quote:

Originally posted by Alpine:
Walker Draw Match is on for June 3rd, other than the killer humidity and Chigger bites, the last Walker Draw match was a blast. Looking forward to heading to Nebraska again.

I saw that. I'd really like to go, but that is the tentative date that I'm hosting a match. Have to see if I can move it, Keye and Brian put on a great match.

Who can help me post an image here, and on the competition section?

email it to me

Thanks exx!

Hey fritz, found a 22LR trainer for you:

http://8541tactical.com/2016/1...ifle-22lr-announced/

quote:

Originally posted by Alpine:
Hey fritz, found a 22LR trainer for you:

A Crickett precision (should those two words be that close to each other?) trainer? That's.... AWESOME...!!!1111

If it comes in a tactical color -- say Hello Kitty, Dora the Explorer, My Little Pony -- I'm all over it like white on rice.

Now that my rimfire decisions have been made, just waiting for all the pieces. I'm moving back to the centerfire stuff. Have to optic shop for the .223. Thinking maybe the Vortex 3-18 Razor II for it. Anyone play with one ? I'm guessing similar to it's bigger brother but feedback is always nice.

After that decision is made I need to start getting my act together on loading components. Need some more brass but the bullet shelf needs to be stocked. Debating trying some of the Hornady ELD-X's before placing the Berger order.

The 3-18 is the same as it's big brother. I know a couple guys who use them for PRS, I've looked through them and they look great.

I'm actually considering the same thing for my practice rifle to save a few bucks and still have the same controls.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
The 3-18 is the same as it's big brother. I know a couple guys who use them for PRS, I've looked through them and they look great.

I'm actually considering the same thing for my practice rifle to save a few bucks and still have the same controls.

Good to hear. Have looked thru yours and was entirely satisfied with it's quality. Not sure I need that much scope on a .223 which is why I was looking at its little brother. You know me, I like to try a variety of things. As opposed to the more logical keeping things entirely the same. Figure as long as I keep everything Mil I'll have enough commonality.

After a week of no shooting because of snow storms and sub-zero temps, we had a heat wave of 17-deg today (T-shirt weather), so I got out and shot the 40X 22LR trainer and the new precision AR.

Had to trudge through crotch deep snow to post a target, and then to my shooting platform and do some snow removel just to shoot.

Tomorrow I'm heading out to meet a Rancher who is offering us a place to shoot long range. He has a 338LM and has only shot it out to 650-yards and is wanting to learn more about long range shooting.

Alpine's 40X trainer in said tropical conditions: (ruh-roh -- posted picture of Alpine's AR-15 instead -- still on the learning curve with the new Galaxy S7 phone...)



Any alleged pics of dudes lounging in hammocks; sporting flip-flops, banana hammocks, daisy dukes, crop tops, or wife-beaters; swilling Corona long necks with lemon slices; were deleted for retinal safety and forum decorum.

Three 40X 22lr rifles appeared on auction sites last week, all selling at what appears to be the going market rates. I passed, for now. Two Nightforce scopes on the credit card within one month was enough.

Rings for the new NF scope going to my Kimber 22 should arrive this week. I sold a 2-7X Leupold on my lever action 22 to a buddy; the 3-8X Leupold that's currently on the Kimber will go to the lever gun.

One irritation with the Kimber is inconsistent ammo feeding from their crap 5-round magazines, particularly with Eley EPS ammo. Digging thru the webz, I learned that Kimber copied (or licensed?) Remington's 511-series magazine design. Supposedly Remy's 6- and 10-round 511-series mags feed a little better than Kimber's, so I ordered a couple new mags -- they should arrive with the rings for the new NF glass.

Pretty excited- I pick up my first precision rifle tomorrow- got a Sako TRG-22 308 with a 26" barrel and factory multicam stock. I have been using an M-14 to shoot to 1000. While that has been a good experience it isnt precision. Pulling the scope off that- and IOR 3-18x44 to move over to the Sako. Got some Laupa 155gr scenars and some Flat Line Projectile 160s waiting to be loaded up!

Mounted the new Nightforce shv 4-14x F1 on the 22lr and went to the ranch for a shooting & work day. Breezy conditions and cold temps made for limited shooting, maybe 70 rounds at most.

For a NF that cost me just over $1k, it's a decent scope. Glass is clear and bright, colors seem true with good contrast. Controls feel solid. Parallax is nice, going down to 25 yards. Elevation turret has only 10 MOA per rotation -- 15 or 20 MOA would have been nicer. Windage and elevation clicks are solid and distinct. The zero set feature works, and likely is part of the cost savings. I have about 47 MOA of elevation available, which should get me to about 320 yards in my neck of the woods.

