Letting the Sendero run.....

[Songdog]

So for my birthday, I requested a half-day pass from the warden.... and she was kind enough to acquiesce. This morning I watched the sun come up over the Colorado prairie while glassing for coyotes.... then spent a little time stretching out the new Sendero. Beautiful day, about 20* and a 4-8 MPH wind from the 2:00.

Nothing long range today... just some mid-range trajectory/accuracy testing. The below group consists of 7 shots on a 12" piece of 3/8" AR400 steel plate. 1 shot each at 300, 400, 500, and 600.... then a 3-shot group at 700. My chart was pretty good.... and if I'd have trusted it the group would have been about 2" smaller. I knocked a full MOA off my 600 dope because I thought the load was running a little quicker than the other one..... not that quick, it's the low one.... by about 1/2 MOA. The total group is right at 7".... with the 3-shots at 700 going a little over 3".... they're the top three on the plate. The shots at 300 and 400 blew right threw... they're on the left.... put in 1/2 MOA R after those two.

7mm Rem. Mag./162 Amax/72 Retumbo for 3075.

 

[JD338]

Happy B Day Songdog.
That Sendero is a shooter. Good work.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

I used to always spend the day on the river catching the early steelhead. Here in the north, I spend the day dozing in front of the tube or reading. You've done well, SD.

 

[Songdog]

I spent many a birthday morning sore-lipping a Steelie when I lived in northern WA.

 

[FOTIS]

Nice. HB ti you!

 

[DrMike]

I spent many a birthday morning sore-lipping a Steelie when I lived in northern WA.

It was a pleasant way to spend the day. There were always a fair number of massive dollie varden hanging out in the deeper holes as well as the fresh steelies raring for a fight. I remember one magical day of bringing to hand and releasing eleven steelies. Such things make for rich memories.

 

[FOTIS]

Is that the original stock J?

 

[Songdog]

Yup..... just needed a little "Pawnee-flauge"....

 

[FOTIS]

Thought the place looked familiar.

BTW like your setup with the post. Is it easy to remove after you're done?

 

[Songdog]

Easy to set up..... easier to remove. It's just a wingnut on the back, so I stick the post in the ground, bang it a couple times with the plate, then one bolt through the plate/post. Can't think of a cheaper way to do it.

 

[FOTIS]

Good to know. Got a few posts. Now I got to get the steel plate

 

[usmc 89]

How thick is the plate your using?

 

[Songdog]

That plate is 3/8" AR-400... it's a little soft for the big guns... but it takes the smaller stuff and pistol rounds real well.

JCSteel has a bunch of AR-500 steel plate targets for sale at a very reasonable price. They also have custom T-Post target hangers that work very well. If any of y'all that are local(ish) want to get out and bang a bunch of steel.... just shoot me a PM.

 

[FOTIS]

Will do buddy. Thanks

 

[usmc 89]

I see, I have about 60 plates set up at my place. mild steel most of them and that seems to.work well as long as you keep them out past 350.

 

[SJB358]

Great shooting. Looks like it is doing everything you could want.

 

[CatskillCrawler]

Happy BD! Looks like you had a good day indeed. Nice shooting too. Haven't heard many bad things about the Senderos and yours looks like it's behaving predictably well.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Happy Birthday Song Dog!

Some nice shooting there!
SD, please do tell us a bit about your rifle, the scope, rings & bases and if you have, anything you have done to it.

Doh!
Homer

 

[Guy Miner]

Had a 7mm Rem mag Sendero several years ago myself. What a wonderful shooter!

A Timney trigger replaced the rather gritty Remington trigger. I broke in the barrel with Tubbs Final Finish bullets. Mounted a 4.5-14x Leupold on a 20 MOA mount. That rifle was outstanding with the 168 gr Sierra HPBT Matchking or the 175 gr SPBT Gameking. Not half bad with Noslers in the 140 - 160 range either!

Remington did real well with those rifles in years past, and yours looks like a shooter.

Regards, Guy

 

[Songdog]

Guy.... I'll be up in your neighborhood with that rifle in February for the JC Steel shoot in Prescott, WA. I've not shot any of the 168s... but I do have a box of 180 Bergers to run, once I get the chance to tinker.

Homer....

The rifle is a stock Remington Sendero Special in 7mm Remington Magnum. It has a 24" .840" diam. (at the muzzle) varmint barrel (standard Sendero is 26") and wears the original HS Precision Sendero stock. The stock has the shorter bedding block and lightened forend compared to other Sendero/VS models. I've done nothing to rifle other than bed it to the stock... though it appears to me that a gunsmith did love-up the action a little. I installed an old stainless 700 trigger in the rifle that I polished up years ago.... it's the trigger than goes in the rifle-de-jour.

Nothing fancy in the optics department either, just a standard Leupold Mark AR 3-9x40 with the Mil-Dot reticle... approx. $350 US. This scope features 1/2" clicks rather than the standard 1/4".... and I like it a lot. I don't think the 1/2" clicks make any difference in my ability to put rounds on target.... but I think it is definitely a boon in LR and midrange hunting scenarios. I don't shoot a 'drop chart' per se... but rather a 'ballistic turret', if we're using current nomenclature. I have a drop chart in the stock pack, and will reference it when not shooting in any type of haste.... but I much prefer simply to spin the turret to the specified yardage and fire.

Picture of the Mark AR low-profile 1/2" turret with my 'custom' yardage marks.

For rings/bases I shoot the wonderful Talley LWs. It's kind of funny to see a heavy piped gun with Talleys and a light Leupold.... but I want weight where it helps me out.... not where it don't. I really like the 3-9 magnification for LR hunting and shooting.... any more magnification than that and I have a hard time spotting my shots. I feel spotting ones shots is paramount to good LR shooting.... as no one has a better view than the shooter, and only the shooter knows where the crosshair was when the shot broke.

Load development was a snap.... as it usually is with accurate rifles. I seat an Amax to just touch the lands, shoot progressively increasing powder charges into the same group to find pressure and establish if the powder is looking 'stable'. Ultimately I'm looking for a max load that shoots.... aren't we all? So, I find max pressure and work from there. With the load above, I shot 70, 71, and 72 grains of Retumbo and the group went about 1/2". I liked how the brass/noise/recoil looked so I loaded up 5 of them at 72 grains (3.445" OAL) and ran them into the above group.... then piled the 5th into an anthill at 600+. Loaded up 20 for further testing and shot the first 7 at the steel plate above.... looks like we're good.

The rifle weighs 10lbs naked.... simply glass/bases/rifle... add the pack and a couple rounds and it's more like 11lbs. Still.... this rifle is very packable and handles quite well. At the end of the day, it's really about as middle of the road as you can get for a LR hunting rifle.... there's a reason for that.