Re: Today was a good day...AE arrived
I considered a TRG very briefly. It may sound like a very small thing but the magazine system was part of what caused me to go AI. Most of the competitions I have gone to, the AICS magazines are the most prevalent. This means I will have the ability to help someone else out, or they me if I have a magazine problem. (those things do get messed up when dropped, stepped on, filled with mud, etc.
The other was the overwhelming support from the AI dealers here in the US. I just don't see the same thing from TRG. I am sure they are a fine weapon, just not my choice.
I got 55 rounds downrange on the AE today. The rings Vortex sent me are too low. I have to change my cheek weld considerably from what I normally use. Nevertheless I was able to lay down some nice groups with 168gr Federal Gold Metal Match that I had on hand. The AI does not like the 175gr hand loads that I was using for my 700 (175smk, 43gr RE15, Fed FL Brass, CCI Primers). I am betting it's a neck tension issue since some of those cases felt different on the press. I am going to try to pick up some other varieties of factory match ammo and run them all on the same day so we can get a better idea.
I will say that zeroing the Razor is EXTREMELY easy. Much easier than the EREK on the USO. However they do different things. I have one issue that I need to talk to Vortex about on this scope, but it's a VERY small issue. I didn't think I would like the open reticle at first, but it works well on some of the targets I was using. Hopefully things will stay slow tonight and I can check out the low-light performance of the scope.
I will try to get some "side by side" from the USO and the Razor with the camera set at the same shutter and aperture. It's supposed to pour tomorrow, so while I don't mind shooting rifles in the rain, I prefer not to get my DSLR out in it.
Here are five, five shot groups. All fired in a row. No cooldown for the rifle. All were magazine fed. You can tell which ones I was rushing. I was trying to knock this out before work and there were people asking me all kinds of questions about the rifle.
This was group three, four and five as I was trying to fine tune the zero.
This was one and two. The first group I dialed high to attempt to use the target the way it was designed. I really didn't like that. I measured the distance with the reticle in the Razor and dialed what I thought I needed to get into the circle. I am going to do a tracking test on a later trip to see if that was my error or if there was a problem. I am betting that I am at fault.
Here is all five groups as they were stapled up with no editing.
The group sizes were as follows according to "On Target"
0.811" (.775 MOA)
0.378" (.361 MOA)
0.441" (.442 MOA)
0.876" (.769 MOA)
0.425" (.406 MOA)
Average: 0.586" (.551 MOA)
I don't believe these are indicitive of the rifle's performance. I think they are demonstrative of what I am capable of when I am hurrying.
For the first thirty rounds (five used to zero) out of this rifle I am duly impressed. Once I get a baseline for accuracy we will start the real evaluation.
After I got done with the groups and was out of FGMM I ran some speed drills with my 175gr loads. While the rifle did not like them, they were definitely minute of steel and the bolt throw on the AE is great. I will be getting some video a bit later on.
