was a very bright white rock settled into an open dirt slide so shot impact would be easy to see. I was curious to see how the SMKs trajectory would differ from the BT. I was very suprised!!!
First shot landed 1/2 moa above the target rock, dead center windage wise. Second shot landed 1/4 moa down and to the right of the first shot and the third shot landed **** near on top of the first one, if anything slightly to the left but to close to tell even on the video when I replayed it when we got home.
I was very happy to see that the two bullets shot within 1/2 moa of each other at nearly 600 yards.
I will freely admit that I am not used to shooting at this range with a handgun that is not fitted with a bipod so I am sure Mark will do even better then me as he is much more skilled at this type of shooting. Simply put, a whitetail deer would be in serious trouble as far as consistantly putting the first shot through the vitals at ranges even out to well past 600 yards from what I saw from this first range accuracy test.
Now, my opinion of this chambering at long range. Last night I ran the numbers to study the ballistic performance of this relatively mild chambering. In my opinion, I would not shoot at big game with this chambering at ranges over 500 yards with the 123 gr SMK. At 500 yards the retained velocity is still around 2000 fps and 1100 ft/lbs of energy but the SMK bullet needs much more velocity and energy to properly expand on game, just a weakness of this bullet design, especially with the smaller caliber SMKs. For target work, obviously, no issues. But realize that time of flight is pretty long so if your shooting in any wind, you WILL Notice it alot more then other chamberings such as the 6.5mm WSM.
The 120 gr Ballistic tip will perform better on game terminally but I still would limit long range big game hunting to around 500 yards. Not because of retained velocity, at this range there is still plenty of velocity to make the bullet expand but the kenetic energy has dropped to around 900 ft/lbs which in my opinion is quite low for this light of a bullet as kenetic energy is a factor in bullet performance terminally. Has nothing to do with killing animals really but it does have an effect in how the bullet expands, how the tissue of the animal reacts to impact and how deeply the bullet will penetrate dependant on the amount of expansion.
Simply put, the 6.5x47 has impressed me for its size but it is what it is, a mild mannered 6.5mm chambering. For target shooting in good conditions, it should not have much trouble out to 1/2 mile or so or even possibly out to 1K in ideal conditions. If the winds come up, you surely will notice it quickly simply because of the relatively long time of flight at these moderate velocity levels.
The scope worked very well. I was shooting off 10x most of the time and even shooting at a 1.5" sized target rock, it was capable of offering a quality reticle hold on target. The handgun was also very comfortable to shoot as far as position of head for proper scope eye relief and recoil is nothing at all. You could put 500 rounds through this handgun a day and never feel any weakening in your hand.
Just wanted to make a quick post for a good friend and customer. I think he will be very happy with this little hand cannon!!!
Here are the specs:
Fully trued Rem XP-100 receiver
Sako extractor
Two Holland Comp recoil lugs (one machined for trigger hanger)
APS Raptor Double Recoil lug barrel contour, 18 3/8" finish length
APS Slim Painkiller muzzle brake
Bead blast matte finish on barrel/brake
McMillan Desert camo XP stock
APS pillar bedding
Trigger set at 1 lb
Burris one piece base
Burris 30mm Signature rings
Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x40mm LR w/ B&C reticle
Mark wanted me to develope loads with the 120 gr Ballistic tip as well as the 123 gr SMK. Using RL-15 and the CCI-450 primer. Top comfortable load with each bullet produced 2763 and 2740 fps respectively for each bullet. Extreme spreads were a bit higher then I wanted to see running around 20 fps but over the useful range of this chambering, I was not worried. These loads were very comfortable. I am sure that you could easily push pressures higher and get 2800 fps but there is no real advantage to this.
Its been very wet around here lately but yesterday morning I was able to take my wife and little girl up to do some shooting.
Conditions were not ideal but not terrible. variable winds from 5-10 mph from our 4:00 position. Because its so wet up here I was unable toget to far off the road to set up so we had to settle in at 575 yards. Still a fair poke for a round in this class.
