Ok fellas, my new Ruger American Compact in 223 Rem came in a few days ago. Gotta say I loved the dinky toy-like size of it, really well balanced in the hands and coming to the shoulder for such a small rifle.
Threw a Redfield Revolution on it in a spare set of Leupy alloy rings - some PRW lows are on the way - and put together some quick loads to test function consisting of Hornady 50g SPs and 26g of H4895.
One shot to get on the bull at 60y was all needed after a quick bore-sight (I like that) and I went straight out to 125y.
I only had time to shoot the below two groups before a dust storm blew in (in fact winds were gusting near 40kph and it was well above 35 degrees C, so not great shooting weather!) but they were more than promising. The first group was 1.5 inches and the second was 0.55! Not bad for an out of the box rifle with an arbitrarily selected untested load!
You'll note I adjusted zero between the above groups.
Rain most of the next day so I didn't go out, but did go again yesterday twice to chrono and accuracy test several loads including not only the above but also the 65g Sierra GK BTSP and the 53g Vmax.
The below results pretty sum up where I am with this gun. Next pic shows the Sierra GK 65g, four groups with ascending charge weights, in order top left, top right, bottom left then bottom right. All the groups were very encouraging except the last at the highest charge weight of 25.5g H4895. In that case the loads were a little over pressure judging by the MV which was a shade over 3000fps. The three groups at lower charge weights averaged 0.68 moa (keep in mind the range is 125y)...
So onto the 53g Vmax which of course doesn't all go to plan. The top two groups in the next pic basically show about where I am at with this bullet. I've tried two powders with a couple of different charge weights each, but I am more like 1.75moa rather than the better than 0.75moa I am averaging with the Sierra (as evidenced by two further groups at the bottom of the below pic which were shot with a working load I've settled on).
Going to do more work with the Vmax today. I really want to like this bullet because it was a good BC for a light bullet and would be perfect for foxes and bunnies around the farm. In any case if it doesn't work out, there are other good options including the Sierra GK 65g which I used for a walk after dinner, rolling three rabbits in a five minute outing...
Anyway the little RAR Compact has pleased me no end so far. Very addictive to shoot and very cheap so plenty to like.
- Bob
Threw a Redfield Revolution on it in a spare set of Leupy alloy rings - some PRW lows are on the way - and put together some quick loads to test function consisting of Hornady 50g SPs and 26g of H4895.
One shot to get on the bull at 60y was all needed after a quick bore-sight (I like that) and I went straight out to 125y.
I only had time to shoot the below two groups before a dust storm blew in (in fact winds were gusting near 40kph and it was well above 35 degrees C, so not great shooting weather!) but they were more than promising. The first group was 1.5 inches and the second was 0.55! Not bad for an out of the box rifle with an arbitrarily selected untested load!
You'll note I adjusted zero between the above groups.
Rain most of the next day so I didn't go out, but did go again yesterday twice to chrono and accuracy test several loads including not only the above but also the 65g Sierra GK BTSP and the 53g Vmax.
The below results pretty sum up where I am with this gun. Next pic shows the Sierra GK 65g, four groups with ascending charge weights, in order top left, top right, bottom left then bottom right. All the groups were very encouraging except the last at the highest charge weight of 25.5g H4895. In that case the loads were a little over pressure judging by the MV which was a shade over 3000fps. The three groups at lower charge weights averaged 0.68 moa (keep in mind the range is 125y)...
So onto the 53g Vmax which of course doesn't all go to plan. The top two groups in the next pic basically show about where I am at with this bullet. I've tried two powders with a couple of different charge weights each, but I am more like 1.75moa rather than the better than 0.75moa I am averaging with the Sierra (as evidenced by two further groups at the bottom of the below pic which were shot with a working load I've settled on).
Going to do more work with the Vmax today. I really want to like this bullet because it was a good BC for a light bullet and would be perfect for foxes and bunnies around the farm. In any case if it doesn't work out, there are other good options including the Sierra GK 65g which I used for a walk after dinner, rolling three rabbits in a five minute outing...
Anyway the little RAR Compact has pleased me no end so far. Very addictive to shoot and very cheap so plenty to like.
- Bob
