Since the last post, I took some advice and glass bedded the rifle. I am not sure if this made any difference, since I have not tried to duplicate some of the previous load results, but I feel better knowing that there is a good fit between stock and receiver. I only glass bedded the lug, one inch of the chamber, and the rear tang. I considered full-length bedding it, likes the Forbes rifles, but that can be done later if needed.

After bedding, I tested some 162 Amax and 168 Berger VLD Hunting bullets. While the sample size is small, and I should have taken some intermediate steps, it appears the gun likes the 168 Berger VLDs better than anything I have tried so far. The limited results of the 3-shot 100yd groups follow:

Hornady 162 gr Amax Bullets
1.3� 162 Amax 55gr H4831
1.5� 162 Amax 56gr H4831
1.5� 162 Amax 57gr H4831 (Hodgdon Max 56.4)

[Linked Image]





Berger 168 gr VLD Hunting Bullets
1.1� 168 Berger 57gr H4831
1.1� 168 Berger 57gr H4831
1.0� 168 Berger 57.7gr H4831 (Hodgdon Max)
2.2� 168 Berger 57.7gr H4831 (Hodgdon Max) flier

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


The Berger 57 grain loads felt fine and I saw no abnormal pressure signs. The two groups looked good and overlay each other. The 57.7 loads seemed hot, especially the one shot that was flier in the second group, located to the right. On that shot, the bolt lift was a little stiffer than others.

Based on Hodgdon website, the 57.7 loads push the bullet at 2779 fps. Given the BC of this bullet of 0.617, that puts approximately 1670 ft-lbs of energy downrange at 500 yards. That is pretty substantial for a non-magnum cartridge. The recoil was more noticeable today pushing the larger bullets. It was not painful but noticeable.

I plan to continue tweaking the 168 Bergers until I find a sweet spot, but in the meantime, this is functional elk and deer medicine.