Good shootin' there Tex!

DEP- When you do this kind of testing, what kind of rest are you using?

Nice groups!!

13lbs minus 5lbs = better
A gun is carried all day to be shot once.
Its never the gun's fault.
Our city lost a an 11 year old last week her dad was unloading a shotgun this week, and last year my cousin's friend shot him unloading a 40 caliber pistol went through hand and bounced off his bicep. Every gun I ever held is loaded. Gun safety is more important than accuracy, but I do respect the fact that YOU and this gun has produced outstanding consistency. Cheers.

AJMcClure

With the exception of a 50 cal, carry my M1A for a day and you can rightfully say you carried something! LOL!!

Now ,..in the words of a certain womam I know
All you need to do now ,.
is move the little cross hair-thingy just a little to the right. Then the little dot in the middle is gone and your perfect ; )
Sniper class shooting .

Cooool tsrgets too ,. where might one aquire a few of those .
DUGH ,..of course it says Jarret right on em,. but are these posibly a downloadable promotioal item.

The .40 cal pistol bullet bounced off his bicep? How ripped was this guy?

jeezus! That target'd be on my wall! Tasteful decor for any room. Nice shootin!

Purty good shootin for a fellow geezer DEP! 8^)

I read a review of the Warlord on another website a while back. Accuracy was just like yours. They tested it out at 700 yards and got under 3" groups(I dont remember exact group size, but it was under 3")

What does the Warlord cost?

We always measured the external of the group. What you say makes since, just depends on what side of the Mountain you fail off of!

YA' YA' I know, I fail off the back side, but that is were all the critters are all at! LOL!

Interesting. Some time ago I inquired with a question on this blog regarding the T/C Icon and was met with minimal response. Knowing little about the rifles myself I did not purchase one. Maybe I will reconsider the T/C in the future. I prefer 3 shot groups for my "regular" hunting rifles, 5 shots for long range guns, and 10 shots for prairie dog rifles. So far that has worked quite well.
Did anyone draw a late season Wyoming bull or any elk permit or is anyone stuck with a dusty, dry, hot, wolf infested, grizzly ridden, seldom see an elk general season like me?

Good grief. A rifle you can hunt mosquitoes with.

I almost hope nobody ever shoots a 0.000" group. What'll we do then?

David, get your hands on some 7.62 NATO M118 Special Ball and try it the next time the Chickens are at the best! Good stuff especially on the 1000 yard line when the Elk POOT in!!

hey dukkiller don't goof around with your dad's 44magnum, my cousin that got shot is a lean mean marine and he should have been less tolerant of ignorant friends handling his hand gun collection, a pistol is a poor substitute for a pump shotgun in home defense, the sound shucking a shell lets meth addicts/criminals know that it is time to leave, and unless your psychotic it is better to not shoot if it is feasible. If someone is carrying your flat screen in your yard and you let your favorite gun bark into their backs then you may have some explaining to do.

Well Dave that leaves you 43 thousandths of an inch to improve... hope it shows you shooting it tonight when "The Gun Nut" comes on again.

Really it is just not fair to shoot like that and be able to write as you do. I want a re-count.

dukkillr I have knocked down a lot of 3" diameter trees with my four oh. Not in one shot but hollowpoints sure make a huge exit hole... you can kick them over after one shot but is is way more fun to chop them down with nothing but a pull of the trigger!

If I paid $3400 for a 13 pound rifle I would expect it to shoot better than I did. Of course it still shoots three time better than that Weatherby sub MOA you tested but it is more than three times the price and 5 1/2 pounds heavier...

ish ~ anymore, if you got a late season general or any damn thing, you might consider yourself lucky. I know, THAT'S hard to swallow, but listen up...Nevada DOW decided in their infinite wisdom on Saturday, that there will be no late turkey season for this, or any, cowboy in 2010...

Dr. Ralph, the tree killer. So, need a tag for that activity?

DEP :

"(Hole*,that is )"

When you can shoot that well, then the hobby becomes a business, right ? Does this conflict with your acting and writing careers ? LOL

Damn good group, DEP. I would frame it.

The T/C site has a very interesting page explaining 5R rifling. It would appear 5 grooves and lands at 65 degrees shoots better than 6 grooves and lands at 90 degrees.

Dave, do you feel rifling makes a difference?

5R rifling reminds me of a worn barrel.

