My attempt was to do accuracy testing on the 5.5" barreled Rattler with 11 different loads. Turns out, that will mostly have to wait but I was able to get *some* preliminary data for perceived accuracy and some chrono numbers. The gun normally rides around swallowing up a Sandman K or Nomad Suppressor in the below forms:
Getting a good cheek weld on that stock while prone is nearly impossible, unless of course, you make one from t-shirts and duct tape. Only issue with that is that it is so large you can't run the charging handle and its still too big to even fold completely out of the way. I quickly realized I was going to have to shoot 5 rounds unsuppressed, remove the stock, shoot 5 rounds suppressed, remove the stock to clean the gun, and repeat....22 times. The gun is so short, and so light, that you really do need a good cheek weld to keep it from moving around, even at 50 yards. Regardless, here it was in the "Accuracy testing" configuration:
The second issue I had, is I had no idea the point of impacts would be so far off of each other. Subs vs Supers are obvious, but you would think the super rounds would shoot "close enough" to the other supers, etc. Not. A. Chance. This gun is PICKY. I attempted to get a zero with the 123 Mag Tech ammo. I thought my scope was broken. We are talking 3-4+ MOA at 50 yards. I finally gave up and told myself to just try something else, I pulled out the Barnes 110 TAC-TX with the same zero and went inside of 1". I tried a couple other rounds and every single cartridge had a mind of its own as far as POI. I will say, and I will mention this later, there was a couple of surprises when it came to accuracy even though I did not officially test that today. I tested all of the below, plus MAGTech 123 Grain and the NEW SIG SBR ammo in the pictures above:
Given that I had limited time, and didn't want to waste what time I had, I decided to mostly make the day about the chronograph. Rather than worrying about the stock today, and cleaning between each cartridge, and half-assed shooting groups because I had no decent solution for a cheek weld, I decided to just lay down all the chrono numbers up front since the weather was stable. I shot 5 rounds each, in fairly quick succession. I did attempt accuracy the best I could, just so I could get a preliminary look at what the official testing might show, but I just wasn't stable enough to post numbers yet for accuracy.
Here are the chrono results, unsuppressed, *Denotes best standard deviation:
Subs
Hornady Black 208g AMAX: 984, 978, 980, 966, 959 (Avg:973) SD: 10.47
*Remington 220g OTFB: 905, 924, 928, 930, 920 (Avg: 921) SD: 9.93*
Sig 220g Match: 883, 904, 925, 908, 933 (Avg:910) SD: 19.50
Lehigh 194g Maximum Expansion: 934, 916, 938, 942, 945 (Avg:935) SD: 11.40
Winchester WB 200g: 924, 913, 931, 881, 938 (Avg:917) SD 22.34
Supers
Sig 120g HT: 1912, 1896, 1880, 1924, 1880 (Avg:1898) SD: 19.51
Magtech 123g: 1770, 1768, 1720, 1782, 1740 (Avg:1756) SD: 25.33
*Barnes 110g Tac-Tx: 1891, 1891, 1896, 1896, 1893 (Avg:1893) SD: 2.50
Sig 120g SBR: 1952, 1952, 1955, 1921, 1899 (Avg:1935) SD: 24.83
Remington 120g OTFB: 1716, 1754, 1770, 1826, 1749 (Avg:1763) SD 40.32
Winchester Dear Season 150g: 1555, 1557, 1537, 1561, 1587 (Avg:1559) SD 17.96
A couple of observations:
The Perceived Best Shooters were:
Again, take the accuracy with a grain of salt until I can give each round its proper due in the next test, but I have feeling nothing is going to touch that Winchester Deer Season 150g, at least not in this Rattler.
I am actually very curious now. I have a couple of colleagues that took game with the Win. Dear Season ammo last year and reported the results to be spectacular terminally. Some of these were in what I consider marginal, picky calibers such as the .243 that can be an inconsistent performer.
I know the Rattler was designed around the 110 Barnes Tac load, which I can attest, smoked a couple deer for me this year in .300 BLK.
I can't imagine that the Winchester Deer Season wouldn't be a devastating self defense round as well. A .30 caliber, 150 grain @ 1550 fps with nice large expansion could be absolutely perfect for your truck or home gun, especially if we are talking sub MOA accuracy out to 100+ yards as well.
My interest in now piqued and I think this gun may become something I just stick with Supersonic rounds in and take advantage of its full capability.
I will report back when I have time to do the full on accuracy testing. Just thought this may be of some help to Rattler owners.
