Put my new Zeiss on my .300 WSM (Thanks Scott at Liberty Optics, great scope) and headed to a local 100 yard range to site in. I was shooting 180 gr Nosler Combined Technology bullets and 180 gr Barnes Triple Shock which I'll be using on my upcoming Kansas deer hunt at the end of the month. Loads were pretty much the same.
I quickly sited in the Nosler bullets which shot very well out of my Winchester Featherweight rifle. I switched over the 180 gr Barnes and my POI shifted 3.5" high and 1.5" left. Three shot groups were very consistent with each of the different bullets at just under an inch. Pretty darn good for a light weight hunting rifle with a featherweight contour barrel. Not sure why but I was really amazed at the large swing in the POI’s between the two different 180 gr bullets with basically the same load. I expected a horizontal shift of something and maybe a small vertical shift but not the 3.5" high vertical shift. I just found this an interesting observation.
Between range sessions I let the barrel cool down so I could test each load again. Hot barrel or cool barrel both bullets shot their different POI consistently. Well it’s good info to have on my rifle, now I can’t wait for my first KS deer hunt.
I quickly sited in the Nosler bullets which shot very well out of my Winchester Featherweight rifle. I switched over the 180 gr Barnes and my POI shifted 3.5" high and 1.5" left. Three shot groups were very consistent with each of the different bullets at just under an inch. Pretty darn good for a light weight hunting rifle with a featherweight contour barrel. Not sure why but I was really amazed at the large swing in the POI’s between the two different 180 gr bullets with basically the same load. I expected a horizontal shift of something and maybe a small vertical shift but not the 3.5" high vertical shift. I just found this an interesting observation.
Between range sessions I let the barrel cool down so I could test each load again. Hot barrel or cool barrel both bullets shot their different POI consistently. Well it’s good info to have on my rifle, now I can’t wait for my first KS deer hunt.
