Good day out past 700y

[Guest richness]

Right click on vid. Select "watch on youtube". Then you can see all the others too

[Guest richness]

Right click on vid. Select "watch on youtube". Then you can see all the others too

 

You can really see how quiet the DM80s are on the 17rem and my 204 too

[Guest richness]

Well i was out on my own today with my new RPA 204. It's a Quadlite with PAcnor 3groove 1/12 22.5" heavy fluted. DM80 20-cal Mk3. IOR 4-28 on a 3rd Eye picattiny base. Macmillan sako varmint stock (thanks 17rem)

Last time i was out up on high ground i was with Nightforce with his 6.5x47 RPA. The wind was fickle and I was having one of those constantly-missing-by-a-click days. Well today was the opposite. I had Lady Luck in my corner and I could do no wrong with my reading of the wind and I shot 76 bullets of which less than a half dozen were misses. All sub 450y mind you but it was mighty windy. The rifle was superb but I was just having one of those rare magic days where everything goes perfectly.

I have glued a holder for two bullets on the side of the stock so i can single-feed nice and quickly without breaking the sight picture. Which worked perfectly as i shot three rabbits in a row sitting right next to each other. 330y 3moawind. pop. pop. pop. That doesn't happen very often.... Then that happened again later on at 376. And a 410y 1st shot that needed 7moa....Then switch right to a different angle and 355y with 5.5moa on etc etc ...i could just do no wrong today.. Everything perfectly judged with no use of the calculator. God today will keep me going on those hard days where the wind makes a fool of me...And doubly satisfying with a new rifle (although I had clicks for drop obviously)

So thanks to 17Rem for as honest a second-hand buy as you could wish for, and to DM80 for such a good moderator and Craig at 3rd Eye for the lovely rail.

 

On a technical note, I compared 40gr Noslers at 3950 today to 40gr Vmax at 3850 and the Noslers were slightly flatter and better in the wind. I haven't put it through the calculator but rest assured in 20cal my go-to bullet is now the Nosler over both Vmax and SBKs. All of which stabilise in my 1/12" Also, either the stiff custom action or the 3groove barrel give me about 150fps+ over same load in previous setup (1/10.5" Archer/Howa action)

[17 Rem]

Nice shooting, Richard. I'm glad that you're getting on so well with the rifle.

[Guest richness]

Nice shooting, Richard. I'm glad that you're getting on so well with the rifle.

 

Thanks, lovely rifle

Back to earth with a bang today, of course

Had no sleep due to new baby, staggered to the shoot and then proceeded to make lots of simple mistakes:

Don't take loads of odds and sods bullets left over from load testing

Don't be careless and lazy cos you were Jedi last time out

Don't change several things at once

etc etc

Essentially the wind was not a problem today but it has proper hot and we were shooting very downhill.

By the time my jaded brain worked out how much to alter clicks for due to the heat, it was cooling off...but there was still the slope issue, and the 3 different speed loads ....

lol i made some good shots out to 500 but i missed a lot today due to these combinations of factors.

So of course it's back to the basics once again: best load, everything dead methodical, only change once thing at once, note down all variables so you can learn from them ...and don't be careless and lazy as you tire through the day.

Highlight was whizzing around at dusk with the 22 semi-auto and smacking many rabbits with Si Si made some lovely shots with the 6.5x47 RL17/140Amax combo but his 17rem half melted; i think a slight summertime load adjustment is overdue;)

[foxing2night]

Thanks, lovely rifle

Back to earth with a bang today, of course

Had no sleep due to new baby, staggered to the shoot and then proceeded to make lots of simple mistakes:

Don't take loads of odds and sods bullets left over from load testing

Don't be careless and lazy cos you were Jedi last time out

Don't change several things at once

etc etc

Essentially the wind was not a problem today but it has proper hot and we were shooting very downhill.

By the time my jaded brain worked out how much to alter clicks for due to the heat, it was cooling off...but there was still the slope issue, and the 3 different speed loads ....

lol i made some good shots out to 500 but i missed a lot today due to these combinations of factors.

So of course it's back to the basics once again: best load, everything dead methodical, only change once thing at once, note down all variables so you can learn from them ...and don't be careless and lazy as you tire through the day.

Highlight was whizzing around at dusk with the 22 semi-auto and smacking many rabbits with Si Si made some lovely shots with the 6.5x47 RL17/140Amax combo but his 17rem half melted; i think a slight summertime load adjustment is overdue;)

Rich we have all been there done that???

