Day at the range

[P7M13]

Due to snafus, didn't make it elk hunting this week. Capitalized on my spare time by working up loads and (finally!) getting some range time.
Need to improve the 7mm LRM, and tame the 7mm-08 loads. Found a sweet spot for the 30-30 and 6.5x55. My factory 223 is all over the map (see pic), made me say "WTF?" multiple times.
Pictures tell the story:

************ 6.5 Swede: ************



************ 7mm Long Range Magnum ************



************ 7mm-08 ************



************ American Eagle 223 Remington ************

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[Capn Jack]

Due to snafus, didn't make it elk hunting this week. Capitalized on my spare time by working up loads and (finally!) getting some range time.
Need to improve the 7mm LRM, and tame the 7mm-08 loads. Found a sweet spot for the 30-30 and 6.5x55. My factory 223 is all over the map (see pic), made me say "WTF?" multiple times.
Pictures tell the story:


************ American Eagle 223 Remington ************

View attachment 520192

Checked your barrel nut lately?

 

[P7M13]

Checked your barrel nut lately?

Thought that very same thing. Every external part on the AR was tight, no detectable wobble or any drift on the fore end mounting. Without disassembling, how else would I check?

Figured I'd load up another batch of 77's, and if those drift, then I know I have a mechanical problem.

 

[Capn Jack]

Did you install the barrel? If so did you torque it properly, or did you torque, and then back off to align the gas tube?
Ammo not sitting in the sun?
Gas block interference when the barrel heats up?
Scope mounts not tight? I've shot the guts out of a few scopes
I'm just mentally going through some of the mistakes I've made, or things that have happened.

 

[P7M13]

Did you install the barrel? If so did you torque it properly, or did you torque, and then back off to align the gas tube?
Preassembled PSA upper.
Ammo not sitting in the sun?
53°F, ammo with me for hours in covered area.
Gas block interference when the barrel heats up?
I don't think so - this was from the first 30 rounds, and there is loads of clearance inside the handguard. The ammo was bulk stuff I bought in PA when I ran out of my own ammo. With 77 grain ammo I load, I can shoot ~2MOA with my Magpul BUIS. In PA, with same setup and my ammo, I was shooting green walnuts off of fence posts from 50-200 yards, 100+ rounds into it.
Scope mounts not tight? I've shot the guts out of a few scopes
First thing I checked - have had that happen before. With known good ammo, I can try, and if it still walks, try using BUIS only. If I'm more accurate with the BUIS, my money says it's the scope not holding zero. Hope not - brand new ATN 4K Pro NV 5-20x.

I'm just mentally going through some of the mistakes I've made, or things that have happened.

 

[Capn Jack]

Sounds like you've got it covered.
Interesting that you're shooting 77gr. bullets rather than 55gr.
I sure like the Sierra 55gr. Varminter.
What is your twist rate?

 

[P7M13]

Sounds like you've got it covered.
Interesting that you're shooting 77gr. bullets rather than 55gr.
I sure like the Sierra 55gr. Varminter.
What is your twist rate?

1:7
Bought it to shoot the heavies.
The ones I was shooting today are 55gr.

 

[WoodsPlinker]

Didn't make sure there is no wobble in the optics?

I had some glass that lost zero quite a bit that caused this once. Chinese piece of crap.

 

[Flymph]

Due to snafus, didn't make it elk hunting this week. Capitalized on my spare time by working up loads and (finally!) getting some range time.
Need to improve the 7mm LRM, and tame the 7mm-08 loads. Found a sweet spot for the 30-30 and 6.5x55. My factory 223 is all over the map (see pic), made me say "WTF?" multiple times.
Pictures tell the story:

************ 6.5 Swede: ************

View attachment 520185 View attachment 520187 View attachment 520188 View attachment 520190 View attachment 520189

************ 7mm Long Range Magnum ************

View attachment 520191

************ 7mm-08 ************

View attachment 520186

************ American Eagle 223 Remington ************

View attachment 520192

My groups with my AR look like that too, glad to know I can blame the ammo!

Seems like a bunch of fun!
Shot a Marlin 39 for the first time today. That gun can shoot the pecker off a fly, I tell ya what!

