This morning my wish was to see how this rifle would shoot the first shot from a cold clean barrel. Another thing i was curious about was how it would shoot at 200 yard. Wife said it rained all night, but we only had a little less than 1/4" in the rain gage this morning. With the impression that it didn't rain much last night, i headed out to shoot. When i left the highway, i was shocked at how wet, and slimy the road was. Evidently it rained a lot more up there, than it did at the house. As soon as there was a kinda gravelly spot in the road, i got out and locked the hubs. The truck was kinda slipping, and twisting, so it was put into 4 wheel drive. Upon leaving the 'main' road, things really got slimy. Following is a photo of my tracks coming in, taken as i was driving out.
On the way in, the truck slipped into the rut, but forward motion never stopped.
My desire was to shoot prone, but everything was wet and muddy, so i was glad i thought to bring the 'bench'. Here it is set at 200 yard.
When i arrived up there, there was little breeze, but NOAA had announced a high wind warning for today, so i figured the calm was brief.
Recently i have experienced a lot of frustration with the first shot. The first shot from a cold clean barrel, in the past, had kinda always grouped close to the second shot, however here lately the first shot seems to have a place of it's own, and doesn't hit any where near the following shots. The following photo show the issue.
Knowing this, from the previous few days, i popped 3 primers before i loaded the rifle, hoping the primer residue would fool the first shot into thinking it wasn't the first shot. The rifle was loaded with 90g Blackhorn powder, 270g Deep Curl bullet, green crush rib sabot, and W209 primer.
Well i was quite apprehensive when i made the first shot, and was quite pleased with the result. The first 2 shots were made from 100 yard, when there was very little breeze. Before the third shot was loaded, the breeze picked up. It seemed to me there was no use to continue shooting, and considered going home. However i had a very strong desire to try shooting from 200 yard so as to get an idea. Using the driest path, a move was made to 200 yard. Guessing, i turned the elevation up 7 moa, and pulled the trigger on shot 3. The breeze was significant, but i kinda died down for shot 4. Then the elevation dial was turned down to 6 moa, and shots 5, and 6 were taken
Then the breeze quit just for a bit, and allowed shots 7 and 8. The wind was quite significant when we headed for home. As i was driving home, i day dreamed about how this rifle might be a great help toward filling wife' freezer.