What did you do at the range today?

I'll take the annoying, loud rifle over the unsafe, nut jobs that appear in open to the public ranges. I'll take the SBR over the guy that parks next to me with the 338 lapua and a giant brake. My whole brain shakes every time he pulls the trigger. At public ranges you end up with the guy who sets his target on the side berm next to his car and starts shooting in the direction of the next bay, or the guy who sets his target and then shoots about 10 yards in front of the normal firing line, or the guy who has to walk down the range every other shot to check his impact at 200 yards because he doesn't have a spotting scope, etc.
 
I tested my 243 Tikka with 5 different inexpensive factory SP loads. All of them shot about 1-1.5 MOA except the Core-lokt ammo which shot 3 MOA & was 100fps slower than I expected based upon the other 4.

I also tested my 108g Eldx hand loads. I shot 4 shots into a 1" square box. I am looking forward to seeing if I can get to 2,900fps out of a 20" barrel.
 
I've been burning through 9mm the past couple months and will be going through another 400 rounds of it on Wednesday. I plan to do the first shots through my Springfield Kuna and to put some more rounds through my Sig P211 to get its round count to 1,000.
 
Getting ready for my first trip to Africa in June and swapped over to the new 170gr Barnes ttsx for my 7prc. Cold bore shot at 500… I think it’ll do!
Averaging 2.8” groups at 500 out of my Weatherby Alpine CT.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0416.jpeg
    IMG_0416.jpeg
    345.8 KB · Views: 18
Took my new tikka 6.5 prc out today with 143 eldx, 147 eldm and 156 eol’s my 24” factory t3x lite was about 100fps less on each box of ammo which I’m not to worried about because it’s new and I hand load, however the best group I could get out of this ammo was 1.33” for 4 shot groups, i degreased the gun before I took it out, including the action bolts and re torqued everything so I’m kinda worried. This is my first tikka but I have serval customs and I don’t know if I’m asking too much
 
Confirmed zero on my 7PRC for the upcoming bear season. Gun shoots lights out as usual.

Shot the .223 trainer on steel 200-600 yards with first shot impacts using hold overs. Did a 21 dot drill that revealed some weak points in my shooting off a tripod. I ran about 80 rounds through the rifle if I include some zeroing and groups I shot for the fun of it.

Tested scope rings from Arken on both my trainer and a 7PRC used by a buddy.

Shot my first shots through my new Trijicon Credo HX 2.5-15x42 Needless to say I may finally have a scope I absolutely love.

Helped another buddy with load development and found that the cheap Franklin armory scale does suck. I suspect this resulted in wildly inconsistent velocities and poor group size in a 6 shot group out of a 6.5 PRC.
 
Shot a quick ladder in my 223-ran out of TAC so switched to H4895 because I have a bunch. Also rechecked zero on a couple rifles that were in the trunk of my car and I threw a 50 pound bag of dog food on top of them. Black soft cases in a black trunk, and I usually take my truck to the range but the price of diesel has it parked unless I need it. Tikkas with sportsmatch rings, on SWFA 3-15 and one Credo 2-10x36. No issues, both still right on the money.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have two 22 Creedmoors with thermal scopes that I needed to verify zero with (one shooting 77 TMK and the other 62 ELDVT). Grabbed my plastic ammo boxes and hit the range. First rifle was zeroed in just a few shots. Went to zero the other rifle and when I opened the ammo box, I realized I had grabbed my 6 ARC ammo instead of the 22 Creedmoor.

Didn't have time (nor did I really want to) rush home and grab the other box. I'll hit it again soon!
 
Sighted in some Red Dots. One on a Shadow Systems 9mm and the other on a Ruger Mark 4. Nothing of note other than that I was impressed with the new Vortex Venom 3MOA Enclosed red dot. Shooting it side by side with the Leupold Delta Point Pro (my current favorite) reminds me why I love the bigger window.

The Venom gives off Holosun EPS Carry vibes. It feels cheap but so does every other pistol dot in my opinion. I feel it’s a good fit for a pinking .22 like my Mark 4. I wouldn’t say it runs in the same class as the RMR and Acro but it’s a pleasure to shoot with. Zeroing was quick. Vortex provided a handy print out with what each click did at varied distances.

I’m looking forward to shooting more with the Venom. I am sure I’ll be using the warranty but there’s always a chance I’ll be surprised.
 
Post-op checkup today. Doc says all is well and I can resume normal activities, including moderate recoil.

That box of Scheel's bulk packed .22lr showed up, too, about ten minutes before I finished work for the day. I didn't even open the actual box the ammo was in - once I got inside the shipping box, maybe 80 rounds had fell out of the actual ammo box. I just grabbed those and headed for the bench.

@43.6N mentioned it on page 21. I had put both .22lr cans in to clean the baffles this morning. I checked them - one set of baffles was clean, the others had locked together while tumbling and two of the baffles were still terrible. I put those back in and decided to just run a quick test swapping the can with clean baffles between rifles.

First item: I reassembled the can wet, so I ran maybe 20 rounds through it to dry it out, without checking chronograph. Then I fired 30 rounds over the labradar with the 24" cz457. These were all shot at steel at 225 yards. They hit ~3-4moa higher than CCI SV. Not shooting groups, just plinking on a very windy afternoon.

