NF1E

Just finished brass prep, weight sorting and priming of 150 6.5 Creedmoor Lapua SR primed cases. Will be loading 140 gn Berger Hybrid Target bullets over 39.5 gn of Norma 204 set off with BR-4s. Have another batch of 100 Starline .223 cases sized, wet tumbled and in the dryer for next time. Whatta Hobby!

Got out for a few minutes this morning for another exercise with this rifle. The 3.5 lb trigger takes some getting used to after working with a 3 oz one. Whatta Hobby!

Targets at 100 yds from yesterday with the Uintah .223 bolt upper on one of my AR lowers. Whatta Hobby!

That's easy, Kent Hollow and a private range over 1K used by letter guys and PDs. This is by invite only. Less than 2 miles , as the crow flys from my AO. My drone knows it's own way there. Invited events twice a year, Memorial Weekend and Veterans day. Machine gun shoot, Litchfield Artillery with their 3" cannon shooting targets and there is usually a PD bagpiper unit on hand. I have done precision demonstrations with O3A4, M-14 and a 6.5 Creedmoor bolt rifles. Very patriotic atmosphere. Whatta Hobby!

Been out to New Mexico an Whittington a few times while visiting my daughter in Taos. Haven't been to Arizona in 56 years. When I was in the Corps, we went out to MCAS Yuma a few times for bombing practice. I do have access to a 1K plus range about 5 minutes away, but I do enjoy staying under 300 in my own yard. Whatta Hobby!

Still breaking in the X-Caliber .308 barrel. This was this morning under perfect conditions with a cold clean bore. 10 rnds at 100 yds. Have been working at getting the sd down under 10 this was right at 7.9 so things are looking correct for Lapua brass, BR-4 sr primers and 43.5 gn Varget for 2700 fps. Also posted under scoped rifles. Whatta Hobby!

Previous post should read Lapua sr primed brass, not sp. OOps!

Finished prep on the .308 from yesterday. This morning started a batch of 500 6.5 Creedmoor mostly once fired, by me, Lapua sp brass. All sized and in the wet tumble with ss pins, lemishine and dawn. Then a rinse and into the Frankford Arsenal dryer before trimming on the Giraud trimmer. Whatta Hobby!

Back loading today. Couple hundred Lapua .308 cases that were primed a few days ago and a couple hundred surplus berdan ,308 that have been primed for a couple of weeks. Loading all with the same 150 gn flat base bullets and 43.5 gn of Varget. Seems to work very well in both bolt rifle and the M14 types. Whatta Hobby!

Hazy hot and humid, my kind of day to stay in the nice cool dry air of the house and load ammo. Have a few hundred Lapua .308 cases all prepped and primed so now is the fun part, watching the range box fill as the cases are charged and bullets seated. Will be loading 150 flat base custom bullets over 43.5 gn of Varget. Whatta Hobby!

This is a challenge on the M12BR forum started by Art Luppino 9 years ago and is a continuing challenge for the M14 type rifle. Target dots are 1" and shot at 100 yards, 1 shot per dot. My entry for June 2024 was shot this morning. Score is a 7 - 9. Meaning, 7 hits in a row, one miss for a total of 9 hits out of 10. Max spread .75 with an average of < .5. Rifle is a Bula Defense Systems XM21 with their heavy barrel in 6.5 Creedmoor, Shooting Sight EBR trigger, JAE Gen 3 chassis, Night Force BEAST scope. Front rifle Blue in the photo. Shot off a rest. Ammo used Hornadly brass and Hornady 140 gn BTHP with 210M primers charged with 39 gn of Norma 204. Bullet speed is 2425 per the Garmin chronograph. Whatta Hobby!

I use the cooler between strings mainly to help reduce mirage and secondly to , hopefully, help extend the life of my barrels. Whatta Hobby!

Haven't paid much attention as to variations in poi between sorted cases. I tend to take a 50 cnt range box of segregated ammo out , fire 5 sighters/foulers and then enjoy the shooting. I must say, I have not changed my scope settings more than a click or two vertical. Not sure if it's weather or ammo related. Again, not looking for differences in velocity between groups. Maintaining consistency withing each group has been my goal. Use of a barrel cooler between shots has seemed to help too. Whatta Hobby!

