Range day!

[tddeangelo]

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.

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!

 

[Sas874runner]

Nice shooting. The 06 may not be a tack driver but holds a good group at distances. That should be more than enough to down some game. And goes to show that even though that gun is not moa or better that ut can still be deadly. Good luck in your hunts

 

[DrMike]

Everything appears to be game in the freezer, Tom. Good stuff!

 

[tddeangelo]

Nice shooting. The 06 may not be a tack driver but holds a good group at distances. That should be more than enough to down some game. And goes to show that even though that gun is not moa or better that ut can still be deadly. Good luck in your hunts

Well, the pre-64 actually went sub-MOA at 200, and right at MOA at 300. I'll bet with just a little more load work I'll get to see sub-MOA at 300, too. It won't take much.

That rifle with that load is a pure joy to shoot. It's got a fairly high case capacity, so max would be over 2gr more powder. I should be able to reach about 2900 for that bullet if I wanted to. The recoil will come with it, though, and I have enough rifles to reach out and stomp game farther that I may not need to stoke the 30-06 too hot. I shot a doe at about 50 yards with it last winter, and the results were dramatic, to say the least.

 

[Sas874runner]

Nice shooting. The 06 may not be a tack driver but holds a good group at distances. That should be more than enough to down some game. And goes to show that even though that gun is not moa or better that ut can still be deadly. Good luck in your hunts

Well, the pre-64 actually went sub-MOA at 200, and right at MOA at 300. I'll bet with just a little more load work I'll get to see sub-MOA at 300, too. It won't take much.

That rifle with that load is a pure joy to shoot. It's got a fairly high case capacity, so max would be over 2gr more powder. I should be able to reach about 2900 for that bullet if I wanted to. The recoil will come with it, though, and I have enough rifles to reach out and stomp game farther that I may not need to stoke the 30-06 too hot. I shot a doe at about 50 yards with it last winter, and the results were dramatic, to say the least.

I believe we have had a few posts on here about that lately. One about using min charge for handloads. In all the years that hunting with rifles has been around. It was never necessary to have the fastest hottest load with the biggest baddest bullet. For years a standard sp cup and core bullet killed countless game and with powders that were nowhere near what we have now days. And with the good ol 30-06 & 270. With the accuracy you are getting out of that rifle it should Be more than sufficient for NA game at reasonable distances.

 

[SJB358]

Great shooting Tom. Looks like a great day on the range.

 

[tddeangelo]

Everything appears to be game in the freezer, Tom. Good stuff!

Thank you!

I've come a long way with what I can get from my rifles thanks to Scotty and yourself and several others who share readily of their knowledge. Many thanks to all of you for that.

My line up for this year will consist of these three rifles...the pre64 30-06, the M70 Classic 35 Whelen, and the Supergrade 264WM. I believe I'll also run the Marlin 1895 45-70 on the bench to verify its zero and have that ready for the PA rifle season later on this fall. There are some places I hunt that are just screaming out for me to use the 45-70 there.

My 300WSM is more or less ready to hunt, but now I want to spend some real range time with that gun. I have learned a bit since I developed the load I'm using for that rifle, and I think I can make it shoot better than the 1" or so I get at 100. That one and my Whelen are my foul weather guns (the WSM is an EW M70). I will probably load up a box of ammo for the 300 though, just in case I need it. It was zeroed at 100 the last time I shot it.

I'm hoping that next year, I'll have glass back on my 257 Bob and have my 300H&H pretty settled, and then all my rifles will be up and running. I'll just have to pick which to use!

 

[JD338]

Tom,

You are in the zone with all your rifles and loads. Way to go buddy.

JD338

 

[tddeangelo]

Thanks, Jim. You NEED a 264WM Supergrade, buddy. NEED ONE.

FOTIS hasn't shot his yet....maybe he's too busy, and you could do him a favor by taking it off his hands?

:twisted:

 

[tddeangelo]

Just dawned on me.... For the 30-06, I used loads I made up in Hornady brass.

I wound up shooting the 300 yard group with loads made in Nosler brass sold as 2nds from SPS.

Might not have influenced much, but I'm really pleased that it shot well even in different brass.

I had made up those loads in the Nosler brass just to test it out and see if it changed anything. I guess I can load in that brass with confidence.

 

[SJB358]

Yeah, I think you might have picked up a little speed as well Tom. I think the Nosler brass is a little thicker than the Hornady stuff.. Good deal. Glad it worked so well. That's a pretty cool rifle for a 30-06! :lol:

 

[tddeangelo]

I have to measure capacity now, just to see what differences there were.

My Hornady 30-06 brass is getting long in the tooth and loose in the primer pockets, as much of it saw service in my other 30-06 (now a Whelen) with fairly warm loads, although I got probably 10 firing cycles on it and the pockets are just getting loose.

Except for those three I fired at the range, I have a full bag of Nosler 2nd brass that I'll use for my hunting loads. Seems that they work ok!

That might explain why it went from 0.75MOA at 200 yards to 1MOA at 300. Or that could have been my shooting, too. Who knows...but if the Nosler brass will hang at MOA at 300, I don't see a problem with loading it up for hunting purposes.

 

[SJB358]

No, I can't see an issue with that either Tom.. MOA is going to kill deer and elk pretty well. As much as I shoot, I can't hold MOA sitting on my butt shooting the 338 most days. I can be consistently around 2MOA or so out to 300, but that is about as good as I can do. I have been shooting all Summer and feel very confident shooting out to 300, sitting. Prone, I can do better than that, but again, on deer or even elk sized animals if you can keep them on a pie plate out to your max range, all the load work in the world won't make you shoot better in the field. You have a winner in that 06..

 

[tddeangelo]

And I won't have to shoot from sitting, either. Not "sitting" as we're talking about it. We'll be in box blinds or stands with shooting rails, so there will be some sort of support to use.

I was rusty shooting from sitting, but I started getting my "mojo" back after a few rounds. It's been a while since I shot like that, though.

 

[truck driver]

And I won't have to shoot from sitting, either. Not "sitting" as we're talking about it. We'll be in box blinds or stands with shooting rails, so there will be some sort of support to use.

I was rusty shooting from sitting, but I started getting my "mojo" back after a few rounds. It's been a while since I shot like that, though.

I stand early in the mourning and then I walk 10 yds. and stop then walk 10 more and stop after the mourning is long in the tooth and most of my shots are taken off hand because I usually stalk or sneak up on my pray and don't have time to get into a sitting position or prone, I do use a near by tree to lean on if I can but most times I can't. I guess that is why I'm so picky about my rifles accuracy. :mrgreen:

 

[tddeangelo]

Oh, I'm not afraid to shoot on my hind legs, either. Between strings on the hunting rifles, I was smacking the 13-15 inch gong at 300 with my AR. Offhand. It actually got kinda boring shooting at 200, so I shot at 300, then at the small gong at 300. That was fun! I was getting hits on the big gong nearly 100% of the time. Only about 50% on the small (8-10" gong), but that's still pretty decent.

I had to reacquaint myself with how I get most stable when sitting. I found it again, and then the hits came. Till I did, though, I did a bit of missing, lol.