I then swapped the can (Spectre II) over to the 16" barreled 457. Fired 15 rounds over the chrono. Then I switched angles to my 40-yard target and shot a 10-shot group with the 16" at 40 yards. Didn't shift the chronograph to record any further data. Then I switched the can back to the 24" 457 and also fired a ten round group with it at 40 yards.

Chrono data:

Scheel's .22lr chrono data.jpg

Now here's the weird part.

The short barreled 457 10-shot group is on the left of the image below - more or less in the big green 2" dot. The long barreled gun group is on the right.

I've never fired a worse group with the 16" gun. Ever. It normally shoots almost but not quite as well as the other one. It's possible the can was loose. Or maybe it's me. Or maybe the gun doesn't like this ammo. Who knows?

Conversely, the group shown from the 24" gun, high on the right, is one of the better groups it's ever fired. Better than what I'd expect from CCI SV and right in line with what I'd expect from Eley Target, as @43.6N mentioned. That's the most expensive stuff I've ever bought and it generally isn't worth it *to me*.

*shrug*

I'd buy more of this ammo just based on the SD/ES. I wish it was a hair slower. I'll still buy.

The big green dot is 2":
57d1b7f4-9a15-4317-932f-ddef4a8318a5.jpg
 
Post-op checkup today. Doc says all is well and I can resume normal activities, including moderate recoil.

That box of Scheel's bulk packed .22lr showed up, too, about ten minutes before I finished work for the day. I didn't even open the actual box the ammo was in - once I got inside the shipping box, maybe 80 rounds had fell out of the actual ammo box. I just grabbed those and headed for the bench.

@43.6N mentioned it on page 21. I had put both .22lr cans in to clean the baffles this morning. I checked them - one set of baffles was clean, the others had locked together while tumbling and two of the baffles were still terrible. I put those back in and decided to just run a quick test swapping the can with clean baffles between rifles.

First item: I reassembled the can wet, so I ran maybe 20 rounds through it to dry it out, without checking chronograph. Then I fired 30 rounds over the labradar with the 24" cz457. These were all shot at steel at 225 yards. They hit ~3-4moa higher than CCI SV. Not shooting groups, just plinking on a very windy afternoon.

I then swapped the can (Spectre II) over to the 16" barreled 457. Fired 15 rounds over the chrono. Then I switched angles to my 40-yard target and shot a 10-shot group with the 16" at 40 yards. Didn't shift the chronograph to record any further data. Then I switched the can back to the 24" 457 and also fired a ten round group with it at 40 yards.

Chrono data:

View attachment 1049551

Now here's the weird part.

The short barreled 457 10-shot group is on the left of the image below - more or less in the big green 2" dot. The long barreled gun group is on the right.

I've never fired a worse group with the 16" gun. Ever. It normally shoots almost but not quite as well as the other one. It's possible the can was loose. Or maybe it's me. Or maybe the gun doesn't like this ammo. Who knows?

Conversely, the group shown from the 24" gun, high on the right, is one of the better groups it's ever fired. Better than what I'd expect from CCI SV and right in line with what I'd expect from Eley Target, as @43.6N mentioned. That's the most expensive stuff I've ever bought and it generally isn't worth it *to me*.

*shrug*

I'd buy more of this ammo just based on the SD/ES. I wish it was a hair slower. I'll still buy.

The big green dot is 2":
View attachment 1049570
Super interesting the difference between the two guns.
And the 16” measured faster than the 24” if I’m reading your numbers right?

Here’s my gun today shooting Eley target yellow box vs the Federal-Scheels 1902
20” cz457
My chrono velocity matches yours.
50yds
1” squares
IMG_0865.jpegIMG_0866.jpegIMG_0867.jpeg
 
Got out today and did some brass collecting for my dad’s 308win stock roughtech with a reaper on the end. 178eldx propelled by TAC in virgin Starline.

IMG_3584.jpeg

I yanked the shit out of the trigger on the low right one, a good reminder that some times I just suck.

Then shot some 7mm08, had 25 rounds left of virgin brass loaded with 162eldm and Xbr. Shot those up and then confirmed zero with my 162eldm SB 6.5 load. And sent 15 rounds out to 506yds off the pack.

I could tell by the reaction of the steel plate in the scope I was hitting high and dialed down .1 mil and sent another 9. Light wind 1/2 mil wind hold. 6X Swfa.


IMG_3588.jpeg

IMG_3585.jpegIMG_3586.jpegIMG_3592.jpegIMG_3591.jpeg
 
Took the new-to-me Aero M5 straight from the FFL to the range. Threw down 50 rounds of the Midway Lapua overrun 167gr 308. Ammo had pretty solid numbers on the chrono. After more or less sighting in, she put down ~1.5 MOA 10 shot group. Not too shabby considering the LPVO was very low in medium rings and I forgot my rear bag. I was swaying all over the place. Can't wait to get back with a better setup.

PXL_20260408_183849006.jpg
PXL_20260408_184252187.jpg
PXL_20260408_183822994.jpg
 
Back
Top