Category Archives: Rifle Tests

Tests of new Rifles

Rifles: Want to improve your field hunting accuracy?

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Experienced and successful hunters will tell you, It is not the accuracy at the bench rest that ultimately brings home the wild game.  It is how you and your rifle work together in the field and forest.

Are you training for a field match or to shoot at a game animal.

Photo above, I took this South African SCI Gold Medal Kudu with a Ruger M77 with VX III Leupold scope with .338 Win mag and 250 grain Nosler Partition bullets.  My training paid off, big time! I practiced in the field, off-hand, and could fire and keep 4 rapid shots on a pie plate at 80 yards. Of course plains game was often at 200 plus yards and may be out to 300 and 400. Your Professional Hunter – PH will tell you if your up for the shot or get you closer. Most opt for closer, say 200-250 yards.

It is very often the case that you will only get one shot.

Make it count!

First, bullseye targets do not move, but wild game does! Yes it sounds intuitive but it is often overlooked. Over the years I believe, the key to shooting accurately in the field is to know when your trigger will break and what clothes/jackets you will wear for hunting so that you will know in advance if you need to adjust “length of pull” to prevent snags. And finally to “understand” the felt recoil of your rifle.  That  comes with shooting and practicing in field conditions at the distances you expect to shoot. Are you using a tripod, bipod, shooting sticks or your backpack to use as a rest? If so, then practice with it. So many variables, right? 

Length of Pull -The top of your list should be length of pull (LOP), trigger break in pounds, and having an adequate recoil pad and cheek weld.  Most rifle hunters today use a scope, If the scope is too high then your cheek weld will float around and so will your shots. Typical LOP for a rifle is around 13.25 to 13.75 inches. Again, what clothing jacket are you wearing? 

Triggers today are often adjustable in the 2.5 to 6 pound range. Most experienced  hunter like a trigger at around three to four pounds. Having too light a trigger with cold fingers can cause you to not feel the trigger very well and result in accidental discharges. Conversely, a heavy trigger can cause you to miss game that is moving, by not knowing when the trigger will break. How to determine what is right for you… takes some shooting awareness when you “think” the trigger will break and fire but doesn’t. The closer you and your trigger agree is where you want to set your trigger. Keep in  mind that you are hunting, not target shooting. Many gun-shops will often have a trigger scale to test the break point of your trigger. I own a digital scale and use it regularly. 

Recoil Pads today on newer rifles are better than a decade or two ago. Most can reduce felt recoil by half. Older rifles often need harder rubber pads replaced. Why? Less recoil translates directly to improved accuracy. Shooting a .375 H&H with a state of the art recoil pad is like shooting a 30-06 or .270. Shooting smarter not harder! 

Cheek weld for scopes is vital and often overlooked. If your cheek does not make solid contact with the comb of your rifle then your eye is floating as it looks through a scope.  At 50 yard that may still work for you but at over 100 yards it can mean a clean miss. There are many devices out there as add-on’s for bringing your cheek higher and allow ideal eye alignment with your scope. 

These variables are just a few of the vital aspects of good accuracy. Then comes breathing, trigger squeeze and understanding recoil. 

Even the best game shots stay the best because they practice. 

Good Hunting!

© Copyright 2020

A Golden Age- New Firearm Costs Very Low but Wow! Accurate!

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Looking back, I believe, as do many,  that the Obama years desire to change or do away with the Second Amendment had created such a scare across the country, for nearly a decade, that powerful and overwhelming and unprecedented buying of ammo and guns that the firearms industry became wealthy indeed. See this Forbes Article below. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/frankminiter/2013/10/20/is-the-obama-administration-the-cause-of-gun-ammunition-shortages/#4572f12c2215

The industry however took much of those earnings and reinvested in state-of-the-art rifle and pistol tooling equipment and in some cases began 24 hour three shift operations to keep up with demand.

This retooling perhaps is evidenced by American Manufacturers with lower prices, improved accuracy and the ability to mass produce that is unprecedented.

The use of new Hammer Forging tools, for example in barrel making, has made volume and quality significant and has reduced costs measurably as well as molding technology.

I have tested Ruger and Savage Rifles and found costs below average and quality and accuracy far above average. Further, that synthetic stocks are dominating the market for rifles, but not just black in color but all the colors of the rainbow and camo patterns that are beautiful. 

