Just in time for deer, bear and moose Season, the Ruger American Rifle® – Predator is part of the Ruger American Series of no nonsense MOA accurate, light weight and cost effective! The 6.5 Creedmoor is perhaps one of the finest hunting and target cartridges ever developed for both short and long range shooting. I will begin testing soon.
http://www.ruger.com/products/americanRiflePredator/specSheets/6973.html
It was during the American Revolution that the first guns with rifling were put to the test. It was George Washington who enlisted the service of Daniel Morgan, a rough and tumble marksman, hunter and Indian fighter to create our first Military “Riflemen”. Later to become General Daniel Morgan under General George Washington and famous for his Revolutionary war “Battle of the Cowpens”
http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battle-of-cowpens
Many folks haven’t a clue who Morgan is and I neither did I till I did this research of this American Hero with a Rifle. Amazon sells a book on him you may find fascinating.
First and foremost he was a civilian marksman with a Pennsylvania Rifle who had intimate knowledge of the trails and mountains as a hunter and Indian fighter. Morgan was among a long list of Civilian men with such skills.
Before America was born, families of the 13 colonies, for survival sake, needed to be skilled at hunting, reading sign, and shooting of wild game, predators and fend off native Indian attacks. It was the Pennsylvania Rifle that gave them an edge for long distance, a tool to maintain their Freedom. It was the Mountain men of the 13 colonies territories in the mid 1700’s that embraced the Pennsylvania Rifle many call the Kentucky Rifle. It was created for Mountain men headed to new land called Kentucky. The first rifle that had grooves or “rifling in the barrel. It was the civilian marksmanship skills and the Pennsylvania rifle created by German and Dutch immigrants which led to such a long range rifle.
It was from the Civilian ranks from birth that Marksman that made the difference in Battle. Do you remember Alvin C. York who with his marksmanship hunting skills and courage given him by God, handily used his marksmanship to aid in defeating the German Army of WW I.
It was from civilian marksman hunter ranks that Rob Oneill of Seal Team 6 below was created. It was Rob Oneill that killed Osama bin Laden.
It was from civilian marksman hunter ranks that Marcus Luttrell of Seal Team 10 was created.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Luttrell
In time of war it was Civilian Marksmanship that brought a rapid end to battles in the Revolution, WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanisan and today to kill Osama Bin Laden.
Below American Sniper Chris Kyle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Kyle
So Civilian Marksman and Hunters be proud and if you enlist or are called to the nations service you will add those civilian hunter and marksmen that have stood tall in behalf of the nation in times of war. In the meantime learn your marksman, woodsmanship, hunting and survival skills as they will serve you well in this ever changing world.
Last week as you know, I shot at the Sig Sauer Academy using the Leupold VX-3i 6.5-20 50mm CDS Riflescope (Target). I was shooting 8 inch balloons at 1000 yards. The clarity and crispness of the balloons at that distance was unbelievable. It is easily one of the finest scopes on the Planet and it is made in the USA. More below on the VX-3i. The add is very cool. Check it out!
July 19, 2016 I arrived at the Sig Academy and met up with son Jason. Below is the Pro Shop. A beautiful summer day shooting with son Jason is all I could ask for!
An inside look.
We headed to our classroom where Chris Cavellaro our Instructor known as “Cav” gave us an intro as what to expect from the day which started at 8:30 AM and lasted technically till 5 PM but we shot till 6 PM.
Cav went around the room with 5 students in attendance to see where they were from and their expectations of the course.
Five is a very manageable size for the type of shooting we are doing. I was performing Test and Evaluation of the Savage Model 12 Long Range Precision Rifle as well as the Test and Evaluation of Leupold’s newly introduced Scope VX-3i 6.5-20x50mm Custom Dial System. You must select a cartridge for using the Custom Dial System and have a CDS dial made. I chose not to test the CDS feature.
Below is all my gear for the Class “Reach for 1000”.
Our set-up to check zero at 100 yards. Sig gave us shooting blankets to use. Below is top is Jason’s Rifle and my Savage Model 12 Long Range Precision rifle and Leupold VX-3i Scope with a shade attached.
Below is my 100 yard group shooting Hornady Precision Hunter 143 grain (Extremely Low Drag) ELD-X bullets with the first shot called a cold shot 1 1/2 inches high.
The rest of the shots grouped a bit less than 1 inch as the barrel begins to warm up. Initially, I was not really comfortable and relaxed because I set my bi-pod lower to see if it made a difference, it didn’t feel comfortable. I reset the bi-pod higher and got my large rear sand bag and was comfortable again. the tight group of three to the left happens when this bull barrel warms a bit. Cold shots are important to understand when you need to make that Precision shot the first time.
