Good day out past 700y

[Si-Snipe]

Yes it was rather windy today! Just when you think that its feeling warmer in the lowland areas you are quickly reminded that its still winter when you get on the moors.

Despite a strange elevation issue I experienced and sorted by fiddling with BC figures in Strelok the day was good shooting. Agree on Maxi shooting well with the .204. Its always impressive to see a factory 20 cal Howa smashing first shot hits on rabbits at 460 yards with a 39g bullet.

Always a good day on the hill despite very high wind chill factors. The chats among the shooters allow you to bounce ideas and move forwards with new ideas to trial. Ever in search of more accuracy and improving ones shooting.

Good shooting Rich. I think your load and setup was performig some of the best I've seen.

Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to the spring.

[TonyH]

Great stuff guys, keep the reports coming - it makes me grit my teeth with envy but it makes for damn good reading even just before I hit the sack! Half mile rabbits? And lots of them too? At this time of year? Well, when I lived in those parts ( a long time ago) i didn't have a rifle but I was impressed with the way the local lads were playing footie in their T-shirts by the sea just up the road from my flat in Roker, while I was still wrapped up in several layers... So presumably the Geordie rabbits are similarly tough buggers. I'm in comparatively mild South Devon but i don't see many rabbits at this time of year, even though the last day or two have seen ridiculously high temperatures. I'm off out early tomorrow morning, so we'll see.

Tony

[Si-Snipe]

good luck mate.

[Fergal]

The 6.5X47 seems to be making an impact. I have about 4 of them out there now, I never took it all that seriously until lately. We always test everything before it leaves here which is always standard practice, I never allow anything to leave here unless its doing everything it says on the tin. 100 yards is always a good tester and then its off to the customer. The 6.5X47 has never been an exception and always performed at 100 yards like most calibres should. Ive discovered lately that it has been one my most dynamic calibres and report have proven this to be one the most outstanding calibres that Ive ever let out. It certainly has my vote in terms of ability as a target, hunting and varmint calibre.

[John RPA]

looking forward to seeing how the new one will perform rich,them rabbits better start living at 1500yrds mate

[Guest richness]

The 6.5X47 seems to be making an impact. I have about 4 of them out there now, I never took it all that seriously until lately. We always test everything before it leaves here which is always standard practice, I never allow anything to leave here unless its doing everything it says on the tin. 100 yards is always a good tester and then its off to the customer. The 6.5X47 has never been an exception and always performed at 100 yards like most calibres should. Ive discovered lately that it has been one my most dynamic calibres and report have proven this to be one the most outstanding calibres that Ive ever let out. It certainly has my vote in terms of ability as a target, hunting and varmint calibre.

 

Well there are many cals that will do the job obviously but we have found 6.5x47 to be a very accurate calibre (as in you're trying to tune it from say a worst case .75 down, whereas some guns it's more like 1.5moa down) and the brass is mighty strong and consistent, which is a big thing. You get superlative ballistics for your barrel wear, that's for sure. So I think it's here to stay, even with 260rem now getting better brass.

Its ability as a target, hunting and varmint cal is down really to its range of high-quality bullets - you can run 100gr-140gr and in that weight range there's heads that are quite superlatively accurate like the scenars, then varmint heads that are a great mix of BC and expansion, like 123 or 140 Amax, and then all manner of do it all hunting heads like the 120gr BTs etc.. So you can't go far wrong in a calibre where you throw any load together almost at random and it'll do a half moa and last for 3000rounds

[Guest richness]

looking forward to seeing how the new one will perform rich,them rabbits better start living at 1500yrds mate

 

lol I know John! brand new DCR action, all to my exact specs ( it is so cool that you offer that level of customisation to the client) left port right bolt, long action for the max powder volume, nice mcmillan prone stock, 30" LW in a nice fat profile...slinging .625BC 162 amax (hopefully) at over 3000fps (hopefully) ....I can't wait to have it all built up and get it on the hill. Last time I stepped up that much in BC and weight, I gained about 150 yards of consistent, stable and repeatable bullet flight, and of course it is simply easier to see the splash at longer ranges when using a heavier cal....it's all good God if Dave Kiff doesn't call me back about that reamer soon I'm going to get on a plane and pick it up myself! Speak soon, Rich

[monkeyspanker]

what mod is that in the picture si

[monkeyspanker]

Thanks!

