My adventures with Record-1-308 - the progenitor of SV-98 sniper rifle

[PMB27]

Last year I acquired an used Record-1-308 sport rifle - the gun is 20 years old, with some faults - the front and rear iron sights are missing, there are some scratches on the wood, no original documents and accessories. But the bore is in a very good condition so I decided to buy it and have some fun at the range.
It took me some time to get familiar with it, mount a scope ( the rifle has 11mm top rail so the 22 Weaver adapter was needed ), find out what cartridge suits the barrel best.
Since the Record-1 is the progenitor of SV-98 sniper rifle I decidet to mount on it a PS-07 scope, designed for SV-98. It is not an easy scope to use, especially for benchrest like type shooting.
I've tested my Record-1-308 at few local shooting competitions at 200m and once at 300m. During the year I took part in 5 such competitions.
At the last one - last Saturday - I managed to shoot a 5-shot group with a size of 0.81 MOA and, despite the "dot" of the PS-07 scope covering the target in practice, I placed it more or less where it should be. It was the first 5-shots series and I am very pleased with it. In the second series it was a bit more spread out to 1.13 MOA, but overall I still got the best result by points ( and with 0,81 MOA by size ) at 200m in 5 starts in my club competitions so far.

Herewith you can find my shooting progress at 100m, 200m and 300m for 5-shot groups.

 

[towerofpower93]

Very cool. I picked up one of the side mounted PKS-07-01B scopes to get a little more magnification on my SVD compared to the 4x PSO-1, but the lack of a useable reticle to make corrections on the fly actually made it more difficult to use it in DMR matches. I was also this close to getting one of the SV-98 rifles when they were imported a decade ago, but then my mind got the best of me and I realized I'd never use it, so I let it pass.

 

[PMB27]

Only after 4 months I managed to go with my Record-1 to the shooting range again. Slight but a progress has been made since then ( no training or shooting in between - the rifle hasn't changed, so I'm the one who improves - good for me .
I was able to get the 5-shot group size at 300 meters below 1 MOA
My new personal best - 0,94 MOA at 300m. ( the previous was 1,09 MOA )

Factory ammo - Lithuanian GGG with Nosler bullet 168 gr HPBT

 

[Winchester M70 Van Orden]

It looks great !

A more or less rare Rifle-model gets tangible..

By the way: the GGG .308 Win. 10,9 gr/168 gr Nosler-Match-Round makes also a good first impression in my rifle

A Muzzle Velocity of 821 m/s resp. 2`693 f/s.

What about a Viewthrough of your scope, please ?

 

[PMB27]

The reticle of PS-07 scope is the tricky part - the aiming dot has a size of 0-00,2 thousandth of radian, which at 300 meters is 60mm, while the diameter of the "9" ring of the target I was shooting at is 39 mm. So the target centre - black ring of the "9" - the only visible at 300 m reference point by which I should aim was fully covered by the aiming dot That was tricky.
But I like the PS-07 anyway and it will stay on the rifle.

The photo was taken with a phone, with a view through the curtain in the window, so the view seems blurry, but in fact it is quite clear. The distance to the building in the photo is 100m.

 

[Winchester M70 Van Orden]

Good post, PMB27. Fine, all your pics

Now its imageable, this reticle... A truly own style.. The targetcenter isn't always"easy"targetable



They're many quite different efforts to solve that...

Best regards

 

[Winchester M70 Van Orden]

So different target-pics..

 

[Winchester M70 Van Orden]

Only after 4 months I managed to go with my Record-1 to the shooting range again. Slight but a progress has been made since then ( no training or shooting in between - the rifle hasn't changed, so I'm the one who improves - good for me .
I was able to get the 5-shot group size at 300 meters below 1 MOA
My new personal best - 0,94 MOA at 300m. ( the previous was 1,09 MOA )
View attachment 8374462
Factory ammo - Lithuanian GGG with Nosler bullet 168 gr HPBT

This GGG-Load is the only ammo you tried out im your Record 1 so far ?

 

[PMB27]

I've tested several cartridges. My first visit with Record-1 to the range was in January 2023 - I came across terrible weather, sleet, with very quick condensation of moisture on the lenses of the sight and the spotting scope - open, outdoor range - hands froze instantly - despite that I decided to give it a try, but shoot only small groups of 3 rounds.
Those groups at 100m ( Hornady 168grs BTHP, GGG 168grs Nosler, GGG 190grs Sierra ) are not so good but taking into account that it was the first time I shoot this rifle and the weather conditions I consider it a good initial test which led me to the choice of GGG 168 Nosler HPBT - quite good group size - 0,72 MOA, lower price than GGG 190grs with Sierra bullet, with slightly better group size than GGG 190 Sierra ( 0,72 vs 0,75 ). That is why now I shoot with GGG 168grs Nosler.

Other factory ammo – S&B 147grs FMJ, S&B 175grs HPBT, PMC 147grs FMJ gave > 1 MOA group.

But I've tested also my own "home, hand made" ammo, manufactured with the use of Lee Loader and the hammer
It gave a 5-shots group at 100m with the size of 0,85 MOA - bullet: Hornady ELD-M 178grs, gunpowder - Czech Lovex 73.6 ( 41,15 grs ), primer LR Fiocchi, OAL : 72,25 mm.
I've already posted the photo of that group but herewith please find it again with the proper description :
100m, reloaded ammo ( Lee Loader + hammer ):

 

[Winchester M70 Van Orden]

It looks great

Yes, I see you did already quite a lot of shooting, PMB27

What about the "classic" 168 gr-Federal "Gold Medal"-Match, Norma "Diamond Line"-Match, Lapua "Scenar"-Match-Rounds ?
They are well known everywhere, I got the impression.

I've no idea how the offerings in Poland are today... ?

 

[Winchester M70 Van Orden]

What about this rounds in PL, please ?
Hmm ?

 

[PMB27]

Lapua with Scenar bullets is available, but quite expensive, Scenar bullets are available for reloading. Norma and Federal ammo with 168 gr match bullets you posted I haven't found in the offer of the firearms and ammo stores, where I buy ammo - just for your knowlegde please find an example of the .308 ammo offer, to check what is available in Poland - https://www.luska.pl/category/amunicja-kulowa-308-win

 

[Winchester M70 Van Orden]

That's it.. I see PMB27 Lapua is well represented, but Norma and Federal not as much... Unfortunately.

I would have expected that especially the reference-Cartridge Federal "Gold Medal"-Match 168 gr would be available also in Poland - like it is in many other important countries. Poland is such a country IMHO, therefore

https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/federal-308-168gr-vs-175gr-accuracy.172065/

More later.

BR

 

[PMB27]

Today's trip to the shooting range and two very good news

First - I managed to get a 0,54 MOA group of 5-shots ( new personal best ) at 100 meters.

Second - it is my own - home made ammo - bullet : Nosler CC HPBT 168gr, powder : Lovex 73.6 - 43 gr, primer : Fiocchi LR, case : S&B.
[ I did not change settings of the scope - they were from the previous shooting at 200 m - that's why the POI is 2 MOA higher than POA ].

So I think the Nosler CC 168gr HPBT is my sweet bullet. I do not know my sweet load yet - I just reloaded only 5 cartridges based on the calculations of the GRT program with a charge of -15% from the maximum pressure.

 

[Winchester M70 Van Orden]

Great looking, PMB27

You reached one goal of reloading. Fine !