Cav shared a shooting technique to look through your scope then close your eyes, relax your head and open them to see if the crosshair moves. If it does, you want to move your body left or right till that crosshair remains on center. Emphasis on relaxed muscles. Secondly, Cav emphasized the focus on the crosshair more than the target. In fact the target may even blur but the crosshair is your focal point in the aiming process. No mention about breathing during the shot sequence was done. I am happy with my breathing sequence.
Emphasis on trigger pull as a steady force rearward till the trigger sear breaks and the rifle fires. All said and done the shooter should not be tense at all and the trigger finger does all the work. My Precision trigger is set at 2 pounds for target shooting, See photo below.
Below is the 200 yard shooting area center. Targets were again paper.
Below we are set up at 300 yards and about to shoot steel targets with white circles so we can see/hear the impact.
Below are my 300 yard shots, Top three inch circle has all five hits in the white while the bottom circle grouping was very tight indeed with all 5 shots three dead center and 2 at 6 o’clock in the white. Whoa! Nice! I said to Cal; “I have read that many precision bullets seem to stabilize at longer ranges.” “Yes they can”, Cal added.
Below is Jason’s 300 yard group.
The three hundred range also is the 750 yard range to the right in the photo below. Look above the scope turret. It looks tiny doesn’t it. Sooo far away that even the targets are difficult to see without a scope which was set to 14x. I should have dialed to 20x but still shot quite fine hitting a 10 inch white square after a few minor adjustments. Cav had a Kestrel wind meter with barometric pressure. Wind was coming from our backs most of the day making wind drift a small concern.
It was here that I discovered that I ran out of elevation adjustment but it was not due to the scope. The 20 MOA picatinny rail was on backwards. Cav had field tools so we unmounted the scope turned the rail 180 degrees, remounted the scope and in 15 minutes and I was back in business for 1000 yards. Hmm, the Leupold 20 MOA rail had no markings on it for direction.
Below shooters finishing the 750 yard targets
Below is 1000 yard targets with a large 4 foot steel plate with a 10 inch white square in the middle. The same target we shot at 750 yards but repainted. One at a time we made adjustments to hit the 10 inch white square. To the left and right are steel human silhouette tagets which we engaged once we could put rounds in the 10 inch square. But now for the balloon shoot at 1000 yards. There were strings of 8 and 6 inch multi-colored balloons to shoot. I was able to take out three of these balloons at 1000 yards.
Below, Jason and I are taking aim at a 8 inch balloon at 1000 yards. We added 1 minute in windage for bullet spin drift (book says 1.2) I took out three balloons to Jason’s one. Not bad for an old fart, eh with at test Savage Model 12 LRP and a Test Leupold VX-3i 6.5-20x50mm scope and store bought ammo. Not bad at all…and I teased him in good humor too.
In a few days Sig will email a course evaluation. I was elated with the skill and laid back nature of our Instructor Cav. He had a very consistent demeanor all day. At the end of the course we had a debrief and there I gave my grade for Cal who I gave an A+ grade.
I could have used a two gallon thermos of cold water. My Camel bak Hydration back pack worked great but the water got warm faster than I wanted. Could have added more Ice to it. Need lots of cold water when I do this again.
There is a follow-up to this course which goes into detail on Wind doping and Mirage and Calculators for MOA or Mil adjustments.
We all received a Certificate of Completion of the “Reach for 1000 training”.
Ratings for the Model 12 LRP Rifle are easy I give the Rifle an A grade. It never let me down.
The Leupold VX-3i 6.5-20 x50mm was just fantastic and I could see and pop 8 inch balloons at 1000 yards using 20x. The balloons were clear and sharp with great color.
The 20 MOA rail was terrific once we had it pointed in the right direction and the 143 grain Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X bullets were excellent and Match Grade.
I had a great time learned a lot and recommend the rifle, scope and the training to all my friends.
Good Shooting!
© 2016
Nashua High Power Match Score Cards July 9th at Nashua F & G with new .308 Criterion Barrel was tested in Jason Hale’s previous article.
Below is Jason’s first 3×600 Prone shoot score cards. 20 shots for each of the 3×600 matches that day. Each line represents 10 shots for score, Max score for each shot is 10 points with the X being the very center of the bullseye. In the first card you see s1 and s2 and are non scoring practice shots. The 95 means 95 out of 100 as a possible score and the 3 represents the number of X’s. Now you can read the rest of the score cards. His rear rest was a squeeze bag in this case and made it more difficult. Not bad for his first 3×600 shoot. We are awaiting how he placed in the shoot.
