tddeangelo
Handloader
- May 18, 2011
- 2,023
- 20
So, I've been working on a few rifles to get ready for hunting season, and I am leaving soon for a trip to SC to hunt for a week.
To the range, I took my SuperGrade 264WM, my rebored M70 Classic in 35 Whelen, and my pre64 m70 in 30-06.
First, the 30-06.
This one was never really a tack driver for me, but I also had not given it the time in load development that it needed. I had seen groups of 1-1.5" at 100, so I called it good enough for hunting purposes. I took a doe with it last year, too. It's shooting a 165gr PT at about 2700fps, using 57.0gr IMR4350.
I had shot it at 100, and had pretty much called it "done." My dad wanted to use it as a "spare" in SC (he has a fwt in 7-08 that's his main rifle). So, I took it along to just be sure it was good.
Here's the 200 yard group it gave me:
POA was 6 o'clock on the 2" dot. Shot 1 was the one right at POA. That group measures 1.5-1.6". Wow. Ok, decided to press my luck and ran the old gun out to 300.
The scope on it is a 3-9x40 Minox ZA-3. I wound it to 9x, and saw immediately that the first line down on the ballistic reticle was going to be too close to the main reticle to be on for 300. Knowing the target dots I used at 300 were 3", I did some guesstimating, and figured that line on the reticle would need to be held about 3" high, at 9x, to be on target at 300. Looking at the 200 yard target, I also put a 1/2 minute left adjustment on the windage.
So, I held for 12 o'clock and had at it. Here's the resulting group:
The 12 o'clock hold was for a 6 o'clock impact. To say I was happy with that group was an understatement. Really need to work on the load for that rifle in the off-season, as the potential is there. The groups measures 3.1-3.2". I never would have thought it'd shoot like this from what I'd seen at 100. I was happy to see it do this well, and when I get back, I want to work with it some more. The "elder statesman" of my group here has had comparatively little load work done for it, and I am certain it'll come in tighter if given it's due time to tune in the load a bit more.
Then enjoying shooting the pre64 so much, I took the remaining rounds and shot from sitting on the ground at the 8" gong at 300. Took a little practice to shake the rust off, but I made the gong swing.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Ok, now the Whelen.
Last time I was out, the Whelen gave me a best group of 3.5" at 200 with a load that had gone just under 1" at 100. This gun was rebored by JES, and after yesterday, it has 46 rounds since reboring. I looked at my targets from last week, and decided that while my load of 57.0gr of IMR4320 and 250gr Speer HotCor had looked good, 58.0gr looked like it had promise. I ran 57.0gr again, just to see, and it gave me 2.6-2.7" at 200. Not bad.
Then I ran the seat depth profile for 58.0gr, and 3.210" OAL gave me this group:
That goes 2.5" center to center, for all 4 shots. I believe some bedding work is in order. It's in a McMillan stock that is NOT bedded. Due to my tight timeline (got the gun back two weeks ago from McMillan as the stock needed to be re-inlet), I just shot it as-is. McMillan recommended I do that prior to bedding it. Seems like it'll work. I figure I'll bring the POI down about 1 minute and be good to go. The Whelen "left over rounds" from my seat depth profile were used to make the 300 yard gong jump. When those 250 HotCors arrive on that steel, it is VERY definitive that a hit has been made!
I'm going to roll with the 58.0gr load. 57 might actually tune in a little better, but I'll sort that out after my trip.
Then comes the 264, which I posted about on it's own thread. I'm absolutely thrilled with that rifle. To see it grouping at 2" at 300 yards with good speed is very gratifying.
All three rifles are going to SC with me. While the pre64 is ostensibly for a spare for my dad and one other guy on the trip, I will surely hunt with it a little bit. As well as it shoots, I can't deny it time in the woods!
The only "issue" is that the reticle is canted on the pre64. I couldn't bring myself to undo the rings to straighten it and then have to re-zero. It'll do for now. Given the ability to put rounds on target to 300, I think it's just fine. From what I can gather, most shots on this hunt will be <200 yards, with SOME chance at 300-350, but very few places that's even possible.
After yesterday, though, I feel supremely confident in my rifles. Both the 264 and Whelen will get slight dope changes when I shoot down there to confirm zero. I think I'll lower the 264 by 1.5 minutes, and the Whelen will go lower by 1 minute.
Hope to have pics of some "one shot groups" on some whitetails here soon!
To the range, I took my SuperGrade 264WM, my rebored M70 Classic in 35 Whelen, and my pre64 m70 in 30-06.
