lancetkenyon
Well-Known Member
Made it to the range today. Braved the heat and stayed out for 8 hours. Was 111° when I left.
To reiterate, this was a brand new unfired rifle. 26" 1:7.5" Proof Research 4 groove.
I had loaded up two types of powder from information I had gleaned from previous trials in my own 6.5SS w. 25.5" 1:8" Bartlein, and a few other 6.5SSs I have shot. Rich Sherman was also a great source of information over the past year during testing the 6.5SS, 6SST, and 7SS.
I have the older Norma brass for my other 6.5SS. I also have 120 pcs of the new ADG brass that I had previously fire formed 115 pcs of in my old 6.5SS and left unsized afterwards, specifically for this new rifle, so I could start with fully formed brass right away, not needing to fire form them. Both rifles were built by Axisworks with the same reamer. So I figured they would be real close.
Using a Hornady headspace comparitor w. .420 insert, the brass fired in my old chamber measured 1.564". I bump them back .002" to 1.562". Well, the 1.562" barely close in the new chamber, I can feel the bolt drag when it closes tightly. Bumped them back to 1.560", and closed like butter. I have not checked length on the cases fired in my new chamber yet, but would bet they are right at 1.562" +/-.0005".
My 120pcs of ADG brass weigh an average of 217.5gr +/- (216.9 to 217.8).
Neck thickness is .014". I run a .291" bushing in my die, and then an expanding mandrel @ .263". I also anneal every firing. Cases trimmed to 1.950" minimum spec.
ADG brass
Fed GM215M
156 Berger Elite @ 2.278" CBTO (.010" jump)
H1000: 56.0-58.5gr
RL23: 54.5-57.0gr
With shooting a few other rifles today, and being at the range from 6:45am to 2:45pm and the 111° temps, heavy mirage, and hot *** desert fluctuating winds from 10-15+mph, I did not get all the RL23 loads fired today.
Boresighted by pulling the bolt and eyeballing. I can usually get somewhere within 3-4" of POA. I got super lucky and hit within 1" of POA on my first loads.
Here are the results. Shot at 100 yards except the last two groups moved out to 200 yards.
H1000:
56.0gr: 2904, 2905, 2903. ES 3, SD 1.4, Av 2904 (shots 1/2/3) air temps 94°
56.5gr: 2942, 2941, 2933. ES 9, SD 4.8, Av 2939 (shots 7/8/9) air temps 101°
57.0gr: 2981, 2975, 2974. ES 7, SD 3.7, Av 2977 (shots 10/11/12) air temps 102°
57.5gr: 2994, 2981, 2990. ES 13, SD 7.8, Av 2988 (shots 13/14/15) air temps 104°
58.0gr: 3006, 3010, 3018. ES 12, SD 6.0, Av 3011 (shots 16/17/18-very slightly heavier bolt lift) air temps 108°
58.5gr: 3025, 3025, 3035. ES 10, SD 7.1, Av 3028 (shots 19/20/21-slightly heavy bolt.lift, no other pressure signs) air temps 110°
RL23:
54.5gr: 2953, 2952, 2952. ES 2, SD .9, Av 2952 (shots 4/5/6-accuracy was not as good as H1000 for this single group) air temps 97°
55.0gr: N/A TBD
55.5gr: N/A TBD
56.0gr: N/A TBD
56.5gr: N/A TBD
57.0gr: N/A TBD
I think once this barrel breaks in, this thing is going to be a laser.
Accuracy results were pretty darn good. These new 156 Elites show real accuracy potential.
56.0 H1000 shots 1 (high from cold, clean, new barrel, 2/3 touching) minimal wind
54.5 RL23 (shots 4/5/6) no wind
Adjust .2MIL (whoops, wrong way)
56.5gr H1000 (shots 7/8/9) no wind
Adjust .4MIL back Left
57.0gr H1000 (shots 10/11/12) minimal wind
57.5 H1000 (shots 13/14/15) fluctuating winds 5-10mph
Move out to 200 to shoot some other rifles too. After about 11:00, the heat ran most of the people off. So it was pretty empty.
58.0 H1000 @ 200 (shots 16/17/18) mirage was so bad, I couldn't consistently see the rings on the target. I held on the black square, expecting 200 to be zero. It will be interesting to see how they work at longer ranges. Winds were picking up, 8-12mph
Dropped down .2MIL, held on square since I couldn't consistently pick up the circles with the mirage again. Fluctuating winds had really kicked up after 1:00pm. 12-15 and changing constantly.
58.5gr H1000 @ 200
Hopefully be back out shooting next week, but with a hunt coming up in a month, I think I will just load up a bunch at 57.5gr and go shoot for distance if the desert opens back up. If not, have to hit a ranch I know of and stretch it out to verify drops. An antelope won't stand a chance against the 156 @ 2988fps for now.
