I've been chomping at the bit to get out and shoot some of these at distance. The conditions were close to perfect with only a slight, steady breeze out of the east at 3-5mph and 20*F. Clean air with zero mirage. According to JBM calculations, this bullet has a .600 G1 BC, slightly higher than the 130gr Berger VLD's I've been running in both .260's. Subtracting .1 mil from my Berger 130 range card, put this load right on the money. At 510M I put in 2.3 mils elevation, and held off .3 for left to right drift. It's always nice to get the wind call right the first shot. I was rewarded with a rare opportunity to see clear bullet "trace" through the scope after each shot. Fun stuff! I wasn't disappointed with the first five shots and walked down to the plate and took a pic.



I re-painted and shot another eight rounds....just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. I had one that went a bit right, but was very happy with the verticle on both groups.

Interesting notes on this rifle include this Schneider barrel has 2600+ rounds throught it and I haven't run a cleaning patch through it in over 300 rounds...still hammering!

The next session will be to shoot it out past 1000 with this load and also to take some critters with it to see how it works. If anyone out there has any experience with this bullet on big game, I'd like to hear about it.

thinking those will shoot !!

can't wait to see how the critters fair or don't

I think I'll be running those at Icebreaker......grin!

Imagine that bullet in our 6.5 SAUMs!!

ya, I got the teaser pic of our new Actions this morning...

gonna have to find some of them to try out for sure !

Nice shooting Pat!

I do like the Schneider brand, thinking I've had 9 of them now and it's my fav.

Thinking a fella from the Bozezone has been using Jimmy Knox bullets for some time. Next time I run into him I'll find out what all he did with them as I just can't recall.

Shoot straight!

Dober

Nice shooting, Pat! If I were a 'yote, I'd be shaking in my boots, just looking at the pic of that steel plate!

I believe that will do...

The first group looks like my groups at 100 yards.

I saw your 100 yard group in the reloading forum. Unreal. Looks like it'll hold up at range as well.

JLK's are some pricey bullets.

Better not show up to the SHC with that rag-tag rig and load. LOL!

Great shooting. Looks like the closest thing to an actual laser that I've seen!

now ya went and done it !! laffin'

Rick, thanks! Maybe we can get on the same squad at the Cup next year.....

scenarshooter...looking at your rifle I see a cheekpiece for lack of a better word. What are you using? I am putting together a 6.5x47 Lapua and notice when shooting prone I would like a little higher comb on the stock. Thanks.

Very nice shooting. Hope my rifle will do as well.

Keith

Let's do. I'll keep you posted as we get closer. It'll be fun.

Pat,
Wow, that is some great shooting!!

Mind sharing what S&B scope you have on that Crusader?

Bette than great shooting as usual!

Hey Pat,

Fill us in on your method of load development.

3 to 5mph wind in Glascow? Wow I hope the world isnt coming to a end for real? Nice shooting

That one is a 5-25X56 S&B PMII mil/mil P3 reticle.

Just a leather riser I made from heavy saddle stock, border stitched and dyed. I wet it down, then sew it together on the bottom. It helps raise the comb a hair, plus it's a lot nicer to put your face against leather than plastic when it's 40* below zero. Helps in the summer as well when it's 100+F.

Pat, do you use a Kestrel or any gadget like it at all? After getting taught a lesson today in a switchy breeze I'm really considering getting into one.

ok...you got skills...I don't

Nice touch Pat. You never cease to amaze me. Looks very proffessional.

Looks higher quality than anything I recall on the market. Very nicely done.

you should see and use his slings !

Pat - regarding JLKs, here is a post from snipershide I had in a reply...

Better late than never...

I have killed no less than 500 deer with my x47. I am running a 130 Berger at 2940 fps in mine. My brother clones deer so we kill a crap load of doe every year for their overies.

I have shot a few pigs in my day as well with this round. I have used several bullets trying to figure out the best killing combo and here is MY opinion on what I have experienced. It is not holy nor sacred, just what happened and I observed. So take anything you read with a grain of salt as it may not turn out the same for you.

