tddeangelo
Handloader
- May 18, 2011
- 2,023
- 20
I took my oldest daughter Megan to the range with me Labor Day morning. I had a full slate of rifles that needed my attention, and I wound up only getting about half of that work done that needed doing, but I didn't care.
I loaded up some reduced charge H4895 loads for her. We started at 22.8gr of H4895 under a 100gr Partition in my 257 Roberts, which happens to have been Megan's great-grandfather's hunting rifle. I shot it recently, and it gave me 1.25" at 100 yards with that load. It isn't a quiet load at all, but there's practically no recoil.
I had Megan shoot a few shots with that same great-grandfather's Win 69A 22lr off the bench at 50 yards, as she's never shot off a bench rest before. She shot about 5" for three shots, with most of the distribution being horizontal. The old Bushnell ScopeChief on that rifle wasn't doing her any favors, and she asked why the scope looked "so funny". Oops. I haven't shot that rifle since he owned it, though, so I'm sure some dust had to be blown out of the bore, and the scope is pretty "funny" looking. :lol:
Once we got a good handle on her bench position and how to shoot from that position, I moved her to the 257 with the 22.8gr loads. She was very nervous (long story, but she had a bad experience with recoil and has become incredibly nervous about it). She trusted me, though, and took the shot, and was immediately all smiles. We shot 5 rounds with that load, and she did great. She shot two in one hole at one point at 50 yards, and a couple two-shot groups under 1".
I moved her to 23.8gr. She handled it great, and we shot 3 of those. Moved to 24.8gr, also good, and shot three of those. At this point, she'd shot 11 rounds and had enough, but wasn't sore and was all smiles. She said she wanted to stop before it bothered her shoulder, and I agreed.
At 24.8gr, it should be getting that 100gr PT out of the featherweight's barrel at around 1900fps, give or take. With a little more shoulder padding, I think she'll do just fine with 26-27gr, and that'll break 2000fps. The way she was shooting, with a little more practice, I can see her taking 100 yard shots (all my double stands have rifle rests/rails on them). I figure if I can get the velocity just a teeny bit higher, she should be perfectly fine taking broadsides out to 100 yards, maybe 150 on the outside. I have a place I can let her shoot out to about 175 to practice, so we'll take some deer targets as the season gets closer and see where her max range is.
She's super excited to hunt this year, and I can't wait to take her.
Here's a vid I took at the range:
Her finger was at the trigger because she'd forgot to turn the safety off and went to shoot just before I started the video. We've talked about that, as I was running my phone and didn't notice she had her finger there when she switched off the safety.
http://youtu.be/QfYMAmtMEGA
Her groups were good, and she was happy as could be to be able to shoot the rifle well. I see a new lefty rifle in her future for next season.
I loaded up some reduced charge H4895 loads for her. We started at 22.8gr of H4895 under a 100gr Partition in my 257 Roberts, which happens to have been Megan's great-grandfather's hunting rifle. I shot it recently, and it gave me 1.25" at 100 yards with that load. It isn't a quiet load at all, but there's practically no recoil.
I had Megan shoot a few shots with that same great-grandfather's Win 69A 22lr off the bench at 50 yards, as she's never shot off a bench rest before. She shot about 5" for three shots, with most of the distribution being horizontal. The old Bushnell ScopeChief on that rifle wasn't doing her any favors, and she asked why the scope looked "so funny". Oops. I haven't shot that rifle since he owned it, though, so I'm sure some dust had to be blown out of the bore, and the scope is pretty "funny" looking. :lol:
Once we got a good handle on her bench position and how to shoot from that position, I moved her to the 257 with the 22.8gr loads. She was very nervous (long story, but she had a bad experience with recoil and has become incredibly nervous about it). She trusted me, though, and took the shot, and was immediately all smiles. We shot 5 rounds with that load, and she did great. She shot two in one hole at one point at 50 yards, and a couple two-shot groups under 1".
I moved her to 23.8gr. She handled it great, and we shot 3 of those. Moved to 24.8gr, also good, and shot three of those. At this point, she'd shot 11 rounds and had enough, but wasn't sore and was all smiles. She said she wanted to stop before it bothered her shoulder, and I agreed.
At 24.8gr, it should be getting that 100gr PT out of the featherweight's barrel at around 1900fps, give or take. With a little more shoulder padding, I think she'll do just fine with 26-27gr, and that'll break 2000fps. The way she was shooting, with a little more practice, I can see her taking 100 yard shots (all my double stands have rifle rests/rails on them). I figure if I can get the velocity just a teeny bit higher, she should be perfectly fine taking broadsides out to 100 yards, maybe 150 on the outside. I have a place I can let her shoot out to about 175 to practice, so we'll take some deer targets as the season gets closer and see where her max range is.
She's super excited to hunt this year, and I can't wait to take her.
Here's a vid I took at the range:
Her finger was at the trigger because she'd forgot to turn the safety off and went to shoot just before I started the video. We've talked about that, as I was running my phone and didn't notice she had her finger there when she switched off the safety.
http://youtu.be/QfYMAmtMEGA
Her groups were good, and she was happy as could be to be able to shoot the rifle well. I see a new lefty rifle in her future for next season.