This is a golden age for buying a new rifle, shotgun or pistol/revolver

Ammo costs are equally low today so stock up my friends.

 

Weatherby Vanguard – Value, Accuracy, Weather Dependable

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Last year at New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine we tested the Weatherby® Vanguard™ Weatherguard™ in 6.5 Creedmoor both on the range and in the field. Today you can get one of the finest all-weather hunting rifles for a mere $650 dollars. That’s right just six hundred and fifty buckeroos! If you want to spend more on style and quality Weatherby is there for the hunter too.

Today this is still the best rifle model you can buy for the money!

See my article below.

Weatherby Vanguard 6.5 Creedmoor/Leupold VX-6 – 600 yards with 129 grain Nosler ABLR Hunting Bullet

First, I chose to test the 6.5 Creedmoor bullets have a legendary sectional density that is first in game penetration for CXP2/3 for its diameter and of its nearest peers. Second, it outperforms in accuracy due to its low recoil providing confidence galore to young and old alike.

The Weatherby is famous for its Monte Carlo stock with a raised cheek. Many hunters today struggle, yes really struggle with eye alignment to the scope due to the absence of a cheek rest due to today’s high 50 mm scopes. Scope rings available are often too high.

The Monte Carlo style high comb of the Weatherby solves this problem completely!  

Bottom line is that without a good cheek rest like Weatherby and scope eye alignment your shots are not going to be consistent. Weatherby was first to understand this and incorporate it in its rifle design.

If I were looking for a new rifle the Weatherby is a sure bet for a lifelong hunting purchase! Of course I own one!

Good Hunting!

 

 

 

 

 

Savage Model A22 in 22LR -Out-of-the-Box with CCI Velocitor’s

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The A22  comes in 22 magnum and 22LR. We are testing the 22LR with CCI Velocitors with a 40 grain hollow point.

https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=47200

The Savage A22 appears to be a well made basic Semi-Auto production rifle. Out of the Box I added a 3×9 Scope to test it. Weaver bases were pre-installed. Scope bases are picatinny type thus making scope swaps easy from one rifle to another these days. The barrel is pictured with a front sight. Mine had no front sight as it  was intended for scope only.  The price of $284 dollars is terrific for the features provided. The only feature that was lacking in my mind was the adjustable accu-trigger. I could not get it to adjust lower than 3 lb 10 oz. from the original 5 pounds it came with but performed crisply.

I am very impressed with the A22 as it shoots CCI Velocitor ammo at around 1400 fps and with great ease and accuracy. Wow!

The A22 with CCI Velocitors – Good for Coyote? I think so as there are several video’s that can attest.

The Savage A22 At the Range

Specifications                                    Accuracy at 50 yards/w CCI Velocitor
MSRP – $284.00                                  Group 1   1 1/4 inches
Action – Semi Auto                             Group 2   2.0   inches (probably me)
Barrel – Color Blued                           Group 3   1 1/8 inches
Barrel Finish – High Luster
Barrel Length (in)/(mm) – 22 / 558.80
Barrel Material – Carbon Steel
Caliber – 22 LR
Magazine Capacity – 10
Magazine Rotary
LOP 13 3/4
Overall Length (in)/(mm) 41 / 1,041.40
Rate of Twist (in) 1 in 16
Receiver Color Blued
Receiver Finish High Luster
Receiver Material Carbon Steel
Type Rimfire
Stock Color Black
Stock Finish Matte
Stock Material Synthetic with Swivel Mount studs
Stock Type Sporter
Weight (lb)/(kg) 5.6 / 2.54
The Synthetic 10 round rotary magazine worked very well once you get the hang of loading a few.
Again, the Savage A22  performed flawlessly with such a powerful round as the Velocitor and with great accuracy at an affordable price. The longer barrel holds bullet velocity and energy at longer ranges.
More testing with other bullet brands and at longer ranges soon.
Good Shooting!
© 2019

Spring Rifle Testing: Savage 110 Apex Storm XP

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My friends at Savage are sending me a Savage 110 Apex Storm XP Package with a stainless steel, button rifled barrel to test in 6.5 Creedmoor. I requested this model because it is jam packed with features that costs well over $1000 and includes a Vortex Scope. They say it is ready for anything nature can dish out! We shall see…

FEATURES

  • Redesigned Model 110 rifle
  • Stainless steel button-rifled barrel
  • 3-9x40mm Vortex Crossfire II scope, mounted and bore-sighted
  • Dead-Hold BDC reticle’s hashmark design reduces guesswork on holdover and windage
  • Vortex Hunter medium rings and one-piece EGW 0 MOA rail
  • User-adjustable AccuTrigger
  • Adjustable length-of-pull
  • Modern ergonomics
  • Detachable box magazine

The MSRP is just $749. Wow!