My rifles specs:
Rem 700 left hand
Lawton 1-8" twist finished at 29.5"
Fat bastard break
McMillan A3 with 3 way butt plate and adj cheek piece
Hubor concepts 2 stage trigger
Premier Ret 5-25x56
130 Berger VLD @2940 fps

123 Scenar- this bullet shoots great on paper with my rifle. consistant .3" groups. Even at 500 and 1000 it would print an occasional half min group. That is with three shots mind you. On game I was less than impressed. They have a bit thicker jacket and didnt expand too well. I actually never dropped a deer once with a shoulder shot. Head shots didnt show to do too much damage either. IMO this is not a great projectile for hunting.

123 SMK- This bullet shot absolutely lights out in my rifle. I had to shoot this round for the first thousand rounds or so because 130 bergers were rare as hens teeth. This round shot in the .1's-.2s all day long for 5 shots. At 600 yards this round printed a 3.4" 10 shot group shot prone. I had some interesting results with its terminal effects. The very first deer I shot was a cull 6 pt and he was 606 yards. I put a high shoulder shot on him and he folded up. The next few doe I shot I put shoulder shots just to see bullet performance. One was DRT and 4 ran off a good 100 yards before dying. Not what I like for the amount of deer I shoot. On the head shots again I didnt see consistant enough trama to use this as my go to bullet.

130 JLK- This is the best long range target bullet I have ever used. I have shot some groups that yall would flat out call BS on so I wont even say what it can do on paper. On critters...TERRIBLE! I never once dropped a deer with this bullet. Last month I was wanting to test it on a coyote. While waiting 800 yards from a gut pile, a BIG boar walked into the field at 660 yards. Dead calm wind. I fire up the video camera and zoom in on him. dial up and send the shot. I hear the bullet smack him and actually see it through my scope. Well he just absorbs the bullet and runs off without a limp. I maybe thought I missed..rewind the camera and you can see trace go down range and his upper shoulder ripple. He just absorbed it and trotted off. I even shot a crap load of prarie dogs this summer with the JLK and it just penciled through all of them. Only popped em if they were within 200 yards and thats off kinetic energy alone.

130 Berger- this is THE bullet for hunting for what I have found. I literally have not had a deer take a step yet from the hunting VLD. This bullet shoots very well on paper and shoots very well on critters. Wound cavities are unreal. It looks like a grenade goes off inside the deer. I almost took a does head off this last weekend! A few months back I shot a yote at 1230 yards and he folded up.

Pat,
I'm fortunate to live about 20 miles from where the JLK's are made so I just pick them up in person. I have not used the particular bullet you are using but have killed one antelope and one deer with the 7mm 168 gr JLK VLD at 3200 fps mv. Both shots were 250 yds more or less broadside and neither shot hit shoulder bone. Both produced 2-3" exit wounds and shredded lungs and heart nicely.(the deer is a fawn which makes the exit look bigger) I'm surprised to read the above post. Everything I have heard is that they perform very similar to Berger VLD's. Hope this helps.

Sambo - I was just reporting another user's comments - I don't know how a JLK works on game, never found many user's reviews on them on game.

If they all perform like yours above - at various ranges, they will do fine from what I see

I'd say those bullets work pretty well. Good news on the barrel life too!

I hear ya, 65BR. It looks like the person who posted the reply to you on snipershide shot a fair number of the .264 130 JLK's. I hope that scenarshooter has better luck with them. I'm betting that he lets the air out of some coyotes with them in short order.

PS I just looked on JLK's website yesterday and they have discontinued my 7mm 168's! I have about 30 of the 180's on hand, guess I'll have to see if they shoot as well as the 168's.

The 130 JLK's are working real good this week.

Pat,

You killing with them? How do they compare to the VLDs when it comes to killin'?

John

From what I've seen so far, they duplicate 130 VLD's.

Pat,

JLK uses the same J4 jacket as the Berger VLD.

I have shot a bunch of game with them over the years and can see no difference in terminal performance between the Berger version and the JLK version.

The JLKs have a larger radius at the junction of the shank and ogive than the standard Berger VLD and can be more forgiving in some rifles. The Berger Hybrid has an even bigger radius and by all accounts is very forgiving in regards to seating depth.

Nice shooting

Good to hear that. Noz CC have a J4 as well....123/140s...

Pat glad to hear they are doing well for you.

So do the 'Hybrids' shoot better or just less fickle than the 'hunting' bullet? BC different?

Do the CC's still run J4 jackets? Nosler hasn't been touting it lately. I have a bunch of the cc 140's for my creedmoor but the 140 vld's are shooting so well they almost justify the price difference.

Bb