remingtonman_25_06
Handloader
- Nov 17, 2005
- 2,794
- 370
Wifey kinda bought me this stevens 243 for my bday. Now first off, I"ll be the first to admit I dont care for savage. Just had a bad taste in my mouth from the previous 2 I shot, or tried to get to shoot. I swore I'd never have one in my house...Well I mentioned to the wifey that I wouldn't mind having one for a cheap truck gun for coyotes, loaner gun, etc. My main thinking behind this is a 243 AI or 260 AI build in the future!! I figure if the thing dont shoot at least 1" at 100 yards, I can screw on a shilen barrel for $400 and then it will shoot for sure.
Well took it out shooting this morning and was decently surprised by the little stevens. After putting 5 rounds through it to get it on paper and what not, it was time to test some loads.
Out of 14 loads, 4 went under 1" with 3 going under .75" for 3 shots at 100 yards from a benchrest. The average was 1.2" I shot 50 rounds and didn't even clean once. Temp was 30-40 degrees so not much wait time inbetween shots. Was going to break in the barrel, but this is a $300 gun, I had to ask myself why am I breaking in this barrel??? I'll scrub it down tonight with a brush and some sweets and call it good. I had no malfunctions of any kind. Loading and unloading was good.
Overall, I would have to say I'm pretty impressed with this rifle so far. To just throw 14 loads together and have 4 go under 1" is a great start. Now I know where to work around and I'm sure it will be a consistent 3/4 MOA shooter.
Heres a pic of the rifle. I know we all know what unpainted stevens look like, but I've never seen one with a sightron scope on top, lol. Its an S1 3-9x40 w/mil-dot, perfect for a truck rifle IMO.
Heres the best 3 groups from today, all 3 were with the 55-58g nbt's or vmax. Nice that it likes the little 55g-58g barrel burners!! I only had 2 loads with 70g nbt's with W760 and they didn't fare as well, about 1.5" With tweaking I'm sure I can get them down, but why bother right now.
Well took it out shooting this morning and was decently surprised by the little stevens. After putting 5 rounds through it to get it on paper and what not, it was time to test some loads.
Out of 14 loads, 4 went under 1" with 3 going under .75" for 3 shots at 100 yards from a benchrest. The average was 1.2" I shot 50 rounds and didn't even clean once. Temp was 30-40 degrees so not much wait time inbetween shots. Was going to break in the barrel, but this is a $300 gun, I had to ask myself why am I breaking in this barrel??? I'll scrub it down tonight with a brush and some sweets and call it good. I had no malfunctions of any kind. Loading and unloading was good.
Overall, I would have to say I'm pretty impressed with this rifle so far. To just throw 14 loads together and have 4 go under 1" is a great start. Now I know where to work around and I'm sure it will be a consistent 3/4 MOA shooter.
Heres a pic of the rifle. I know we all know what unpainted stevens look like, but I've never seen one with a sightron scope on top, lol. Its an S1 3-9x40 w/mil-dot, perfect for a truck rifle IMO.
Heres the best 3 groups from today, all 3 were with the 55-58g nbt's or vmax. Nice that it likes the little 55g-58g barrel burners!! I only had 2 loads with 70g nbt's with W760 and they didn't fare as well, about 1.5" With tweaking I'm sure I can get them down, but why bother right now.