quote:

Originally posted by scratchy:
It's entry level, decent glass. Have not fired it yet but I am looking forward to it. Ruger Precision Rifle in 243 Win wearing a Burris XTR II

Interested to hear your thoughts on it. The one that was at the draw was blowing primers all over the place, guy had to compete with a loaner rifle.

Interesting. Note well taken. I'm starting with factory ammo. Thanks for the cautionary tidbit.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
The one that was at the draw was blowing primers all over the place, guy had to compete with a loaner rifle.

FWIW, the 6.5 Creedmoor Ruger in the squad in front of me at this month's T3 match had no issues with primers, using Hornady factory 140 AMax.

scratchy -- What are your plans for factory match .243 ammo? From what I see, there are limited options -- CorBon, HSM, Copper Creek.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:


Interested to hear your thoughts on it. The one that was at the draw was blowing primers all over the place, guy had to compete with a loaner rifle.

Guy shooting a AI AT blew a few primers as well. Very much doubt the rifle had anything to do with either.

Scratchy, when you start hand loading, suggest starting with 45 grains of H1000, Berger 105 Hybrids.... Maybe see you at Hoser's match?

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:


Interested to hear your thoughts on it. The one that was at the draw was blowing primers all over the place, guy had to compete with a loaner rifle.

Guy shooting a AI AT blew a few primers as well. Very much doubt the rifle had anything to do with either.

Scratchy, when you start hand loading, suggest starting with 45 grains of H1000, Berger 105 Hybrids.... Maybe see you at Hoser's match?

Yeah, the AT guy was in my squad. I have pics of him taking his barrel off at Stage 2, just before he cleaned the KYL stage. It was hot.


The RPR guy was blowing primers on the practice line the night before when it was cool. Very well could have been the ammo, but since that's the only one I've ever seen, it's difficult to rule anything out. Scratchy - it was also a .243, for the record.

Finally got my $#%@ phone to play nicely with email. As noted on a prior page, visitors to my range struggle with target ID. This is a 12" plate on a t-post hanger from JC Steel. Depending on shooting location, I can engage this target from 250 to 600 yards. I can ID the 6" target number with my 15x scope.




This is a 12" gong hung via rebar, hose clamps, and conveyor belt. The target is visible at most shooting locations, at distances between 250 and 550 yards.



The gong shows 5 low impacts. I had one miss just barely to the right of the gong at the same elevation. 2" high by 3" wide group on the steel from 507 yards. This year I have been consuming the odds and ends .308 ammo I accumulated during the ammo panics over the past few years. This was factory Lapua 185 Scenar.

My Magnetospeed V3 gave MV of 2,520 earlier in the year. Using JBM for the 9,000' DA of that day, I dialed 11.75 MOA -- which was between .75 and 1.00 MOA low. Hence the low hits on the plate. I verified my zero and scope tracking shortly after with Hornady ammo on another plate. Back calculating into JBM, I get results that work with MV of 2,440 fps. Talk about pokey. On the positive side, the ammo does hold vertical well. Or maybe better stated, I didn't do much to cause vertical stringing.

Fritz - just a thought, but... Why the numbers? Seems like a lot of work to put a piece of plywood out there that will eventually (probably) get shot up by the people you teach to shoot long range. Miss a little low, #2 is toast. Bad wind call, #4 is toast.

It would seem to me that a better approach would be to either A) paint the numbers directly onto the targets, or B) paint the targets different colors. "Shoot at the blue circle." "Shoot at the red circle." "Shoot at the red square."

I'm very interested in the Ruger and can't wait to hear more actual shoot reviews.

exx -- thought about that. Plywood scraps (so far) are cheap, as they are left over from the barricade I built earlier in the year. Colors are an issue with my brother-in-law and another shooting buddy -- they're both color blind. A few weeks ago my b-i-l generally could distinguish between the t-posts that were painted white or orange, but yellow was a challenge. If the yellow was in direct sun, he thought it was white. If the yellow post was in the shade of a passing cloud, it he thought it might be orange.

From two shooting stations, an 8" circle hung between orange posts lines up very closely with a more distant 12" circle hung between orange posts. Visually, the two circles look about the same size, so I can't say "shoot the far target" or "shoot the 12-inch circle" in order to eliminate the confusion.

And finally, white-painted targets show impacts a whole lot better than darker colors. And it's easier to hose down the whole target with one color of spray paint.

