Savage Model 12 LRP 6.5 Creedmoor System Test Products Arriving updated 5/24

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Ed Hale

My heart quickens at the thought of testing each new rifle, scope and accessories here at New Hampshire Rifleman… Like Christmas in the summer. As you are aware if you read articles here at New Hampshire Rifleman, we are going to test the Savage Model 12 Long Range Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. I am told that this Rifle can really shoot and sports a 26 inch barrel/w 1-8 twist. It just arrived to my FFL. I drove over just minutes ago and filled out the background check as usual and the rifle is home in my office Wow! We shall see. I used my Lyman Electronic Trigger pull gauge and the Target model accuTrigger weighed in at an average of 2 lbs pull out of the box. The red target trigger is adjustable as low as 6 oz and as high as 2.5 pounds.

I ran a Hornady bullet OAL gauge in the bore to find lands at 2.868 inches w/ my Sierra bullets.

Max SAAMI COL is 2.825 but need one caliber worth of grip to hold bullet which will be closer to 2.80 inches for a safer COL for this bullet.

along with a “New” 2016 Leupold VX-3i/w aggressively redesigned power selector. Shipping to NH Rifleman soon…

a 20 MOA Picatinny rail add-on to reach out there and the famous RX 1200i DNA Laser rangefinder with TBR.

And the test bed Match grade 142 grain bullets from Sierra – The Bulletsmiths®

and

Cartridges with the new Hornady® ELD-X™ Hunting bullets see earlier article. The Sierra bullets and cartridges have arrived but no rifle yet but it is on its way to my FFL dealer here in Plaistow, NH.

I will hand load the Sierra’s, one at a time… details to come.

Long Range AR-15 – Putting It All Together by Ed Hale

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Ed Hale

I must admit that there was “much” needed for this AR-15 to be ready for real long distance and it may be that “more” is needed to accurize it. So what did I do to make it more suitable for long distance? Use a systematic approach that makes sense without going overboard. And use what you have as much as possible; improvise,adapt and overcome says the “gunny”. I keep saying that, for sure some of that will happen.

First was to change the mil-spec trigger. As you can see from a previous article I installed a 2 stage Timney Trigger.

It has 2 pounds pull in the first stage as it is squeezed rearward and then 2 more pounds to break and release the internal hammer within the trigger. It is crisp once the first stage is complete. Next was to put a better scope on it. Leupold’s VX-6 is an outstanding scope with a working range from 3x to 18x with a 44mm Objective lens.

The VX-6 is unique in all rifle scopes for its 6:1 Zoom capability, with unserpassed light transmission and optical clarity throughout the entire magnification range. This was the scope that helped me drop my whitetail deer at 300 yards this past fall. See this link.http://www.nhrifleman.com/2015/11/02/savage-11111leupold-vx-6-and-nosler-e-tips-field-test-by-ed-hale/

The scope model includes the Illuminated Boone and Crockett Reticle with the option of creating a Custom Dial System (CDS) for dialing in your favorite bullet, (based on the ballistic coefficient) out to 600 yards. I have not entertained creating the CDS dial as I keep moving it onto different rifles and calibers. It is such a rock solid scope that I use it to test rifles. Next, I mounted a Mark 2 Integral Mounting System. (See the article on it)

Ammunition: I am using Nosler Custom Competition ammo as you may have already seen in early articles. I will be testing 69, 77, and 80 grain bullets at longer ranges with different powders and cartridge overall lengths.

I am in training too.

Reloading: I found that Custom hollow point target bullets need special attention when seating them so I did some research and purchased a Redding Custom Competition seating die below. The design of this die and its capability of keeping the cartridge straight and in alignment with the bullet is not only well known but perhaps even legendary.

Powder: You will need to experiment. Right now I am using Reloader 15 powder.

Behind the Rifle: I have visited Sniper Hide and found a piece on Breathing and Natural Point of Aim. There is a video there you can purchase. I chose to read and practice. They instruct to break the shot at your natural respiratory pause (meaning at the bottom of your exhale). https://snipershide.mycustomevent.com/ShoppingCart.aspx?com=detailview&iid=103&cid=247

I never trained to shoot at the bottom of my exhale but somewhere in between. I have lots to unlearn it seems but some I did well on too. I need to play with cheek weld on my AR stock too, which will cause your shots to never fly well if you can’t weld your cheek consistently. I am very unfamiliar with the collapsible stock settings too making it a real learning experience.