 

Did it myself last week at the egg shoot,, went down to the farm on the Sunday to test the zero!!!, the cows were in the field that i normally use, the only place that was open to me was in a bit of a valley and the wind was blowing like a bugger,, elevation was ok but my wind age was out by quite a bit (or so i thought), no wind were i was lying but there was a little bit were the target was,, you guessed it i altered my wind age to suit????.

 

100 yard target at the diggle was slightly off even though i allowed for the wind from a right hand 90deg angle,,

and the first shot still went right???,, brain now on overload???

300 yard target elevation was a tad low but the windage that i dialed in for the conditions, took my bullet out by two inches???,, in the end i ended up with a bit of left in, in a right handed wind?????

 

And yes it did knock me down a peg or two!!!!!

 

I know what you are saying,, get it right and then leave it alone????

 

All the best,, Darrel

[lambsey]

Nice write up guys. those 6.5x47 are awesome!!!

[Ronin]

Ive not shot my 6.5x47 for a couple of months, this post has given me impetus to get it out and stretch its legs.

 

 

The 123g scenars are the way forward for my rifle, although I would like to try some 130g Norma bullets.

[foxing2night]

Yes it is a fantastic round !!!!

 

I fancy trying re17 with 140 vmax???

 

Si has had good results on some long range bunnies,,,

 

got some re17 just need some 140 amax or vmax and then go and have a play,,,,

 

Darrel

[Guest richness]

Thanks gents Yes the Rl17/140gr Amax load is whre we have settled. The 123gr Scenar load is madly accurate but the 140gr Amax are the ones ballistically if you can get them going over 2800fps, which you can with the greatest of ease with rl17. (i'm getting 2930 from 29" and si's barnard is giving 2900 from 26"!)

 

Anyway, latest shooting update from me is that yesterday i learnt an interesteing lesson in reading the wind.

We set up on a haystack with safe shots out to about 350. Fairly close as my mate with his 223 is fairly new to this. Pigeons were flying in at 250-300. There was a 15mph wind 9o'clock wind at the shooters. We dialled in our 3mins for my 20cal and 4 for the 223. And missed right. Long story short, the steady 15mph wind on our faces was tricking us as there was almost NO windage required only 250y away. You live and learn and what i learnt is: wherever you are shooting and however steady the wind seems to be at the firing line, always check how hard it is blowing at the TARGET and along the way as best you can.

Obvious, i know. But it tricked me for sure and now i'll double-check, even at close range like that.

Also, i noted the amount by which i needed to remove elevation due to 27degree weather, when it reduced and by how mcuh and when it returned to normal. It seems that whenever the weather is above about 20degrees, i need to be thinking about signifsicant changes. Along the lines of 1moa less at 400y at 27degrees, that neck of the woods, reducing to a half min as it cools towards 20/22 and then below 19ish it seems to be about normal again. This is in my 20cal with rl15. Primers very clearly more flattened above 20degrees, too. Be intereseting to compare the 6.5x47 with rl17 but haven't yet.

[Guest richness]

Next trip out was different. We started by batching some winchester subs and then testing them to see how they went (differing rim thicknesses, this is) This is in Si's CZ 452 and my RFM 10/22 with Green Mountain barrel. It turned out that this batch of WWs (which was, pleasingly for my auto, very much less waxy than normal) went best when we culled the extreme long ones. Last batch i had, my rifle didn't like the short ones. Anyway, good fun and i'll now stick to this batch until the RFD runs out, when i'll retest.

We then went on with my 204 and si's 6.5x47 and frankly struggled to see anything in the long grass. The only place we had an angle was 388y and 615-634y The wind was at about 5 or 6 o'clock which was tricky. Si smacked a rabbit at 634y cold bore, first shot with the 6.5. 140gr Amax/RL17. Subloodyperb

I felt the wind out along the hedgeline at 388y in a bit of sand, then got a 388y rabbit and then a 388y headshot (all i could see above the grass- i can't wait til it's all cut) but then nothing more came out and I thought about moving. Si had left as he was in a hurry and decided to retire after his excellent shot. The farmer arrived and got on the spotter and we tried to steer me in on some that popped up at 566y. I got the elevation sorted quick enough but the wind was unreadable down there and I felt i was just punting and I don't like that.

