dubbleA
Member
joed said:
Dont feel to bad. I just recieved this build and it took 5 months just to get the Mike Rock barrel.
USSR said:
Preach it brother!
Just got my stick back from the smith!!
- Thread starter TonyAngel
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Dont feel to bad. I just recieved this build and it took 5 months just to get the Mike Rock barrel.
Preach it brother!
strambo, you're right. $1700 isn't bad for the rig that I wound up with. The only real difference that I perceive between my rifle and a custom built rifle is the action. If I had just gone with a high dollar action, I could have added another $800 or so to the tab. I'm satisfied for now, but still have that BAT action in the back of my mind, but that'll be at least a few months down the road.
At this point, I don't know that the investment is going to be worth it for me. Although I am good at things that I really apply myself too, I'm one of those people that have no natural talent for anything. I have to practice A LOT and keep with it just to be considered good (at my range, anyway). It's more than likely that in the end, going with a custom action won't do me any good, since I probably won't be able to take advantage of the extra .1 or .2" in accuracy I may gain.
I do have high hopes for this rifle though. I mentioned in another thead that a friend of mine had a build very similar to mine and had the same barrel put on this rifle by the same smith with the same chamber. Shooting my handloads through his rifle, his rifle will print one hole groups and I'm not talking about ragged holes. I'm talking it being very hard to tell that five rounds went through the hole. I'm hoping to get out to the range tomorrow to do the breaking in, although I don't know how far I'll get. My barrel is chromoly, so I'm anticipating a bit more break in than I'm used to.
dubbleA, that is one NICE stick. Is that in .308?
coug, yeah, if you want a rifle that you can shoot a lot, but something with some kick to it, a .308 is hard to beat. Before I had my barrel installed, I spent some time with my smith talking about options. When I told him that the rifle was just over two months old and had over 200 rounds through it, he said that .308 was definitely for me. Provided that I don't get crazy with strings of fire, he believes that I should get at least 5000 rounds out of it before I have to have it cut and rechambered. As far as the length goes, get it as long as you can live with. From what I understand, it isn't the rifling that goes so quickly, but the throat. The longer you go with the length, the more times you can have it cut and rechambered, I believe. I went with 22" because I really wanted 20, but the smith advised that I go with 22" so that I can cut it later. Besides, I'm short and like to keep things manageable, although I really don't know how much humping I'm going to be doing with this rifle now. The new barrel is appreciably heavier than the stock barrel was. I'm thinking that I might now need a lighter rig. Maybe I'll sell and AR and get another bolt gun.
At this point, I don't know that the investment is going to be worth it for me. Although I am good at things that I really apply myself too, I'm one of those people that have no natural talent for anything. I have to practice A LOT and keep with it just to be considered good (at my range, anyway). It's more than likely that in the end, going with a custom action won't do me any good, since I probably won't be able to take advantage of the extra .1 or .2" in accuracy I may gain.
I do have high hopes for this rifle though. I mentioned in another thead that a friend of mine had a build very similar to mine and had the same barrel put on this rifle by the same smith with the same chamber. Shooting my handloads through his rifle, his rifle will print one hole groups and I'm not talking about ragged holes. I'm talking it being very hard to tell that five rounds went through the hole. I'm hoping to get out to the range tomorrow to do the breaking in, although I don't know how far I'll get. My barrel is chromoly, so I'm anticipating a bit more break in than I'm used to.
dubbleA, that is one NICE stick. Is that in .308?
coug, yeah, if you want a rifle that you can shoot a lot, but something with some kick to it, a .308 is hard to beat. Before I had my barrel installed, I spent some time with my smith talking about options. When I told him that the rifle was just over two months old and had over 200 rounds through it, he said that .308 was definitely for me. Provided that I don't get crazy with strings of fire, he believes that I should get at least 5000 rounds out of it before I have to have it cut and rechambered. As far as the length goes, get it as long as you can live with. From what I understand, it isn't the rifling that goes so quickly, but the throat. The longer you go with the length, the more times you can have it cut and rechambered, I believe. I went with 22" because I really wanted 20, but the smith advised that I go with 22" so that I can cut it later. Besides, I'm short and like to keep things manageable, although I really don't know how much humping I'm going to be doing with this rifle now. The new barrel is appreciably heavier than the stock barrel was. I'm thinking that I might now need a lighter rig. Maybe I'll sell and AR and get another bolt gun.
OK guys. It's been a while now and I have the rifle up and running. It seems that I've been having issues with the Timney trigger that I got. I just can't get used to that wide trigger. I'm thinking about pulling it and milling the sides down. Anyway, I broke the barrel in a couple of weeks ago and today I got to get out with 100 rounds of ammo. I loaded 50 175gr SMKs with RE15 and 50 with Varget with the charge weights varying from 42gr to 44gr in .5gr increments. Here are the results. They are all 3 shot groups fired at 100 yards. The target diamond is 3/4" across. I was shooting off of a cheap set of Caldwell shooting bags.
