Spring has sprung finally making my long range spot accessible.

Back when I had this 22-204 put together, I didn't spend a whole lot of time on load work, more along the kiss, find pressure, and rock on approach so highly touted (wink), with 75 Amax and AA-2230-C.

This winter I picked up a 1K box of 80 grain Berger VLD's and a 22 caliber sleeve for my Whidden pointer. I usually shoot 75 grain VLD's but for some unknown reason the 80's are cheaper, and after running the numbers at 50 fps difference, it's a wash anyway, so cheaper won out.

The 3 on the left as they come from the Berger....right three after pointing with the Whidden die:




I already had a good 200 yard zero from a couple days ago, so I went straight back to 610 yards with the steel and got set up. My 6.5x47 is in the pic, as I didn't take a pic with the 22-204, but it shows the set up:



I looked at the drop chart, dialed the scope, and ripped off three:



Shazaam, an inch and three quarters!


Then moved to the 775 mark. No pics or stats on the 22, but I ran three through the 6.5x47 to test the new Vortex:




Back to 1003 yards and the wind was starting:






I had hung two 12x24's side by side so I could shoot one at 1000 and the other at 1200, so I didn't have to run back and forth. I got a good zero on the 22-204, and then compared the 80's to the 75 Amax's that had a 25-30 fps advantage. The Amax dropped 2 1/2 MOA lower than the 80's at 1K.

I then moved back to the fence trying to get 1200, but with the steel being part way down the hill to spot shots, I could "only" get to 1185. I had to drive the truck back and forth to knock down the thistles to make a lane to shoot through, one of the reasons I bought a Work Truck with the plastic front end that some idiots gave me grief over. Of course by now the wind and mirage were kicking in:

[img]http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh167/alfbucket/017_zpsfc0773aa.jpg[/img]

In my rush to get going, I had not run the ballistics out that far, so I shot several in the hillside to get a zero, then I moved to the steel. I saw the first two hit in the middle, but never saw the third hit plate or dirt, so I shot one more. I thought the center splash had gotten a little bigger on the fourth, but couldn't tell with the mirage.

After loading everything in the truck and driving down to the target, I found the third shot did hit at the bottom of the steel, and the fourth did land on the top of the center shot:

[img]http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh167/alfbucket/020_zps857a38e3.jpg[/img]

Before packing up from 1185, I did compare the Amax to the Berger again, and the Berger had a solid 5 1/2 MOA flatter trajectory.

There's one more test I want to do yet, just for the hell of it. When I pointed the bullets, I didn't do 30 of them, so it'll give me an idea of the improvement gained by pointing.

Nice shooting! It's getting to be time again, I made it out for my first long day last weekend.

Curious how much the pointing flattens things out, my pointing die showed up yesterday! That's a fair amount flatter than the amax...

Did you reverse engineer a BC?

Whidden claims .34-.40 improvement, so I added .35 to the 80's .445.
My extreme spreads are a little larger than I care for, so it makes it tougher to punch in a true average velocity. But based on the four separate yardages I shot at, 610, 775, 1003, 1185, I'm as close as I can get with using a .480 BC at 3120 fps.

Nice shooting and pics. Thanks for sharing.

What's a 'pointing' die exactly?

Thanks...

The pointing die closes up the hollow point a little tighter, reducing drag, and giving them better LR performance.

I added text to the first pic with the bullets.

Nice shooting! Looks like a Red Letter Day!

Thanks...

It started out great, then faded as I got further away. Mirage was getting worse than the wind. The last of the shooting had three MOA of wind in it. Top to top can be a challenge some days.

Looks like a good time aalf.....I enjoyed these threads!

It is fun, and I like to share. More so when killer groups show up.....

That's an interesting cartridge aalf !
Great shooting --cool stuff as usual.
Mike

Thanks.

A 223 Ackley can't hang........

Bad ass. Nice shootin' aalf.



Travis

Thanks....

After 3+ inches of rain then a 3" frosting of snow, it might be a couple three days before I can stretch it to 1400 or so. The little pills get tougher to spot impacts as the ranges increase, but at least recoil isn't an issue.

We'll see if the accuracy holds, as that's around the subsonic range.