I moved to the spot where Si and I had earlier teseted the 22s and saw that there were targets from 80 to 210y. Weather was bad so i hunkered down. 15mph dead steady from 1 o'clock. I was a little miffed at having wasted a dozen rounds messing on at 566y so i thought i'd just try to shoot fast and smooth and Jedi on some simple work at these close sub 210y rabbits. Well i'm delighted to say that i got 25from25. Of course it sounds simple, but the wind started gusting towards the end as i started to run out of bullets and the pressure from the killstreak was on....Anyway i finished on a 160y rabbit that was about to bolt and it was one of those ones where you have no time to think and yet you don't stop observing...He needed another couple of inches, i felt, right at the last moment so i held off (in addition to 1.75moa IIRC) and wallop.

Really pleasing just to go back to basics and get it all right. Great fun day. I miss my 6.5 which i won't have a scope on for another month but the 204 is great fun as always.

[foxing2night]

Always nice to read a good honest report, with so much info, on misses and hits,, i always think that i learn more from my misses some times,, and that some wind conditions it feels like we are in the lap of the gods???,

 

The ones that i don't like are the one were you get shot unseen.. wast of a bullet,,

 

I also like the way that you and Si put your moa in that you have used for the shot

Having a 6.5x47 myself i can relate to it,, if that makes sense??,

 

I have got some re17 and should be ready to try it out very soon,,,,

Very hot here today but it has just started raining

 

One thing that i do not do is load develop in the winter, i try and do it on a fairly hot day as that should be max pressure for the rest of the year with a bit of luck,,,

 

I have got some hot weather calculations if they would be of any use to you???

Very interesting is the fact, that as you have said, at 25c my charts do start to give the different moa adjustments,,,,

 

In the past i have just knocked a few clicks of it the very hot summer days???,, did work but not as good as my propper charts

 

This is my mates place were we have got gongs from 495 left just out of the pic to 810 panning right,,, 550 600 741 in the middle

 

Pic of my 6.5x47

now with the big shmdt on it!!!!!

Keep up the good work,,, Darrel

[Guest richness]

Sweet spot mate!!! Nice And a nice rig too - damn...and those S&B 12-50s are as good as it gets IMO (if you can find one)

WRT the minutes..lol I never thought about it but you're right - MOA is the bottom line when it comes to describing the wind, really I suppose

I see what you mean about the load development in the summer. I do most in the winter but what I am now going to do is retest my loads on hot days over the chrony to see how much gr i need to lower to get the same speeds. I can see why the American shooters go on about it. Imagine a -20 winter and a +35 summer with the same load!!

Shots unseen are the bane of the little 17. 204 not quite so bad but it is so frustrating isn't it? AND you always imagine the worse and think you've missed by a foot

As for the wind making us feel we're in the lap of the gods...lol damn straight; nobody who has ever shot anything past 50y would argue with that mate But that's the challenge and one of the reasons we all head out again the next week trying to do a bit better

Warmest regards, Richard

[Guest richness]

Well, we had a bit of an epic the other day

Si and i arranged to meet up in the evening, shoot right through til dawn, back to his folks' van nearby, have some JD and a curry and sleep til noon. Then out to the hill to chill and clean the guns. Which all worked perfectly!

I arrived first and proceeded to a wall overlooking a little valley. Rabbits from 35-350y. I was meaning to flex the new 17fireball.

Well before i'd hardly got into the field, i was smacking rabbits out of the window with the Furball, exactly as nature intended (as it was to be a truck-gun HMR replacement) By the time Si arrived an hour later, i was up at 30 rabbits, mostly with the FB but some with the rimmy, with only 2 misses. Furthest at this point was a point and squeeze 200y with the furball.

Si comes along and gets on the top of the Hilux and starts peeling them off with his 17Rem. He's quick with it; no dialling - anything out to 350y and it's dead in 5seconds.

He brought a clicker so we caught it up and very quickly hit 50.

We lined up on the furthest warren at 350y and i got my furthest hold-over shot with the fireball at 344 Si was just smacking them all with the 17Rem. Winds were 8mph 11:00 but we quickly realised that the wall was channeling it and actually there was barely a kiss at 350y so we were flying!

As dusk fell, Maxi arrived to test his add-on NV (NVIS system sic?) with my 4-28 IOR. Well he was delighted and said it is by far the best scope for NV he's seen (now for him to find one, poor lad...)

