Accurate 243 Marlin XS7 - 12/04/10
My FIL bought this Marlin XS7 243 as a dual-purpose gun for deer and 'yotes. From our long relationship he knows that I load precise ammo that regularly outperforms factory loads. He's the only person I custom load for, and I do it out of love for him and his daughter (my wife of 30 years). I loaded 105 grain Speers for his deer hunting. Yesterday I worked-up a coyote load for him with the 55 grain Nosler ballistic tips. Here is the target:
When shooting these groups, I held the rifle in my hands with the forend resting on a sandbag on the hood of my suburban. I pulled the one shot that opened the second group up to 1/2 inch. With a better rest setup I have no doubt that all three would have gone in the same hole, giving me a group in the 2s. It took me 9 rounds to develop the load and sight-in the rifle with two groups. After years of reloading, this type of result is typical. All you have to do is choose components that are correct for the load, and not make stupid mistakes. It's not particularly hard. Experience helps too.
When shooting these groups, I held the rifle in my hands with the forend resting on a sandbag on the hood of my suburban. I pulled the one shot that opened the second group up to 1/2 inch. With a better rest setup I have no doubt that all three would have gone in the same hole, giving me a group in the 2s. It took me 9 rounds to develop the load and sight-in the rifle with two groups. After years of reloading, this type of result is typical. All you have to do is choose components that are correct for the load, and not make stupid mistakes. It's not particularly hard. Experience helps too.