Well today, after hunting in the morning, I agreed to sight in a couple rifles for a buddy of mine so they'd be ready for him when he got home. He's working in the mines up in WY right now and came back for rifle season here (MO) and thanksgiving and all that. He ordered two Savage Axis for him and his wife, one in .270 and one in .243. These rifles weight in somewhere around 23oz, I'm guessing, and triggers set at a crisp 75lbs. It was a treat. I finally got them zeroed the best I could, but couldn't manage to get any groups under 2" with either rifle, so needless to say I was not satisfied. So I brought out one of mine to see if it was just me or the wind or what.
I used a Surgeon 591, fluted 22" Krieger 1:11 5r #10 MTU, NF 3.5-15x56, 2lb Huber Concepts, XLR Evolution chassis. Round count was at 59 before I shot my strings today. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on the PPU 168gr .308 match ammo so I've ben playing with that as I don't have any .308 dies right now, and I wanted to see performance for myself. I don't have a chronograph either so I looked up what a few people had written down for similar setups and I figured something in the 2600-2620fps ballpark. Temp at the time was 66°, humidity 34%, 29.98 inHg, elev. 792 ft. Wind was 8-10mph gusting to 20 from 5-6-7 o'clock positions, dist. 100yds.
Two 3 shot groups. First group is the lower set, the one to the right was my cold bore, group measured 0.563" center to center. The second group is just low of center and measured 0.138" c2c.
After shooting these two strings I was a little more sure of my own abilities, and was convinced that those Savages were mostly to blame. I was also very surprised at how well that PPU did, especially for $17 a box! I think I'll keep plinking with these until I get all of my reloading stuff for this rifle as well as a chronograph. I think I'm going to try different loads with the 168 and 175 smks and see what I can come up with. Ideally I'd like to go with the 175s, but we'll see what she likes to sling first I guess.
I used a Surgeon 591, fluted 22" Krieger 1:11 5r #10 MTU, NF 3.5-15x56, 2lb Huber Concepts, XLR Evolution chassis. Round count was at 59 before I shot my strings today. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on the PPU 168gr .308 match ammo so I've ben playing with that as I don't have any .308 dies right now, and I wanted to see performance for myself. I don't have a chronograph either so I looked up what a few people had written down for similar setups and I figured something in the 2600-2620fps ballpark. Temp at the time was 66°, humidity 34%, 29.98 inHg, elev. 792 ft. Wind was 8-10mph gusting to 20 from 5-6-7 o'clock positions, dist. 100yds.
Two 3 shot groups. First group is the lower set, the one to the right was my cold bore, group measured 0.563" center to center. The second group is just low of center and measured 0.138" c2c.
After shooting these two strings I was a little more sure of my own abilities, and was convinced that those Savages were mostly to blame. I was also very surprised at how well that PPU did, especially for $17 a box! I think I'll keep plinking with these until I get all of my reloading stuff for this rifle as well as a chronograph. I think I'm going to try different loads with the 168 and 175 smks and see what I can come up with. Ideally I'd like to go with the 175s, but we'll see what she likes to sling first I guess.