By now, Si's nicked my new Cluson Sl2 on my RFM 10/22 with 3-12 S&B and short pistol grip stock and he's walked off behind us with a pocketful of mags! He comes back an hour later with a big bag of rabbits and a broad broad smile. All Maxi and I heard whilst we were on the truck testing the NV was Phh, SMACK, phh, SMACK lol

It's midnight now and i haven't taken a breath for 6hours. Maxi leaves, delighted with his NV results (me too as i shot my first total-darkness rabbit at about 250y with the 20cal)

I put the RPA away and concentrate on the rimmy. The 17Fireball burnt through its 31 rounds hours ago and that is unfortunately in the boot tucked up and needing feeding, having been nothing short of devastating sub 350 all night, even with a little 3-9x50 on)

Si and i load up the Hilux and drive around for a bit longer, smacking rabits out of the window phut phut phut with the 22 auto. We gut them all, ending up with £40 from the game dealer the next afternoon. Total on the clicker 103 before we stopped counting in the confusion.

It was so manic that my eyes were stinging. Or was that the JD afrwards.... Good times God bless the summer nights

[foxing2night]

Well, we had a bit of an epic the other day

Si and i arranged to meet up in the evening, shoot right through til dawn, back to his folks' van nearby, have some JD and a curry and sleep til noon. Then out to the hill to chill and clean the guns. Which all worked perfectly!

I arrived first and proceeded to a wall overlooking a little valley. Rabbits from 35-350y. I was meaning to flex the new 17fireball.

Well before i'd hardly got into the field, i was smacking rabbits out of the window with the Furball, exactly as nature intended (as it was to be a truck-gun HMR replacement) By the time Si arrived an hour later, i was up at 30 rabbits, mostly with the FB but some with the rimmy, with only 2 misses. Furthest at this point was a point and squeeze 200y with the furball.

Si comes along and gets on the top of the Hilux and starts peeling them off with his 17Rem. He's quick with it; no dialling - anything out to 350y and it's dead in 5seconds.

He brought a clicker so we caught it up and very quickly hit 50.

We lined up on the furthest warren at 350y and i got my furthest hold-over shot with the fireball at 344 Si was just smacking them all with the 17Rem. Winds were 8mph 11:00 but we quickly realised that the wall was channeling it and actually there was barely a kiss at 350y so we were flying!

As dusk fell, Maxi arrived to test his add-on NV (NVIS system sic?) with my 4-28 IOR. Well he was delighted and said it is by far the best scope for NV he's seen (now for him to find one, poor lad...)

By now, Si's nicked my new Cluson Sl2 on my RFM 10/22 with 3-12 S&B and short pistol grip stock and he's walked off behind us with a pocketful of mags! He comes back an hour later with a big bag of rabbits and a broad broad smile. All Maxi and I heard whilst we were on the truck testing the NV was Phh, SMACK, phh, SMACK lol

It's midnight now and i haven't taken a breath for 6hours. Maxi leaves, delighted with his NV results (me too as i shot my first total-darkness rabbit at about 250y with the 20cal)

I put the RPA away and concentrate on the rimmy. The 17Fireball burnt through its 31 rounds hours ago and that is unfortunately in the boot tucked up and needing feeding, having been nothing short of devastating sub 350 all night, even with a little 3-9x50 on)

Si and i load up the Hilux and drive around for a bit longer, smacking rabits out of the window phut phut phut with the 22 auto. We gut them all, ending up with £40 from the game dealer the next afternoon. Total on the clicker 103 before we stopped counting in the confusion.

It was so manic that my eyes were stinging. Or was that the JD afrwards.... Good times God bless the summer nights

Good write up Ritch,, We were out on monday evening, just to pop a few long rabbits???

 

If my mate gets the pics up on the sight i will tell you what went on???

 

All the best, Darrel

[TonyH]

Well, we had a bit of an epic the other day ................................... Good times God bless the summer nights

 

I really enjoyed reading this, made the action come alive - well done for that big score. Didn't understand one bit: you talked about it being midnight, then getting your first near-total-dark hit with the 20 cal. I know what difference your northern latitude makes (spent 3 years in the NE), but surely you can't see rabbits at midnight?! In the past week I've shot two at 10.10, just able to see the dot reticle on my 4X scope on the .22 (a plain fine crosshair would have been invisible) - last night I stayed resting on a gate waiting for a couple to re-emerge from the hedge, until I just couldn't see, and that was at 10.15... (bit cloudy last night, with a clear sky I'd have stretched it a few more minutes).

