My New Stick.

[Centre Punch]

Hi Guys,
Here are a couple of pics of my new 243 Ackley.

Remington 700 short action, fully blueprinted,
Holland bolt handle,
Holland recoil lug,
Pac-nor 26", 3 groove #8 contour 1-8 twist barrel,
Rifle Basix trigger,
Skim bedded into a HS precision Pro2000 stock,
Warne tactical base,
Leupold Mk4 Rings.
Leupold Mk4 LRT 8,5-25x50 with M1 turrets
Versa-pod.

Fireforming load consisting of 90grn Lapua Scenar over a 42 grn charge of Win 760,in Lapua 243 brass, formed at a rate of 20 an hour in 10 shot strings.
Superbly accurate with 2 sub 1/2" 10 shot groups without really trying.
I am looking forward to proper load developement in the next few weeks, but did an experiment with some Sierra 75 grn Varminter's.
I thought that a top end 243 load of H4350ext would be a good starting point and i might just get away with the 1-8 twist, but out of 10 cases loaded only 1 bullet made it to the target.
The rest vapourised in a puff of smoke about 30 yds infront of the muzzel.
Going to try some 87grn V-max's, i dont think the heavy 105 grain bullets are worth it untill ranges out to 1000yds come into play.
I am satisfied with the performance of the Scenars on paper and will most likely be using them on varmints.

Ian.

 

[oso]

Very nice!! Who did the work for you? What kinda speed you gettin'? I would like to know how it did when you get up into the heavier bullets. Enjoy it!

 

[Ronin]

Ian,

a fine looking rifle, all it is short of (IMHO) is a conical bolt knob. Did you do the work yourself?

How do you find the palm swell and grip of the HS 2000 stock?

Andy

 

[Jimm]

There you are you bugger /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Where the hair have you been ?

Since I have your physical address I would keep that rig locked up if I were you , remember , I know my way around your neck of the woods /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

That is a nice stick Ian , now you just need to shoot the shoot out of it . Get the 105 Scenars or the 107 smks and quit foolingaround with those piddling lightweights .

Congrats and good shooting ,

Jim B.

 

[Meister]

Nice setup! I have the same stock on my .223 straight barrel varmint-o-matic, simply love it! One of the guys I go varmint hunting with has a very similar setup to yours, his is an absolute tack driver! Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[lovdasnow]

nice rig, looks good, let us know how she shoots

 

[704]

no good bad rifle, give it to me so I can save you from spending more money /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

waiting on Target pics

 

[Aussie]

If you work out how to make the 87 V Max shoot let me know will you ? I've used up 180 without finding a load that will shoot better than 0.75 in my 9 twist .243 AI . Maybe I'm hoping for too much velocity (3300 +) but not really interested in a load that is 150 FPS under maximum .
The 105 V Max seems a little better but still not sub 0.5 MOA yet .
RL 22 seems to be the go for velocity with heavy pills .
Also interested to hear how the 90gn Scenar performs on game .

 

[Centre Punch]

Thanks for the positive comments guys.
The rifle was built by Riflecraft here in the UK, they are more famously known for inventing Leupolds Tactical Milling Retical.
The 75grn vapourising bullets were driven by 48grn of H4350ext, no idea how fast they were travelling, they did not register on the chronograph all you could see was the small puff of smoke drifting across the front part of the range after each shot.
I have 2 days of range time booked for a few weeks time and i shall be conducting more thorough tests on the heavier bullets then.

Ian.

 

[Aussie]

Centre Punch ,
Have found the 80gn Berger match in front of 45.5 gns H4350 (close to maximum) shoots very well at 3409 FPS if you're interested . Most accurate projectile I've tried . Have performed well so far on the rabbits and foxes that have got in their way (not that they are a huge challenge for a .243 Ackley) .
Bought some 80 gn Nosler BT's today to try as they are easier to find locally .
No luck with anything from Hornady .
From my experience I'd estimate that 75gn load of yours was between 3600 and 3700 FPS .

 

[Brown Dog]

Ian,
Very nice.
How were Riflecraft to deal with?

 

[ds]

Hi Ian,

Very nice LR bunny bashing kit.

David.