Minor issues -- there's a bit of a black donut visible around the outside of the viewing area, regardless of the magnification or where my eye is. No big deal, just something that's not there on the more expensive NF scopes. The eyebox is a bit less forgiving at full power than the higher priced NF scopes.

Overall, a great scope for the money. I expect this glass will improve my results with the 22 trainer.

The new magazines from Brownells are a huge improvement over Kimber's factory model. I had reliable feeding with Eley Tenex, my prior nemesis. Woo-hoo!

Wind conditions sucked during the morning, but some notable results:
50 yards on paper - 10 rounds of Eley Tenex in a .6" group. All of the rounds had been cycled through the rifle some 4 or 5 times prior to firing, as I tested cycling the Brownells mags in my basement. The bullets definitely had some marks on them.

150 yards on steel - 5 rounds of Eley Tenex with 1.3" of vertical. (horizontal wind drift of 3-6")

200 yards on steel - 5 rounds of Geco Match with 1.8" of vertical. (horizontal wind drift of 6-10")

So preeeety.

Well I was finally able to stretch my rifle out. 984 yards was the distance on a 24" plate. It went fantastic. Longest shot I've ever taken. It was honestly easy on the 24" target. I could hit 4 out 5 each time I shot. My wife and dad were also able to hit the target with consistency. Some of the most fun I've ever had - barring all the damn walking. I was using black hills 77g TMK.

This is the rifle



The target after some hits



The "range" the target can't be seen on my iPhone 6 camera.

@500 yards it's the white dot inside the green circle

@900 yards it's the green dot


Through the scope



I tried to get video but my phone stopped recording at 17 minutes and I hadn't gotten back to the rifle and taken a shot by then.
I doubt the rifle will make it much further past 1000 yards but this makes me want to try further, maybe with another caliber.

Today was seriously windy at the ranch. Most of the day was spent digging yucca, but I did get an hour with the 22lr when the winds dropped to reasonable speeds. I definitely like the new NF shv scope, however with the winds I still don't think the gun is truly zeroed at 50 yards. I set steel at 108, 150, and 200 yards -- then compared Wolf Match Target, Wolf Match Extra, Lapua Center X, and Lapua Midas +.

Something was up with the winds going to the 200 yard target. Horizontal dispersion was 5-6" and vertical was 3+ inches on all types of ammo. Must have been some funky swirl in that gully. I also needed about 1 MOA more elevation than normal for the target.

Vertical variations at 108 yards for 5 rounds (horizontal variations were all equal or less than vertical):
1.2" and 1.3" Wolf Target
.6" Wolf Extra
.5" Lapua Center X
.6" Lapua Midas +

Vertical variations at 150 yards for 5 rounds (horizontal variations were all equal or less than vertical):
1.5" and 1.8" Wolf Target
1.3" Wolf Extra
1.0" Lapua Center X
1.1" Lapua Midas +

As I've seen before, Wolf's Match Extra is noticeably more accurate than their Match Target. The increased accuracy going from Wolf Match Extra to Lapua Center/Midas is more subtle.

Interestingly, Midas + gave me a seriously WTF impact at 108 yards on the 3rd or 4th round -- it was close to 4" lower than the rest of the very tight group. My technique was good and the wind was constant, and the report of the round sounded different than the others. I guess even Lapua ef's up ammo here and there. I threw this impact out of the above figures.

Interesting read on the rimfire ammo Fritz. Have a buddy that seems to support what you said on the Lapua Midas. I had asked about ammo and he indicated the Midas had a case of the fliers.

I have Wolf Match Extra on the shelf. Also just ordered some Eley Match and RWS R-50 to try out. My .22 trainer project is finally moving forward. Should have to rifle in a week or so.

With 22lr I've found I need to clean my barrel between trying different brands of ammo as well as shoot 15-20rds of the different brand after cleaning. The coatings/lube is different from brand to brand. I've shot brand X, switch to a different brand w/o cleaning. Shoots great for 10-20rds then opens up, seen the opposite as well.

jlemmy -- Wolf Match Extra, Eley Match, and RWS R-50 all shoot well in my rifle.

I hadn't cleaned my bore since the last outing, so it was fouled with Eley wax. The first 20 shots with Wolf Match Target were the larger group sizes, then the accuracy settled down. My rifle has no issues switching between Wolf, SK, and Lapua ammo -- most likely because they are all made in the same factory. If I switched back to RWS or Eley products (with or without cleaning the bore), I would need some fouling shots before accuracy would settle down.

I think the Lapua Midas flyer was the odd lottery loser. Haven't seen something like that yet from top of the line Eley and RWS ammo. If I stick with Lapua ammo, Center X ammo seems to provide equal accuracy to Midas in my rifle, but at a lower cost.