Tony

[Guest richness]

I really enjoyed reading this, made the action come alive - well done for that big score. Didn't understand one bit: you talked about it being midnight, then getting your first near-total-dark hit with the 20 cal. I know what difference your northern latitude makes (spent 3 years in the NE), but surely you can't see rabbits at midnight?! In the past week I've shot two at 10.10, just able to see the dot reticle on my 4X scope on the .22 (a plain fine crosshair would have been invisible) - last night I stayed resting on a gate waiting for a couple to re-emerge from the hedge, until I just couldn't see, and that was at 10.15... (bit cloudy last night, with a clear sky I'd have stretched it a few more minutes).

Tony

 

Thank v much

No, not near total dark. NV in total dark. We were testing Maxi's NV add-on on my 204's IOR, so I used that once it was fully dark to shoot a 250y rabbit

[TonyH]

Thank v much

No, not near total dark. NV in total dark. We were testing Maxi's NV add-on on my 204's IOR, so I used that once it was fully dark to shoot a 250y rabbit

Ah, thanks. Should also have mentioned your success with the .17 Fireball adds to my interest in this calibre...

Tony

[Si-Snipe]

It truly was a great night bro. Wicked shooting and plenty of fluffy targets.

I'm sorry I got carried away and disappeared with your RF magic .22. It is a little addictive but at least you could hear the impacts to count them on the clicker.

Looking forward to more days like that and some serious lamping with the .22's. I can't believe I didn't even foul the 6.5. It was just too easy with the Rem at those ranges in the predictable wind.

Happy days.

[Guest richness]

Well since my last post, Si has been on 6weeks holiday and has been out shooting about 600 times. I won't speak for him exactly (makes a change!) but he has shot a LOT of rabbits on the shoot. Like 1000. He's been a good boy and has been putting them into the food chain and has actually bought himself 4 new tyres with the proceeds! Brilliant.

He has also been making big strides as he gets to know his 6.5 We have both been doing a lot with the small cals here and there and they account for a lot of head of vermin but the big guns are well.... where it's at

But unfortunately I've been standing still on that front for 2 months+. I wanted to put a bigger rail on the 6.5, knackered the threads getting the old one off like a total pillock and have since been arsing around trying to get that sorted and i've also half bought a new stock and then gone skint.....Plus baby duties, mountainbiking etc and i hadn't been on the moors for a good while, until yesterday. Things finally lined up and we all met up

Si has recently got a VERY long rabbit at 888y IIRC and that is way too close to my 962y for my liking, so the competition is on to beat him to the big 1k. So i'm taking steps to get the 6.5 sorted sharpish. Then i'm going to fine tune my 140gr amax load so it is absolutely as accurate as I can possible make it.

It's worth doing every so often, certainly every new batch of bullets and powder, and as the throat wears. So it's plus and minus 5thou and half a grain. Test that all out at 300 or 400 and rock n roll for the autumn.

The 20 is just sorted. I had stupidly rotated my crosshair a little during my time off without rezeroing so i was a bit out yesterday and had to experiment a bit to get going. But i didn't mind as i was just enjoying the consistency of the thing, shooting 500y stones. I changed all my old brass on my last outing (probably 10x fired, 3x annealed) as i wanted a fresh start...and what a difference it made. The groups were just getting a little raggedy and the new brass just halved it...blimey when the brass goes off it makes such a difference... Anyway the 204 was putting a smiley face on this rock at 510y and i just made me think again how amazing these modern rifles are. I was also totally smitten all over again with my 4-28 40mm IOR and the Zeiss PRF rangefinder pinged a 1286y rock face through a full rain storm with a shaking one-handed grip!

So it was absolutely great to get back out and the next you hear from me will be news of the newly resurrected, restocked, re-railed and fine-tuned 6.5x47 shooting my favourite load of 140gr Amax over RL17.

[Guest richness]

Out again today and trying out the wonderful B&C tactical stock in green fleck that is intended for my 6.5. 6.5 not back from having the rail problem sorted so I couldn't resist sticking the little furball in it and going out to try it out. Also had the RPA 204 with me and some very very handy 40gr Nosler loads in shiny new Norma brass

I was on my own today and took the opportunity to really concentrate on correlating my figures in the FTE Ballistics Iphone app with the real-world empirical figures I had already, and could observe today.

