It was a good day at the range.

We've had bad weather essentially for the past two weeks. Yesterday, Wednesday, Sept. 30, and today Oct. 1, were the only clear days in the past 2 weeks and this evening it was supposed to turn bad again. (It has.) Yesterday, Wed., the range is closed, so today was "it" if I was going to go in good weather.

Those of you watching my range sessions of late will recall that they haven't been beacons of shining light. Lots of troubles with my personally made firearms: The Steyr .358, the AR-10 I am building chambered in 8mm-08, and the Riedl in .17 Remington. (See here for details: http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18621) LOTS of mechanical problems with those rifles.

I had some "things" I needed to finalize/clean up:
1) Determine what was wrong with the Riedl,
2) Get the AR-10 WORKING, and
3) Shoot the Anschutz Model 54 target rifle.

In addition, I wanted to:
1) Try a new load for the .17 Remington given to me by j0e_bl0ggs: 23.5 grains of Vihtavouri N-133 behind a 20-grain bullet,
2) Make sure my .338 Win mag was still shooting as straight as it always has, and
3) Shoot the .17 Predator some more at 100 yd.

I took the following rifles:
1) Reidl (.17 Remington),
2) AR-10 (8mm-08),
3) Predator (.17 Predator),
4) Model 700 Remington (.17 Remington), I brought this along in case the Riedl continued to be a 'non-performer',
5) Anschutz Model 54 (.22 RF), and
6) Ruger Model 77 (.338 Win Mag).

I started with the Anschutz. I hadn't shot this rifle yet and just wanted to get some bullets down the bore mostly. Also, I wanted to see how the 'scope j0e_bl0ggs gave me was going to work. I didn't bring any special ammo. I just grabbed a box that had a variety of manufacturers AND some of my "reformed" .22 RFs. (See here for that exercise: http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15107&highlight=Reloading.) The reformed ones weren't Aguila SSSs, but had had their bullets reformed and "uniformed" in diameter. Here are the targets at 35 yd:

Those are ALL .22 RF holes. The big ones are from the "reformed" bullets. The squares with the light lines are 1/2 inch. The dark-lined squares are 1".

This group is just a hodge-podge of manufacturers and bullet types, so I wasn't expecting much. It was pleasant to shoot the rifle. I think I'll let j0e_bl0ggs explain about the 'scope.

The second group:

Was Remington "He-Velocity" hollow points. It's better, but I think this rifle should be up to better than this at 35 yd. I was done with the Anschutz when these groups were shot.

The next rifle to shoot was the AR-10. It's been giving me fits with respect to function. I spent the past month or so putting on a new barrel and getting the function to the point of reliability. I had 10 rounds; 5 with 150-grain Hornady's, and 5 with 125-grain HPs. Really all I wanted to do was have it put them all 'on paper' at 100 yd. I shot one 125 at 35 yd to see where I was hitting relative to where I was aiming. That done, I moved the target out to 100 yd. (Actually, I shot all the rifles at 35 yd first, then moved to 100 yd, but I want to present all of the AR-10 data at once.) Here are the four 125-grain bullets at 100 yd:

Yup, that's four shots. I know it's almost three inches wide, but the wide one was the first shot out of a cold barrel. The other three are pretty darn close for 100 yd and the first 5 shots out of a rifle - half an inch vertical and about three quarters horizontal. I'll take it for 125-grain 8mm bullets! (The point of aim was the small bull about 6" below the group.)

This target is the five 150-grain bullets (the big holes ):

Just over an inch vertical and half an inch horizontal. These were the second five shots from a new barrel in a "hand-made" rifle chambered without a reamer specific to the  cartridge. (7.62x51 NATO + 8mm-06 for neck + 8mm throater), and no effort made with respect to "load" - just not "hot". Again, the point of aim was ~6" below.

The next rifle was the Reidl at 35 yd. Here's the group:

The point of aim was the black bullseye with "sighter" printed in the center. Not great for 35 yd, but more importantly, the scope had ALL of the vertical adjustment used up. That's "sad", but actually not TOO bad of news. It means that the original scope is "OK" (at least in the elevation). The problem is the base. I guess that the original owner had a special base with LOTS of elevation built in so that he could shoot long distance targets. The bad news of course is that I need to get another base. I chose not to shoot the Riedl at 100 yd.

Setting the Riedl aside, I took up my FAVORITE .17, the one on a Model 700 Remington in chambered in .17 Remington. This rifle has consistently shot 1" groups at 100 yd since the day I bought it. My original loads used H414 powder. That powder is VERY "dirty", leaving LOTS of schmutz in the barrel. Especially in a tiny barrel. j0e_bl0ggs worked up a load for his .17 Rem using VV N-133 that has worked very well for him, and suggested I try it. That's what I did. I only shot one cartridge at 35 yd because I only needed to see that the rifle was still "on target". Here is the 100 yd 3-shot group. I only shot three shots because it was clearly shooting "straight", and I didn't see any reason to waste ammo.

The single you see in the bull below the 3-shot group is the 'sighter' shot at 35.

Next came the Predator. First was getting "on paper" at 35, then the 5-shot 100 yd group:

Not "stellar", but I'll take it. I can fine-tune the I4227 load.