After some nagging from my dad and carving some time out away from work and family, I finally got around to writing this article…..
I’ve long since been bitten by the long range target and hunting bug and now own 2 savage 10/110 FCP rifles chambered in .308 Winchester and .300 Winchester Magnum cartridges. Upon seeing the accuracy potential of the .308 at the Sig Sauer Academy “Reach for a thousand” 1000 yd course a while back, with bone stock, I decided to purchase some upgrades to convert it to a long range rig.
The initial upgrade was the JP rifles AMCS chassis system, and then mounted some new glass (Vortex Viper 6-24x FFP). See photo below by author.
With the added weight it was not suitable for hunting, but if I wanted to lug it around the woods, I could always return it to the OEM HS Precision stock and head out into the woods.
Since the stock upgrade, I’ve been looking out for any precision rifle series matches in the northeast, and haven’t found one yet, so I’ve taken to NRA F class target shooting. Following the stock upgrade I entered into my first F-TR match and didn’t do half bad. So after that, I committed to myself to enter into every match I could. I set out to research a bit more about barrel upgrades I could do to make it more suitable for F-TR. I was drawn to the inherent versatility of the savage barrel nut system, and dreamed about match grade barrels, but never had the courage to pick up a new one until I skimmed through a favorite website (Northland Shooters Supplies (NSS) website: http://northlandshooterssupply.com/). I looked over their offerings with respect to target barrels and gave them a call, 15 minutes later I purchased my first 28″ button rifled match grade barrel made by Criterion Barrels . http://www.criterionbarrels.com Five days of ground shipping later, I had that handsome barrel in my itchy hands. While I was waiting for its arrival, I decided to clean the original barrel, oil it and prepare for it’s removal. I purchased all of the re-barreling tools some time ago anticipating this activity happening at some point.
With this kit, I can re-barrel my action with barrels chambered for .243 Win, 308 Win, .358 Win, .260 Rem, 7mm-08, and the .338 Federal cartridges. Not bad for versatility, I’d say!
After installing my action into the action wrench and putting the wrench into the vise, I slid on the barrel nut wrench and with deep breath and a breaker bar easily loosened the barrel nut. I was surprised at the ease of barrel removal reading of all of the horror stories from the web forums.
The critical part of re-barreling is setting the headspace correctly. As I learned while reading about this swap, and thankfully not by experience, it is imperative that you remove the ejector plunger before you insert the headspace gauge, unless you fancy large gouges in your pretty chamber; not me. Step by step instructions recommending the same can be found throughout the net as well as the fine folks at NSS. One point to note, you don’t want the barrel to rotate as you torque the barrel nut and jam the go gauge in the chamber, you may end up with something slightly shorter than SAAMI Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute specification, or at least a chamber that may not accept previously made loaded rounds due to headspace differences. I had a rubber strap wrench hanging around and put it to good use to counter the twisting of the barrel. One last torque and the rifle was re-assembled into the stock.
Overall the process was painless as well as exciting as long as you take it slow. I took three shots below following zero and some break-in combined with some load work-ups. Below is the 3 shot group of my current load.
The point of this article on swapping barrels on a Savage with a threaded barrel is that you don’t necessarily need a gunsmith to swap a barrel on Savage rifles. That makes Savage actions and rifles a versatile indeed!
Editor’s Note: This tight 0.28 inch 3 shot group that Jason shot is the result of experimentation with many variables such as the new barrel, bullet, powder, cartridge case prep, primer, overall length and many other details. In addition we compute standard deviation and extreme spread to maximize long range potential.
© 2016 Jason Hale for New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine
I am looking forward to the Reach for 1000 training at the Sig Sauer Academy this July 19th with my son Jason who has already taken the class but desired to attend with me as a father/son event. I have already competed at Nahsua’s 300, 500 and 600 match with my AR-15 and 77 grain Nosler Bullets and calculated bullet drop tables after measuring bullet speed with a chronograph. Now with the 6.5 Creedmoor we have lots of bullet weight for the caliber, store bought Hornady 143 grain Extremely Low Drag Hunting Bullets (see the article inside). They are not tack drivers but sub-moa never the less in my rifle so I should be able to easily reach the 1000 yard mark… and a lot more if it was available. The velocity spread is wider as I measured with my Chronograph so I expect some vertical stringing at 800 and 1000 yards They do not allow hand loaded ammo. I will report back after the course.