To start at the beginning, the little fireball was just great again and even with the little 3-9 scope it smacked almost everything I pointed it at below 300y, including some very pleasing rapid successive shots. I didn't dial, just doped the wind and sent it Great fun and the stock was so good I immediately forgot it was there, which is a very good sign. I shoot thumb up and this is a very good stock for that.

So I cleaned up a couple of dozen rabbits on either side of the track as I was driving gradually through the shoot to my main sniping point. I normally bowl through to the main bit but today I took my time and although there seemed little sport, by just gently glassing the area I was able to get a new shot every couple of minutes. Winds were reasonable for the 1200ft+ elevation at 10-15mph fairly steady

On i went to the main hill for me today which is an outcrop on one side of a big valley, about 350y across. It's slightly below the summit which hides you from the wind so it is difficult to read properly but i'm pretty used to it there and knew which angles on the other valley face did what, eg over to the left of centre, there is a big warren and cut outs in the land at 405-420y but the wind blows you down a click or two there...

Anyway, the sun came out beautifully and the wind gradually cranked up over the 20mph mark. I experimented with the pressure and temp etc etc in the FTE app and found that it was doing an even better job then my previous ballistics apps at giving me accurate wind correction figures.

I did a bit of testing on some stones at 460y and the RPA was shooting so sweet...

Rabbits were popping up at 300, 330, 400, 410, and with a bit of help from the app, and being careful to note any wind direction changes (even half an hour of angle made whole minutes of difference to POI) i was able to make some great shots and I never felt the rifle was just making lucky pot shots (which doesn't float my boat at all) Whilst the range was well within my max for this cal, the wind was very high. I was able, however, to up my record for the most MOA windage on a shot at any range from 7MOA to 8.75! It was towards the end of the day and I had made a lot of shots in the same place at 415y with 6.5moa on when some slightly further, and quite a bit more into the wind, shots appeared. I misjudged the first one at 460y, missing a couple of inches to the right due to too much wind correction (7.75IIRC) and then another popped up a little further out. Using the data from that similarly angled shot, I corrected my angle of wind in the app, redialled 8.75moa as directed and sent it. One shot, one 478y rabbit stone dead with what, about 40inches of wind on...

I'd barely missed a half dozen all day and now can'e stop smiling

Sometimes it just feels like all the testing, all the loading, all the care and all the practice just pays you back in one great day I bet I have a nightmare when I get my 6.5 back next week now lol....

[Guest richness]

Well, famous last words. I did indeed have a nightmare when i got my 6.5 back.

Funny how these loads you work so hard on never hang around for too long.

In summary, i had bought 700 Amax 140s as they showed huge potential and we could get them well over 2900 no probs with RL17. Initial tests with previous batch showed about half minute accuracy, which I thought I could tune down, and Si had been shooting them to great success in the field for a while while my gun was out of action.

So i finally get the rifle back together, plug the new stock in, grab the new amax load and off I go, thinking that i only need to fine tune and I'm cool.

Results at 300y awful. Longer seating - Average. Shorter seating - worse. More powder...no....These are just not shooting any more!

 

Because i had changed the stock, rail, primer batch etc...I proceed to pull my hair out and double-check everything. I bed the stock fully as the recoil lug was sloppin around in there like a rude metaphor, i check for a carbon ring, etc etc etc

After months without my long range rifle, this is not how I had imagined its return

After spending far too long giving the new batch of 140 amax the benefit of the doubt, I switch to 120 Noslers. I was of course tempted to go back to the superlative 123gr Scenarss but we had left them as we needed more expansion.

The 120gr Noslers arrive and immediately show the sort of load development progression that I hoped to see and then within 60 shots of length and powder testing, I'm starting to get some very nice and repeatable cloverleafs at 235y, which is always what i want to see in a rifle before trusting it fully. It also seems not to be madly sensitive to a few thou of seating variation or a couple of tenths of powder. Marvellous.

But 200 shots and a dozen trips to the range under maximum stress conditions! Full payback for my excellent day with the 20 recently. It is definitely a hard game.

[Guest richness]

So i recently took the new 120gr Nosler/RL17 6.5x47 load to the hill and had a settling-into-a-new-load session. I wanted to check the BC was right (I knew my fps was 3075) and to get a feel for the bullet flight, and importantly to check the knock-down on these rabbits.

The wind was a nightmare and visibility poor. I could only see about 500y and picking out targets was tricky and eye-straining. The wind was up and down from 8-20mph and a total nightmare to keep track of.