Since this was really the first time that I got to take the rifle out and shoot it, I cleaned the rifle when I got to the range, then I cleaned it again after 50 rounds. The first cleaning was a "real" cleaning. The second was just a swabbing. I used a copper solvent to clean and I got no copper. That Krieger barrel is something else. It shoots good. If I can get used to the trigger, I think I can tighten the groups up. There were a couple of really good groups though.
Since this was really the first time that I got to take the rifle out and shoot it, I cleaned the rifle when I got to the range, then I cleaned it again after 50 rounds. The first cleaning was a "real" cleaning. The second was just a swabbing. I used a copper solvent to clean and I got no copper. That Krieger barrel is something else. It shoots good. If I can get used to the trigger, I think I can tighten the groups up. There were a couple of really good groups though.
You got a great shooter there! RL15 does the exact same thing in my .308, I'll get same hole groups with one outside for some reason. Hang a target from my match, and try your luck against the teenage youny lady that is smoking all us guys
I'm not going to do the math, but the average of those groups must be around .3 or .4, that's great! and that's with several different loads! that HAS to make you feel good both about the rifle and the shooter.
You ought to try out JDGray's competition, I'll be shooting for it tomorrow. Essentially you have to shoot a 15 round .3 group for the win now thanks to that great young shooter!
...youre killing me with that .057 right in the bull...
You ought to try out JDGray's competition, I'll be shooting for it tomorrow. Essentially you have to shoot a 15 round .3 group for the win now thanks to that great young shooter!
...youre killing me with that .057 right in the bull...
brandon_mcg
Member
nice guns and nice shooting. i'm wanting to get a nice range set-up and start doing more shooting with my .308. ya'll make me jealous.
kis2, I'm glad that you chimed in. I actually thought about you today. I've resigned myself to not shooting for groups anymore, but just concentrating on hitting the target. I just shot the groups today for load development purposes. Apparently the powder charge is going to have little effect on the load accuracy. I'm going to keep bumping up the charge until I either see pressure signs or accuracy drops. Anyway, I thought about you because I did a little practice shooting at 1/2" circles using nothing but a bipod and my hand at the rear....I don't think I did too badly.
BTW, as for the .05" group, don't sweat that, it was only three rounds, and only goes to show what the rifle is capable of and also goes to show how inconsistent I am as shown by all of the non .05" groups. I'm just glad to see that my 1:12 twist barrel likes the 175gr SMKs. I just ordered another 500 and enough RE15 to load them up.
BTW, as for the .05" group, don't sweat that, it was only three rounds, and only goes to show what the rifle is capable of and also goes to show how inconsistent I am as shown by all of the non .05" groups. I'm just glad to see that my 1:12 twist barrel likes the 175gr SMKs. I just ordered another 500 and enough RE15 to load them up.
I'd say you did really good! Just the hand support isn't so bad once you get the hang of it huh? I think people give up on it too fast sometimes and jump straight to bags. Nothing wrong with bags, but there are merits to knowing how to shoot more than one way IMO. I don't shoot for groups much anymore either, just far away steel, and it certainly works for that.
Quote:
"also goes to show how inconsistent I am as shown by all of the non .05" groups"
Isn't it great when you can associate .4" groups with the word 'inconsistent'? You, sir, have arrived. Congrats.
Quote:
"also goes to show how inconsistent I am as shown by all of the non .05" groups"
Isn't it great when you can associate .4" groups with the word 'inconsistent'?
You, sir, have arrived. Congrats.I don't know that I'd say that I'VE arrived, but I think that the equipment that I've gotten into is running pretty well. One thing is for sure, I think I've settled on the 175gr SMK. My only concern now is the powder that I like to use, being Reloader 15. There are many posts on the internet concerning its sensitivity to temperature, although I haven't seen it yet in the time that I've been using it. As you could see from the pics, I did try Varget AGAIN and I still get higher and more consistent velocities with RE15. I'm gonna take the chrony out next weekend and get some numbers. I'm hoping that my 44gr load will get me close to 2600 fps where I want to be.
Thanks for the compliments guys. I am working to be able to call myself a long distance shooter. I did find a range about an hour and a half from me that has a 600 yard section. I'm going to check it out in a couple of weeks.
Thanks for the compliments guys. I am working to be able to call myself a long distance shooter. I did find a range about an hour and a half from me that has a 600 yard section. I'm going to check it out in a couple of weeks.
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