The good, the bad and the ugly
Feb 17, 2009 20:02:28 GMT -5
Post by Richard on Feb 17, 2009 20:02:28 GMT -5
Yes dave d..........I shot that puppy today......and what a day!
Well, first off, you know that paper plate on the tree in my yard that I bore sighted the rifle on? The first shot at 100 yards using 56 gr. of H4198 along with a 200 gr. SST and blue crush sabot supplied by Herman (my order did not come until I got home today) hit two inches from my POA. I then proceeded to fire three shots (that first sighter was 2390 fps) 2361, 2439 and 2372 fps. for a 1.5" group. Not too bad considering the variances in velocity.
Next I went to the same bullet/sabot but upped the charge to 60 gr..........2634, 2597, 2585 and 2612. That group ended up being closer to 2" but did fire a fifth shot using a tan MMP sabot which is .002" thigher. As luck would have it, I did not get a chrono reading but the shot hit an inch low of the group.
Now here is where the picture gets ugly...................................
I now up the charge to 62 gr of H-4198 with the same SST and blue crush sabot.....I fire three shots: 2677, 2634 and a NO read on the chrono (sun starting to get to the photo cells). But have about a 2" group on the target. Because the sun comes from behind our building, moving my chrono closer to the muzzle will put it in the shade. So, I proceed the do my routine and reload but am waiting for Herman and our friend to complete their string of shots. Finally clear the line and I go out and move the chrono and BS with a couple of other M1 shooters outside. I come back in and my gun is standing upright by my bench and DUMB ASS me, goes ahead and loads it.......................DUHHHHHHHHH. (unbeknown or realized --- no excuse) and put the gun on the rest. Now, I'm looking at the target and looked over at my ammo box I store the vials in and see the line of five vial empty. Look back at the target and still see three shots there. I'm saying to myself there should be four shots since I have the fifth shot in the rifle. Hmmmmmmmmm I bet one of those is a double. MY BAD!!!!! Well, when I pulled that trigger, did I ever get an eyeful of Nightforce scope Yep! there was blood. Fortunately the scope has a rubber "bumper" on it which probably save me some stitches. No shot on the paper and the chronograph was reading: 3587 fps
Thats two 200 gr. bullets, two sabots and 124 gr. of powder!!!!!!!
In all probability the second charge of powder did not go off, but the weight! So, in reality, what crossed the chronograph was 400 gr. of bullets going over 3500 fps!
The cut on the bridge of my nose was a little ugly, but not serious but my pride was down in the dumps! So, I cleaned the rifle, ran patches in and out, had Herman run the patch in and out and the bore felt OK. My day was not going too well at this point.
So, I decided to try a duplex I had put together in my mind before even getting the barrel: 200 gr. bullet 10 gr. 5744 under 50 gr. H-4198. Did not seem out of line. Now mind you, I did not know what I did until I got home and was examining my ammo box.
I had two rows of 62 gr. H4198 side by side (typical 50 round ammo box) I had only fired five of those ten loads so one row remained. The adjoining two rowes were the duplex.................
inadvertently I grabbed one of the 62 grainer's and the 10 gr. 5744 vial. Loaded up and fired a shot....2949 fps..........Man, that was smokin'! I noted it was about 3" higher and to the left of my previous groups Soooo, I shot another....2939 Hmmmmm about 2" left of shot #1. Then fired #3 but got no reading. It was again left of #2. All three shots were perfectly parallel so I would assume the velocity was about the same. Just figured the load was too hot for good grouping.
Since I had a bad sore throat all week and just went to the doctor yesterday and was on antibiotics, along with the fact Herman and our friend Bill were were done and packing up, I decided to call it quits for the day also. Like I said, when I got home, and looked at the ammo box, I realized that I had grabbed the wrong vials.
So, here is the thing. Today Richard got lucky. I have heard of others doing some similar things, some getting hurt and some not. I did things that will be burned in my head and hopefully these mistakes will not happen again.
