Sako Quad Lilja Tactical - Stretching out to 400y

JG26_Irish

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Oct 17, 2013
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Morehead, KY
Finally found time this week to take the Sako Quad Lilja Tactical and shoot it at 200y, 300y and 400y to begin verification of long range dope with the rifle. This is one of the 49 rifles built by Jerrod Joplin at GA Precision Arms. It rides in a McMillan A5 stock and I fitted an Arken Optics SH4 6-24x ffp scope which is perfect for reaching out long range. I had previously tested and verified the rifle out to about 120y using the Strelok Pro ballistic app on my iPhone. This worked pretty good at those closer ranges. But when I dialed it for 200y the program said go up 7.2 MIL. When I tried that, it was not enough. I think I ended up at 8.2 MIL up. I am assuming that my range is actually 200y. I did not have ranging device at the time. Once on tgt, I was pleased to see the little rifle grouping at about 2-3" with Lapua CX 27spd, even with the winds from an approaching storm. I did have to dial about 10 clicks of windage however due to the cross wind. Out to 300y and the program called for 13.8 MIL. That turned out to be too much! That was interesting, so I tweaked on the model inputs adjusting both the muzzle vel and the ballistic coefficient. BTW: What are most of you using for the ballistic coefficient for Lapua CX? I have 0.137 in the model at the moment but am not clear that is optimum. I ended up at 13.0 MIL to ring the 300y 8" gong. The Arken scope was clear enough to see the bullet splashes at that range. Appeared to be hanging close to 1 MOA still at that range and was silly easy to ring that bell once dialed in. I am still puzzled that the program predicted less drop than actual at 200y and then more than actual at 300y and then was nearly perfect at 400y. I suspect that the 200y tgt stand is really at 200 meters instead of 200y. This because when I input 200 meters into the Strelok, it spits out 8.4 MIL drop and I had 8.2 when on tgt. Will have to range that when I can.

This has come a long way from my first experience at this distance with 22 rimfires, as it took me forever to get on paper at 300y a few years ago with a Savage MkII. After that I decided to reach out to the Max at 400y. That is as far as this range goes. The Strelok said use 21.3 MIL up at 400y. My scope topped out at 17 MIL. So, I started holding over an additional 4.5 MIL. I was shooting initially at a steel IPSC plate but could not see the splashes that far away as the mirage was too bad. But I did see that it was a fuzz high when I shot into the dirt just under the plate. So, holding 4 MIL over and dialing 17 I was able to smack the 8" plate. Not every time as the wind was playing havok with the bullets but was getting hits most of the time once I figured the wind hold. This was more fun than shooting benchrest at 50y and more challenging. Going back next week with some friends to play some more at those distances. I want to tweak my model some more to try to get it to more closely match reality so I can calc the ranges in between for match play. I posted a couple pics of the rifle and one shot looking down range with the 200y, 300y and 400y tgts marked if you enlarge. Hey Deadass, you need to dust off that Annie next week and come down to NEK early Thursday morning and shoot with us.

Irish
 

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Does your bolt close stiff? Mines a little stiff but seems to be getting better the more I shoot
No, not really. In fact the action is as smooth as any rifle I own. You can easily work the bolt without every coming up off of the scope if you desire. It was a fun day. We are going back next week to do it again.

Irish
 
Did you get a velocity off the center x you were shooting?
I did not run it over a Chrono to verify the actual MV. The speed code is 27 which calcs out to about 1073 fps but I am not sure what bbl length their test bbl is. Mine is a 20" Lilja and based on the bullet drops I am thinking the actual is closer to 1071. That is what I have in the ballistic model at the moment. I am still tweaking on the model though. I have a chrono but have not used it in years. Might have to drag it out. Let's face it, even with Lapua, the ammo velocity is not that consistent. Easy to see a wide spread.
 
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I’m averaging 1060 with center x now but it’s a new barrel hopefully it will speed up some as it breaks in
That is interesting. Which speed code are you shooting in center X? It is the first two digits of the lot number. If their velocity claims are correct, it should be a 23 but I know this varies greatly by bbl length, ambient temps, etc. Also, what length bbl are you seeing the 1060fps from? Thx for the info. We are going back to the long range this week to do some more testing and practice with another shooter. I can mess with the model some more.
 
So much for the published speed data being close to the actuals. I returned to the range this week to do long range practice and to assist a friend with his new Bergara B14R in developing his dope, etc. We went to work at the 200y range and despite it being colder (63 Deg F) than last time, the drop at 200M was 8.4 MIL up and L2 for SD. Printed a 5 shot group that was about 3". We were hitting the spinners most shots when the wind stayed calm. Reached out to 300 and rang the 8" gong on the first shot and most thereafter. This at 13.9-14 mil. Moved out to 400y to shoot at the IPSC plate. My scope maxed at 17 mil, so I was holding 4mil to total 21mil drop and after some tweaks for windage was ringing that one as well. By the time we got out that far, the wind was getting fierce and both of use being BR shooters were laughing about we would never send a 50y benchrest shot in wind that heavy but were still ringing the steel at 400y. I moved over to the 8" plate at 400y. Cannot say how the Sako groups at that distance but Once I had the wind sorted, I was hitting that plate too. I tried some of the other smaller ones but never connected and could not see misses due to damp ground and high weeds. Dropped back to 300y and was able to ring the 4" plate several times as well. Rifle and Arken SH4 optic performed very well. Clear enough to see holes/hits on steel at 200 & 300y and see some hits even at 400y. Fun day in prep for a PRS rimfire event in July. Need to work on our off-hand form next.

Irish
 
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