110 APEX STORM XP

 

October 2017 – SOC Adopts 6.5 Creedmoor to Replace 7.62 x 51mm Nato in Semi Auto Sniper Rifles

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At New Hampshire Rifleman we have written over 30 articles since April of 2015, extolling the virtues of the 6.5 Creedmoor as both a world class hunting cartridge and a competitive long range target cartridge that is great on barrel life, less recoil, more accurate and delivers deep often full penetration on big game with Sectional Densities of .280 and .290 at long ranges of 600 yards and over. It crosses the CXP2 and CXP3 boundary for game classification it can handle. I am going to hunt Texas Whitetails (CXP2) with it next week in a Weatherby Vanguard topped with a Leupold VX-6 3x18x44mm with Nosler AB’s.

Guess the Military looked at the Creedmoor too!

Late this past year US Special Operations Command tested the 7.62 Nato Round against the 6.5 Creedmoor and the.260 Remington. Both the .260 Remington(6.5mm) and the 6.5 Creedmoor outshot the 7.62 Nato round. SoCOMM determined that the 6.5 Creedmoor shot the best according to Wikipedia below.

See Wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5mm_Creedmoor

“Military use[edit]

“In October 2017, U.S. Special Operations Command tested the performance of 7.62×51mm NATO, .260 Remington, and 6.5mm Creedmoor cartridges out of SR-25, M110A1, and Mk 20 sniper rifles. SOCOM determined that 6.5 Creedmoor performed the best, doubling hit probability at 1,000 m (1,094 yd), increasing effective range by nearly half, reducing wind drift by a third and having less recoil than 7.62×51mm NATO rounds. Tests showed the .260 Remington and 6.5mm Creedmoor cartridges were similarly accurate and reliable and the external ballistic behavior was also very similar. The prevailing attitude is that there was more room with the 6.5mm Creedmoor to further develop projectiles and loads.[27] Because the two cartridges have similar dimensions, the same magazines can be used and a rifle can be converted with a barrel change. This led to its adoption and fielding by special operations snipers to replace the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge in their semi-automatic sniper rifles, planned in early 2019. In response to SOCOM’s adoption, the Department of Homeland Security also decided to adopt the round.”

End Quote

But we hunters discovered that a while back.

Good Hunting!

 

Weatherby Vanguard 6.5 Creedmoor/Leupold VX-6 – 600 yards with 129 grain Nosler ABLR Hunting Bullet

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Thanks to Weatherby, Leupold and Nosler, this shooting test is comprehensive as it marries the Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard to a Leupold VX-6 3-18 44mm Gold Ring Scope and Nosler AccuBond bullets for deer hunting. Lets see how the marriage unfolds…

My friends at Nosler were out of stock for testing 129 grain AccuBond Long Range hunting bullets (very popular), but I found some on-line to test the Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard with. This bullet has a G1 ballistic coefficient of 0.561 and exits the barrel around 2680 fps from a cold barrel. I hand-loaded the cartridge with 39 grains of RL 15 powder, a max load I had already proved-in at 1 MOA at 100 yards.  According to the Nosler reloading guide, RL 15 at 39 grains was the most accurate. My chronograph measured the first 3 shot spread was 10 fps  with an average velocity of 2680 fps. Later shots from a warmed barrel showed an increase in velocity and spread. Hunters don’t shoot with a warmed barrel. It is a cold shot that counts in the field, accordingly I was not overly concerned with the warmed barrel velocity variation.

Now to test that premise and data, I shot those first 4 rounds at 600 yards in prone position at Nashua NH Fish and Game 600 yard range. The shots had about a 6 inch spread left to right and had a vertical spread of around an inch. Very nice indeed! The wind was not a significant factor as it was a calm day. The bullet dropped 14 minutes from my 100 yard zero. Accordingly, I turned the Leupold VX-6 Turret up 14 minutes and I was on paper.