I found a number of sites you can google on shooting techniques for long range. They are too numerous to list but the word to the wise is practice each day if you want to win matches. Dry fire with snap caps can help but remember only perfect practice makes perfect. I must put lots of bullets down range too using the skills I have learned. You can do it too. I am looking forward to loading up some rounds and burning some powder.

Good Shooting!

My AR-15 at Range with Mil. Spec.Trigger by Ed Hale

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Ed Hale

Yesterday, 3/1/2016 was sunny and little wind (0 to 5 mph) at the range in Southern New Hampshire. This article is a continuation of discussion my Colt upper/ Bushmaster mil spec lower AR-15 and its Trigger.

First, let me say that if given this trigger was a permanent one and I could not change it, it does work “ok” if you work to learn it even at 8.5 lbs. Thankfully that is not the case. New Timney triggers are coming and thus we can see what kind of improvement we can get. Should be a fun exercise and we can hopefully learn a lot. Yes there are other manufacturers that also produce triggers but that is for another day.

So I went to the range today and shot 3 brands of 55 grain Full Metal Jacket FMJ ammo with cannelure crimp at 50 yards to see what grouped best with 5 shot groups.

What I found was groups tighter than expected and occasional fliers which can be attributed to 1) the trigger 2) the shooter, 3) the ammo itself, 4) new rifle.

The trigger pull experience on this rifle can be understood to be heavy and have slack. I found that I could pull up slack and find the barrier wall where the hammer is located. It helped me group better than I expected by pulling to the wall first and then a final squeeze.

I chose 50 yards to begin this grouping exercise because I could clearly see the “x” in the bullseye and focus on it. What I found was that each brand grouped well with this trigger with occasional flyers due perhaps to a combination of things including the trigger, shooter unfamiliarity etc. I am satisfied with this exercise of capability with each brand of ammo with ARMSCOR USA shooting the best 5 shot group with one flyer. It is about groups not where they hit the target bullseye you see. We can always adjust the scope! My goal is to do this kind of grouping at 100 yards not 50 yards with a better trigger like the drop in Timney’s that I will test. Note the “X” Ring circle is 1 inch across for your reference. Triggers are coming! The take away here is that the Colt barrel is excellent and, I believe, capable of better groups than we see here under ideal conditions.

Hand Loading Nosler e-Tips for the 7×57 Mauser – Prep for A Montana Deer Hunt By Ed Hale

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Ed Hale

I have a friend Oliver whose wife Mary is an avid hunter along with him. She shoots the .308 Winchester and she shoots the 7×57 Mauser. Honestly, I have never owned a 7×57 Mauser but it shoots sweet and kicks little. She loves the Cartridge. I understand why. In Africa hunters killed everything with it! Sort of like the 7mm-08 Winchester.

I came by opportunity to shoot the 7×57 because Oliver found it was impossible to find fully loaded rounds with the Nosler e-Tip Gilding Copper bullets.

I was testing the Nosler e-tips for Nosler and had some to load for her and get her feedback on them. They are hunting Montana next week so I was happy to help them with hand loading.

My experience with Nosler e-Tips is significant and had 7 mm 150 grain heads on hand. The ballistic coefficient is .427 and can reach out even at modest velocities. Years ago my friend reloaded but not recently so he gave me the Dies to reload the 7×57. It was a straightforward reload but I had to trim the once fired cases. I deprimed and tumbled them to give them some shine and clean them up. Since they are spending big dollars I took my time hand loading and hand weighing each round to within a 10th of a grain. The powder recommended by Nosler was H4831sc which I had in my powder locker. e-tips are not recommended to shoot at more than moderate velocities, accordingly I chose to shoot a starting load that was the most accurate for the whole of the powders I could choose. I chose seating depth to where the cannelure was on the bullet. Muzzle velocity according to the Nosler manual was a modest 2408 fps.