Jim, IMR4350 for 165 to 168 works fantastic in bolt guns especially in hunting loads. IMR4895 and IMR4064 is used for gas guns and is ideal for target loads. Also WIN748 is fantastic also!

Screwed up, X ring is 6.00 inches at 600 yards. Long day, thinking of the reduced target

Ralph, wished I still lived in New Mexico it would be a blast to get David out there and don't forget Phil!

Why would you want to get Dave out here to NM Clay?

Jeepdude1987

Best place I know to shoot annoying critters at long range!

WyoTom

Should have been with me back in 94 at the Whittington Center in Raton New Mexico. We were invited to shoot along with one of the Palma Teams. Palma Team uses 308 bolt guns with a 1-11 twist shooting 155 grain at 1000 yards. That morning, looking down about the 400 yard line you can see the wake of the bullet and about 30 yards in front of the wake you can see the bullet streaking down range catching the reflection of the sun like a tiny copper mirror. Didn’t come close to their scores, but we sure had fun!

Check out this stock art I just came across!

http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/trophyroom/recent/single?pnid=10013...

DEP - Thanks for another great post. If it would mean that you would retire, may you never shoot a perfect score. And if you did, please tell us, to what would you retire? Would you be like Sherlock Holmes and retire to Sussecks and raise bees?

Nothing captures my interest (or empties my checking account) as consistently as a 5-shot group like this. I look forward to learning more of the Warlord, because any rifle that doesn't weigh 13.5 lbs and isn't designed for benchrest shooting but delivers accuracy like this deserves closer inspection.

Did you know even the expensive scopes can cause inaccuracy. To check to see if your scope is the culprit do this little step. Make sure the rifle is unloaded. Place the rifle on sandbags as if you were going to shoot at a target. Without moving the rifle, look through the scope at the target. Now move your head up and down, side to side and all around without disturbing the rifle. Did the crosshairs move off the point of aim? It happens more than one will realize and I check all the scopes I buy for this. My 25-06 went to a 1/2 moa to a 5 inch group instantly when a replaced the scope with a named brand costing $225.00. I put the original Bushnell Scope Chief 4-12 back on and it instantly went back to 1/2 moa!

Dave-I think you need to come down and to the right. Just a hair!

I wonder what the barrel was cleaned with before shooting the target on the left?

Most logical answer, forcing the "Natural Point OF Aim" down and right. This will cause to shoot high and left!

Mr. Petzal, that round of shooting hopefully made your day, even though I don't think much excites you.... Niceset I've seen, and beautiful enough to hang next to your Eliza Dushku poster. Oh, and congrats on a great television show. Would love to see a collaboration with the Gun Nuts and the Duck Commander!

I don't foresee 5R rifling for smallbore or muzzle loaders. Glock has a very allergic reaction to cast bullets with its hexagonal profile rifling causing lead build up resulting the barrel to swell and the slide to stick if it didn't blow up.

Damn, Dave! You shoulda bought a lottery ticket on the way to the range.

Coop-
6inch group at 600 yards is very impressive..custom or not, that is a semi-auto rifle with damn good accuracy.
Now, did I read that right about Dave raising OWLS in retirement?
WHOO woulda thought?

Must have something to do with that detachable box magazine.

Clay C.

It's not that I "wasn't" capable, even off bags anymore, about the best group I can shoot is about 1".
I can still kill game. And really? That's good enough for me!
Do I like super accurate rifles and shooting?
You betcha!!
My old bolt gun has swallowed enough IMR 4895 and Sierra 130gr SPBT's, it would probably profit with a nice new Shilen or Douglas. But as long as "I" can get it to shoot 1" at a hunnerd......

Bubba

Wow 34mm what next a scope the size of a stove pipe?

Del, that scope setup Dave had on the show last night was stolen from the Kitt Peak National Observatory located 56 miles southwest of Tucson, AZ and doubles as a carrying handle!

I wonder if you get nose bleeds looking through that scope for setting so high?

Clay

I own several different calibers.
I'm a hard core KISS principle believer. (Keep It Simple Stupid!)
I sat down with my loading manual and a list of my rifle calibers and found a powder that would perform in all calibers. That just happened to be IMR 4895.
In a .270 Win, 46.5 grains gives me a near "factory" load. Light recoil, good accuracy and superb bullet (Sierra 130 gr. SPBT) performance on deer, hogs and varmints.
If I do my part, so far (knock on wood!) I've not had any problem collecting the animal I've chosen.
I've never chrono'd the load but the manual gives a muzzle velocity of around 2900 fps.
The only thing I'm trying to "impress" (pun intended) is the deer in my scope! LOL!!!

