New Kimber Open Country 6.5 Creedmoor

[taliv]

i guess that's the difference between MT and TN. i don't recall ever shooting in a wind here that would push my bullet 1" at 100 yrds lol and if i did i'd prob just turn and shoot with it instead of across it

now, i have had wind move my target while i was shooting at it. that gets annoying fast

 

[MCMXI]

@taliv, it's probably shooter error or a combination of both wind and error. I'm shooting six groups without a suppressor now.

 

[MCMXI]

I took off the Omega and shot a 5-shot group using the 147gr load to check the POI shift without the suppressor and was expecting more of a difference. The group only shifted left about 1".

 

[Gtscotty]

i guess that's the difference between MT and TN. i don't recall ever shooting in a wind here that would push my bullet 1" at 100 yrds lol and if i did i'd prob just turn and shoot with it instead of across it

Happens all the time in Wy, plus my range faces north, and the prevailing winds blow out of the West. Can't exactly start shooting any other direction than downrange without getting other shooters excited.

 

[MCMXI]

Here are the five 5-shot groups using the 147gr load with just the thread protector installed.

Added in edit - I processed the six groups shot this morning with the thread protector installed i.e. no suppressor and the results are as follows:

.757 moa (zero group)
1.198 moa
.904 moa
.620 moa
.741 moa
.901 moa

The LabRadar velocity data for the last 25 shots is attached.



So at this point I've shot 32 5-shot groups using four kinds of factory ammunition.

AVG for all 32 groups is .859 moa
HI: 1.262 moa
LO: .481 moa
SD: .177 moa

 

[MCMXI]

Happens all the time in Wy, plus my range faces north, and the prevailing winds blow out of the West. Can't exactly start shooting any other direction than downrange without getting other shooters excited.

The 100 yard target at my house is just about due east of my bench. Not only does the sun rise right behind the target, I'm on a hill top on the side of a valley so the wind gets funneled across my property on a regular basis, either from the south west (mostly) or north east. This time of year it's calm from 5:00am to 9:00am right when I start shooting but then the wind picks up as the ground warms up. I try to be considerate so don't shoot until after 9:00am.

 

[Nature Boy]

Those groups seem to be tightening up.

Looking forward to what your tailored loads look like in comparison

 

[MCMXI]

Looking forward to what your tailored loads look like in comparison

I'm not going to put much work into load development for this rifle. I'll try the load I use in my AI but that's about it. I'll shoot 5 rounds using once fired Hornady brass that I've generated with this rifle and see if it's even close. If it looks promising I might shoot five 5-shot groups to be thorough. My AI has a 24" Bartlein barrel on it and the Open Country has a 24" barrel too so maybe the load will work out.

 

[rayatphonix]

You might want to try a box or two of Prime Ammo. Norma components and sold out of Colorado. I'm having better luck with that than any of the Hornady offerings I've tried.

 

[Nature Boy]

I'm not going to put much work into load development for this rifle.

I'm curious. Why not?

I know it's a hunting rifle but I do load development on all of mine for no other reason than I can and it's fun

 

[Gtscotty]

I'm curious. Why not?

I know it's a hunting rifle but I do load development on all of mine for no other reason than I can and it's fun

I'm going to guess that since he has to ask before using different silencers on it, it's not his gun. I can understand not wanting to sink a bunch of time and money in load development costs into something you're going to wind up giving back.

 

[murf]

mcmxi,

if you are having problems with the wind, you can publish both vertical and horizontal dispersion numbers with the overall group size. if your groups are normally uniformly round, the vertical dispersion number could better represent the true group size when the wind kicks up.

luck,

murf

 

[MCMXI]

I'm curious. Why not?

I know it's a hunting rifle but I do load development on all of mine for no other reason than I can and it's fun

@Gtscotty was close. The rifle is a loaner and it's going back once I've finished with testing. I had to ask permission to use the SilencerCo Omega because it belongs to a coworker who's had it in my safe for almost a year. She has a Harvester too but hasn't initiated the Form 4 process yet ... go figure. I would have liked to use the Harvester being that it's very light but she didn't order a 5/8-24 adapter for it.

I have an AI AW with .308 Win and 6.5 CM barrels but that rifle weighs around 15lb without a scope. This rifle weighs less than 7 lb without a scope and it would make a great coyote, antelope and deer rifle. If I wanted a multi-purpose 6.5 CM rifle this Open Country would be on my short list. The Ruger LRP is a great rifle but at a published weight of 10.7 lb it's 3.75 lb heavier (55% heavier) than the Open Country so for me it's not as ideally suited to hunting.