Finally, the .338 Win Mag. I have taken a great deal of game with this rifle, and therefore I LIKE it. The first shot at 35 to make sure it was on paper was a bit 'shocking'. I haven't shot this rifle in maybe a decade. And then, when at the range, I always used a "Lead Sled". Today I was only using a front rest. Also, I had been shooting all the other 'sissy' cartridges. I didn't have a good hold on the .338 for the first shot, and it 'kicked' me! For the 100 yd shots, I decide to take them off-hand. This rifle is capable of sub-MoA precision, but I'm not. Still, I'm "fine" with this off-hand at 100


I have spared you the "stats", and while I took the MagnetoSpeed chronograph, I decided not to bother with it. Next time.

Paul

Here are pictures of the guns I took. The .338 first as it was an afterthought and didn't get in the initial picture.


Here are the rest:


I forgot to mention that there were Dall sheep wandering the hillside behind the range. They are between 400 and 450 yd away in these pictures. If I was a long range big game sniper I could have sat at the bench with the .338 and taken one. (And if the season was open.)

(They're the little white dots in the center of the picture. :) )

Here'e the view of the sheep from the bench. That's my target you see.


Paul

Did I spot an 1885? What is it chambered in?

No, farmboy, that's the Riedl and it's the other rifle chambered in .17 Remington. Here's the story on that recent purchase: http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18545

The rifles are from top to bottom:
1) The .338 Win Mag on the Ruger Model 77 stainless with "paddle" stock,
2) .17 Remington on the Remington Model 700 with an aftermarket cherry thumbhole stock,
3) .17 Predator on a Savage 110 action with a barrel chambered and profiled by me put in a Boyd's thumbhole "varmint" stock,
4) The 8mm-08 AR-10,
5) The Riedl chambered in .17 Remington, and
6) The Anschutz Model 54 in .22 RF.

Paul

Cool I want one!

I might be willing to sell you mine! :)

It's a funny beast. If I have my information correct they weren't made but for about 4 years. If you didn't read the thread in the link I posted above, you might want to get my comments on aspects of the rifle other than it's ability to shoot.

Paul

I decided to go ahead and create the digital 'targets' with associated 95% confidence ellipse for the rifles shot at 100 yd. The squares in all graphs are 1" x 1".

Here is the 8-08/125-grain 'target':

The area of the 95% confidence ellipse is 2.75 square inches.

Here is the 8-08/150-grain 'target':

The area of the 95% confidence ellipse is 2.59 square inches.

Here is the .17 Remington (20-grain "Dogtown" bullet ahead of 23.5 grains of VV-133) 'target':

The area of the 95% confidence ellipse is 5.47 square inches.

Here is the .17 Predator (20-grain "Dogtown" bullet ahead of 19.6 grains of I4227) 'target':

The area of the 95% confidence ellipse is 3.37 square inches.

Here is the .338 Win Mag (225-grain Hornady - can't remember charge) 'target':

The area of the 95% confidence ellipse is 235.72 square inches.

I try to make the "holes" the proper size, but Xcell doesn't allow specific size specification for these symbols so I try to get them proportional to the 1" squares on the graph.

The multiplier for 3-shot groups is 4.303; the multiplier for 5-shot groups is 2.776.

Paul

Looks like a good time. Your range is way prettier than mine. Can you shim the back of the base for the Riedl?

Shimming the back base will make shots higher - it will tilt muzzle up more.

Shimming is an option I am considering. I would need about 25 thousandths though. I am considering the options. While shimming is the easiest fix, the problem for me with shimming is 'looks'.

Paul

Shim correctly, cut to base shape - would not look out of place, would give a nice line in keeping with the rifle if made out of brass...
I would probably just set it up in the mill n machine off the offending bit.
Or make something else to take different rings - conetrol are just a p...

I am preparing to reload the 8-08 and got out my reloading log book to check what my starting loads were. "For the record":

150-grain Hornady SP - 52.0 grains of Reloder-17 - Predicted MV - 2886 f/s at 51,225 PSI
125-grain Hornady HP - 46.2 grains of Accurate 2495 - Predicted MV - 3020 f/s at 45,425 PSI
20-grain Berger HP (.17 Predator) - 19.6 grains of I4227 Predicted MV - 4252 f/s at 49,750 PSI
20-grain "Dogtown" HP (.17 Rem) - 23.5 grains of VV N133 - Predicted MV - 4322 f/s at 54,000 PSI

I think of note is the "large" dimensions of the 8-08 chamber. Fired-but-not-resized cases are 0.015" larger in the head than a resized one, and 0.020" larger in the shoulder. I think I am going to have to:
1) Order some custom dies for this chamber, OR
2) A custom reamer to cut a "normal" sized .308 body, OR
3) Ream the  existing resizing die to an appropriate size for this chamber. (I know I have to remove the temper from the die first. Been there, done that.)

I like the larger dimension of the chamber because with the appropriate die, the case holds more powder than a case with a 'standard' .308 body.

Paul

Ok, I have it backwards, not uncommon. Then shim the front. Or machine a few thousands off the back.

Taking it off the rear is a likely plan.

Paul