quote:

Originally posted by Brett B:

Thanks again for the compliments guys. Well it's not long range yet, but I was able to put some rounds thru the new setup for the first time this weekend at 100 yards. It's been a while since I shot this rifle so it definitely took me a while to get back in the groove. Here are the groups from when I did manage to pull the trigger cleanly:





So far I’m really happy with it. The X-Ray chassis is a big improvement in terms of ergonomics and the brake of course really helped to mitigate recoil. I also chronographed some rounds and only lost on average 25 FPS with 168 grain rounds by having the barrel cut from 23.6" to 22". Next trip will be to the 400 yard range.

We have started our Wednesday afternoon long range steel shoot again at the Great Falls Shooting Sports Complex north of GT Falls on the Havre Highway. We shoot from 1800 to dark, every Wednesday.

We shoot steel plates as well as clay targets on the various berms. Steel at; 675, 775, 900, 975, 1100 and 1240 yds.
Any one interested in shooting, feel free to contact me and I'll host you for the day.

njmtca AT 3riversdbs.net

Now...The WEIRD stuff. Great Falls is infamous for making the "Ten Windiest Cities" list annually. It is RARE to not have 5-15 mph winds. Generally they are far worse. Days with gusts from 25-55 mph NOT uncommon.

It's as if we are living at the start of a 1950's Sci-Fi movie. Where outlandish things start to happen. Folks notice but no one gets too excited. Then you have the BLOB or Pod People show up.

The past THREE shoots we have had 1-3 mph winds....or near dead CALM! It is so strange to not constantly be chasing the wind.
So far, all of our shoots have been record breakers.

We have had some fantastic groups shot lately. As well as far out of the ordinary "runs" on the 8" and 10" plates at 900 and 1100 yds. Guys centering them for 4-5 shots straight! Guys with good dope making first shot cold bore hits on the 1240 plates...unbelievable feats of LR shooting lately.

Weird situation.

So barring pod people or the BLOB...anyone passing through or any Montanans who would like to try some LR shooting.... drop me an e mail.

FN in MT

FN in MT,

wish I was closer to you. I sure do enjoy shooting in different places.

How's your 6.5x47 shooting? A couple of the guys I shoot with just chambered 6.5x47's, both rifles shooting very well. Such a well balanced cartridge.

Me too.

Montana is a beautiful place.

I did a little trout fishing on the Missouri there a few years back.

Maybe again one day soon.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:
FN in MT,

wish I was closer to you. I sure do enjoy shooting in different places.

How's your 6.5x47 shooting? A couple of the guys I shoot with just chambered 6.5x47's, both rifles shooting very well. Such a well balanced cartridge.

The 6.5 Lapua is a LASER. Two weeks back I stuck three into 6 7/8" centered on the 1240 yd plate. I was amazed. Also did a nice 5 shot group at 975 that went about 4". SO nice to not have to fight the wind. Makes even a hack like me look competent.

Very happy with the 6.5 glad I went that route versus the .260 Rem. My Smith just got the call today that his DEFIANCE action will ship this next week. He's building a .338 Lapua. Looking forward to THAT.

FN in MT

Got to shoot the first event of the year in my back yard!

I only had 52 rounds down the tube before the match. I really wish I could have had more..

We did a quick 600 shoot to "warm up" for the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow is mid-range, and Monday will be long range.

I shot a 195-7X at 600. No one cleaned it, but I did hear of a 198-12X. Good conditions with a light rain and little breeze.

Can't wait for the rest of the event.. Will report some updates as they come.



FN in MT: I have a very cryptic message I feel obligated to deliver:

M.A. from Helena P.D. is planning revenge.. We started talking load development, and I mentioned this would be my last event with the 175s before switching over to the 185 Hybrids. He said he cannot find the 185s ANYWHERE. After some strong interrogation, I had to give up my source... He thinks you were holding out on him now. He is also committed to getting you out to shoot some paper sometime in the near future.

quote:

Originally posted by md-lucky:
Got to shoot the first event of the year in my back yard!

I only had 52 rounds down the tube before the match. I really wish I could have had more..

