Turbulent Turtle
F-TR competitor
After I came back from Phoenix last monnt I got my F-TR rebarreled with the Kriegers that had come in a few months earlier. I had ordered a pair of 30 caliber heavy Palma barrels and my gunsmith chambered both of them the same way as my existing barrel, fitted them to the rifle and then gave it back to me ready to go with one of the new barrels installed. I have a barrel vise and action wrench to allow me to switch when I want.
A couple weeks ago, I took the rifle to a local club to check that everything was right with it, after reinstalling the scope and all that. I had a box of ammo from 4 years ago made using the same bullet as I use now, with 7 times fired Lapua brass and Varget powder lit by Russian primers. The load is nominally the same as the one I had been using for the last 5 years. At 100 yards, the groups from that old ammo looked really good, very small.
However, in those days I was not prepping my brass and loading the powder anywhere near the method I use now. The brass had been trimmed after the 5th firing and annealed once a few firings back. The powder had been dispensed by my Chargemaster 1500 and poured directly into the case.
By contrast, the other box of ammo I had with me at the match was made with also 7 times fired brass, but it had been annealed after every firing and was trimmed every time. The powder load was also dispensed by the same CM1500 but then fine tuned to the kernel on my A&D FX-120. I had only 69 rounds of that ammo remaining and I wanted to develop a new load or at least fine tune this load for the new barrel(s), so I did not have time to load any more ammo.
Taking advantage of the unlimited sighters at the match, I started pumping bullets on the 1000 yard target and Don Diffey, who was my scorer, started calling out the sighters. I was using some of that old ammo at that time just to warm up the rifle and get in the black. After several rounds, it was plain to any observer that something was very wrong. I was shooting high or low with a waterline of 2 feet or more. Don said something like “Denys, check your equipment, something is wrong.†“Shut up, Don,†I explained and shot a few more rounds of the old ammo. Then I switched to my newer ammo and took three more sighters to refine the elevation and get a proper bearing on the wind. I shot a 194-5X on that first string, dropping shots to wind and I think one vertical. Not bad for ammo tuned for another barrel.
When I finished shooting, I turned to look at Don and his face was priceless. Astonishment barely describes it. He could not understand how I had started with such bad sighters and then suddenly tightened up allowing me to shot a decent score.
I explained to him that it was all about the ammo; he had not noticed me switching from one box to another. I went on about the old ammo vs. the new ammo and the differences in assembly.
It’s one thing looking at a trend in your scores over the years as you get better (hopefully) but that makes it difficult to see or perhaps just appreciate the difference your improving loading preparations have on your results. I was just lucky to have a box of ammo from years ago and I could see first-hand what the differences where at 100 and then at 1000 yards.
During the second string, I had a misfire and while I was pulling out the cartridge, I was rewarded with a dump of Varget in the action. I had totally forgotten about the fact I was always chasing the lands as they receded and this new ammo was made for the prior barrel with 3300 rounds through it. What ensued was a comedy of errors but no one got hurt, well except from my score with that fiasco. Which reminds me, I need to order some of those short rods used to dislodge a bullet instead of using a long cleaning rod under a cover.
Boy, am I glad that’s over.
A couple weeks ago, I took the rifle to a local club to check that everything was right with it, after reinstalling the scope and all that. I had a box of ammo from 4 years ago made using the same bullet as I use now, with 7 times fired Lapua brass and Varget powder lit by Russian primers. The load is nominally the same as the one I had been using for the last 5 years. At 100 yards, the groups from that old ammo looked really good, very small.
However, in those days I was not prepping my brass and loading the powder anywhere near the method I use now. The brass had been trimmed after the 5th firing and annealed once a few firings back. The powder had been dispensed by my Chargemaster 1500 and poured directly into the case.
By contrast, the other box of ammo I had with me at the match was made with also 7 times fired brass, but it had been annealed after every firing and was trimmed every time. The powder load was also dispensed by the same CM1500 but then fine tuned to the kernel on my A&D FX-120. I had only 69 rounds of that ammo remaining and I wanted to develop a new load or at least fine tune this load for the new barrel(s), so I did not have time to load any more ammo.
Taking advantage of the unlimited sighters at the match, I started pumping bullets on the 1000 yard target and Don Diffey, who was my scorer, started calling out the sighters. I was using some of that old ammo at that time just to warm up the rifle and get in the black. After several rounds, it was plain to any observer that something was very wrong. I was shooting high or low with a waterline of 2 feet or more. Don said something like “Denys, check your equipment, something is wrong.†“Shut up, Don,†I explained and shot a few more rounds of the old ammo. Then I switched to my newer ammo and took three more sighters to refine the elevation and get a proper bearing on the wind. I shot a 194-5X on that first string, dropping shots to wind and I think one vertical. Not bad for ammo tuned for another barrel.
When I finished shooting, I turned to look at Don and his face was priceless. Astonishment barely describes it. He could not understand how I had started with such bad sighters and then suddenly tightened up allowing me to shot a decent score.
I explained to him that it was all about the ammo; he had not noticed me switching from one box to another. I went on about the old ammo vs. the new ammo and the differences in assembly.
It’s one thing looking at a trend in your scores over the years as you get better (hopefully) but that makes it difficult to see or perhaps just appreciate the difference your improving loading preparations have on your results. I was just lucky to have a box of ammo from years ago and I could see first-hand what the differences where at 100 and then at 1000 yards.
During the second string, I had a misfire and while I was pulling out the cartridge, I was rewarded with a dump of Varget in the action. I had totally forgotten about the fact I was always chasing the lands as they receded and this new ammo was made for the prior barrel with 3300 rounds through it. What ensued was a comedy of errors but no one got hurt, well except from my score with that fiasco. Which reminds me, I need to order some of those short rods used to dislodge a bullet instead of using a long cleaning rod under a cover.
Boy, am I glad that’s over.