 

[tac]

My day on the range, last Sunday, to be precise, resulted in ten people who had never picked up a handgun before in their entire lives actually shooting a .44cal cap and ball revolver. AND an ex-pat Texican, just married to a British lady, who wants to join the club so that he can have a valid excuse to go buying guns here in yUK. Unlike every other Texican I've ever met, back home he is utterly gunless - he lived with a step-father who is a lifelong hater of guns.......in TEXAS???????????

 

[P7M13]

My day on the range, last Sunday, to be precise, resulted in ten people who had never picked up a handgun before in their entire lives actually shooting a .44cal cap and ball revolver. AND an ex-pat Texican, just married to a British lady, who wants to join the club so that he can have a valid excuse to go buying guns here in yUK. Unlike every other Texican I've ever met, back home he is utterly gunless - he lived with a step-father who is a lifelong hater of guns.......in TEXAS???????????

Excluding yesterday, I brought guests the last five trips to the range. Club rules are pretty specific, I must observe while they are shooting, hence not much trigger time. Still, I enjoy giving people the opportunity to shoot guns and the bonding that results.
Yah, if I were there at the range and you were offering, I'd have gladly shot your .44 too.

Lot of folk in Texas and Arizony are transplants from the north, in the '70s and '80s, in search of work. I knew a few who moved down - was stepfather of that ilk? I'll bet he never went to a rodeo either. Good story line: Texan who moved to gun strangulated UK to discover his love for shooting. In a word, satironical.

 

[tac]

Since there are so many visitors on a Guest Day - one per month, alternative Saturdays and Sundays - often at least fifteen or twenty - they get a lot of trigger time with their hosts on all the usual centre-fire rifle and carbine stuff. I usually throw in a couple of .22 rifles of an unusual kind, like a left and right-hand BSA Martini and my 1910 BSA or Walther DSM to give them something a lot different to the rash of CZ. AR look-alikes, 10/22 and so on. Most get to shoot the guns belonging to those of us with a historical interest - .303, 8x57, 6.5x55, 7.5x55, .30-06, .45-70, Sniders and so on...the list is only limited by who has what on the day that they are offered to shoot. NOBODY is allowed to stand around playing thumbsie on their cells, or looking bored.

However, it's a pretty cast-iron bet that not a single one of them has EVER handled or fired ANY kind of muzzle-loader, and I make sure that they do shoot both a rifle and a pistol before they are allowed to go home.

 

[IRY]

Nice. I see you tried RL22 in the 6.5. Looks like some good results! I have wanted to try that powder or RL23 in my 6.5. You gave me some motivation!

 

[Member 34319]

That's pretty typical for bulk 223/556 stuff.

Some guns shoot it well, some hate it.

Looks like your gun hates it.

 

[P7M13]

Since there are so many visitors on a Guest Day - one per moth, alternative Saturdays and Sundays - often at least fifteen or twenty - they get a lot of trigger time with their hosts on all the usual centre-fire rifle and carbine stuff. I usually throw in a couple of .22 rifles of an unusual kind, like a left and right-hand BSA Martini and my 1910 BSA or Walther DSM to give them something a lot different to the rash of CZ. AR look-alikes, 10/22 and so on. Most get to shoot the guns belonging to those of us with a historical interest - .303, 8x57, 6.5x55, 7.5x55, .30-06, .45-70, Sniders and so on...the list is only limited by who has what on the day that they are offered to shoot. NOBODY is allowed to stand around playing thumbsie on their cells, or looking bored.

However, it's a pretty cast-iron bet that not a single one of them has EVER handled or fired ANY kind of muzzle-loader, and I make sure that they do shoot both a rifle and a pistol before they are allowed to go home.

Granted, @tac, you have a beautiful collection, as I'm sure other club members do also. Still, you need to fly @AndyinEverson out with all his wares in tow. For those who have never gazed upon or shot a muzzle loader, even fewer have any concept of a frontiersman.
A lesson in firearms and history: guns used to fight King George, Napoleon, the Boer Wars, Tsar Nicholas, Kaiser Wilhelm, the Winter War, Il Duce and der Führer.
History is important. Across small towns in the US, I have seen memorial banners with pictures to commemorate fallen soldiers, from doughboys to the modern campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. I see it as a reminder of the gift and sacrifice that all communities make, and that freedom is not free.