We all like to discuss our moments of brilliance, here's a different story about my being clueless in the wind. The 12" gong photo above occurred in left-to-right breezes up to 1/2 value (effective 5 mph, from my 10 to 11 o'clock). Maybe 30 minutes later conditions were, well... different. Fish tailing winds from 10 through 2 o'clock, up to full value from both left and right, and because this target sits in a separate draining than the one I was shooting from (109 feet elevation drop from shooting location to target), wind directions could be from a different direction at the target than at my shooting location.

So...630 yards, 18" tall by 24" wide plate, Lapua 185 Scenar, dialed 18.0 MOA elevation instead of the 17.0 MOA predicted by JBM at 2,520 fps MV. I still needed another .25 MOA of elevation. Five rounds -- 2" vertical and 12" horizontal stringing. I held all sorts of left, right, and center positions -- and only guessed correctly twice. Not my finest hour with wind calls....

quote:

Originally posted by scratchy:
It's entry level, decent glass. Have not fired it yet but I am looking forward to it. Ruger Precision Rifle in 243 Win wearing a Burris XTR II

Nice choice. I am still working up loads for mine and have what I think to be a decent enough 130 Berger AR OTM load. Going to try it again tomorrow. Not yet impressed with 140 AMAX's. I will be interested in your findings regarding accuracy of the 243. It's been reported to be picky to reload for.

What's your assessment of the trigger on yours?

Mine is very decent.

RMD

Fritz...I think the numbers are a great idea. I did a similar thing...got tired of folks asking me "Where is the XXX yard target"?

Now we simply give new shooters a file card with the letters on each stand and the distance. HUGE time saver.

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:


Interested to hear your thoughts on it. The one that was at the draw was blowing primers all over the place, guy had to compete with a loaner rifle.

Guy shooting a AI AT blew a few primers as well. Very much doubt the rifle had anything to do with either.

Scratchy, when you start hand loading, suggest starting with 45 grains of H1000, Berger 105 Hybrids.... Maybe see you at Hoser's match?

I need better legs before I hang with that crowd I do hand load already just not for precision 243. I'll be working that one out very soon.

I was planning on finding something in a Hornady Amax to feel it out.

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:

quote:

Originally posted by scratchy:
It's entry level, decent glass. Have not fired it yet but I am looking forward to it. Ruger Precision Rifle in 243 Win wearing a Burris XTR II

Nice choice. I am still working up loads for mine and have what I think to be a decent enough 130 Berger AR OTM load. Going to try it again tomorrow. Not yet impressed with 140 AMAX's. I will be interested in your findings regarding accuracy of the 243. It's been reported to be picky to reload for.

What's your assessment of the trigger on yours?

Mine is very decent.

RMD

Trigger feels very nice. Crisp and a little on the light side.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
The one that was at the draw was blowing primers all over the place, guy had to compete with a loaner rifle.

FWIW, the 6.5 Creedmoor Ruger in the squad in front of me at this month's T3 match had no issues with primers, using Hornady factory 140 AMax.


scratchy -- What are your plans for factory match .243 ammo? From what I see, there are limited options -- CorBon, HSM, Copper Creek.

I'll probably load my own when my skill comes closer to what the rifle can do. I'm new to the long range game. This looks like fun.

quote:

Trigger feels very nice. Crisp and a little on the light side.

Good description. My thoughts as well. If that's a 2 lbs trigger, Bob's your uncle!



RMD

Got out again this morning with the new .223. Trying to do a little load development by fine tuning the powder charge. I'm very pleased with this rifle and thought I'd share todays target.

Well, I did it.

I finally signed up for some instruction.

2 days, 8 hours per, in SD. Being taught by Jim See. He won the Bushnell Brawl and the Heatstroke, and finished #5 for 2015.

Cost was only $225, and it's less than a day's drive, so I figured I don't have much to lose. Who better to teach me how to do well at matches than a guy already doing well?

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
Well, I did it.

I finally signed up for some instruction.

2 days, 8 hours per, in SD. Being taught by Jim See. He won the Bushnell Brawl and the Heatstroke, and finished #5 for 2015.

Cost was only $225, and it's less than a day's drive, so I figured I don't have much to lose. Who better to teach me how to do well at matches than a guy already doing well?

Have fun and interested in your AAR when you get home.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by jlemmy:
Got out again this morning with the new .223. Trying to do a little load development by fine tuning the powder charge. I'm very pleased with this rifle and thought I'd share todays target.

I dunno, looks like you have some challenges getting that thing to shoot well. Ship that bad boy poodle shooter to me and I can figure something out over the course of a few years. Really, it's not a burden, it's the least I can do to help.