To be continued....
To reiterate, this was a brand new unfired rifle. 26" 1:7.5" Proof Research 4 groove.
I had loaded up two types of powder from information I had gleaned from previous trials in my own 6.5SS w. 25.5" 1:8" Bartlein, and a few other 6.5SSs I have shot. Rich Sherman was also a great source of information over the past year during testing the 6.5SS, 6SST, and 7SS.
I have the older Norma brass for my other 6.5SS. I also have 120 pcs of the new ADG brass that I had previously fire formed 115 pcs of in my old 6.5SS and left unsized afterwards, specifically for this new rifle, so I could start with fully formed brass right away, not needing to fire form them. Both rifles were built by Axisworks with the same reamer. So I figured they would be real close.
Using a Hornady headspace comparitor w. .420 insert, the brass fired in my old chamber measured 1.564". I bump them back .002" to 1.562". Well, the 1.562" barely close in the new chamber, I can feel the bolt drag when it closes tightly. Bumped them back to 1.560", and closed like butter. I have not checked length on the cases fired in my new chamber yet, but would bet they are right at 1.562" +/-.0005".
My 120pcs of ADG brass weigh an average of 217.5gr +/- (216.9 to 217.8).
Neck thickness is .014". I run a .291" bushing in my die, and then an expanding mandrel @ .263". I also anneal every firing. Cases trimmed to 1.950" minimum spec.
ADG brass
Fed GM215M
156 Berger Elite @ 2.278" CBTO (.010" jump)
H1000: 56.0-58.5gr
RL23: 54.5-57.0gr
With shooting a few other rifles today, and being at the range from 6:45am to 2:45pm and the 111° temps, heavy mirage, and hot *** desert fluctuating winds from 10-15+mph, I did not get all the RL23 loads fired today.
Boresighted by pulling the bolt and eyeballing. I can usually get somewhere within 3-4" of POA. I got super lucky and hit within 1" of POA on my first loads.
Here are the results. Shot at 100 yards except the last two groups moved out to 200 yards.
H1000:
56.0gr: 2904, 2905, 2903. ES 3, SD 1.4, Av 2904 (shots 1/2/3) air temps 94°
56.5gr: 2942, 2941, 2933. ES 9, SD 4.8, Av 2939 (shots 7/8/9) air temps 101°
57.0gr: 2981, 2975, 2974. ES 7, SD 3.7, Av 2977 (shots 10/11/12) air temps 102°
57.5gr: 2994, 2981, 2990. ES 13, SD 7.8, Av 2988 (shots 13/14/15) air temps 104°
58.0gr: 3006, 3010, 3018. ES 12, SD 6.0, Av 3011 (shots 16/17/18-very slightly heavier bolt lift) air temps 108°
58.5gr: 3025, 3025, 3035. ES 10, SD 7.1, Av 3028 (shots 19/20/21-slightly heavy bolt.lift, no other pressure signs) air temps 110°
RL23:
54.5gr: 2953, 2952, 2952. ES 2, SD .9, Av 2952 (shots 4/5/6-accuracy was not as good as H1000 for this single group) air temps 97°
55.0gr: N/A TBD
55.5gr: N/A TBD
56.0gr: N/A TBD
56.5gr: N/A TBD
57.0gr: N/A TBD
I think once this barrel breaks in, this thing is going to be a laser.
Accuracy results were pretty darn good. These new 156 Elites show real accuracy potential.
56.0 H1000 shots 1 (high from cold, clean, new barrel, 2/3 touching) minimal wind
54.5 RL23 (shots 4/5/6) no wind
Adjust .2MIL (whoops, wrong way)
56.5gr H1000 (shots 7/8/9) no wind
Adjust .4MIL back Left
57.0gr H1000 (shots 10/11/12) minimal wind
57.5 H1000 (shots 13/14/15) fluctuating winds 5-10mph
Move out to 200 to shoot some other rifles too. After about 11:00, the heat ran most of the people off. So it was pretty empty.
58.0 H1000 @ 200 (shots 16/17/18) mirage was so bad, I couldn't consistently see the rings on the target. I held on the black square, expecting 200 to be zero. It will be interesting to see how they work at longer ranges. Winds were picking up, 8-12mph
Dropped down .2MIL, held on square since I couldn't consistently pick up the circles with the mirage again. Fluctuating winds had really kicked up after 1:00pm. 12-15 and changing constantly.
58.5gr H1000 @ 200
Hopefully be back out shooting next week, but with a hunt coming up in a month, I think I will just load up a bunch at 57.5gr and go shoot for distance if the desert opens back up. If not, have to hit a ranch I know of and stretch it out to verify drops. An antelope won't stand a chance against the 156 @ 2988fps for now.
To be continued....
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