Hey guys, first post on this forum, so please, if flames be comin', please be gentle. I wanted to post some results from an (as close to scientific as possible) test of the Limbsaver De-Resonator. Many thanks to John who was out at Randy's Range last weekend and provided a ton of insight into the world of long range shooting, reloading, and general gun stuff. Heckuva an AR-10 he was shooting too. Single hole 5 shot groups at 100 yards during barrel break in.
(Preface to this entire test) I've hunted my entire life, but with my move to the NKY/Cincy area, my hunting has diminished somewhat, replaced with a lot of friends who simply target shoot.
So, I sold my old Remy 7400 and set about building a budget hybrid hunting/target 308. The goal was to build a rifle from start to end for less than $1,000.00, and have it shoot sub-moa with factory ammo, .5 moa with handloads. There are a ton of factory rifles out there that easily make this guarantee, so I did not figure it would be particularly difficult.
My starting rifle was a cheapo Weatherby Vanguard with the 24" standard barrel ($400 at Dicks). The original scope was a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9 with DOA reticle, but that has been replaced with a Vortex Crossfire ($200) on Leupold Rings and Base. The scope is now holding zero and clicking well after its second warranty return. The rifle was thrown into a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock ($250) without any bedding work. (The JB is waiting for this next weekend)
Sure enough, anything down to cheapo federal fusion ammo, it would shoot sub-moa through the first 3 rounds. However, as soon as that 4th, 5th, and successive rounds began walking up and up. I figured this was due to the pressure pad, but was scared to death to actually remove the pressure pads. I knew the walking would stop, but that standard #2 barrel was just bound to whip all over the place, resulting in group sizes jumping. Regardless, I went ahead and did it, and thought I would see what kind of difference this De-Resonator thing would actually make. It only cost $12 bucks a year ago, and at least this would be an excuse to remove it from my shooting bag. The only other thing I’ve done is drop the trigger pull to a little over 3 pounds and adjust the sear engagement to a single creep point after take-up, occurring just prior to break. I like this set up, it is somewhat light enough for some target work, but still “feels” like a hunting trigger.
So here were the test rules. Five shot groups, with a single bore-snake pass between groups. 30 seconds between one shot fired to the next shot’s loading, sighting, and firing (generally about 60 seconds total between shots). Also, cool down period between groups, to the point that the barrel felt about like comfortable bath water. Two rounds were fired for zero’ing and barrel warm-up prior to the first group being fired. The first group was shot entirely free floated, with each successive group having the De-Resonator affixed to the barrel at 1 inch increments for each group. All were fired from a sandbagged Caldwell rest at 100 yards.
The ammo used was One-Shot local shop loads, which was a 168 SMK bthp in Winchester Brass with Fed 210 primers, but I’m not sure the charge or consistency of throws. (These should be considered budget factory match loads, but a decent test nonetheless). That being said, here are the results:
![Jun202011](http://[url="https://picasaweb.google.com/102134985446344119710/Jun202011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJbj5MTc2aiYoAE#5620460685803593394"]https://picasaweb.google.com/10213498544...460685803593394[/url])
My thought is, this Deresonator is definitely doing something with regard to group sizes as you find a decent point of attachment, but without a decent skim bedding and handloads, I cannot be 100% for sure. That is coupled with I'm shooting a standard contour barrel, which is certainly whipping around with every shot fired. That being said, the first round of each group impacted at a different point than the others due to cleaning between groups.
I'm interested to know peoples' thoughts, but as soon as I get my bedding completed this weekend, I'll take out a few more boxes of ammo for some tests.
(Preface to this entire test) I've hunted my entire life, but with my move to the NKY/Cincy area, my hunting has diminished somewhat, replaced with a lot of friends who simply target shoot.
So, I sold my old Remy 7400 and set about building a budget hybrid hunting/target 308. The goal was to build a rifle from start to end for less than $1,000.00, and have it shoot sub-moa with factory ammo, .5 moa with handloads. There are a ton of factory rifles out there that easily make this guarantee, so I did not figure it would be particularly difficult.
My starting rifle was a cheapo Weatherby Vanguard with the 24" standard barrel ($400 at Dicks). The original scope was a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9 with DOA reticle, but that has been replaced with a Vortex Crossfire ($200) on Leupold Rings and Base. The scope is now holding zero and clicking well after its second warranty return. The rifle was thrown into a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock ($250) without any bedding work. (The JB is waiting for this next weekend)
Sure enough, anything down to cheapo federal fusion ammo, it would shoot sub-moa through the first 3 rounds. However, as soon as that 4th, 5th, and successive rounds began walking up and up. I figured this was due to the pressure pad, but was scared to death to actually remove the pressure pads. I knew the walking would stop, but that standard #2 barrel was just bound to whip all over the place, resulting in group sizes jumping. Regardless, I went ahead and did it, and thought I would see what kind of difference this De-Resonator thing would actually make. It only cost $12 bucks a year ago, and at least this would be an excuse to remove it from my shooting bag. The only other thing I’ve done is drop the trigger pull to a little over 3 pounds and adjust the sear engagement to a single creep point after take-up, occurring just prior to break. I like this set up, it is somewhat light enough for some target work, but still “feels” like a hunting trigger.
So here were the test rules. Five shot groups, with a single bore-snake pass between groups. 30 seconds between one shot fired to the next shot’s loading, sighting, and firing (generally about 60 seconds total between shots). Also, cool down period between groups, to the point that the barrel felt about like comfortable bath water. Two rounds were fired for zero’ing and barrel warm-up prior to the first group being fired. The first group was shot entirely free floated, with each successive group having the De-Resonator affixed to the barrel at 1 inch increments for each group. All were fired from a sandbagged Caldwell rest at 100 yards.
The ammo used was One-Shot local shop loads, which was a 168 SMK bthp in Winchester Brass with Fed 210 primers, but I’m not sure the charge or consistency of throws. (These should be considered budget factory match loads, but a decent test nonetheless). That being said, here are the results:
My thought is, this Deresonator is definitely doing something with regard to group sizes as you find a decent point of attachment, but without a decent skim bedding and handloads, I cannot be 100% for sure. That is coupled with I'm shooting a standard contour barrel, which is certainly whipping around with every shot fired. That being said, the first round of each group impacted at a different point than the others due to cleaning between groups.
I'm interested to know peoples' thoughts, but as soon as I get my bedding completed this weekend, I'll take out a few more boxes of ammo for some tests.
