Today started out great and just got better! Coyote #52 dropped to my new (Christmas) .22-250 Ruger M77 MKII VT, as did a prairie dog, both before breakfast.
Then it was off to the range with a couple of sets of work-up loads. The first and most important was for my.257 Roberts +P -- Barnes 115g TSX (Triple Shock) and H4350. For my Marlin 375 it was .38-55 brass, AA1680 and Hornady 220g bullets. Unfortunately, I left the Marlin rifle at home! :roll:
In another thread I mentioned that I had given the Ruger M77 a trigger job, mostly polishing parts with the Dremel, but a little grinding, too. I was really anxious to see how the trigger worked. As it turned out, the trigger was crisp, clean, and just light enough - perfect! :grin:
As noted I my previous post, I was hoping to hit 3000fps with the Barnes load. The instructions that come with the Barnes TSX say to use X bullet data and work up to an extra grain or two. Like the XLC bullets, an extra 100fps is a reasonable expectation. Since the 115g X data calls for 41.0-45.0g H4350 and velocities of 2643-2901fps, I started with 44.0g and built loads going to 47.0g in 0.5g increments -- 4 loaded cartridges at each level, 32 total.
The wind was pretty high at the 100/200 yard range so I retreated to the covered 100 yard range where I could shoot in the lee of an embankment. After squeezing the trigger on the first 44.0g load, I knew it was going to be a short test -- velocity was 2992fps, just 8fps short of my goal. The results were as follows:
WW Brass
CCI 250 Primer
Barnes 115g TSX
COL 2.803"
44.0g H4350, 2981fps AVG, 26.2fps S.D., 55fps E.S., 2.35"
44.5g H4350, 3013fps AVG, 14.0fps S.D., 34fps E.S., 1.75", 3 of 4 in 0.90"
45.0g H4350, 3042fps AVG, 29.4fps S.D., 65fps E.S., 3.95", 3 of 4 in 1.55"
After shooting the 45.0g loads I stopped, deciding to "keep" the 44.5g load, although I may stick with H4831SC as the powder I use with this bullet. I shot a few of the H4831SC loads I had worked up to last week, and the results show why:
WW Brass
CCI 250 Primer
Barnes 115g TSX
COL 2.803"
48.0g H4831SC, 2958fps AVG, 11.1fps S.D., 24fps E.S., 1.05", 4 shots
I also shot some Hornady 75g V-MAX/H4895 loads:
WW Brass
CCI 250 Primer
Hornady 75g V-MAX
COL 2.803"
46.0g H4895, 3660fps AVG, 23.9fps S.D., 53fps E.S., 1.30", 3 of 4 in 0.50"
(I used this load this afternoon to ruin a prairie dog's day at just under 200 yards.)
Finally, because I still had 6 left from when I first bought the gun, I fired one Federal 120g Partition load:
Federal 120g Nosler Partition (257B, .257 Roberts +P load)
2682fps
Daughter #2 was home from college for Spring Break when I returned from the ranches where I had been harassing the prairie dogs (only one shot, but it counted). My wife and I rounded up Daughter #3 and the four of us went out for dinner and a movie (Hildago, thumbs up).
Now its almost midnight and in a few hours I get to go harass the song dogs again -- life is good!