With both Starline and Lapua brass the weight sorting is pretty simple, most is within 3 -4 gn so that breaks down to 3 divisions of 1 gn each. I keep these groups separated into either 50 or 100 count range boxes. No such thing as plinking around here anymore. Whatta Hobby!

Very nice indeed. Used to neck turn when I was a bit more picky than I am these days. Now with Laupa or Starline I just neck size, run a tapered carbide mandrel down the tube and call er done. My Labradar always has shown a much better SD than that calculated from results of an optical chronograph as used in this informative example. Whatta Hobby!

As of late, I have been loading .223 ammunition for precision shooting. Never paid any particular attention to SD. Well, over the last couple of weeks I have been doing a bit of checking on the results of differing variables. Powder is loaded to within .02 gn which is the size of a kernal. Bullets used are Berger 73 gn bt target and have not been sorted by weight. Primers are BR-4s and I have been told that other primers should lower the SD even more. I did not notice any measurable difference in point of impact at 100 yds. Each group tested was 50 rnds, or 1 of my range boxes. Thought some might be interested in those variables. New Starline .223 50 cases sized and loaded with 23.5 gn of Varget. SD 20+ " " " 50 cases sized, and weight sorted to 1 gn with 23.5 gn Varget. SD 12+ " " " 50 cases sized, weight sorted to 1 gn with flash hole de-burred loaded with 23.5 gn of Varget SD 6.5+ Whatta Hobby!

Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried all sorts of different solutions over the last 50 plus years, just thought I would use Berger's idea of two separate 3 shot groups for each depth. No problem using lots of components anyway. I can always use the trigger exercise. Whatta Hobby!

Considering the addition of the bolt for the lug. Maybe next Winter during some slack time in the shop. Whatta Hobby!

Hope to get out on the range with my latest seating ladder today. As simple as shooting a couple 3 rnd groups in each seating length might seem, I have always been able to find improvements using this method. Good enough for this old guy anyway. Going from a .010 jamb to a .110 jump usually gives a good indication of a place to start. Whatta Hobby!

Working on tuning the seating depth of my 73 gn Berger bullets and precision bolt loads. After finding the powder load, now even more fun. Loading 6 each .010 jamb, touching, .030 off,.070 off and .110 off per the Berger reloading manual. Looking for that .030 - .040 wide sweet spot and then more refining. This is one of the most enjoyable parts of hand loading for me. Nice part of all this is once you change any variable, it back to the beginning. Whatta Hobby!

Getting down to the nitty gritty on a decent 100 yd load for the Savage 110 .223 20" 1-9 bull barrel. Scope is NF Competition 15-55x52. Brass used is new weighed Starline with 1 gn segregation. Cold clean bore 10 rnd group was shot with 23 gn Varget pushing same 73 gn Berger bullet for an initial cold clean bore .45. After each group was shot a dry patch was pulled through the bore and cooler run for 5 minutes. Me thinks the .2 moa final load will do nicely on the fly swatter challenge. Shot off a front rest with rear bunny bag. Whatta Hobby!

41.4 ended up being the choice. ran a couple more load ladders after the previous photo today with a temp of 25 degrees and a light wind. Last one was 41.3, 41.4 and 41.5 just for the halibut and 41.4 won. Supposed to be rainy tomorrow with another 3+ inches predicted. Expecting to spend some time loading a couple hundred 110 Sierra hp varminters in Lapua cases over 41.4 gn of Varget set off with 210M primers. Looking forward to attacking the flyswatter target with ammo ready to do the work. Whatta Hobby!

Another challenge I picked up from Rimfire Central. Supposed to be for 50 yd rimfire so why not .308 at 100 yds. Keeps things interesting. Whatta Hobby!

Loading up this morning for the final .1 of the ladder I have been working on with Lapua .308 brass, 210 M primers and Varget. Using the 41.6 from the last target set as a center point. Loads will be 5 each from 41.4 to 41.9. May seem like a lot of effort, but developing a load specifically for the " fly swatter" target using a .308 Savage bolt rifle takes a little more work than for generic bullseye shooting. I have been known to enjoy a good challenge and the focus on this one has been a hoot for the last couple of months. Whatta Hobby!

Prepped 150 Lapua weighed and segregated cases that have been fire fitted to the chamber on my .308 Savage. Neck sized, .307 mandrel run in the necks, primer pockets unitized and then primed. Whatta Hobby!