I had to adjust left and down to hit the bullseye. I am now sighted in for 600 yards, though I will limit my hunting shots to 400 yards or less. With the Leupold sight picture I was comfortable at 12x though my prone position felt very low to the ground. The value driven Weatherby Vanguard, with it high cheek rest and Monte-Carlo design aided greatly with my scope alignment height. I just can’t believe you can get this rifle new for under $600 bucks. The Leupold VX-6 however retails for nearly double what the rifle costs but it delivers the best clarity in low light at long range that I have ever experienced at this price point and with one twist go from 3x to 18x. Crazy good!

In a hunting situation I will be hopefully using shooting sticks, perhaps standing or kneeling. The delivered Kinetic Energy from the 24 inch Weatherby barrel at 400 yards is 1250 ft-lbs thereby providing excellent energy for penetration on a mature whitetail deer. The Nosler AccuBond was designed to mushroom with the lead bonded to the copper jacket, thus the bullet remains largely intact as it penetrates.  See the table from www.jbmballistics.com below. I could have shown more data at longer ranges but this works for a hunting situation I might expect.

Calculated Table
Range Drop Drop Windage Windage Velocity Mach Energy Time Lead Lead
(yd) (in) (MOA) (in) (MOA) (ft/s) (none) (ft•lbs) (s) (in) (MOA)
0 -1.5 *** 0.0 *** 2680.0 2.342 2057.0 0.000 0.0 ***
25 -0.6 -2.5 0.0 0.1 2640.7 2.308 1997.1 0.028 5.0 19.0
50 -0.1 -0.2 0.1 0.3 2601.7 2.274 1938.6 0.057 10.0 19.1
75 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.4 2563.1 2.240 1881.4 0.086 15.1 19.2
100 -0.0 -0.0 0.6 0.6 2524.8 2.207 1825.6 0.115 20.3 19.4
125 -0.5 -0.3 0.9 0.7 2486.8 2.173 1771.1 0.145 25.6 19.5
150 -1.3 -0.8 1.4 0.9 2449.1 2.141 1717.8 0.176 30.9 19.7
175 -2.4 -1.3 1.9 1.0 2411.8 2.108 1665.8 0.207 36.3 19.8
200 -4.0 -1.9 2.5 1.2 2374.8 2.076 1615.1 0.238 41.9 20.0
225 -5.9 -2.5 3.1 1.3 2338.0 2.043 1565.5 0.270 47.5 20.1
250 -8.2 -3.1 3.9 1.5 2301.6 2.012 1517.2 0.302 53.2 20.3
275 -10.9 -3.8 4.8 1.7 2265.5 1.980 1470.0 0.335 58.9 20.5
300 -14.1 -4.5 5.7 1.8 2229.8 1.949 1423.9 0.368 64.8 20.6
325 -17.7 -5.2 6.7 2.0 2194.3 1.918 1379.0 0.402 70.8 20.8
350 -21.7 -5.9 7.9 2.2 2159.2 1.887 1335.1 0.437 76.8 21.0
375 -26.2 -6.7 9.1 2.3 2124.3 1.857 1292.4 0.472 83.0 21.1
400 -31.2 -7.5 10.5 2.5 2089.8 1.827 1250.8 0.507 89.3 21.3

This marriage is bliss! It is one excellent deer hunting rig, a Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard topped with a Leupold Gold Ring VX-6 in the recoil friendly 6.5 Creedmoor with Nosler AccuBond Bullets. This combination is perhaps much better from an accuracy standpoint than I will achieve in field  hunting conditions.

I retested the rounds at 100 yards after the 600 yard shoot and set the Leupold back to zero. The rifle shot a 3/4 inch 3 shot group with a cold barrel. Very pleased with that!!

It is up to you the hunter to set your limits within your capabilities. We owe that to the game we hunt!

Good Hunting!!

© 2018 All Rights Reserved.

 

New Competition Season, New Rifle, New Loads: Sneak Peak

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Sneak Peak:

It’s my favorite time of the year again!!  I’ll be doing some powder/ bullet load development for the new rifle to get a good starting load for competition starting this Sunday, report to follow….

