to the range on my first trip. I tried 150-grain GMX and 165 BTSP Hornady loads as well as 150-grain Accu-Tip Remington loads. My first trip to the range was
nothing short of stunning. I am fairly certain this rifle fired the smallest-sized groups I have ever fired from a factory rifle without any modification. A Sav- age .22-250 is the only thing that comes close. The Remington factory loads were terribly disappointing, but everything else was superb. With one exception, my handloads all shot three-shot groups un- der 0.65 inch, the lone exception being 48 grains of BL-C(2) under a 165-grain SST; that group measured 1.15 inches. Other than that, the only group over 0.65 inch was my first factory group; it shot 0.5 inch for the first three shots, but then threw the next two shots wide. But still … the five-shot group was 1.032 inches. Forty-five grains of Varget under a 180-grain SST tore one ragged hole at 100 yards for a group measuring 0.244. Perhaps most impressive were the 165 BTSP factory loads: they produced a three-shot group measuring 0.184 inch. Incidentally, I took no pains to find the optimum seating length; I simply seated the bullets about as far out as I could and still fit in the detachable magazine. Of course, I did nothing to the factory loads; their overall length was shorter than my handloads. I was planning on more range
work, but after the spectacular perfor- mance of the X-Bolt on its first trip to the range, I was eager to get it out into the desert for some long-range shooting. I resized and cleaned 20 cases, scaled 45 grains of Varget in each case, and then stuffed 180-grain SST bullets in each one. I measured the point of impact of the group I had fired at the range, and concluded that if I clicked up one and three right that I would have a 200-yard zero. I thought about starting my shooting session at 400 yards, but instead set up at 700 yards. I dialed the March scope to its highest setting. Us- ing my Horus PDA, I dialed in 70 clicks for elevation. The wind was blowing left to right at about 4 mph. I shot sit- ting with a Harris bipod and shooting sling. Using the reticle pattern, I held 3 MOA lines (which at 25x was about 17 inches) into the wind and touched off a shot. I was pleasantly surprised to see a bullet strike about 3 inches low and
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four inches to the left – I held a little too much into the wind. At this point I began to believe it was my good shoot- ing … so you can guess what happened with the next shot. I fired again, this time holding less, and hit about 8 inches to the right of center. The wind, while not strong, was gusting left to right, then right to left, with occasional periods where it died. I hit within 5 inches of my aiming point five of seven times. My hold varied from the 3 MOA left to about 1 MOA right, with two shots fired without wind holdoff. I then moved to 600 yards and
fired seven shots. One shot hit high and to the right, missing by about 7 inches. Otherwise, that X-Bolt planted its bul- lets within 5 inches of where I was aim- ing. I got up and moved to my 500-yard shooting position and fired the rest of the ammo. Five hundred yards wasn’t
- Stocks - Barrels - Triggers - Accessories - Magazines - Scopes - Bipods
much of a challenge for this rifle. I took the 20 empty cases and loaded them again. I then went back out to the desert and had another round of long-range shooting, with similar results. I went home and cleaned the rifle.
My standard cleaning technique is a bit different. I like to clean a rifle every 10 to 20 rounds, especially my accuracy rifles. I swab a patch with Hoppes Benchrest No. 9 and run it down the bore. I repeat that, then store the rifle muzzle down and let the solvent soak. Unlike other solvents, Hoppes Benchrest No. 9 will not harm the bore when left in it (but then again, it won’t dissolve copper as fast as more aggressive solvents). Then, once in the morning and once at night, I swab the bore with another patch doused with BR9. At first, the patches will come out black. After soaking overnight, they come out a dark bluish-
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