Adjusting for the first shot which was 7 inches to the right, I placed 2 rounds at .5/8 inch apart then we moved to 150 yards and placed the 3rd shot right next to the other 2. That was enough to prove the rounds accuracy was excellent for hunting. Now Mary should be able to shoot these as well at the range tomorrow and save rounds for the hunt. This cartridge has a Max Point Blank Range of 235 yards and will stay in a plus or minus 3 inch radius to that distance without changing the aim point. If needed the shooter can adjust the aim point beyond that distance and shoot out to 300 yards with an 11 inch bullet drop provide the wind is accounted for at 10 inches lateral with a 10 mph wind. Here a very steady rest is needed. Good Hunting to them!

In the mean time I am almost packed for my southern deer hunt with .243 Winchester and 7mm Remington Magnum both shooting e-Tips.

Hunting Ammo and Bullet Fragmentation by Ed Hale

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Ed Hale

I provide this thought provoking article for your education and mine on choosing your hunting bullet. Outdoor Life, in the article below, has more on the lead in rifle bullets used to kill deer and other big game for food. Man has been killing and consuming wild game shot with lead for hundreds of years. We are still here, but can we do better?

http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/hunting/whitetail-deer/accessories-gear/2008/12/update-lead-your-meat

Also, below is a Power Point Presentation on the Minnesota Study regarding lead fragmentation. Lead fragments have been found as far away as 18 inches from the wound with some high speed bullet types. Most slow muzzle loader or shotgun show no lead particles.The DNR report has x-ray images that you can see with your own eyes.

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/lead/index.htm

Prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you don’t want lead in your game meat you can shoot rifle bullets without lead in them. This is a 100% guarantee of “no lead” Or shoot a shotgun slug or muzzle loader that is slow enough not to fragment.

Shoot bullets whose lead is bonded to the jacket and is proven to retain most of its weight. Bonded bullets are new on the hunting scene in the past decade and add to the value of a controlled expansion bullet that often provides an exit wound and a blood trail.

The Nosler’s E-Tip : E in E- Tip® is for Expansion and retains virtually 100% of its copper weight, curles into a perfect mushroom, and leaves no copper in your barrel or the game you hunt.

On the Nosler AccuBond; I have killed game with the Nosler AccuBond® and find that it is true to its name and holds a high weight retention.

I hear good reports for high weight retention for Barnes Bullets made of soft copper and mushroom well but find that they leave copper in some of my rifle barrels not a big detractor just scrub your barrel well and more often.

The Hornady InterBond® bullet is a bonded lead core to the copper jacket and has high weight retention as does the Swift Scirocco® a bonded bullet that uses pure copper for the jacket and not gilding copper. Pricing of bullets for hunting are a little more for bonded and copper but they are worth it! Here is a chart of cost per shot using a .270 Winchester as an example. Note: Winchester makes a copper bullet not included here, maybe another article.

It looks like copper is slightly more per shot but data shows that they retain the most weight of the two types bonded vs copper and fully mushrooms or petals. Both bonded and copper stay together often leaving an exit wound for a blood trail. But only copper leaves no lead fragments in your meat! Choose you Bullets…WISELY!

Nosler Bonded and Copper Bullets Best for Meat Hunters by Ed Hale

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Ed Hale

It is a known fact that keeps the campfire talk burning, that if you shoot a deer with hyper-velocity 3000 fps plus, small lead core bullets, that there will likely be an explosion of damage on impact especially if a rib bone is struck on entrance, the bullet’s lead core will separate from the jacket and will fragment thus penetration will suffer and game may be harder to find lacking a blood trail. But there is more to this than meets the eye.

Further, that lead fragmentation is more widely distributed causing more loss of delicious venison suspected of metal and lead contamination. As a grandparent I want my grand-kids to eat the best venison I can provide so I shoot the best bullets that hold together.

Nosler provides one of the best bullet solutions among others but I trust Nosler. Simple as that! I have been shooting Nosler’s for decades when hunting.

To date, there have not been any cases of human illnesses linked to lead particles in hunter-harvested venison according to a study conducted by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Connection and Minnesota DOE et al. But better hunting bullets ensure to prevent this.