I was pleased again with my FTE ballistics app as it gave me spot-on windage figures for a 380y rabbit just the other side of the valley. The windmeter gave me the wind - I checked the wind for the high and the low and took a note of how they felt when in the shooting position. I decided the wind was steadier on the high wind so i would wait for that. I plugged that figure into the app and worked out what I needed, waited for the wind to match that...and sent it. The rabbit was smacked back, having been hit in the middle. It was interesting: not exploded like an Amax, just smacked back, like these deer heads go in an inch then blow out a bit, really transferring the energy to the target. Anyway, it exhibited more than enough early expansion to kill rabbits most cleanly.

Now i was interested in more shots to get a feel for the on-the-ground accuracy of the load at longer ranges

Throughout the day, the wind steadied a shade and the light improved and i was able to get dialled in a bit better and start to reach out. The app was spot on with a BC of G1 .470 and a speed of 3075in so that was cool. Once again the Noslers coming out a shade better BC-wise than advertised.

I misjudged the wind a few times by a single click and watched the bullet sail past the rabbits' noses, but i was happy enough as i was getting the feeling that the load was going consistently where it should. Once i started to relax and really trust the accuracy of the load, i made some pleasing kills. Half a dozed at 400-475 which was cool, including a 475y that is in such a tricky location for the wind (in the crease of the valley/trench Si) where i had missed by a click a couple of times. A sweet 510 where i watched it arc all the way in and then to top it all off, 2from2 by a huge stone at 620 with 5moa on.

Tomorrow AM, we're back out and no doubt si will have the video camera with him, so look out for another update and some vids on bigsigh66 weather-permitting. We're keen to go to our long range spot where we can get out to 1000y so I've got my fingers crossed for good light and steady winds

[Si-Snipe]

Half a dozed at 400-475 which was cool, including a 475y that is in such a tricky location for the wind (in the crease of the valley/trench Si)

 

We have spent some hours on that hill and the fact that brief description of the shot location makes complete sense to me proves this.

[Guest richness]

Couldn't go to the big shoot today so i went to old shoot on the coast. It's normally a matter of driving round to show my face, maybe get a single crazy long shot off and that's your lot. Yet sometimes I have a great day there so it's always worth a look. Plus it is the most incredibly beautiful location and just driving across the land is stress-relief.

So it is the brightest, sunniest day you could ever hope for, with not the merest breath of wind. And very little sport. No change there methinks, until I spot a 499y pair of crows. For once it is in a safe location so I get my kit out and they fly off! D'oh! But then I spot another further along the valley at 495y. Now i've only got the 204 today (RPA 204R/Pacnor Norma/BR4/Nosler40gr/ IOR 4-28) and whilst it has been absolutely humming of late, a 500y cold bore shot is a bit of an ask...So i line it up, enter my clicks from previous testing and send it. The rest is perfect, the light perfect... I just see it go through his neck and he hangs upside down, dead.

Worth driving out just for that

I later sat on some bails and as there was nothing at all happening any closer, I lined up on a 590y rook that was only just visible. I didn't have clicks though and it was an educated guess between my clicks from 550 and 625 and also what the calculator was saying. I sent the shot and watched it fall just at his feet. Immediately a magpie flies into the same spot and I add a couple of clicks and it hits a branch minutely low. I curse myself for not simply holding off but oh well, at least i know my clicks for 590y now i say to myself. Until half an hour later the magpie comes back and i send the third shot! This one skims his neck and he flaps a yard or two then falls. 590 is a hell of a long way for a 20 and that pleased me no end. I would have been happy for sure with either but two long shots in the sunshine...lovely! Since I switched to those Noslers and also replaced my old brass with new Norma, that rifle has been just so consistent; I've had a couple of my all-time best days with that rifle this year (as reported earlier in this thread)

I missed three in a row high with the Fireball but that was due to my recent rezeroing (after a scope change) being a little generous for elevation, so I corrected that and then smacked a 180y rabbit with the POI now feeling better, so i'm happy with that little bit of progress too.

So a quiet, windy and difficult piece of land really played along today. The annoying thing was having to leave just as I discovered FOUR magpies playing along the hedgeline near the farm. Oh well, another time, I suppose. I'll have to bait them down though as 95% of the potential shots on this land are unsafe due to the lay of the land so it can be frustrating; I was just lucky today to be in the right place at the right time.