Re: My "Budget" .223 build finally done
So today after work, I stopped by one of my favorite shooting venues, the mountains above my home, to test some new dope.(thanks Chubbles)
after a short hike I found a suitable rest, and started picking out targets(rocks). I picked out 430, 530,630,710, and 930yds.
It looked great, but after the first few shots I realized my card was going to be a bit off, but I carried on so as to get some solid data to work with.I cant tell you how much I LOVE this Vortex Viper! It was SOO nice to shoot with. The shots at all ranges went as follows; read card, make adjustment, fire 1st shot, spot miss, measure adjustment and make it, fire 2nd shot, target destroyed. all the way out to the 930 yd target, with several confirming hits on each target, I was happy to say the least, both the gun and the scope were almost boringly repeatable.
The load was: 75 Amax, 24.5 gr of RL-15, Winchester brass, Fed205m primer seated at 2.880 with a SP comparator, here is the dope generated from todays trip;
430 yards-2.0 mils
530 yards-2.5 mils
630 yards-3.6 mils
710 yards-4.5 mils
930 yards-7.7 mils
After the last few shots, and noticing that it only took 7.7 mils of the 15 I had available left on the dial, I got a little curious.
So I started looking for a further target, I did so while thinking to myself: I built this gun not really expecting to use it much past 1k. And I'm pretty sure, field conditions will dictate how and when that happens, none the less I kept looking. I had a hard time getting the Leica to hit anything due to the suns low angle in the sky making pretty much all my potential targets glow with radiation, but I managed to get two good measurments off of a rock in the shadow of a tree, surrounded perfectly by soft dirt, the kind that makes good dust signatures. the two readings I got said 1308 and 1309 yds. Wow
I thought, thats a hell of a push for a little .223. but I figured it was worth a try. I set to estimating the dope nessessary to reach 1300 yards, my card only went to 1k, but I had an old one in MOA that went to 1.5k so I did a little math and figured it should take around 14.5 mils to get me there. so I dialed in the 14.5 hoping it would be at least on the dirt so I could see it. I barely spotted the first miss in the grass just below the dirt, I measured with my reticle it was about 2 mils low. I only have 15 available so I dialed the 15 and held one more over with the reticle. The hushed report of the rifle was such a beautifle sound, and the bullet noise echoed through the canyon, and I watched as my bullet impacted perfect elevation and just .5 mil right of POA. even the little breeze that there was played hell with my little bullet. I fired three or four more rounds up there, all of them landing close to the rock I was aiming at, never more than 1 mil from it and close as .25 mil from it.
It certainly was a good experience, and I learned alot about this gun, this load, and the capabilities we will have together in our long term relationship. I cant wait to get out again and keep working with it!!