Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,836
- 6,312
So I grabbed a couple of rifles, a couple of pistols, the chronograph and some ammo and headed to the range this morning... Grinning all the way.
First up was the .30-06 Rem 700 CDL with the good old reliable load of 58 gr H4350 and 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips for 2850 fps. Still dead on at 200 yards. And a nice loud "clang" from the first shot at the 300 yard gong. Quite satisfying!
Switched to the .375 H&H Model 70. Dialed the Leupold up to a whopping 5x, and did some shooting with two different loads:
My "standard" load with a 260 gr Nosler AccuBond and 69 grains of RL-15. Same as I've used in the Ruger Number One for several years, but shortened considerably to fit in the Model 70 magazine. This bullet has done a fine job for me on three Washington black bear.
Velocity was 2640 fps, or about 20 fps faster than the Ruger. Both have 24" barrels. Very nice first round hit on the 300 yard gong, from standing. I'll take that any day.
Next was the interesting 235 gr Speer soft point, with 75 grains of RL-15, which I'd never loaded before. It churned up 2850 fps which impressed me almost as much as the first round hit on the 300 yard gong, from a wide-leg sitting position, stabilized only by the rifle sling.
A few years ago I tested the 235 gr Speer in the water jugs and it performed admirably. A friend has hunted a fair bit with that bullet, for elk and mule deer, and claims it kills very well. As I've got a couple of boxes of them, I may well do more loading and shooting with that load this year. It sure shot nice.
My morning rifle shooting was very nice and relaxing at the warm & sunny range. The three "first round" hits at 300 yards from sitting and standing were just icing on the cake. Sorry, didn't pause for any photos. Only thing I used the bench for, was a place to set my spotting scope. The other shooting was all done from standing or sitting, using the sling for stability. I like to practice that way!
Guy
First up was the .30-06 Rem 700 CDL with the good old reliable load of 58 gr H4350 and 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips for 2850 fps. Still dead on at 200 yards. And a nice loud "clang" from the first shot at the 300 yard gong. Quite satisfying!
Switched to the .375 H&H Model 70. Dialed the Leupold up to a whopping 5x, and did some shooting with two different loads:
My "standard" load with a 260 gr Nosler AccuBond and 69 grains of RL-15. Same as I've used in the Ruger Number One for several years, but shortened considerably to fit in the Model 70 magazine. This bullet has done a fine job for me on three Washington black bear.
Velocity was 2640 fps, or about 20 fps faster than the Ruger. Both have 24" barrels. Very nice first round hit on the 300 yard gong, from standing. I'll take that any day.
Next was the interesting 235 gr Speer soft point, with 75 grains of RL-15, which I'd never loaded before. It churned up 2850 fps which impressed me almost as much as the first round hit on the 300 yard gong, from a wide-leg sitting position, stabilized only by the rifle sling.
A few years ago I tested the 235 gr Speer in the water jugs and it performed admirably. A friend has hunted a fair bit with that bullet, for elk and mule deer, and claims it kills very well. As I've got a couple of boxes of them, I may well do more loading and shooting with that load this year. It sure shot nice.
My morning rifle shooting was very nice and relaxing at the warm & sunny range. The three "first round" hits at 300 yards from sitting and standing were just icing on the cake. Sorry, didn't pause for any photos. Only thing I used the bench for, was a place to set my spotting scope. The other shooting was all done from standing or sitting, using the sling for stability. I like to practice that way!
Guy