I had this lead bullet conversation with a friend the other day whose brother owns a 25-06, a fine long range rifle for deer and antelope at far distances. What happened was that the deer was struck in the lung area but no exit wound occurred. The deer ran off, the shooter later followed looking for a blood trail and found not a drop. The only thing the hunter had was the visual direction of the animal after the shot. He knew he hit the animal well but it took him a few days of searching to find that deer not far, in fact, from the hit. It had no exit wound to leave a blood trail. This hunter, like me, reloads his own ammo and decided never to use that jacketed lead bullet for anything but punching paper. I can’t say that I blame him because we hunters want a clean kill and the meat for the table too. Lesson Learned!

Best high power 20 and 30 caliber hunting bullets on game are bonded with lead to the copper like the Nosler AccuBond and maintain a high percentage of weight and negligible fragmentation.

Full copper bullets too like the Nosler E-Tip are designed to create a petal like a flower instead of a mushroom and keep an even higher percentage of weight and no-lead at all.

Large calibers like .375 and 40 calibers with lead cores that are un-bonded will fully penetrate because of the bullets large size and its weight/momentum and will fragment little.

A blood trail is necessary in bow hunting and in gun hunting big game for a fast recovery. In order to have a blood trail to follow you need an exit wound. Now there are some out there who do not believe an exit wound is needed. Nuts! It is your best chance for a fast recovery and flavorful meat with less stress hormones in the meat which can make the meat taste less inviting. Keep the hunting bullets that are not bonded for paper punching unless they are sizable 150 grains or larger. On the further down side is the fact that lead bullets that can fragment often require more of the surrounding meat to be tossed out suspecting fragments in the meat.

In the many articles I have written, bullets like the Nosler E-Tip and AccuBond are designed not for the target shooter but for hunters who want to maintain bullet weight while mushrooming thus creating a large wound channel for blood to flow and full penetration with an exit wound and to prevent fragmentation.

Accordingly, the Nosler E-Tip is one of the finest hunting bullets available providing full Penetration and little or no fragmentation, a no-lead solution.

Further that the E-Tip is gilding alloy copper and leaves no appreciable copper in the barrel, and no one likes scrubbing copper out of barrels. Go buy some Nosler AccuBonds or E-Tips Today! You will be glad you did. © 2015

Bullet Wind Drift Correction – by Ed Hale

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Ed Hale

If you want to know calculated wind drift correction at long ranges of 200 to 600 yards you need accurate data from a chronograph and an on-line ballistic calculator such as the JBM Ballistics calculator at www.jbmballistics.com. Go to trajectory data input.

Here is a wind table I have created of wind correction in inches needed to be on a 6 inch target if the rifle was zeroed at 250 yards with a BC of 0.489 and bullet muzzle velocity of 2950 fps. To the left is wind speed and to the right is the wind correction needed to keep the bullet on target at distances out to 600 yards.

At the bottom of the table is the bullet drop as it is affected by gravity. This table now needs to be proven at the ranges and corrected as needed for real world data. I interpret that at wind speeds of 5 mph or less that you can shoot all the way out to 294 yards as the True Max Point Blank Range without need to compensate for gravity to stay in a 6 inch circle. At 400 yards the bullet will drop at the same rate 32 feet per second per second no matter what the wind does and will drop 15 inches (in yellow) based on its ballistic coefficient (wind drag) or you can compensate by turning your vertical adjustment up 3.5 MOA.

Tools:

Chronograph (cost 80 to 120 dollars)

A Camera stand that can connect to the Chronograph base

Data of Ballistic Coefficient for your bullet

A Ballistic Calculator such as www.jbmballistics.com

Once you shoot your rifle to get data for your bullet speed using the chronograph, In theory many serious hobby ballistician’s use the 6 inch circle as the ideal target bullseye of the heart lungs of a whitetail deer when plugging in data to the calculator. Some will use 8 inches for Elk heart and lungs. The lungs of a deer are laterally longer than 6 inches but you get the idea. So you have a little print out of this field tested data on your stand. You note a buck is standing at 500 yards facing left and the wind is blowing right to left at 10 mph where should you aim? I mean if you are practiced at this. Laterally you should aim around 17 inches to right of the lungs just forward of the rear ham muscle and adjust your vertical height on the scope accordingly to compensate for the 33 inch drop which is 6.4 MOA. This kind of shot needs to be practiced in training to be sure of the shot. If you have not practiced this kind of shot then let the deer walk away. Perhaps another day he will be at 100 yards, right? It is about the ethics, a clean kill and training.

