MINI PROJECT RIFLE
COALs varied from 2.275 inches for the 69gn SMK to 2.420 inches for the 75gn A-Max with bullets set 15 thou’ off the rifling, or so I thought and used five by five round batches with charges rising in half-grain steps to Hodgdon’s maximum load for each bullet weight.
The try-out was on Diggle’s bench equipped 100 yard ‘A’ range, fortunately with a covered firing point as the weather was none to promising on a not at all sunny February morning. The first batch using the 52 A-Maxes set at 2.363 inches COAL was used to sight-in the Burris after a quick bore-sight, then it was straight into shooting for group with the remaining four.
An immediate but not insurmountable problem was that I’d obviously got the COAL wrong as bullets were seated hard into the rifling and it took noticeable extra effort to close the bolt. Not ideal for either accuracy or chamber pressures – I kept a close eye on fired primer condition and case extraction effort but fortunately, no problems were encountered even with the maximum 26.5gn charge.
The groups were encouraging too, running from a little below half-inch to around the three-quarter MOA mark. Taking this and the range conditions into account, this was a really impressive start. By this time, the light had deteriorated, the winds strengthened and ‘Diggle Sunshine’ (drizzle angling in at 45-degrees) had appeared.
There was no question of getting velocities as I’d had to recover the chronograph before the first group went downrange. (I keep writing things like this at the moment – you’d think Diggle Ranges occasionally suffer bad weather!) The barrel didn’t care for the starting charge with the 75gn A-Max, the only group of 14 that exceeded an inch, so that combination was put aside and a move made to the 69gn Sierra MK which produced a couple of nice 0.6 inch patterns despite thickening mist and drizzle and a rising gusty wind.
Onto the 77gn Scenar and a three-quarter inch pattern to start, an extra half-grain stringing the shots vertically. The third group still showed a single bullet diameter hole after shot two, only grew marginally
15
REMINGTON 700 SPS TACTICAL by Laurie Holland
larger in the scope view with shot three, same again with number four. Wow! Keep calm my man and squeeze the fifth and final round off carefully, or as carefully as the factory Remington X-Mark Pro trigger allowed. (Still too heavy even with its breathed-on 4lb pull weight).
The shot dropped below the group. Dammit! Even though, an excellent 0.45 inch centre to centre effort, I really felt I should have got a sub quarter-incher here. That was it for the day, my hands too numb to shoot any longer and the light going fast.
Considering the barrel wasn’t cleaned over some 70 rounds and shooting was fast with minimal breaks in dire conditions with a barrel that had less than 100 rounds down it from new – and the stock channel clearance problem - I was delighted!
Over-length 52gn rounds aside, the rifle was a pleasure to shoot with its improvements, bolt operation light, smooth and really slick. The only thing I can fault is the factory trigger. Unless it lightens a lot with use, I think I’ll be looking to get a Rifle Basix assembly installed.
How about the hammer-forged barrel heat/wandering POI issue? Well, the barrel just didn’t heat up much at all despite a steady rate of fire – I kept feeling it to see if I needed to pause and let it cool, but it never got past mildly warm. Those deep flutes and the super black finish must really dissipate heat - helped of course by the Pennine climate! Anyway, 2 grain charge-weight ranges and lots of rounds over a modest timescale didn’t affect where the bullets went at all.
This saga will be continued in due course as we get more shooting in.
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