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I went to the club today because I was behind on a rifle project. There were a bunch of pick ups and cars there, so I thought the place would be busy. I was wrong! The club is upgrading some electrical stuff and it looks like there's a new septic coming. All the vehicles were workers.

I brought two 6x45mms to play with. Both are savages I rebuilt with Shilen Select Match barrels and Timney triggers.

Today's shoot was to establish minimum loads for various powders and bullets. The pictures show how a good barrel and trigger can help get you close to the zone with a minimum of fuss. These first two target pix are minimum loads with either eight or ten powders. I fired two shots to establish the minimum.

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The target on top is only 16 shots (two bullets x eight powders), but what impressed me was the tightness of it. The bullet was a 65 gr. Berger BT Target bullet. 16 shots with eight different powders into a little less than 1.5 inches at 100 yd. The launch vehicle was a HB Frankenrifle. A former Stevens 200 (Savage Model 10) with a Choate Ultra Varmint stock, Timney Trigger and 22 inch Shilen SM barrel. On top, an inexpensive Mueller 8-32 scope.

The second target made me smile. Frankenrifle Too started life as a Savage Axis. An inexpensive donor action that was completely made over. I replaced the barrel with a Shilen SM barrel, Boyds AT-One stock, Timney Trigger and a Bushnell 3200, 4-12 scope. It grouped two different bullets, propelled by ten different powders into 2.4 inches. These were minimum loads, ambling along at a sedate 2500 to 2600 fps.





This is the best start for load work ups that I have had in a while. The winds were okay - 15 to 20 kph (9 to 12 mph), but I never use wind or pulled shots as an excuse. They have happened to me while hunting and shooting in competition. The shots still count.

From here, it shouldn't be too difficult to get 3/4 inch or better with any of the bullets.