Gawddammit.
Dunno what I was thinking. I had a half can of CFE 223 that’s been floating around the Reclusium and taking up space, along with some boxes of 55 grain Hornady VMAX boolits for the 223. I loaded up a hundred rounds to screw around with on the range just to get rid of them… aaaand of course the li’l Tupperware Rifle hates them. Off the bench they group just under two inches at 100m and velocities were in the toilet, and standard deviations were stratospheric.
🤬
I should have taken them apart, dumped the powder and reloaded them with something better… but whatever. They’re mostly all gone now. But… I figured I should take a last serious crack at the little VMAX’s I have left. H4895 burns well in my other guns, and I have some good loads worked up for heavier bullets… and it’d be nice to have a good, cheap practice round because they’re readily available and all I’ll do is punch paper with them
I loaded up a test batch going from 23 grains - up to 25 grains in half grain increments. 4895 did better than the CFE223 right out of the gate, all grouping around 1.5” at 100m. Still… not great. The surprise came on the top end at 25 grains - the max book load. Velocity out of the li’l carbine was 2720 FPS and the accuracy was good for a practice round.
I’ll take that.
The little carbine is spun with a 1:8” twist, meant for
heavier projectiles. For these flyweight boolits… that’s okay.
Standard deviation dropped from the mid 30s into
single digits.
I think I have a viable practice load for this bullet. Then I got the No.1 out in 243, and zeroed it too. Last week I chimped out in rage, unhappy with the level on the stadia in the reticles on both rifles. I got so damned mad, I pulled them apart, re-levelled them both and re-zeroed with one shot each.
That’s a Speer 100 grain SPBT, sitting on a dollop
of H4350. Velocity is about 2900 FPS and change. This is
my general purpose/hunting round.
It’s hitting right where I want, but… it’s time to get serious now. I went 4 out of 5 on the 6 inch gong, offhand, twice in a row with my beloved single shot - offhand, shooting off my hind feet at 100m. I can do better but I’ve been spending too much time on the bench with the sand bags instead of practicing my basic marksmanship.
I did the same with the Tupperware gun and decided to go offhand on paper just for chits and giggles.
FFS!!!
🤬
Four went into a respectable 3” group…but I pooped my pants
on that other one and dropped it into the 5 ring!! There’s always gotta be at
least one rotten shot in every batch!
😞
These pics are all at 90 degrees. The four shot group was at 12:00 and the gasser went into the 5 at 3:00. I try to call my shots but when I fired it I just had no idea where that one went. It’s a sign your concentration and trigger control are starting to go… so I just said screw it and packed it in.
For this trip I borrowed a new chronograph from one of my buds - that new fangled Garmin. I gotta tell ya… these things are the BOMB. The menus are super simple and there’s no screwing around with the old shades, or sensor placement or any other buggering around. You just turn it on, start a new session for your strings… and he just sits on the corner of your shooting bench and does his thing.
Sweet!!! 😊👍
If you’re looking for a new chrono… these might be well worth looking at. I know several guys at the range with them and so far there’s been no complaints.
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