I am taking the course because professionals are teaching it and want to see what new things I can learn from the Pro’s. Cost $300 + 150 rounds of store bought ammunition. We shall see if the cost of training was worth it?
The training includes:
Required Equipment
See below for update.
This Precision Hunter™ ammo from Hornady features “the 143 grain ELD-X™ bullet and carefully selected propellant and primer to deliver match accurate hunting ammunition.” Every gun is a bit different in how this ammo shoots. Below I tested it for bullet speed. It is advertized to shoot 2700 fps at the muzzle but does not state barrel length. I assume a 24 inch barrel but I am shooting a 26 inch barrel and as advertised it was 2700 fps plus my two extra inches of barrel making it around 2738 fps give or take. Nice!
I left the zero as it was from shooting Sierra 142 grain HPBT target bullet traveling an average speed of 2706 fps. Below are Groups 1 thru 4. Cold barrel shots are very different 1.3 inch group and high. I made no changes and shot groups 2,3, and 4. G 2 was 0.73″, G3 was 0.53″ and G4 was 1.45 inches.
Population Standard Deviation, σ 9.66
Variance (Population Standard), σ2 93.44
R range=28
Mean (Average): 2738.6
This is good for hunting but I need to try these again in a separate experiment. At 100 yards these should all be within an inch. Need to test again in a clean rifle and may be the rifle. . Group G1 was shot out of a cold barrel as in hunting. Only G2 and G3 are sub-MOA. All will mushroom and kill game from close to far as slow as 1800 fps up to 2660 fps.
G4 shot should have all been together as in G2 and G3. More experiments planned soon to see what the problem is.
UPDATE
Cleaned a scrubbed the barrel July 4th and took to range. All shots are sub-moa varying from 0.97 inches to 0.25. This factory ammo is excellent for hunting out to 600 or so yards.
© 2016
The NEW Leupold VX®-3i 6.5-20X50mm CDS Target Scope from Leupold and Stevens is an improved version of the VX-3 where I verified that the power dial is much easier to turn, especially with gloved hands in the field. https://www.leupold.com/hunting-shooting/scopes/vx-3i-riflescopes/vx-3i-6-5-20x50mm-30mm-side-focus-cds-target
With a 30mm tube it draws light in like a magnet from the 50mm Objective Lens and its Twilight Max Light Management provides maximum brightness in all colors and intensifies contrast on the range and in the field. The tall turrets are designed for ease of use and visibility to change windage and elevation setting on the go. The scope does not come cheap, its MSRP is $1169.99 but I have seen it for just under $900 on-Line. You get what you pay for. This scope is capable for long range hunting and varmint and comes with its famous dual erector springs so it can take a beating with a big bore rifle. Setting the Zero on the turret is easy to do with the provided Allen wrench. This wrench is very small indeed so keep it in a safe place. Each turret has three Allen screws to loosen to free the dial so it can be turned to Zero as seen in the photo below. I have dialed in a 600 yard solution and turned the elevation dial and fired Hitting just out of the bullseye on the first shot. The adjustments are crisp with a felt and heard (audible) click and right on.
In the image above you can see the elevation turret with the Allen wrench sticking out and the side focus on the left with hash marks. The Side focus really aids it creating a sharp image. At 600 yards the F Class target X ring as seen through the scope is as clear as day so you can count the points on an Elk just as easy from that range. Leupold scopes are really rugged and can take the abuse of hard hunting.
From the website above Leupold states: “America’s favorite riflescope just got better. VX-3i brings legendary Leupold Gold Ring performance to a new level. Twilight Max Light Management System provides maximum brightness in all colors and intensified contrast across the entire field of view. Dual Spring Precision Target Adjustments perform with match grade precision and when paired with the Custom Dial System (CDS) long range shooting solutions have never been easier. The 30mm maintube dramatically increases windage and elevation travel while the side focus adjustment makes fine-tuning parallax effortless. The easy turn power selector can be quickly turned, even with gloves on while watertight seals ensure fog free performance for a lifetime.”
“Versatile magnification ranges and an attractive new look make the Leupold VX-3i riflescopes ideal for virtually any hunting situation. The aggressively redesigned power selector is easy to grasp and turn and allows the shooter to quickly verify the power setting even with gloved hands.
The Twilight Max Light Management System delivers the highest average light transmission in all colors with emphasis on the blue and red portions of the light spectrum for exceptional low light performance and contrast in all conditions.
Edge blackened lenses reduce diffusion and glare to improve resolution and contrast. Second generation Argon/Krypton gas more effectively resists thermal shock and the dual spring precision adjustment system ensures match grade repeatability and strength.