Bubba

Hard core KISS principle believer?

We would make good bookends! LOL!

O'WAM, you're so full of it!

You're going flying tonight? O"THAT's BELOW THE BELT!

Petzal

I think there is a pretty good market for owl pellets.

All . . .

A few weeks ago I met with my lady friend at a very nice rifle range in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is an eager, interested, beginner-level shooter.

We set up targets at 100 and 200 yards. Though the day was miserably hot, with 10-15 mph wind gusts coming from our left rear 8 o'clock position to our right front 2 o'clock position, we had shade and the range was pretty much empty of other shooters. My lady friend, who had not fired a rifle in many years, was soon shooting 1 1/2" to 2" groups at 100 yards with my heavy barrel scoped Ruger 10-22. I thought this was very fine shooting and told her so. She was pleased and gave me a nice smile.

We eventually transitioned to handloads from a 22-250 in a Browning A-bolt action with a new 24" Shilen barrel. Though the wind was now gusting 15-20 mph and the outside air temperature was in the high 90s (with high humidity), my lady friend was handling the heat much better than I was. She fired several 3-shot groups that measured around 1". I fired one 5-shot group that measured .536. Still, given my years of shooting experience vs. her beginner-level experience, I told her she was shooting better than I was, and meant it.

It was shaping up to be a pretty nice day. If my lady friend kept up the good shooting and I kept up the compliments, I figured a pretty nice evening might follow.

We eventually transitioned to my deeply beloved (and significantly tinkered with) M-70 Featherweight in 7x57 Mauser. I had about 50 rounds of handloads using a 130-grain bullet from a manufacturer I had not tried before. I also had about 50 rounds of 130-grain Sierra MatchKings using 51-grains of H414 measured to an OAL of 3.01, a load I developed last year which my M-70 "likes" very much. The 130-grain handloads with the other manufacturer's bullet (which looks similar in shape to the 130-grain MatchKing, but which has a soft lead tip) also used 51-grains of H-414 and were also 3.01" in OAL.

I had my lady friend fire several rounds of the MatchKings from a standing position, feet spread, the classic off-hand position, just to get a feel for the recoil (which, though not severe by any measure is still far more than a 22-250). The recoil didn't bother her a bit. Surprisingly, she shot about a 6" group at 100 yards offhand. That was fine shooting, in my view, and I told her so. Then she sat down at the bench and shot 3 MatchKings into a group that 1" in size and 2" above the bullseye, exactly centered. Damn fine. Right where the bullets were supposed to go.

It was hot as hell. Windy as hell. The heat was bothering me, really getting to me, but my lady friend was perfectly fine. I figured it was time for me to be manly. Time to show my lady friend that I could, you know, actually shoot an incredibly tiny group when I wanted to. Be a pro and all.

I threw five of the new 130-grain handloads into the rifle, sat down at the bench, made love to the sandbags, waited for my heart to slow, and squeezed the trigger between heartbeats. When the recoil cycle was over I looked through the scope. There was a mirage over the barrel. I figured that was why I couldn't see a bullet hole in my brand new target. But my lady friend, who was looking though the scope of the 22-250(with a cool barrel and the scope set to 24x) said she couldn't see a bullet hole either.

I removed the empty brass from the rifle and inspected it carefully. Everything looked fine. The recoil had been fine. The rifle report had been normal. The action and bolt were perfectly fine. I thought, wtf? but said nothing. I confidently said to my lady friend (while quelling a very slight panic), "Must be an errant round. A one-time bad load. But hey, you just watch. These next few shots will be deadeye accurate." My lady friend smiled at me sweetly and said, "Go for it, honey."

My next four shots with the new handload formed about a 2'--that's 2-foot, as in two feet, as in NOT a 2-inch and NOT a 1-inch and certainly NOT a 1/2" gdf group. I came very, very close to using my not-so-beloved-mf'er-betrayed-me M-70 as a lawn ornament. A lawn dart. I expressed my unhappiness. My lady friend exploded with laughter. She had tears coming down her face. Her tears fell on the new barrel of the 22-250. I wondered if it, too, would soon fckg betray me.

