Field proofing rifle and scope

[Jason Snyder]

Cold and wet out, but I did some testing of my hunting setup.

Kimber Hunter 6.5CM
Leupold VX3I 4.5-14x40
Talley lightweight mounts
123 SMK handloads

35 degrees
No wind

All rounds shot off bench and bags due to water.

100 yard target. Rounds shot consecutively without any significant cooldown period.

Center - established baseline
Top right - lean rifle against wall and top it over, shoot. Repeat 10x - 5 left/5 right
Top left adjust for zero 7 clicks down
Bottom left fire one round, adjust up 5 MOA fire one round. Repeat 5x



I struggled with mirage and consistency in form. I’ll load up more ammo this week when my billets arrive.

 

[Marbles]

Nice work. Mirage sucks.

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

Looks like the only thing I notice so far is the lower left group seems to have quite a bit more horizontal dispersion than the others. Those are the rounds from returning down from dialing 5moa up, correct? I wonder if the erector didn't quite want to settle into the same exact position each time?

 

[mtwarden]

Looks good

 

[Jason Snyder]

Looks like the only thing I notice so far is the lower left group seems to have quite a bit more horizontal dispersion than the others. Those are the rounds from returning down from dialing 5moa up, correct? I wonder if the erector didn't quite want to settle into the same exact position each time?

Yeah I noticed the same thing. I’m going to re shoot that from zero to max MOA travel and see what it looks like.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Update:

40 degrees
Light and variable wind

RTZ/tracking:
Shot one round, dialed up 12 MOA
Shot one round RTZ
Repeat for total of 20 rounds
Tracking was right at +12” at 100 yards

Shot for zero

Dropped at 18”. 1x each side and 1x on top
Shot for zero. No shift

Dropped at 24”. No shift

Dropped at waist height (36ish”). No shift

All drops done on 1/2” foam shooting mat on grass.

Shot with bipod, no change in POI.

No picture today. Putting your gun through this is a good confidence booster. My guns get beat on during hunting season. It’s nice to know they’ll handle it.

On to positional shooting in the field.

 

[Jason Snyder]

@Chris_in_Idaho i believe the horizontal dispersion was shooter induced.

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

@Chris_in_Idaho i believe the horizontal dispersion was shooter induced.

I am definitely not one to cast stones!
In fact I'm looking pretty hard at one of those UM levels for just this phenomenon.

 

[ARK_Ginger]

Hate to be the one to ask, but why no picture of the target?

 

[Jason Snyder]

Hate to be the one to ask, but why no picture of the target?

Because I didn’t take one

It’s just another data point and more for my own edification than anything. I would encourage folks to do the same with their own setups.


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[ARK_Ginger]

Because I didn’t take one .

It’s just another data point and more for my own edification than anything. I would encourage folks to do the same with their own setups.


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[mxgsfmdpx]

Am I reading the target wrong? It seems your setup is shooting 2” groups at 100 yards from a bench? This will open up for sure in hunting shot positions.

After the drops were you also shooting 2” plus groups in the same “general” 2” area?

Just trying to understand the baseline here on this one.

For me it would be hard to tell which is an impact shift and which is shooter error at such a short distance of 100 yards.

Excellent work testing your gear love to see it.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Am I reading the target wrong? It seems your setup is shooting 2” groups at 100 yards from a bench? This will open up for sure in hunting shot positions.

After the drops were you also shooting 2” plus groups in the same “general” 2” area?

Just trying to understand the baseline here on this one.

For me it would be hard to tell which is an impact shift and which is shooter error at such a short distance of 100 yards.

Excellent work testing your gear love to see it.

1.5” groups.

It’s easy for me to access 100 yards. Longer, not so much. I’ll need the weather to improve for that.

Right now horizontal dispersion is my nemesis. The rifle has a bedded recoil lug and pillars. It’s been set at 65 in/lbs with blue Loctite. Is this likely a form issue?

My guess is cheek weld/pressure and shoulder contact inconsistency.


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[ResearchinStuff]

It's responding less to the drops than I would have guessed for sure, but there's still a click difference

 

[Jason Snyder]

Update with pictures for @ARK_Ginger:

Cleaned the bore last night and reset the action screws. I had set them at 65 in/lbs, but upon double checking I realized factory specs are 45 front/35 rear in/lbs. Cleaned with acetone, blue loctite and torqued to spec.

Redid an abbreviated drop test today.

Group one is 10 rounds on a clean bore. I numbered them as it appeared to take a few rounds to settle in. First shot was a brain fart and my scope was dialed up 9 MOA.



Dropped the rifle on a 1/2” foam mat, on grass from waist height (~36”). Left side, right side, top, repeat all. Total of six drops.

Shot 1 is marked. Disclaimer, I realized immediately after I shot that I had thumb pressure on the barrel. When I shoot this rifle I grip the fore end. Brain fart on my part but it’s worth noting.

Did the shot deviate due to thumb pressure, or did the zero shift again after the first shot? Dunno. Corrected that and shot 9 more. I was in a bit of a hurry and shot 10 gave me fits with mirage. I should have taken a little more time.

Clearly about a 1 MOA shift in POI.




Yes, I should have built in 5-6 fouling shots prior to checking zero.

I’ve contemplated different rings. However I’m still on the fence as to whether I’ll keep the scope or replace it. $1000 for a scope really isn’t in my budget right now and with no stock of SWFA options I may just roll with this one for now.

If I do that I’d probably go with either the Leupold Backcountry ringmounts or the Hawkins Featherweight.

@PNWGATOR

 

[ljalberta]

You could also have movement with your action at those torques.

Update with pictures for @ARK_Ginger:

Cleaned the bore last night and reset the action screws. I had set them at 65 in/lbs, but upon double checking I realized factory specs are 45 front/35 rear in/lbs. Cleaned with acetone, blue loctite and torqued to spec.

Redid an abbreviated drop test today.

Group one is 10 rounds on a clean bore. I numbered them as it appeared to take a few rounds to settle in. First shot was a brain fart and my scope was dialed up 9 MOA.

View attachment 665900

Dropped the rifle on a foam mat, on grass from waist height (~36”). Left side, right side, top, repeat all. Total of six drops.

Shot 1 is marked. Disclaimer, I realized immediately after I shot that I had thumb pressure on the barrel. When I shoot this rifle I grip the fore end. Brain fart on my part but it’s worth noting.

Did the shot deviate due to thumb pressure, or do the zero shift again after the first shot? Dunno. Corrected that and shot 9 more. I was in a bit of a hurry and shot 10 gave me fits with mirage. I should have taken a little more time.

Clearly about a 1 MOA shift in POI.


View attachment 665919

Yes, I should have built in 5-6 fouling shots prior to checking zero.

I’ve contemplated different rings. However I’m still on the fence as to whether I’ll keep the scope or replace it. $1000 for a scope really isn’t in my budget right now and with no stock of SWFA options I may just roll with this one for now.

If I do that I’d probably go with either the Leupold Backcountry ringmounts or the Hawkins Featherweight.

@PNWGATOR

 

[Jason Snyder]

You could also have movement with your action at those torques.

Good point. I did some more digging and Kimber says you can set them to 65 in/lbs front and back. It’s done. Thats my bad for introducing a variable.


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[Jason Snyder]

Set zero after retorquing the action screws. The horizontal was too much trigger finger I believe. Shooting it like my Glock

 

[mtwarden]

What did you retorque to?

 

[Jason Snyder]

What did you retorque to?

65 front and back. Per Kimber this is fine for pillar bedded rifles.