A rewarding range session today

[tddeangelo]

Managed a range day this evening after work. Results----

My father's 30-06 is first. This has been the problem child. Best I got prior was 3-3.2" at 200. He had been getting 4" to 5" groups at 100 prior. Today's effort yielded this:

Next, the 300WSM. It had gone 2.1 last time out with my hunting load of RL19. I decided to try '17. Three of the four groups were "blah", but this one popped:

I want to reshoot it, and do some fine tuning with powder charge. I'd gone in full grain increments, so I want to go in smaller increments now. Then if it repeats, do a seat depth tune up. It's already great, but I see possibilities there if it will repeat.

On to the 35 Whelen. My first group was pure crap, and purely me. I shot like a moron. I wasn't going to run another group, but I just felt I had to try. And I settled in, felt good on all three shots, and found this:

The lower, left shot is from another group, not this one.

Last time out, it did 2.0 and 2.5 at 200. I'm happy with the Whelen. I just need to shoot it more.

Finally, my pre64 270 that's been shooting 1-1.2MOA groups at 200 right out of the gate. I did a seat depth profile, and....WOW.

Just need to see if it'll repeat, and that one is DONE!

 

[DrMike]

A rewarding session, indeed. Congratulations, Tom. You're in the zone. Yeah, the Whelen always brings a smile to the face of those who own one. The .270 should be good to go.

 

[SJB358]

Very nice Tom. Who would have thought a 270 could be so accurate with so little work.. :lol:


Your Dad's 06 seems like it is starting to hum. Man, I know that had to take the pressure off a little. Was there any sort of pattern to the loads as your worked with the different seating depths?

Your Whelen is doing real well. Looks ready to hunt, that is for sure!

Any idea what sort of speeds you are getting with RL17?

 

[tddeangelo]

I didn't take pics of the other groups. They were mostly 3" range...maybe a hair more.

That seat depth was 3.370. Best prior depth was 3.378-3.380. I went down from that, so I shot 3.370, 3.360, 3.350 (give or take a few thou' variance from the die). 3.70 seems to be the best so far. I could probably go longer and see what it does. Dad measured a round to the lands and got 3.410, so going longer the 3.38 is getting on the long side, maybe?

QL's prediction is 2910. My current load of RL19 is running right about that same speed. I haven't chrono'ed 17 yet.

Speed on the Whelen is about 2530-2550 for the 250 HotCor, so that one is pretty well tuned, I think. Some scope adjustments to bring it on target and I think that one's good. Same for the 270. That one is running 2950-2960 for the 150BT. I could mess with the Partitions, but I should hunt with a BT, just to prove to myself it works well. Running just under 3k with sub-minute accuracy gives me a pretty good set up, I think.

Dad's 06 should be running at or just under 2800 for the 165BT. I think that's a pretty good velocity range for that bullet. It should do well for him. I need to see it repeat, and if so, get it to point of aim at 200, and then he can start shooting it at the range and getting reacquainted with it. I've been rolling around in my head if I want to start splitting the hairs and chasing down that last 1/4-1/2" of accuracy that will really make him happy. I ran my powder profile at 0.5gr increments, and my seat depth at 0.010" length increments. I'm not sure I'm going to get it a whole lot tighter with that powder/bullet combo. I'd hate to go away from IMR4350, but I may try one or two other powders, just for grins. As for the 165BT, I'd sooner believe that will shoot tiny groups than Partitions or the Hornady BTSP's I have in the same grain weight. It's pointless from a functional standpoint, but I know he'll feel much better if he sees smaller groups.

 

[OU812]

Great shooting. Looks like several rifles all came together for you.

 

[pre6422hornet]

Yep another accurate 270.

Maybe, just maybe, Winchester hit the holy grail way back when they thought that one up...

Great range trip Tom. Good job.

 

[truck driver]

Tom , I've used IMR4350 in my 30-06 for ever and it's hard to switch. But I have played with RL22 and IMR4831 which have gotten good results especially the IMR4831.