It took a few shots to get close to point of aim but once it did I was very happy with the results. I started with the 120 gr Ballistic Tip just because I was most interested in shooting the 123 gr SMK so the 120 gr BT were to be used mainly to get the XP dialed in at this range. Fortunately, it did not take many shots to get on point of aim. Once I got it dialed in, I let the barrel cool off a bit and then shot three to see how it was grouping. I was shooting at a target rock that was roughly 1 moa in size measured off a NF NXS NP-R1 reticle with 1 moa line spacing mounted on my Raptor LRSS rifle. The first shot landed on the top left quater of the rock. The second shot landed between the center and right edge, dead center height wise. Third shot landed just an inch or so below the first shot. The group was right at 3/4 moa, maybe SLIGHTLY larger. Not to bad for a handgun at nearly 600 yards.
I was plenty happy with that for the conditions as most of the variation I saw was horizontal, likely because of the winds I was shooting in.
Next up was the 123 gr SMK. I moved to a smaller target rock at roughly the same shooting range, this one easily smaller then 1/4 moa but it was a very bright white rock settled into an open dirt slide so shot impact would be easy to see. I was curious to see how the SMKs trajectory would differ from the BT. I was very suprised!!!
First shot landed 1/2 moa above the target rock, dead center windage wise. Second shot landed 1/4 moa down and to the right of the first shot and the third shot landed **** near on top of the first one, if anything slightly to the left but to close to tell even on the video when I replayed it when we got home.
I was very happy to see that the two bullets shot within 1/2 moa of each other at nearly 600 yards.
I will freely admit that I am not used to shooting at this range with a handgun that is not fitted with a bipod so I am sure Mark will do even better then me as he is much more skilled at this type of shooting. Simply put, a whitetail deer would be in serious trouble as far as consistantly putting the first shot through the vitals at ranges even out to well past 600 yards from what I saw from this first range accuracy test.
Now, my opinion of this chambering at long range. Last night I ran the numbers to study the ballistic performance of this relatively mild chambering. In my opinion, I would not shoot at big game with this chambering at ranges over 500 yards with the 123 gr SMK. At 500 yards the retained velocity is still around 2000 fps and 1100 ft/lbs of energy but the SMK bullet needs much more velocity and energy to properly expand on game, just a weakness of this bullet design, especially with the smaller caliber SMKs. For target work, obviously, no issues. But realize that time of flight is pretty long so if your shooting in any wind, you WILL Notice it alot more then other chamberings such as the 6.5mm WSM.
The 120 gr Ballistic tip will perform better on game terminally but I still would limit long range big game hunting to around 500 yards. Not because of retained velocity, at this range there is still plenty of velocity to make the bullet expand but the kenetic energy has dropped to around 900 ft/lbs which in my opinion is quite low for this light of a bullet as kenetic energy is a factor in bullet performance terminally. Has nothing to do with killing animals really but it does have an effect in how the bullet expands, how the tissue of the animal reacts to impact and how deeply the bullet will penetrate dependant on the amount of expansion.
Simply put, the 6.5x47 has impressed me for its size but it is what it is, a mild mannered 6.5mm chambering. For target shooting in good conditions, it should not have much trouble out to 1/2 mile or so or even possibly out to 1K in ideal conditions. If the winds come up, you surely will notice it quickly simply because of the relatively long time of flight at these moderate velocity levels.
The scope worked very well. I was shooting off 10x most of the time and even shooting at a 1.5" sized target rock, it was capable of offering a quality reticle hold on target. The handgun was also very comfortable to shoot as far as position of head for proper scope eye relief and recoil is nothing at all. You could put 500 rounds through this handgun a day and never feel any weakening in your hand.
Just wanted to make a quick post for a good friend and customer. I think he will be very happy with this little hand cannon!!!