Getting a good cheek weld on that stock while prone is nearly impossible, unless of course, you make one from t-shirts and duct tape. Only issue with that is that it is so large you can't run the charging handle and its still too big to even fold completely out of the way. I quickly realized I was going to have to shoot 5 rounds unsuppressed, remove the stock, shoot 5 rounds suppressed, remove the stock to clean the gun, and repeat....22 times. The gun is so short, and so light, that you really do need a good cheek weld to keep it from moving around, even at 50 yards. Regardless, here it was in the "Accuracy testing" configuration:
The second issue I had, is I had no idea the point of impacts would be so far off of each other. Subs vs Supers are obvious, but you would think the super rounds would shoot "close enough" to the other supers, etc. Not. A. Chance. This gun is PICKY. I attempted to get a zero with the 123 Mag Tech ammo. I thought my scope was broken. We are talking 3-4+ MOA at 50 yards. I finally gave up and told myself to just try something else, I pulled out the Barnes 110 TAC-TX with the same zero and went inside of 1". I tried a couple other rounds and every single cartridge had a mind of its own as far as POI. I will say, and I will mention this later, there was a couple of surprises when it came to accuracy even though I did not officially test that today. I tested all of the below, plus MAGTech 123 Grain and the NEW SIG SBR ammo in the pictures above:
Given that I had limited time, and didn't want to waste what time I had, I decided to mostly make the day about the chronograph. Rather than worrying about the stock today, and cleaning between each cartridge, and half-assed shooting groups because I had no decent solution for a cheek weld, I decided to just lay down all the chrono numbers up front since the weather was stable. I shot 5 rounds each, in fairly quick succession. I did attempt accuracy the best I could, just so I could get a preliminary look at what the official testing might show, but I just wasn't stable enough to post numbers yet for accuracy.
Here are the chrono results, unsuppressed, *Denotes best standard deviation:
Subs
Hornady Black 208g AMAX: 984, 978, 980, 966, 959 (Avg:973) SD: 10.47
*Remington 220g OTFB: 905, 924, 928, 930, 920 (Avg: 921) SD: 9.93*
Sig 220g Match: 883, 904, 925, 908, 933 (Avg:910) SD: 19.50
Lehigh 194g Maximum Expansion: 934, 916, 938, 942, 945 (Avg:935) SD: 11.40
Winchester WB 200g: 924, 913, 931, 881, 938 (Avg:917) SD 22.34
Supers
Sig 120g HT: 1912, 1896, 1880, 1924, 1880 (Avg:1898) SD: 19.51
Magtech 123g: 1770, 1768, 1720, 1782, 1740 (Avg:1756) SD: 25.33
*Barnes 110g Tac-Tx: 1891, 1891, 1896, 1896, 1893 (Avg:1893) SD: 2.50
Sig 120g SBR: 1952, 1952, 1955, 1921, 1899 (Avg:1935) SD: 24.83
Remington 120g OTFB: 1716, 1754, 1770, 1826, 1749 (Avg:1763) SD 40.32
Winchester Dear Season 150g: 1555, 1557, 1537, 1561, 1587 (Avg:1559) SD 17.96
A couple of observations:
- White Box Winchester 200g Subs have a ridiculously LOW amount of recoil compared to everything else
- The Sig 120g SBR ammo has a ridiculously HIGH amount of recoil compared to everything else
- Though I didn't officially test the accuracy today, none of the subs impressed (the gun was designed around supers..and it shows)
- There were only three Supersonic Rounds that shot inside 1" at 50 yards during this preliminary test (dont judge until I do the full accuracy testing...cheek weld sucks!)
The Perceived Best Shooters were:
- The Barnes 110 Tac-Tx (Crazy low SD, shot inside 1"),
- The Remington 120 (Terrible SD, still shot around .6-7")
- And the surprise of the day, the Winchester Dear Season 150 grain (Lowest Supersonic velocity, best accuracy, 5 shots, one single hole...ridiculous)
Again, take the accuracy with a grain of salt until I can give each round its proper due in the next test, but I have feeling nothing is going to touch that Winchester Deer Season 150g, at least not in this Rattler.
I am actually very curious now. I have a couple of colleagues that took game with the Win. Dear Season ammo last year and reported the results to be spectacular terminally. Some of these were in what I consider marginal, picky calibers such as the .243 that can be an inconsistent performer.
I know the Rattler was designed around the 110 Barnes Tac load, which I can attest, smoked a couple deer for me this year in .300 BLK.
I can't imagine that the Winchester Deer Season wouldn't be a devastating self defense round as well. A .30 caliber, 150 grain @ 1550 fps with nice large expansion could be absolutely perfect for your truck or home gun, especially if we are talking sub MOA accuracy out to 100+ yards as well.
My interest in now piqued and I think this gun may become something I just stick with Supersonic rounds in and take advantage of its full capability.
I will report back when I have time to do the full on accuracy testing. Just thought this may be of some help to Rattler owners.
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