Savage 11/111 Long Range Hunter Rifle and Leupold VX-6 Scope and Nosler Bullets Out of the Box (Part 1) By Ed Hale

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Ed Hale

I chose this 7mm Remington Magnum caliber to test because of the availability of ammo and brass for reloading and its outstanding accuracy record at any hunting distance. I chose the rifle because it has so much versatility with the built in cheek rest and muzzle brake. Due to the popularity of this rifle, it took my friends at Savage some time to obtain one for me to test for NH Rifleman publication. We will be testing this rifle with the Leupold VX-6 3-18 44mm CDS Illuminated Boone and Crockett system and with Nosler E-Tip Expandable solid gilding copper bullets in 140 and 150 grains.

Hunters can spend many thousands of dollars on a fine hunting rifle and never equal the engineered quality of this Rifle at this price point MSRP of $1136. Yes it is not cheap but for what is in this rifle it is truly amazing if it can shoot as well as they say. Read on…

For the Techies like me…The rifle is for right handed shooters with a barrel rate of twist of 9.5 thus for 140 grains to 175 grains bullets are stable. Stability is calculated at http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmstab-5.1.cgi where bullets are very stable above a factor of 1.5.

THE RIFLE

The rifle weighs in at 8.65 pounds without scope. Barrel Length is 26 inches and includes a 2 inch muzzle brake that can be turned on and off by a simple twist. Ammo capacity is three rounds and the cartridge is based on the large .375 Holland & Holland Magnum and necked down to 7.2mm or .284 inches. I think of this rifle as a 24 inch barrel with a 2 inch muzzle brake. So what is so engineered? I liked the Savage videos below to share with our readers all the details. The adjustable cheek rest needs an allen wrench to change the height.

Stock – The AccuStock is engineered to seat the floating barrel firmly in a metal housing. A video presentation makes this clear. http://savagearms.com/accuracy/accustock/

Trigger – Next is the innovative and Adjustable AccuTrigger which allows low trigger weights and with Safety primary. The trigger on this rifle is set just under 3 pounds at 2 pounds 15 ounces and breaks crisply. Video http://savagearms.com/accuracy/accutrigger

Barrels are button rifled with a floating bolt head and head-space control and video clips are seen here. http://savagearms.com/accuracy

Recoil Pad and Muzzle Brake

The rifle has a state of the art recoil pad and absorbs lots of felt recoil. But the best option is the Muzzle Brake. Savage added a 2 inch Muzzle Brake that can be turned on or off, adding more or less to velocity and recoil absorption (Pictured below with the brake activated. See the background through the center holes)

THE SCOPE

The Leupold Scope is the VX-6 3-18 44mm CDS Illuminated with Boon and Crockett Reticle. We will set the scope on 10x for 100 yards with no Illumination. The body of this scope is too short for the existing mounts on the rifle so a set of high rings and a longer forward mount was purchased from Weaver to move the rings closer together.

THE BULLET

See the You Tube videos of Nosler bullets and E-Tips on the internet.

On one video the bullet began expand on impact of ballistic gel and at 5 to 6 inches and beyond it creates a maximum wound channel of 4 inches for an ethical kill and maintained more than 95% of bullet weight throughout and mushroomed perfectly.

BULLET GROUP TESTS (OUT OF THE BOX) SUB MOA August 7, 2015

Bullets were reloaded according to SAAMI spec’s and Nosler Manual Powder and Load recommendations for each bullet. IMR 4831 powder was chosen because it was available and had a starting load that was already proven to be accurate.

