I know I sound like a broken record but I feel it needs to be repeated as much as possible. The good Lord put some awesome people in my life to get me where I am now: Jeff Rorer, Clint Cooper, Darrell Buell, Andrew McCourt, Bohem, Shredder58, Ed Shell, Memilanuk and I am sure there are more I am forgetting. These guys have always taken time out of their busy schedules to answer all of the silly newb questions I had...basically giving me all the info for free that they spent countless hours figuring out. I say it all the time, but I mean it all the time, THANK YOU!
So I bought this Savage FTR about a year-ish ago but had no idea I would get obsessed with this stuff the way I did/am. I had never shot farther than 250yds, then made it out to 300 with Shredder58, then 1k with Jeff where I got some schooling. All just in time for my first (and still only) match, which was at 1k at Butner, December 2011. I have been hooked since. I didn't reload then so Andrew got me set-up with some awesome ammo for the match, it shot much much better than I did.
Fast forward a few months and I decided to dive into reloading. All of the guys mentioned above gave me tons and tons of info on what to do and what not to do.
I fought all of the typical form, ammo consistency, yada yada issues and bad groups for awhile then dealt with a barrel issue and decided to switch to a Criterion 1:10 30" bull barrel. I beautiful piece for sure and Jim is just plain fantastic to deal with.
I missed a bunch of shoots this spring & summer due to family health issues and didn't get around to shooting the new barrel until the end of July. Despite the break-in saga, I did it anyways...lots of copper the first 4-5 rounds then it just disappeared, just as Jim said it would. Took FOR E VER but at least it's done and I must admit, makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
I put about 40 rounds (200gn Hybrids & Alliant 2000MR)through it that day doing some load testing at 330yds. Where I shoot, that's as far as I can possibly get and had to do some redneck engineering to see the target. There was grass in the way and a horrible mirage due to shooting ~12" over the top of a hill. I also had to shoot cramped up in the back of my 4runner so I blamed all of that for the iffy groups but still found a somewhat promising load to duplicate for an Academi shoot scheduled August 11th.
Well that match got thunderstormed out unfortunately so I was stuck with 64 rounds of that load but was unsure how it would really shoot.
Fast forward yet again to last weekend, instead of doing the truck fiasco, I just got on the ground and shot normally at 250yds. I had some Berger 200gn Hybrids with H4350 to try, and yes I know it doesn't work but with 50gn, I did almost end up getting to the same node as I did with Alliant 2000MR but still, no dice.
Barrel had 40rds through it, then I put about 35rds of H4350 through it (again, nothing earth shattering). Afterwards, I decided to shoot 5 of the 64 rounds I made for the cancelled Aug 11th match. I should have shot more, but there is a match Sept 8th (2 matches at 1k) and I don't want to waste anymore of them
Recap with pictures:
First weekend with new barrel, redneck 330yd set-up. Target is just to the left of the top of the chrony sunshade. It was farther out but I had to move it in due to the sun giving me goofy readings. Still got goofy readings being so close..~10'
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
Last weekend at 250yds:
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
And drum roll, remember I'm a newbie so this is a great group for me. First shot went right, me on the trigger...one of the many issues I have been fighting. I did everything correctly for the next 4 shots.
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
Equipment wise, other than the barrel the things that I feel really helped the most:
-Duplin Rifles/Rorer Spec Bipod, this thing is just plain awesome and so so light. Clint's CS is absolutely amazing to boot. Check out his website for more info
-Scott Parker tuned balance, scary scary accurate and consistent. No more fighting with a drifting electric scale.
-Omega Auto powder trickler, combined with the balance this is actually a very quick method IMO of charging cases...no turning back! Awesome CS as well.
Sorry for the rambling post but I am still fired up about my set-up/results. I know it's just one group, and only at 250yds, I sound like a silly school girl and yes I want a cookie, but this is the best group I have ever shot out of anything and I feel like I am finally doing something right.
Thanks again to all of you guys, I would have never gotten as far up the learning curve without all of your help.
God bless,
-Jarrod
So I bought this Savage FTR about a year-ish ago but had no idea I would get obsessed with this stuff the way I did/am. I had never shot farther than 250yds, then made it out to 300 with Shredder58, then 1k with Jeff where I got some schooling. All just in time for my first (and still only) match, which was at 1k at Butner, December 2011. I have been hooked since. I didn't reload then so Andrew got me set-up with some awesome ammo for the match, it shot much much better than I did.
Fast forward a few months and I decided to dive into reloading. All of the guys mentioned above gave me tons and tons of info on what to do and what not to do.
I fought all of the typical form, ammo consistency, yada yada issues and bad groups for awhile then dealt with a barrel issue and decided to switch to a Criterion 1:10 30" bull barrel. I beautiful piece for sure and Jim is just plain fantastic to deal with.
I missed a bunch of shoots this spring & summer due to family health issues and didn't get around to shooting the new barrel until the end of July. Despite the break-in saga, I did it anyways...lots of copper the first 4-5 rounds then it just disappeared, just as Jim said it would. Took FOR E VER but at least it's done and I must admit, makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
I put about 40 rounds (200gn Hybrids & Alliant 2000MR)through it that day doing some load testing at 330yds. Where I shoot, that's as far as I can possibly get and had to do some redneck engineering to see the target. There was grass in the way and a horrible mirage due to shooting ~12" over the top of a hill. I also had to shoot cramped up in the back of my 4runner so I blamed all of that for the iffy groups but still found a somewhat promising load to duplicate for an Academi shoot scheduled August 11th.
Well that match got thunderstormed out unfortunately so I was stuck with 64 rounds of that load but was unsure how it would really shoot.
Fast forward yet again to last weekend, instead of doing the truck fiasco, I just got on the ground and shot normally at 250yds. I had some Berger 200gn Hybrids with H4350 to try, and yes I know it doesn't work but with 50gn, I did almost end up getting to the same node as I did with Alliant 2000MR but still, no dice.
Barrel had 40rds through it, then I put about 35rds of H4350 through it (again, nothing earth shattering). Afterwards, I decided to shoot 5 of the 64 rounds I made for the cancelled Aug 11th match. I should have shot more, but there is a match Sept 8th (2 matches at 1k) and I don't want to waste anymore of them
Recap with pictures:
First weekend with new barrel, redneck 330yd set-up. Target is just to the left of the top of the chrony sunshade. It was farther out but I had to move it in due to the sun giving me goofy readings. Still got goofy readings being so close..~10'
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
Last weekend at 250yds:
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
And drum roll, remember I'm a newbie so this is a great group for me. First shot went right, me on the trigger...one of the many issues I have been fighting. I did everything correctly for the next 4 shots.
By mouzetrap at 2012-08-28
Equipment wise, other than the barrel the things that I feel really helped the most:
-Duplin Rifles/Rorer Spec Bipod, this thing is just plain awesome and so so light. Clint's CS is absolutely amazing to boot. Check out his website for more info
-Scott Parker tuned balance, scary scary accurate and consistent. No more fighting with a drifting electric scale.
-Omega Auto powder trickler, combined with the balance this is actually a very quick method IMO of charging cases...no turning back! Awesome CS as well.
Sorry for the rambling post but I am still fired up about my set-up/results. I know it's just one group, and only at 250yds, I sound like a silly school girl and yes I want a cookie, but this is the best group I have ever shot out of anything and I feel like I am finally doing something right.
Thanks again to all of you guys, I would have never gotten as far up the learning curve without all of your help.
God bless,
-Jarrod
