Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Day out with 25 Wissm and friends.

Well I got up at 11:30 am after working last night, put on clothes and answered the phone, with my friend Fred on the other end wondering where I was at.

45 min later I�m pulling up into his drive off loading guns, ammo and gear into his truck and off to the range.

He had his nephew Doug and his family there and the two oldest girls went with Fred, Doug and I. We hit it off well and I got a formal invite to go Pig Hunting in TX this Aug.
Well with out much more details, I just got permission from my wife to go. Free place to stay, and free hunting! Man I love it when plan comes together! Anyway� back to the 25.

Oh, the girls 12 and 9 loved shooting and they outshot all of us boys!

Since I'm running late and we don't want to go ring shopping we want to go shooting, Fred offers to get some rings for me while he's waiting for me to arrive.

While on the phone in the car to Fred�s place, I tell him I need 1� high weaver style rings.

He says ok and heads out to the local gunshop gets some Millet angle lock 1� rings, 1� high that are specifically designed for the AR for $26! Normally they are $35! Score! (yea at Midway they are $20, but then with shipping and waiting.. I�ll cough up the extra $6)

I get to Freds, meet greet, mount scope (new Leupe arrived yesterday, VX2 3x9x40) toss gear in truck, pile in with new friends and off we go.

It must have been about 90 degrees, fortunately the shooting area is covered very well and the shade was pleantiful. Wind was nill, which made for stifling heat. It was the kind of still before a storm blows in. In the distance you could see the thunder clouds on the way.

Had loaded up some 87 gr Winchester Western Spirepoints (yea really old bullets in yellow and red cardboard boxes�) with IMR 4895, CCI 200 primers used through out all testing in new cases. Had 10 shots loaded up and thought I�d just use them to get on the paper then test my other loads.

Well after 2 shots no where near the 3 foot by 3 foot card board at 50 yards, off came the scope and rings and I put them back on, pulled the bolt and carrier and bore sighted it the old fashioned way to get it on the paper. Then 2 more shots and I�m on the X ring. Dog gone if moving that crosshair around on the Lupe was EASY! I may buy another one just for that reason! Shot 5 shots for fun and squeezed em into an inch at 50. Had a few extra rounds so let Fred and Doug shoot it two times each. (generous ain�t I <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )

This throw together load really shot well!

Moved target out to 100 put up new paper and proceeded to test THE load.

75 gr Moly coated Barnes X bullet with IMR 4895.

5 shots of 44 gr yielded a shotgun pattern of, heck it wasn�t even that good�

5 shots of 45 gr was well, hmm let me find the words�.
5 shots of 46 gr was terrible

I normally save all my targets for record sake. Well this one went right in the trash.

I have shot better groups with my AR in spray and pray mode.

I pulled out my M1, loaded some surplus ball ammo and proceeded to shoot at the 100 yard target. I dropped 8 rounds into dirt bank just to relieve some frustration�

But was having a good time with my new friends and let Doug shoot my M1 at 100 with ball ammo and he put 8 shots into 3 inch by 3 inch square. I was tickled and he liked shooting the M1! First time shooting one too! And boy can he shoot!

After scrambling to load the truck before the downpour started, and climbing in for the drive back we started chatting about why it won�t shoot!

After much debate about Barnes X�s not shooting accurate in some guns, powder selection, bla bla bla, bullet wt and brl twist topics came around.

I didn�t know what twist my wssm was right off hand and we suspected it was 1 n 10.

Then the 75 gr bullet wt was mentioned and we compared it to the �throw together load� targets and the 87 gr�ners that shot really well!

Ta daaaaaaaa! Bingo! Hello anybody home? The lights are on�

Obviously I need a heavier bullet!

So I learned that these 75 gr bullets do NOT work well.

I think I�ll try some of the Barnes X�s in 85 gr next and load up some 90 gr�s and see what I get.

Yea, I�ll eventually get to the big boys�.

shoddy pics to follow...

110, 115,117 and 120 gr load report next please...

The barrel is a 1:10, broach-cut and will not shoot any thin-skinned bullets well until you have around 100 rounds through it. It will probably shoot the 75 grain bullets fine after you get some shooting and cleaning out of the way. All of the ones I have worked with loved the 87 grain Sierra's and 100 grain Noslers. The 110's and up just aren't as pleasant to shoot but I'm sure will do real well for you.

D

I know ya aren't saying it, but 75 Barnes dont' have a skin, thick or thin...

But like most tubes, give it 100 rounds or so, maybe more and it'll be getting just right.

Darrel-- find TSX. Not old X. Haven't found a picky barrel with TSX yet like we could with the old X.

I'd think something along about 85-100 would be just about right. Plus the X being lighter element are longer and give a better BC.

Jeff

thanks for the info...

I have pleanty of "shooter" bullets to break barrel in, so I better get to it!

never seen a new rifle yet that shot as well out of the box as it did after a bit of "break in"not even hand laped target barrels. As a rule I do not even do much record keeping till after the first seventy five or one hundred rounds are through the barrel.