140 grain 100 yard Test at a MV of 2950 fps with 62 grains of IMR 4831 with the Muzzle Brake turned off ( Recoil was very acceptable with 140 grain bullets)

DATA and Photo’s

Group 1 = 1.06 inches

Group 2 = 0.812 inches

Group 3 = 0.687 inches

Average = .853 inches

JBM Ballistics Table for Drop, Velocity, Energy and Max Point Blank Range MPBR for a 6 inch target. Max Point Blank Range is 293 yards when sighted for 250 yard zero. If the wind was 10 mph the shot would be limited to 220 yards without any correction. The maximum height of bullet flight is at 3 inches high at 141 yards.

I was thrilled with the rifle, scope and bullet set up as this combination shot sub minute of angle right out of the Box! WOW!!!

Best Handloaded 30 Cal Picks for Deer and Bear

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Ed Hale

What is best in 30 cal for deer and bear depends on your likes and dislikes. Likes would be a round that has ample penetration and energy at ranges out to say 300 yards. That would be the 30-06 and .308 Winchester. At less distances the 30-30 Winchester is a low recoil rifle that often is in a lever action model such as the Marlin 30-30. From a reloading perspective, brass from any of these 30 calibers is readily available. Bullets range in weights from 110 grains to 220 grains for the .308 and 30-06 and best of all you get to choose the bullet like the Nosler AccuBond or the Hornady InterBond that are so well constructed. Other manufacturers are aplenty so there are more choices. For years I shot game with Nosler Partitions a great choice! The AccuBond and IB from Nosler and Hornady respectively have a high ballistic coefficient (BC) for long range use. If shots are under 100 yards then a round nose will act more like a hammer as it enters the vitals. I shot a buck with a round nose at 25 yards and it collapsed and the deer fell stone dead, not taking a step so pointed bullets are not always the norm here in the northeast.

On the Magnum side is the 300 Winchester Magnum, .300 H& H Magnum, the 300 Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum, .308 Norma Magnum and the .300 Winchester Short Magnum to name a few. They can be hand loaded up or down to mimic the .308 or .30-06 energies and velocities and when needed to shoot further at say 600 yards. Most popular of these is perhaps the .300 Winchester Magnum. Most all 30 Cal rifles have the blessing of a wide range of bullets, weights and powders.

If you are not a hand loader then I would stick with cost effective off the shelf ammo and rifles in .308, 30-06 and 30-30. You can go into any store that sells ammo and find these cartridges cost effectively anywhere.

Tips for new shooters and veterans alike is to make sure that the recoil pad is one of the newer high tech recoil pads that absorb up to 50% of felt recoil. Simms SVL and Pachmayr Decelerator sell slip on pad and mounted pads that will be sure to make you smile instead of wince at the shot.

In closing, I have opted to shoot magnum calibers that I can hand load down to .308 or .30-06 or even the 30-30 level as long as accuracy does not suffer. If you wish to compete at long range then the .308 Winchester is widely available and a best choice for brass availability.

Why the Ruger M77 Hawkeye Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor?

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Ed Hale

This was a cartridge that could have been a kin to the .308 Winchester parent cartridge but wasn’t. Hornady produced this original cartridge in 2007 and has grown steadily ever since in both the target world and the hunting world. Just between the .243 and .270 there was room to create a cartridge who’s mild recoil is similar to the .243 Winchester but shoots bullets 100 grains to 140 grains from Prairie Dogs to Elk. The .243 is not an Elk cartridge and the .270 has not been a favorite of Bench Rest Target shooters for pure accuracy. In order to make this 6.5 special required making its own Cartridge which is a bit smaller and shorter than the .308 Winchester but unwittingly a great big game cartridge.

The Ruger M77 Hawkeye Predator does justice to this Cartridge in many ways. The laminate stock is as strong and precision cut as if made from a pure synthetic material. The stainless steel barrel that is hammer forged is the finest barrel for the price. And the Ruger controlled feed action ensures a very high degree of reliable feed. The trigger is a fully adjustable 2 stage target trigger and comes in the 2 pound class making it a fine long range target or predator rifle. It is recommended that adjustments are made by a qualified gunsmith.

The 6.5 Creedmoor round is said to be great on barrel life so for those who shoot large quantities of ammo are in for a treat. Go to my first article far below to begin reading this in the correct sequence.

June 2026

Category Archives: Bullet Tests and Reviews.