After my lady friend recovered from the comedy show I had given her--this took some time--she pointed to the box of 130-grain Sierra MatchKing loads and suggested I try some of those. She pointed out that those handloads, after all, had given her a 1" group from the bench, even though she had never fired a high-power rifle before. Barely quelling more laughter, and actually not even really bothering to quell a friendly snicker, she handed me 5 MatchKings, giggled, and said (and I quote) "Try these. Maybe you can hit that three-foot size target down there."

So very much was at stake. Manhood. A possible lucky evening. The Relationship. Shooting. Rifledom itself. I envisioned turning all my rifles into lawn darts, huddling in shame and never firing another shot in my life.

I took a deep breath, sat down at the bench, made love to the sandbags, fired between heartbeats, and produced a five-shot .486" group at 100 yards. Then, confidence restored, I fired a .836 3-shot group at 200. I almost wept with relief.)

Know your rifle. Know your handloads. A man's whole world could depend on it.

TWD

TWD

You need to concentrate on your target and quit trying to peek on a hot day at your lady friend's obvious distractions...LOL

I LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS! Good shooting Dave; close enough to perfection for me too!

Dave, how about another post on hand loading... In the load data you include the primer type, which for me is like opening a closet that I've never really looked in before. When I started reloading, it was enough to begin sorting through issues of powder and bullet. At the time, primers seemed pretty straight forward: Large pistol, small pistol, magnum, etc., etc. I know there is more to it and now feel like I could tolerate yet another sector of contingencies in hand loading...

Do you care to elucidate?

great shooting. I also like a 9-10 lb gun not one of these sissy 5 lbs kids guns. With thatkind of shoting, I would hate to meet this guy in a shoot and tell article. At 75 yrs old, i just can;t hold the gun as steady as i could 20 yrs ago, but ldo ok out to 400 ys with a 06.I yet think the rem 700 CDl in 06 is about as good as you can buy over the counter. Few Mfg Custon shop guns do a lot to improve the accuracy.Just a wste of $. What can they do to make it shoot any better than l' at 100 yds.

TWD- I feel your pain. my girlfriend actually enjoys shooting more than I do, she doesn't care about the science just being outdoors with me. She also doesn't flinch when hit with an unbraked .300 win mag :D. To be honest, more than a mild distraction, but there are some chest swelling moments as in not just hitting a potato at 350 yards, but cutting the stick holding it up.

Dr. Ralph and others. For past several months not been up to par, very sick plus jus got out of Hospital lst week after a 3 week stay. Some improvement now, hopefully will be kinda of normal shortly. Like a fool I smoked too many years and now on Oxygen 24/7.Hopefully with the aid fo the Oxygen my lungs will improve and I can at lest reduce the time of Oxygen or better still get off completely. So now guns and shooting. That 5 shot group is outstanding. I doubt when I ws in my rime could i do such. But I can do ok out to 400 yds even the lst years hunt. I just hope and pray I can hunt here this year. Not planning on a Rocky Mtn hunt this year. I got to improve a lot before I can do that again if ever. But can I hope still hunt the white tails here at home for a # of years still. Did ok last year, got a perfect l0 which is at the Taxi now. I'd like one more Elk hunt if all works out or even a Lope hunt which would be easier for me, Just anythig in that beautiful country. Take care , shout straight & often. The olm man down south

Dr. Ralh; It's suc a hassell to sign in now. I don't se the necessity to have sign in each time, and it takes forever
to do so. Once we become a member should be happy. Thats one reason I don't gton as often as i once did, too much time wasted.
Gns, Has any f you guys seen the entry level Savage called the Edge.It looks like most Syn firearms, but this one looks like the old model 110. It has the Drp out clp that holds 4 and wholesale is 229.00.CAlibrs from223 thr 30-06. Rhe scoped model is 262.00. Would be a great first gun or any level for that matter. Back to the 2 shots above using the Busnnell 4200. I never knew Bushnell had inproved as much on their scopes til I bought 3 of teh Dusk to Dawn with 6" ehey relief,one for my B/P and hae been well pleased with them. However, for the Rocky Mtns, I will use the Nikon Monarch on the Custon 700 CDL. Just hope I can return next year if Iget well. Shoot-um- straight and often guys and gohunting ASAP.

The only thing I would add is that in a hunting situation, theoretically, if there were more than one shot in the same place on an animal, what you would have would be a tunnel, with hardly any more damage done in the wound channel. Impressive though on paper.