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Budget Rifle Project *now with pics*

Interesting.... The only bullet grain that yielded excellent groups for me over 55gr (factory loaded that is) was Corbon 62gr TSX bullet which was out of my 18" medium bull barrel 1:9

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Blackhills 68gr Sierra Match Grade.... shit garbage:

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I doubt my shooting is as consistant as yours WM.

My best 5 shot group with 75gn Hornaday Match was 1.5" @ 225 yds.

So far, the best with 68gn Noslers was 2.5". I didn't try those at 100 yds though.
 
I found an almost local place (next county over and not an hour away) that had Nosler Varmegeddon 55gr on the shelf for $18 a box. I haven't seen them anywhere on the shelf at all and online I haven't seen them at this price. So I bought some.

Holy freaking moly!!! At 100 yards my first target has 4 rounds touching making one hole and even with a flier, still sub MOA!

I had little time to play today so I want to re-zero and shoot another target tomorrow but if all is well I won't ever buy anything else from here on out.

Budget rifle project has been satisfying and rewarding. The goal was to start with an inexpensive rifle, ($400 in this case) mount an inexpensive but American made scope, (Redfield Revolution $150) and see if I could get to sub MOA with off the shelf factory ammo. And that, I have accomplished.

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It could well be that the stock is bending up and touch in the barrel... assuming the barrel was free-floating...

I had this with a Rem 700 SPS with a hogue stock. Without a bipod the barrel was free floating, you could pass paper all the way up to the reciever.
When i mounted a bipod on the front swivel the stock flexed upwards and touched the barrel... and if you put your hand on the comb of the stock and moved it left anf riht, you could see the barrel moving in the channel.

I ditched the Hogue stock and got the Choate "ultimate sniper" stock... very rigid ( but very heavy!!)
 
25yards don't count :sofa:

How'd you know?

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It could well be that the stock is bending up and touch in the barrel... assuming the barrel was free-floating...

I had this with a Rem 700 SPS with a hogue stock. Without a bipod the barrel was free floating, you could pass paper all the way up to the reciever.
When i mounted a bipod on the front swivel the stock flexed upwards and touched the barrel... and if you put your hand on the comb of the stock and moved it left anf riht, you could see the barrel moving in the channel.

I ditched the Hogue stock and got the Choate "ultimate sniper" stock... very rigid ( but very heavy!!)

It could be the forend flexing a bit. It is free floated but this is literally Savages cheapest stock. It's the same as the model 10 action but not bedded like the accustock models. This is what I wanted though and was what I wanted to do with this project. I considered another stock but that would defeat the purpose for me. Also, I have burlap wrapping the entire length of the rifle in a couple layers so the barrel is definitely not independent of the furniture any more.

I tried a bipod but didn't like it. I get better results from resting the rifle on my backpack in the photo above. I try to keep it as close to the receiver as I can to limit movement from the forend.
 
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That's a great group.

Wish I could do so well.
 
That's a great group.

Wish I could do so well.

Being totally honest, I made adjustments to my scope and went back out and shot two more groups that weren't as impressive.

I shot the first group without expectation from the ammo, just hopeful I'd see something better than other ammo because it's Nosler.

When I shot the other two targets, I broke most of the rules. I was anxious trying to duplicate the previous results. I held my breath, I was looking for hits between shots, I was bracing in anticipation for the trigger break... I was bouncing all over my targets and I'd try to jerk the trigger as the cross hairs moved over the bull. I still had three rounds touching in each of the targets but also had two fliers making my groups much wider than before. I mean close to two inches!

Most of the time I shoot, I am genuinely surprised by the trigger break. I love the trigger on this rifle. Once the blade is pressed to the trigger face, there's no noticeable travel to me, just pressure and it breaks. I've become accustomed to not thinking about it. But not on the last set of targets I shot this evening. I was having to back off the trigger because I recognized I was doing what I do when I flinch from anticipating it.

I've still got some work to do. Just gonna have to shoot more.
 
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I showed my best ever 5 round group so in fairness I'll show one of my worst also. This is representative of the other target I shot some 10 or 15 minutes later. I shot this probably a couple of few hours after the first group and after adjusting the scope. It's on target, but looks like crap and is disappointing after what I did previously.

Same 55 gr Nosler Varmageddon ballistic tip flat base 3100 FPS at 100 yards.

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That's still a darn good group.

That's food on the table all day long.
 
Thanks fellas. I get aggravated when I know I can do better. That's all.
 
Thanks man.

I'm happy with the ammo even with it being more expensive. The price is still on par with factory VMax. I'll invest in more of it as I'm able and make sure I've got the scope set right.

I'd like to try hitting 200 yards with it.

I need to find a number cruncher and get a new dope card worked up.
 
Thanks man.

I'm happy with the ammo even with it being more expensive. The price is still on par with factory VMax. I'll invest in more of it as I'm able and make sure I've got the scope set right.

I'd like to try hitting 200 yards with it.

I need to find a number cruncher and get a new dope card worked up.

Wonder what type of person does these things.....

I can have one whipped up by Tuesday ;)
 
Another update that speaks more to "budget" of this budget project.

Some time ago I got some of the Freedom Munitions once fired brass loaded in .223 60 gr VMax. I posted a couple of unimpressive, just so-so groups. Underwhelming. Groups that didn't deserve to be dignified with anymore response than a passing yawn at most.

I shot two more 5 round groups of that reman 60 gr VMax today. I fired the first 5 rounds and adjusted 1.5 MOA right, and 1.5 MOA down. 6 clicks each direction. I put a couple black repair dots on my target, marched back up the hill and reloaded. I looked through the scope using the same reference point for POA. I fired the first of 5 more rounds and could make out white in the red bullseye of the spatter target. I fired four more rounds focusing on the crosshairs without regard for POI. I had my video camera set up on my stand and zoomed way the heck in on the target. Unfortunately, the camera bounced with each shot so it was no longer pointing at the target directly. I straightened it up some and got focusssd on the target 105 yards down range. It looked like all 5 projectiles struck the red center but I couldn't totally make out the detail. There was some heat mirage and the camera records in 480p so it wasn't crisp to begin with and especially not zoomed in that far despite the Zeiss optics. So back down the hill I went.

I was once again very pleasantly surprised. But always that one danged flier. Every time with the flier! lol Once again, that's four shots touching and then the stupid dumb flier. Even so, I'm very confident in this round. I reviewed my video and it did get the first few shots before it had bounced too far off target to see the bullseye. From the video, it looks like the first shot is dead center on the bull and I think the flier is the last shot. I should stop at three but somewhere Oli said if you really wanna test repeatable accuracy, take five shots. So that's what I do.

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He's probably on the Detwiler fire. There's a huge Blaze going in between Fresno and Yosemite.

Actually there's a couple more going over by the coast to so no telling.
 
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