Post by Richard on Jul 22, 2020 9:40:07 GMT -5
7-21-2020
Good conditions as usual with 70* temps and no wind. Also had my shooting partner Bill back for the first time shooting his .22 rimfires after quadruple bypass surgery. He bought himself a new Ruger (semi custom) 10-22.
To foul the bore I fired three shots at one of our steel 300 yard targets. I used the old 300 XTP and 89.5 gr. of 8208. I knew my POI would be low with my present sight setting but not how much. A three shot 2961 fps av. with 4 fps ES put the three shots in what looked like about a 2” group some 10 to 12” low on the target. Not bad for the lowly XTP!
Since I had one shot last week that went down somewhat hard after a cool down, I started running a copper brush (not sure…maybe an old 20 ga., or .45 ? –very loose but just enough you could feel it go down and it would reverse with no problem coming back out)
in and out the bore after each shot just to remove any “crust?” (should there be any) Not sure if this helped any as I forgot on a few occasions and did not notice any difference??
This week I added .1 (tenth) gr. to last weeks load of 100 gr. IMR-4895 making it 100.1
I was trying to slightly up last weeks load to get it consistently near the 2890 fps mark.
#1..350 AeroMax with 100.1 gr. I-4895. Put the first shot where I thought it should go but than the other five printed lower. Av. velocity did come in at 2890 (error on sheet)
Base on the lower POI, I added 5 clicks. (same load) and while shot #1 still printed a bit low, the next three did move up into a nice .483” group. That first low shot also registered some 40 fps slower (did the brushing contribute?). Without that shot the velocity would have been right around 2890 and ES at 17 fps.
For group #3 I added two more clicks up and two right. (same load) This moved it up and right but strung vertically? (could not see it on my motionless 200 yard daisy wheel wind flag?) Velocity also increased slightly.
Group #4 here I switched to toe 325 AeroMax with 103 gr. of I-4895. Having not shot IMR with the 325 before, I did not know where it would be velocity wise or impact wise? As it turned out, shooting at the 2” bull below group #2, the first shot hit high, alongside an existing hole…………..then shot two hit high above group #2 bull. Rather than pursuing it any further I stopped the group………save for another day!
For the last group I went back to the original load with the 350 AeroMax. Velocity again trended upward because of two of the shots and made the ES 51 fps. Surprisingly, even with the high ES, the five shot group came in at 2.1”.
At times I want to blame the scope but then it will come thru with a super group and have me scratching my head? Yet, I also see ES’s that don’t contribute to good groups either?
I put this information on the forum in hopes it gets members to contribute experiences they may have and what they might have done to correct it? If they did? Am I the only one that has had these type of groups occur? Maybe everyone else is shooting bug holes all the time and Richard is spinning his wheels? I will put on my 8 x 32 NF scope for next week to see if there is any improvement? Sometimes you never know if it’s the load or the scope--------------when you can eliminate the weather. Yes, there is the nut behind the butt but with the stability of my bench set up and a 6 oz. trigger, it is pretty hard to goof?
Oh yeah, while I was unloading my truck in the morning this deer was strolling past at 50 yards and not paying any attention to me!
Good conditions as usual with 70* temps and no wind. Also had my shooting partner Bill back for the first time shooting his .22 rimfires after quadruple bypass surgery. He bought himself a new Ruger (semi custom) 10-22.
To foul the bore I fired three shots at one of our steel 300 yard targets. I used the old 300 XTP and 89.5 gr. of 8208. I knew my POI would be low with my present sight setting but not how much. A three shot 2961 fps av. with 4 fps ES put the three shots in what looked like about a 2” group some 10 to 12” low on the target. Not bad for the lowly XTP!
Since I had one shot last week that went down somewhat hard after a cool down, I started running a copper brush (not sure…maybe an old 20 ga., or .45 ? –very loose but just enough you could feel it go down and it would reverse with no problem coming back out)
in and out the bore after each shot just to remove any “crust?” (should there be any) Not sure if this helped any as I forgot on a few occasions and did not notice any difference??
This week I added .1 (tenth) gr. to last weeks load of 100 gr. IMR-4895 making it 100.1
I was trying to slightly up last weeks load to get it consistently near the 2890 fps mark.
#1..350 AeroMax with 100.1 gr. I-4895. Put the first shot where I thought it should go but than the other five printed lower. Av. velocity did come in at 2890 (error on sheet)
Base on the lower POI, I added 5 clicks. (same load) and while shot #1 still printed a bit low, the next three did move up into a nice .483” group. That first low shot also registered some 40 fps slower (did the brushing contribute?). Without that shot the velocity would have been right around 2890 and ES at 17 fps.
For group #3 I added two more clicks up and two right. (same load) This moved it up and right but strung vertically? (could not see it on my motionless 200 yard daisy wheel wind flag?) Velocity also increased slightly.
Group #4 here I switched to toe 325 AeroMax with 103 gr. of I-4895. Having not shot IMR with the 325 before, I did not know where it would be velocity wise or impact wise? As it turned out, shooting at the 2” bull below group #2, the first shot hit high, alongside an existing hole…………..then shot two hit high above group #2 bull. Rather than pursuing it any further I stopped the group………save for another day!
For the last group I went back to the original load with the 350 AeroMax. Velocity again trended upward because of two of the shots and made the ES 51 fps. Surprisingly, even with the high ES, the five shot group came in at 2.1”.
At times I want to blame the scope but then it will come thru with a super group and have me scratching my head? Yet, I also see ES’s that don’t contribute to good groups either?
I put this information on the forum in hopes it gets members to contribute experiences they may have and what they might have done to correct it? If they did? Am I the only one that has had these type of groups occur? Maybe everyone else is shooting bug holes all the time and Richard is spinning his wheels? I will put on my 8 x 32 NF scope for next week to see if there is any improvement? Sometimes you never know if it’s the load or the scope--------------when you can eliminate the weather. Yes, there is the nut behind the butt but with the stability of my bench set up and a 6 oz. trigger, it is pretty hard to goof?
Oh yeah, while I was unloading my truck in the morning this deer was strolling past at 50 yards and not paying any attention to me!
