Adventures at the range - Range Report & Review

[shibiwan]

I spent another 4 hours at the range yesterday testing out the Eliminator II, test out the PSA NiB BCG, and also some new supersonic loads for the 300 AAC as well as getting more practice.

 

This will be covered over multiple posts since I was trying to get so  much done, and also I'm in-between working on a bunch of stuff.

 

A couple weeks ago I managed to snag a Burris Eliminator II from Cablelas for $599. Here's the optic on my 300 AAC. It's a monstrosity. The plan was to make it out to the range and screw around with it (even though the Eliminator II does not directly support the 300 AAC round in it's database).

 

 

The initial impression was really good, despite the size of the optic. Zoom range is 4-12x and even though the reticle is a second focal plane reticle, the electronic drop markers will change according to the zoom level of the scope, making it a somewhat pseudo-FFP reticle.

 

Here it is, at 4x zoom pointing at some games....

 

...and the same reticle at 12x (notice the bullet drop markers have changed along with the magnification)

 

It was surprising to find that the drop marker "pixels" were pretty high resolution and the virtual movement during zooming was very smooth. 

 

Without a target being ranged, all the bullet drop markers show up (100,200, 300, 400, 500 and 600) to help engage targets quickly.

 

So off to the range with it. The Eliminator II zeroed in easily and there was hardly any fuss in getting everything set up correctly. I chose to use the data from the Russian 7.62 x 39mm round as it was the closest match to 300 AAC ballistics. Shooting it was even easier. After you range the targets with the built in LRF, the correct bullet holdover is displayed on the reticle. Adjust the aim to use the drop point and squeeze the trigger.

 

 

I was engaging targets out to 300yds with this setup and was consistently ringing steel shot after shot. It did attract a little attention from some guys at the range because they "thought the 300 AAC could not reliably engage and hit targets beyond 200yds".

 

The shooting was done mostly with factory Hornady 110gr VMAX 300AAC supersonic rounds. Tried some of my reloads (125gr Speer, and 125gr Nosler B-Tip with AA 4100 powder) and those shot well and were consistent.... until I picked a test batch of hotter loads. That put an end to the fun rather quickly. The bases of the problem cartridges were bulging out so the spent cartridges would not eject (stuck in the bolt face). Some of the cartridges would also fail to extract and remain jammed with the bolt in the chamber. After removal, the primers literally fell out. Definitely too much powder in that... wonder if I should have used the pistol rotor instead of the rifle rotor on the press.....

 

....so there, lesson learned. (pics upcoming)

 

I had initially thought that there were issues were due to the new PSA BCG. Nope, in fact the BCG held up very well with no visible damage. It also cleaned up easily due to the NiB coating. The reduced friction definitely helped with the factory rounds too.

 

 

 

 

That's about it for now.... will post more later.

 

 

 

[shibiwan]

Part II of range day.

 

Back to regular load tests on the 308. This time I was comparing my extablished IMR4064 vs IMR8208 XBR loads on 178gr bullets out to 300 yards.

 

100yd and 200yd groupings were on par with either powder. I'm probably missing something here (no chrono yet) but both performed equally well. I was averaging 2" groups @ 200 yards, with me being the largest variable. LOL

[DNP]

Right on. Sounds like a sweet little setup.