We did a quick 600 shoot to "warm up" for the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow is mid-range, and Monday will be long range.

I shot a 195-7X at 600. No one cleaned it, but I did hear of a 198-12X. Good conditions with a light rain and little breeze.

Can't wait for the rest of the event.. Will report some updates as they come.



FN in MT: I have a very cryptic message I feel obligated to deliver:

M.A. from Helena P.D. is planning revenge.. We started talking load development, and I mentioned this would be my last event with the 175s before switching over to the 185 Hybrids. He said he cannot find the 185s ANYWHERE. After some strong interrogation, I had to give up my source... He thinks you were holding out on him now. He is also committed to getting you out to shoot some paper sometime in the near future.

Had Mike mentioned he needed 185's I would have hooked him up. You did very well today! Impressive showing.

I'd love to shoot some paper. Thought of this weekends shoot but THREE DAYS! Good Lord couldn't do that. Hopefully the 1K Range will get done in Gt Falls this year and we can start some shoots CLOSE to home.

Good luck the next two days...And if you are ever close by on a Wednesday for the steel shoot ...let me know.

FN in MT

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:

quote:

Originally posted by md-lucky:
Got to shoot the first event of the year in my back yard!

I only had 52 rounds down the tube before the match. I really wish I could have had more..

We did a quick 600 shoot to "warm up" for the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow is mid-range, and Monday will be long range.

I shot a 195-7X at 600. No one cleaned it, but I did hear of a 198-12X. Good conditions with a light rain and little breeze.

Can't wait for the rest of the event.. Will report some updates as they come.



FN in MT: I have a very cryptic message I feel obligated to deliver:

M.A. from Helena P.D. is planning revenge.. We started talking load development, and I mentioned this would be my last event with the 175s before switching over to the 185 Hybrids. He said he cannot find the 185s ANYWHERE. After some strong interrogation, I had to give up my source... He thinks you were holding out on him now. He is also committed to getting you out to shoot some paper sometime in the near future.

Had Mike mentioned he needed 185's I would have hooked him up. You did very well today! Impressive showing.

I'd love to shoot some paper. Thought of this weekends shoot but THREE DAYS! Good Lord couldn't do that. Hopefully the 1K Range will get done in Gt Falls this year and we can start some shoots CLOSE to home.

Good luck the next two days...And if you are ever close by on a Wednesday for the steel shoot ...let me know.

FN in MT

Honestly, he said as much, too: if he had mentioned it you would have helped him out.

You don't have to shoot all 3 days for these. You can just shoot 1 if you like. Maybe the big event in September - it fills up fast though!

Was able to take the Tikka out to 300 yards yesterday. Just 3-shot groups right now to conserve ammo, here is the best 300 yard group using FGMM 175 factory loads:

Will be shooting this a lot in the next 60 days. Tore a meniscus needing surgery, no LR steel field matches for awhile Killing me I was unable to shoot the Sniper Hide Cup this weekend. Shot a monthly match three times where the Cup is being held, managed a 3rd, 1st, 2nd finsih. No doubt the competition at the Cup is stiffer, would have been fun to see how I stacked up against shooters from across the country, oh well.

Will mostly shoot 1/2 dot drills with the 22 at 50yds behind our house. It'll keep me sharp until I can shoot a match again. In some regards I believe the 22 is a harder to shoot consistently, bullets in the barrel longer, have to focus on the follow though..... Put it together a few years back. An old CMP Remington 40X single shot action, had it trued up, PT&G bolt, Rock Creek barrel, SWR suppressor. Very accurate with decent ammo. Previously had it in a AICS stock, sold that stock picked another XLR. Share the scope/Sphur mount with my comp rifle.

Here's my budget job. Never intended to end up this way, but I was seeing Savages hang with my GA Precision and couldn't turn a blind eye to it. I am blown away by how much you get for pennies with Savage. I've always had Remmys, and love em. But this Savage came from the factory this way. No work needed.

Savage 10TR
Super Sniper 3-9x

I was shooting FGMM 175s. I could have done better, but it's still under an inch. I wanted to keep them all on the bird for a buddy.

