Hey Fellas, I took to the range for the first time with my recently acquired Surgeon Scalpel in .308. After a few rounds of 168FGMM I had it zero'd and was happy to see it cutting one ragged hole at 100 yards. Showing right at 2700fps average with this ammo thru the 24" Kreiger barrel.
We moved out to 500 yards and setup 3 targets for a ladder test. I loaded up 3 - 11 shot strings of 178 A-Max's over Varget in Lapua Brass with CCI primers. Charge increased from 43.2g to 46.2g in .3 grain increments. Brass and bullets are weight-sorted to the best of my scales abilities, and I allowed 2-3 minutes between shots to keep barrel heat from becoming a factor. OAL was set by ogive to be consistent at .005" off the lands. Interestingly enough this is exactly 2.800" COAL with 178's. Pretty short throat!
First target I tried the color-coded bullet method but they all just left black holes in the cardboard so it was a fail. I'll post it just for comparison purposes. Wind was 4-6mph from 7 o'clock. Dial'd .2mils for wind, 3.2mils for elevation and had at it.
Second target I decided to setup the go-pro to record the hits. Wind was again 4-6 from 7 o'clock. Increased wind hold to .3 mils and I felt comfortable when breaking these shots.
For the third target the wind shifted from the 10 o'clock direction and decreased to about 3-4mph. I felt rushed on these shots as the battery in the go-pro was taking a crap. Still allowed cool-down time but didn't mess around breaking the shots. I didnt feel as comfortable on this series.
In going thru the strings, I started to see pressure signs on the brass over the 45.3-45.6 mark. But no charged showed extreme over-pressure on the primer cups. It was my first time shooting at this particular range and I was not well-equipped so I did not get to chrono these loads at 500 yards.
I'd like to get your input on my results and advise where to go from here. From my findings there's a node down around 43.5 and again around 44.5 but this is my first attempt at the Audette Ladder so all input is appreciated! Thanks fellas.
Tony P.
We moved out to 500 yards and setup 3 targets for a ladder test. I loaded up 3 - 11 shot strings of 178 A-Max's over Varget in Lapua Brass with CCI primers. Charge increased from 43.2g to 46.2g in .3 grain increments. Brass and bullets are weight-sorted to the best of my scales abilities, and I allowed 2-3 minutes between shots to keep barrel heat from becoming a factor. OAL was set by ogive to be consistent at .005" off the lands. Interestingly enough this is exactly 2.800" COAL with 178's. Pretty short throat!
First target I tried the color-coded bullet method but they all just left black holes in the cardboard so it was a fail. I'll post it just for comparison purposes. Wind was 4-6mph from 7 o'clock. Dial'd .2mils for wind, 3.2mils for elevation and had at it.
Second target I decided to setup the go-pro to record the hits. Wind was again 4-6 from 7 o'clock. Increased wind hold to .3 mils and I felt comfortable when breaking these shots.
For the third target the wind shifted from the 10 o'clock direction and decreased to about 3-4mph. I felt rushed on these shots as the battery in the go-pro was taking a crap. Still allowed cool-down time but didn't mess around breaking the shots. I didnt feel as comfortable on this series.
In going thru the strings, I started to see pressure signs on the brass over the 45.3-45.6 mark. But no charged showed extreme over-pressure on the primer cups. It was my first time shooting at this particular range and I was not well-equipped so I did not get to chrono these loads at 500 yards.
I'd like to get your input on my results and advise where to go from here. From my findings there's a node down around 43.5 and again around 44.5 but this is my first attempt at the Audette Ladder so all input is appreciated! Thanks fellas.
Tony P.