[Guest richness]

I'm not sure of that link mate? But to clarify I'll tell you both our mods. In 6.5x47 I use a PES LMC and Si uses a Third Eye Spartan.

Other than that cal, we use DM80s on everything else

HTH Richard

[Guest richness]

Trip out in low wind with the small cals

 

Today i went up to the moorland shoot on my own, armed with my Fireball and my 204. The fireball I recently bedded into a Hogue stock, as i like them for truck shooting and quick, grippy handling, and fitted a Jewell trigger after i tired of trying to get the X mark pro to where i wanted it. So it is R700 in Hogue. Factory barrel but recrowned and shortened. Elite 4200 1" 6-24x40 mildot. 25gr vmax @ 3730fps. The 204 is my trusty RPA quadlite/pacnor, IOR 4-28 Nosler 40gr @ 3900 rig.

 

Eeery winter we think we've killed off all the rabbits, only to be surprised in the spring. Well, once again, I arrive to a carpet of rabbits and the Fireball had 6/7 out of the window (99-175y) before i even got to the first place i was heading for. When i did get there, I missed a 300y rabbit but I was resting on a stone wall and it wasn't the best mount. A rapid one two three at 200y was great fun though.

I then missed a 142y over the top, and was starting to feel the trigger needed to go up an ounce or two.

Winds at this point are basically zero and i'm seeing this could be a special day.

Carrying on on my loop, i spot a jet black rabbit and 165 and headshoot him carefully through a fence

 

Then carrying on, i keep spotting rabbits left and right of the track and get much easy sport between 100 and 250y as i drive down the track.. Often I can shoot one and its mate won't move, so i have some rapid follow-up fun. I note the 25gr vmax feed much more reliably than the 30gr Bergers I'v tried recently

The Hogue stock (all stiffened with Devcon) is just the ticket for this rifle.

 

As I move along, i spot some rabbits down in a valley at 350y, so i think i'll stretch the fireball's legs a little. I dial in the drop from Strelok on my iphone and send it. To miss by a mile. It turns out now there's a breath of wind on me, and a decent breeze running hidden along the valley floor. I've been tricked by fully two MOA. Sometimes shooting in very light winds is tricky in that there's a huge difference at 350y with a Fireball between 1mph and 4mph but it is just so so hard to feel it when you're laying on the ground.

 

Humbled, i head off to higher ground and the wind gets up a little. Having only a few furball rounds left which i need over the coming days and don't have any heads to make up more, i switch to the 204.

There are rabbits from 300 to 450 and i start shooting at them. The wind at my location now is varying from about 5 o'clock and 6mph and nearly full value 9 o'clock 2 or 4 mph. Plus my targets are spread out 180degrees on the hill, so there's a lot to work out. I do a bit of close missing but then get my act together and get the ballistic app sorted out and start to get some excellent strings of shots together, including 4 first shot kills in a row at more than 400y.

Running out of time and bullets, i finish on a 336y. But I see two mates next to him and manage to get them too before they run off. This is with 1.75moa wind on, so not too bad. Whata great finish to the day! And the third rabbit was my last bullet. Unbelievably, I spot that there is a fourth rabbit right there too! He sits there not running off as I looked at him in the scope... but he got to live for another day

 

A great day of light winds and much sport. I didn't even get rained on. Pretty good shooting but light winds can often trick you as much as high winds. All in all, great sport, great fun.

 

Soon I'll have my 284 out on the hill, slinging nice slippery 162gr Amax, plus i'm testing 20gr vmax in the fireball.

Cheers