First, the 30-06.
This one was never really a tack driver for me, but I also had not given it the time in load development that it needed. I had seen groups of 1-1.5" at 100, so I called it good enough for hunting purposes. I took a doe with it last year, too. It's shooting a 165gr PT at about 2700fps, using 57.0gr IMR4350.
I had shot it at 100, and had pretty much called it "done." My dad wanted to use it as a "spare" in SC (he has a fwt in 7-08 that's his main rifle). So, I took it along to just be sure it was good.
Here's the 200 yard group it gave me:
![IMG_1498_zpsd7bcb0c5.jpg](http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n566/tddeangelo/targets/IMG_1498_zpsd7bcb0c5.jpg)
POA was 6 o'clock on the 2" dot. Shot 1 was the one right at POA. That group measures 1.5-1.6". Wow. Ok, decided to press my luck and ran the old gun out to 300.
The scope on it is a 3-9x40 Minox ZA-3. I wound it to 9x, and saw immediately that the first line down on the ballistic reticle was going to be too close to the main reticle to be on for 300. Knowing the target dots I used at 300 were 3", I did some guesstimating, and figured that line on the reticle would need to be held about 3" high, at 9x, to be on target at 300. Looking at the 200 yard target, I also put a 1/2 minute left adjustment on the windage.
So, I held for 12 o'clock and had at it. Here's the resulting group:
![IMG_1490_zpsedc6a1c0.jpg](http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n566/tddeangelo/targets/IMG_1490_zpsedc6a1c0.jpg)
The 12 o'clock hold was for a 6 o'clock impact. To say I was happy with that group was an understatement. Really need to work on the load for that rifle in the off-season, as the potential is there. The groups measures 3.1-3.2". I never would have thought it'd shoot like this from what I'd seen at 100. I was happy to see it do this well, and when I get back, I want to work with it some more. The "elder statesman" of my group here has had comparatively little load work done for it, and I am certain it'll come in tighter if given it's due time to tune in the load a bit more.
Then enjoying shooting the pre64 so much, I took the remaining rounds and shot from sitting on the ground at the 8" gong at 300. Took a little practice to shake the rust off, but I made the gong swing.
Ok, now the Whelen.
Last time I was out, the Whelen gave me a best group of 3.5" at 200 with a load that had gone just under 1" at 100. This gun was rebored by JES, and after yesterday, it has 46 rounds since reboring. I looked at my targets from last week, and decided that while my load of 57.0gr of IMR4320 and 250gr Speer HotCor had looked good, 58.0gr looked like it had promise. I ran 57.0gr again, just to see, and it gave me 2.6-2.7" at 200. Not bad.
Then I ran the seat depth profile for 58.0gr, and 3.210" OAL gave me this group:
![IMG_1495_zpsa45fe4f6.jpg](http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n566/tddeangelo/targets/IMG_1495_zpsa45fe4f6.jpg)
That goes 2.5" center to center, for all 4 shots. I believe some bedding work is in order. It's in a McMillan stock that is NOT bedded. Due to my tight timeline (got the gun back two weeks ago from McMillan as the stock needed to be re-inlet), I just shot it as-is. McMillan recommended I do that prior to bedding it. Seems like it'll work. I figure I'll bring the POI down about 1 minute and be good to go. The Whelen "left over rounds" from my seat depth profile were used to make the 300 yard gong jump. When those 250 HotCors arrive on that steel, it is VERY definitive that a hit has been made!
I'm going to roll with the 58.0gr load. 57 might actually tune in a little better, but I'll sort that out after my trip.
Then comes the 264, which I posted about on it's own thread. I'm absolutely thrilled with that rifle. To see it grouping at 2" at 300 yards with good speed is very gratifying.
All three rifles are going to SC with me. While the pre64 is ostensibly for a spare for my dad and one other guy on the trip, I will surely hunt with it a little bit. As well as it shoots, I can't deny it time in the woods!
The only "issue" is that the reticle is canted on the pre64. I couldn't bring myself to undo the rings to straighten it and then have to re-zero. It'll do for now. Given the ability to put rounds on target to 300, I think it's just fine. From what I can gather, most shots on this hunt will be <200 yards, with SOME chance at 300-350, but very few places that's even possible.
After yesterday, though, I feel supremely confident in my rifles. Both the 264 and Whelen will get slight dope changes when I shoot down there to confirm zero. I think I'll lower the 264 by 1.5 minutes, and the Whelen will go lower by 1 minute.
Hope to have pics of some "one shot groups" on some whitetails here soon!