Projectiles to be tested are:

Sierra 175 TMK, Berger 185 Juggernaut, Nosler 175 RDF, Hornady 178 A-Max (discontinued)

Powders to be tested are:

IMR4064, Hodgdon  Varget, IMR4895, VVn550

Looking forward to burning some powder and seeing what she likes!!

Sako TRG-22 in .308 Winchester 1:11” twist, 26” bbl Mounted is a Leupold Gold Ring 7-42x56mm competition scope w/ 34mm tube in vortex precision matched rings.

See you at the range!!

2018 © All Rights Reserved.

F Class Competition with Savage Precision Rifle photos with Leupold Gold Ring Scopes

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Shooting regularly, aka burning powder is the only way to close the gap to the winners circle many say. And it needs to be done with focus to maintain the best parts of your shooting skills while working on your weak spots and reloading concerns.

This July we competed with the Savage M12 Palma in .308 Winchester seen at left with a 30 inch barrel with the Leupold VX-6 7- 42 x55mm scope both the rifle and scope are tested. This Leupold VX-6 is just unbelievable! To the right is the Savage Ashbury Precision Rifle in 6.5 which we tested as well. Search for these rifle articles in the Search Box by Palma and Ashbury. Pictured is Jason Hale – Competitive Editor 

http://www.nhrifleman.com/?s=palma&submit=Search

http://www.nhrifleman.com/2017/05/26/savage-ashbury-precision-rifle-6-5-creedmoor-just-arrived/

 

Good Shooting This Spring! Can’t Wait!

2018 © All Rights Reserved.

Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard 6.5 Creedmoor with Nosler 142g Long Range AccuBond

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On December 8, 2017, it was a cold 40 degrees, cloudy, however, the air was amazingly still. It was “bugging me” that the last test (a few days ago and an earlier article) for 100 yard groups for this Weatherby® Vanguard® Weatherguard® rifle was windy and the 1.75 inch lateral spread may or may not have been caused by wind. The 50 yard group was very tight, around 3/8th of an inch. Accordingly, I had to know if it was the wind or rifle at 100 yards but I had no more Hornady bullets left. The next best thing was my Nosler’s.

I had powder and a some 142 grain Nosler Long Range AccuBonds, so I gave them a close look and loaded some in Nosler Custom Brass for the 6.5 Creedmoor with CCI Benchrest Primers (BR2). This is like the best of the best of the best, some might say.

Research began with a hot long range hunting load using Reloader 15 powder. I loaded 36.5 grains at a COL of 2.801 inches and 81% load density volume. The Nosler Manual tested a muzzle velocity (MV) of 2635 fps with a 24 inch barrel. Not super fast for sure, ,low recoil, but with a ballistic coefficient (BC) of over 0.7 (G1)  it didn’t have to be so fast because most spitzer bullets have much lower BC’s and lose velocity rapidly due to increased air friction.

Most technical folks like to talk about killing energy for deer at around 1000 ft-lbs energy. This round can kill a deer at 725 yards (1000 ft-lbs at 1785 fps per JBM Calculations) if you know the distance, wind, altitude etc. and the shooter can stay within a  3 to 4 inch kill radius and the bullet can shoot an MOA or better at 100 yards.

Target #1 below at 100 yards with 1.25 inch group. Yes, the first shot was from a cold shooter, me and a cold barrel.

Target #2 was shot 5 minutes later than Target #1 resulting in a 9/16 inch group.

Ok, so the average of the 2 groups are 0.9 inches. The bottom line is that this Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard rifle shoots sub-MOA with this load, bullet, COL and powder.

Accordingly,  this would be a great cartridge and load on an elk out to where energy crosses 1500 ft-lbs (2200 fps) more or less, which is about 350 yards. Most experienced hunters stay within their capability with is often around 300 yards or less unless you practice at those longer ranges in field conditions and use a rangefinder.

The Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard has a high Monte Carlo stock to align my eye with the scope and does not punish me as it has a very forgiving recoil pad with the 6.5 Creedmoor.

A match made in a hunters heaven. All I can say is, go buy this rifle for Christmas and give Nosler LRAB’s a try!!

Good Hunting! Practice, Practice Practice.

© 2017 All Rights Reserved