I was quite happy that I finally got a chance to go out into the mountains and test out my Sako and 168gr FGMM. Given I have no formal precision rifle training (just carbine coursework) and this is my first precision bolt-action rifle, I had very little idea of how I'd perform. The only thing I knew is this equipment can't be blamed and any screw-ups was operator error. This is the setup:
Unfortunately it ended up being 30-35F most of the day with snow flurries at 2490' starting about 10 minutes after we set up but the Finn rifle was plenty happy. Early on we built a quick shelter and ended up doing some carbine and shotgun work to warm up because it was chilly. About midday a short blast of Sun at the 1-2 o'clock warmed things up to the point where snow on the ground turned into a reflective slushy wonderland and soaked through my shooting mat. I ended up shooting quick enough to get noticeable mirage because we had some other random folks pull up and use the same area, so I tried to get in my shots when there was a reloading null. You can see the weather progression below:
The first five shots were bore-line sighting and tweaking at 100 yards and I stepped up to trying my hand at a sight-in target. Did five rounds which measured 1.000" with a pulled shot before trying simple orange stickers on an IPSC target.
I did a 10-round string in the A-zone COM and got 1.065" with a few pulled shots. A majority of the shots fell into a very tight area. I also did a fiver in the head and got .830", a loose-ish grouping. It was only then did I realize that dialing in POI to POA ends up making subsequent aiming a bumblefrack because it tears up what you were aiming at. But...unless you're shooting for groups, I guess that doesn't really matter.
Next was a dot target, which I've never tried before (I didn't do the suggest dot drill progression). Had I known there was a 0.75" or 1" version dot drill, I'd have picked that first. The NH1 reticle takes some getting used to when shooting black targets with a black post since you can't quarter it like a traditional reticle. I started at the bottom and worked my way up. Cold bore shot was dead zero. I then ate lunch and finished up the rest. First shot was high. Second was high. At some point the turret was bumped. I dropped it .1mrad and third was high but I pulled. The forth I nailed and carried on but it was apparent that I lost my mental game and the remainder of the sheet was me orbiting the dot, averaging .350" from the dot centerline. By then, we've been shooting a solid 6 hours.
At least I got the rifle dirty. I got it muddy. I got it wet. It got it snowy. Then rinsed it off with water and packed up for the day as we had four groups of folks crowd into the area. I have a lot to learn. I'm hoping to stop by an actual range and get some more time in. A few things I noticed:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc">[*]The bipod, while aggressive, doesn't really stick into slushy wet gravel very well. It bit a lot better than a coworker's Harris-style bipod though. If I preloaded it too much, it tended to skid away from me.[*]Extraction is wimpy on my model. I expected this as a possibility having read some previous threads noting this issue with the TRG-22's. Operating the bolt with a firm hand prevents this. A gentle bolt pull will cause the brass to do a funny little dance in the ejection port.[*]I did not have any issues with the magazines. I purposely loaded them to 10 rounds for maximum spring pressure and did not experience any failure-to-feeds.[*]Hensoldt is freaking AWESOME.[*]The ergonomics are a joy to use and despite the cold, the few metal parts didn't seem to suck the heat out of my hand.[*]The rifle performed flawlessly. <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">I </span></span>performed better than I'd hoped, and see that I have a long way to go for improvement.[/list]
Unfortunately it ended up being 30-35F most of the day with snow flurries at 2490' starting about 10 minutes after we set up but the Finn rifle was plenty happy. Early on we built a quick shelter and ended up doing some carbine and shotgun work to warm up because it was chilly. About midday a short blast of Sun at the 1-2 o'clock warmed things up to the point where snow on the ground turned into a reflective slushy wonderland and soaked through my shooting mat. I ended up shooting quick enough to get noticeable mirage because we had some other random folks pull up and use the same area, so I tried to get in my shots when there was a reloading null. You can see the weather progression below:
The first five shots were bore-line sighting and tweaking at 100 yards and I stepped up to trying my hand at a sight-in target. Did five rounds which measured 1.000" with a pulled shot before trying simple orange stickers on an IPSC target.
I did a 10-round string in the A-zone COM and got 1.065" with a few pulled shots. A majority of the shots fell into a very tight area. I also did a fiver in the head and got .830", a loose-ish grouping. It was only then did I realize that dialing in POI to POA ends up making subsequent aiming a bumblefrack because it tears up what you were aiming at. But...unless you're shooting for groups, I guess that doesn't really matter.
Next was a dot target, which I've never tried before (I didn't do the suggest dot drill progression). Had I known there was a 0.75" or 1" version dot drill, I'd have picked that first. The NH1 reticle takes some getting used to when shooting black targets with a black post since you can't quarter it like a traditional reticle. I started at the bottom and worked my way up. Cold bore shot was dead zero. I then ate lunch and finished up the rest. First shot was high. Second was high. At some point the turret was bumped. I dropped it .1mrad and third was high but I pulled. The forth I nailed and carried on but it was apparent that I lost my mental game and the remainder of the sheet was me orbiting the dot, averaging .350" from the dot centerline. By then, we've been shooting a solid 6 hours.
At least I got the rifle dirty. I got it muddy. I got it wet. It got it snowy. Then rinsed it off with water and packed up for the day as we had four groups of folks crowd into the area. I have a lot to learn. I'm hoping to stop by an actual range and get some more time in. A few things I noticed:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc">[*]The bipod, while aggressive, doesn't really stick into slushy wet gravel very well. It bit a lot better than a coworker's Harris-style bipod though. If I preloaded it too much, it tended to skid away from me.[*]Extraction is wimpy on my model. I expected this as a possibility having read some previous threads noting this issue with the TRG-22's. Operating the bolt with a firm hand prevents this. A gentle bolt pull will cause the brass to do a funny little dance in the ejection port.[*]I did not have any issues with the magazines. I purposely loaded them to 10 rounds for maximum spring pressure and did not experience any failure-to-feeds.[*]Hensoldt is freaking AWESOME.[*]The ergonomics are a joy to use and despite the cold, the few metal parts didn't seem to suck the heat out of my hand.[*]The rifle performed flawlessly. <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">I </span></span>performed better than I'd hoped, and see that I have a long way to go for improvement.[/list]