I wanted them to be touching, but I'll take this. I'm confident 168s will be a little tighter. There's a muzzle break for these I'm considering, but I love the way the rifle looks without it. I'm a traditionalist. But I'm hearing it's very effective, so I might give it a whirl.

I also like keeping things light, as I hunt with this.






And the old girl. I do miss her. Engine threw a rod and I had to buy a new one. Sacrificed this.

Every Savage I own is a great shooter. I really had to keep from getting another when I purchased the 5R. I wanted to try something different tho.

Great looking rifles.

Do to some unforseen circumstances on the home front, I'm going to be able to be around and get cought up on a few things next 3 weeks. Hoping to get out for an extended session of shooting first few weeks in July.

Been frustrating lately.

Nice stick Pete! I love my Savage 10fcp-sr. it was my first bolt gun and now Im hitting targets at 1000+. Spent a lot less than the remy guys and it makes em pretty steamed.

Nice looking sticks guys.

Sorry to hear your bad luck offgrid. Missing the cup after all the work you put in stinks for sure. That's a sweet 22 to keep practice with though.

I have a LA in 7mm Rem mag. Sporter barrel, lightweight. Kicks like a mule tho. Its on the ever-increasing project list. I looked over doing a rebarrel on it before I got the 700. Only reason I didnt is my son hinted he might want to use it for hunting next few seasons. He has a .243 in stainless that I bought as a first deer rifle for him, one of those inexpensive Savage combo packs. Even with cheap glass, its phenominal.

offgrid, sorry to hear of your bad luck! Knew something was wrong when I saw your Friday post at a time you should've still been at the T3 Ranch. Good luck with surgery, and get well soon!

How's the return to zero with sharing the Spuhr-mounted scope between rifles? Repeatable offset by known number of clicks? Or do you need to re-zero every time?

Pete - for quite a while I listened to people who said "a 308 doesn't need a brake". Well, I'm here to tell you after sending 100+ rounds per day downrange on consecutive days, your shoulder is a bit tender.

I had an AAC brakeout laying around the house (for my sbr build that I still need a stamp for), so I threw it on my bolt gun. Yesterday we went to that 600 yard range I just joined, and I sent 70-some-odd shots from it. Followed that up with 2 rounds of skeet, and didn't feel a thing in my shoulder this morning on the lake casting for 6 hours.

Trust me. If you're thinking about a brake, just do it. Screw all those tough guys.


As for savage - SWMBO has an axis XP 223 with a Bushnell 3-9 that was included with it. I replaced the trigger with a timney. She had NO issues hitting 8" steel at 600 yesterday. They do shoot very nice out of the box. I just like to customize my stuff, and Remington has a bigger aftermarket (though savage is definitely growing)..

quote:

Originally posted by E26R-40-BSE:
How's the return to zero with sharing the Spuhr-mounted scope between rifles? Repeatable offset by known number of clicks? Or do you need to re-zero every time?

I've taken the Sphur/scope off my 6x47 twice, zero was spot on. Guessing will have a repeatable offset going between the two rifles. Will confirm with a couple shots.

Slippery Pete, I've used this RAD muzzle brake on a 284, very effective. No need for "timing", screw it on get it close to level, tighten to 40-50 inch pounds. Sold the brake for $20 less after I shot out the barrel.

http://rdprecision.net/parts/

quote:

I was shooting FGMM 175s. I could have done better, but it's still under an inch. I wanted to keep them all on the bird for a buddy.

I wanted them to be touching, but I'll take this. I'm confident 168s will be a little tighter. There's a muzzle break for these I'm considering, but I love the way the rifle looks without it. I'm a traditionalist. But I'm hearing it's very effective, so I might give it a whirl.

I just shot about 400 FGMM 175s over the weekend. I don't care for them, and just about anything groups better than those out of my rifle-but it is all I had since the scale issues.

That beat me up...

That has been my experience as well. I haven't seen FGMM 168 for sale in a while though.

Going to try some other stuff. The M1A Federal 168 round does well I hear. Hornady 155 steel match, and a few others are on my list.

exx1976- no doubt I could use some help and all reports say that break is money. It looks like the Barrett brake.