Top it all off with DiamondCoat 2™ external lens coatings for scratch resistance and you can see why the VX-3i is the first, last, and only name in riflescopes. As always, each Leupold Gold Ring riflescope is factory tested to be the ultimate in ruggedness, reliability and absolute waterproof integrity. Covered by the Leupold Full Lifetime Guarantee.”
There are many fine articles on the web that discuss this load combination but every rifle is different so loads with powder and bullets need to be worked up carefully and safely. This is a continuation of a series of articles here on this site highlighting the rifle, a Savage Model 12 Long Range Precision Rifle with the Leupold VX-3i 6.5-20 X 50mm. Both are a marriage made in heaven and work seamlessly together. See the image on the front page. In addition to this great marriage of rifle and scope we add Sierra 142 grain HPBT Match bullets lit by H4350 Powder seen in a recent article here.
Earlier articles used newer cases that were full length resized. Below I used cases that were twice used and neck sized. An advantage of using cartridge cases previously used in the same rifle is that they now fit the chamber perfectly and have a positive effect on group to a degree that is often noticeable. Since I am relatively new to the rifle some accuracy comes from the shooters comfort with the rifle, scope and loadings. That would be me! I reloaded the H4350 with slightly hotter loads for the Sierra 142 grain HPBT observing for signs of high pressure adding a tenth of a grain at a time at near max loads.
Weather sunny with 12 oclock 0 to 5 mph wind. Ideal!
Shooter – Ed Hale
Group 1 was a three shot group that I previously tested in an earlier article with the best being 0.235 inches. This group was 0.3 inches. No data measured.
Group 2 is a 5 shot group with a flyer using 40.5 grains powder. With the flyer it shot 0.7 inches. If take out the flyer it is 0.36 inches.
Velocities; 2653,2630,2641,2633,2638
Mean (Average):2639
Range 23 fps
Population Standard Deviation, σ=7.9
This is a very tight spread.
Group 3 is a 5 shot group with 40.6 grains of H4350 measuring 0.34 inch spread.
Velocities 2661,2656,2648,2624,2633
Population Standard Deviation, σ=13.922643427166
Range is 37.
Mean (Average):2644.4
Best group with widest velocity range if the chronograph is correct. Best to repeat this test to be sure of the Range calculation.
Group 4 is a 5 shot group with 40.7 grains of H4350 measuring 0.69 inch spread and still no case or primer issues.
Velocities 2636,2655,2650,2636,2645
Population Standard Deviation, σ 7.5524830353997
Mean (Average): 2644.4
Range 19
The Target tells some of the story.
Low Range and Std Dev σ is best.
I have added today 6/22/16 image
Tested H4350 at 41.1 grains Group 1 and G2 at 41.2 grains powder trying to achieve a speed of 2700 fps and I did.
UPDATE BELOW FOR 6/22/16
Group 1 on 6/22/16 41.1 grains was a cold barrel and the first shot pulled right 1/2 inch. the other 4 shots grouped less than 1/2 inch statisticical variation of range “R” in group 1 was 46 fps thus would exceed 3 sigma in standard deviations from the mean and will group poorly at long range.
2706,2693,2696,2659 One data point was not captured so i used the 4.
Population Standard Deviation, σ 17.69
Range R = 45
Mean (Average): 2688.5
Very poor long range reliability as the range and standard deviation conclude poor confidence.
Group 2 on 6/22/16 is 41.2 grains H4350 and measured 0.49 inches of 5 shots.
Chronograph of each shot 2687,2691,2708,2702,2687 in fps. Use an online Std Deviation calculator.
Population Standard Deviation, σ 8.5
Mean (Average): 2695
Range R=21 fps
This is excellent! Speed is there and the Standard Deviation is below 10 and with a range or spread of 21 fps the rifle should shoot very well at long distances with this load. A real winner and for all intent it is a 2700 fps load that can win at 600 yards in F class competition. I would like more speed but this will work.
Note there are barrel harmonic vibrations at play and each barrel is different. By testing in this way you are trying to shoot in the valley of the rifles harmonic vibrations. I did note that the barrel performed more consistent when it was warmed with a few shots first.
The quality and clarity of the Leupold VX-3i 6.5 -20 x50mm makes a huge difference for me the shooter. The image was so crisp that I could hold within 1/8th inch of crosshairs or less and is specifically designed for long range. At 100 yards I shot it at 14X. This scope has a side focus to reduce parallax. More on this scope soon!
© 2016