DON'T EVER get complacent when dealing with guns.
Richard
Well, first off, you know that paper plate on the tree in my yard that I bore sighted the rifle on? The first shot at 100 yards using 56 gr. of H4198 along with a 200 gr. SST and blue crush sabot supplied by Herman (my order did not come until I got home today) hit two inches from my POA. I then proceeded to fire three shots (that first sighter was 2390 fps) 2361, 2439 and 2372 fps. for a 1.5" group. Not too bad considering the variances in velocity.
Next I went to the same bullet/sabot but upped the charge to 60 gr..........2634, 2597, 2585 and 2612. That group ended up being closer to 2" but did fire a fifth shot using a tan MMP sabot which is .002" thigher. As luck would have it, I did not get a chrono reading but the shot hit an inch low of the group.
Now here is where the picture gets ugly...................................
I now up the charge to 62 gr of H-4198 with the same SST and blue crush sabot.....I fire three shots: 2677, 2634 and a NO read on the chrono (sun starting to get to the photo cells). But have about a 2" group on the target. Because the sun comes from behind our building, moving my chrono closer to the muzzle will put it in the shade. So, I proceed the do my routine and reload but am waiting for Herman and our friend to complete their string of shots. Finally clear the line and I go out and move the chrono and BS with a couple of other M1 shooters outside. I come back in and my gun is standing upright by my bench and DUMB ASS me, goes ahead and loads it.......................DUHHHHHHHHH. (unbeknown or realized --- no excuse) and put the gun on the rest. Now, I'm looking at the target and looked over at my ammo box I store the vials in and see the line of five vial empty. Look back at the target and still see three shots there. I'm saying to myself there should be four shots since I have the fifth shot in the rifle. Hmmmmmmmmm I bet one of those is a double. MY BAD!!!!! Well, when I pulled that trigger, did I ever get an eyeful of Nightforce scope Yep! there was blood. Fortunately the scope has a rubber "bumper" on it which probably save me some stitches. No shot on the paper and the chronograph was reading: 3587 fps
Thats two 200 gr. bullets, two sabots and 124 gr. of powder!!!!!!!
In all probability the second charge of powder did not go off, but the weight! So, in reality, what crossed the chronograph was 400 gr. of bullets going over 3500 fps!
The cut on the bridge of my nose was a little ugly, but not serious but my pride was down in the dumps! So, I cleaned the rifle, ran patches in and out, had Herman run the patch in and out and the bore felt OK. My day was not going too well at this point.
So, I decided to try a duplex I had put together in my mind before even getting the barrel: 200 gr. bullet 10 gr. 5744 under 50 gr. H-4198. Did not seem out of line. Now mind you, I did not know what I did until I got home and was examining my ammo box.
I had two rows of 62 gr. H4198 side by side (typical 50 round ammo box) I had only fired five of those ten loads so one row remained. The adjoining two rowes were the duplex.................
inadvertently I grabbed one of the 62 grainer's and the 10 gr. 5744 vial. Loaded up and fired a shot....2949 fps..........Man, that was smokin'! I noted it was about 3" higher and to the left of my previous groups Soooo, I shot another....2939 Hmmmmm about 2" left of shot #1. Then fired #3 but got no reading. It was again left of #2. All three shots were perfectly parallel so I would assume the velocity was about the same. Just figured the load was too hot for good grouping.
Since I had a bad sore throat all week and just went to the doctor yesterday and was on antibiotics, along with the fact Herman and our friend Bill were were done and packing up, I decided to call it quits for the day also. Like I said, when I got home, and looked at the ammo box, I realized that I had grabbed the wrong vials.
So, here is the thing. Today Richard got lucky. I have heard of others doing some similar things, some getting hurt and some not. I did things that will be burned in my head and hopefully these mistakes will not happen again.
DON'T EVER get complacent when dealing with guns.
Richard