AlNyhus
Silver $$ Contributor
After a lot of delays, I finally got the 'Junk Yard Dawg' Hunter Class gun out (finally) for some testing. Barrel is a PacNor twisted 1:18 chambered with the JGS 30BR Robinett V2.0 reamer by 'Humble' Henry Rivers. The tune up is the plain vanilla standard deal. Seating stem is .030 shorter than the T.P. (touch point), neck bushing is .004 smaller than the neck measures over the pressure ring (.324 bushing and a .328 neck diameter), .003 neck clearance (.331 chamber), Fed 205M primer and H4198. With those parameters set, it's a matter of starting low and letting the target tell you what it likes. Scope for testing was a tried and true Sightron SII 36X. Bullet was my 117/7 .3083/.3085 on the 1.00" jacket from Larry Blackmon's excellent tool steel dies.
In a 10 lb. Hunter gun with a 2.25" fore end width, powder charges in the upper UHF range can get make gun handling a bit sporty. So I wasn't unhappy when it liked a bit lower node, too. Three shots on the right, five shots on the left. The conditions at 8:00 could not have been better for testing with just a bit of air movement to lift the tails and enough humidity on the grass to give some readable mirage in the light conditions. It wouldn't last long.
The nice conditions deteriorated quickly and 30 minutes later we had 3:00 winds from 13 gusting to 25. I like to test a load in those conditions by just concentrating on the flag angles and intentionally shooting when the winds are running the total spectrum from low to high. I feel it gives a better idea of how the loads acts in the wind. This 5 shot group stayed nice and flat and the bullets moved appropriately with the conditions. Not everyone agrees with this type of load test, though I've found it valuable over the years.
Next, one of these will go on and I'll see if I can remember or relearn how to find my way around a Score target with a 6X scope.
In a 10 lb. Hunter gun with a 2.25" fore end width, powder charges in the upper UHF range can get make gun handling a bit sporty. So I wasn't unhappy when it liked a bit lower node, too. Three shots on the right, five shots on the left. The conditions at 8:00 could not have been better for testing with just a bit of air movement to lift the tails and enough humidity on the grass to give some readable mirage in the light conditions. It wouldn't last long.
The nice conditions deteriorated quickly and 30 minutes later we had 3:00 winds from 13 gusting to 25. I like to test a load in those conditions by just concentrating on the flag angles and intentionally shooting when the winds are running the total spectrum from low to high. I feel it gives a better idea of how the loads acts in the wind. This 5 shot group stayed nice and flat and the bullets moved appropriately with the conditions. Not everyone agrees with this type of load test, though I've found it valuable over the years.
Next, one of these will go on and I'll see if I can remember or relearn how to find my way around a Score target with a 6X scope.
