Post by Rifleman on Nov 24, 2013 7:29:25 GMT -5
Ok just an update on where I'm at on this project.
Bought the rifle from Just Hunt guns in Wabash In, a Rem 700 SS in syn stock with a Douglas XX premium barrel, 35 cal, 1-14 twist, 25 inch, stainless.
www.justhuntguns.com/shop/index.php?id_product=10&controller=product
Ballistics- 200 gr Barnes- MV 2830 fps BC of .369 ( shoots a bit flatter then a 308 sniper load, but way more energy. A friend verified this speed on his chrono, I don't have one at the moment.
Barnes www.midwayusa.com/product/557229/barnes-tipped-triple-shock-x-bullets-35-caliber-358-diameter-200-grain-spitzer-boat-tail-box-of-50
bases/rings/scope- I went with a Warne tactical one piece rail, Warne steel rings, and a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 MC with the Rapid Z 600 reticle. This scope is no longer in production but I got a good deal on Ebay.
I checked out the ballistic reticle calculator on the Zeiss
website.
sportsoptics.zeiss.com/hunting/en_us/riflescopes/ballistic-reticle-solutions.html
Interesting to note that up to 300 yds it makes no difference what power ring you are on because that portion of the reticle is free floating on the scope axis whatever that means. Anyway I ran the numbers and the best I could come up with for a factory load match was a 35 Whelen with a 200 gr Hornady superformance load. The Zeiss site said that with a 200 yd zero, after 300 yds the power ring should be set at 7x to calibrate the load the rest of the distance but you might have to tweek the power ring up in power for a load that shot flatter or down for one with more drop.
Recoil- Yup she will boot you, about like a 30-06 with a heavy bullet.
Rifle notes- The stock is pretty sorry but I got a bid on a new laminated one on Ebay, hope to get it and have it glass bedded and free floated. The new Remington trigger is not as bad as some say, I could live with it but for really fine shooting it has to go. Got a new Timney adjustable on order.
Rifle is not fussy about how you hold it from what I can tell, but they ran a #4 contour on this barrel which matches up with a Factory Remington sporter profile. I do believe if I was building from scratch I would go with a little bit heavier barrel, if not with a full varmint weight heavy barrel and build a deer sniper rifle, but this rifle is gonna be an all around rifle so this ain't bad, but I would prefer one contour larger I do believe.
Ammo- I bought 100 loaded rds from Just Hunt and it was pricey, but its good ammo and I will be reloading my own on their brass when I get low. I think I might order 100 more brass this spring just to have enough for the long haul. They use 300 WSM brass as the parent case, blow it out to a 35 cal neck, set the shoulder back, and trim it to 1.8 ( actually the ones I miked were 1.775). Without special equipment ( dies) you cannot make your own brass so Im stuck there, but I think 200 will be plenty for a cannon like this. This ammo is pretty hot, I notice a little bit of primer flattening but it's plenty safe, I would guess in this big fat boy pressures are around 60K, which is fine in the 700 action.
Shooting/accuracy- I tried to run a different scope and mount set up I had on hand( Leupold MK IV in a Larue mount) before I received my new scope and base and it was just too high, but I did fire 4 rounds and it seemed to me the rifle was gonna shoot. Today was the first time I able to get out and shoot the rifle with the new scope and base and conditions were wet, dark and rainy. I shot at 100 yds off some sandbags and a picnic table to just get on paper after bore sighting. First shot was high left, made a correction and shot 3 shots into a group of 1.25 outside to outside, not bad with a crummy setup. I made a small correction and packed up to the big range.
At 200 yds on the big range I caught paper on first shot, 3 inches left, height was good. Made a correction and noticed at this range that shooter error was creeping in and I shot a few more rounds fooling around with my zero. Never shot a group per se, but put the last 2 in the middle. So tried 300 and hit the small plate, but missed the 400. Shot again, nope, came back to 3, bang hit. Hmm got to thinking I was a tad right and high at 400, so made a correction on windage and changed the power ring to 8x to account for a flatter trajectory. (could also be my scope is setting a little on the high side with the tactical rail, I think I could run a 56mm and still clear the barrel)Yup, we were on it now. Bang, Bang, Bang, hit the small plate at 3, 4, and 500 yds no problem. Missed at 600, but I had no spotter and at 3.75 a pop I knew it would be an expensive waste of time trying to find it. So I fired a total of 17 rds today and got her on to the 500 yd mark. I think that will do until I get the new stock glassed bedded and free floated and install the new trigger. I thought that was pretty good for a new rifle on the first day. Plus I was starting to feel her lovin. I do believe this rifle is sub moa as long as you let the barrel stay cool, but I won't spend the $$ to wring her out until the rest of the work is done. So I intend to hunt with it the rest of the season and see if I can get a doe or 2 to line up at some distance and see how hard this truck smacks down deer. Anyway shes a shooter.
Can't help but think what a heavy barrel version with a 15x might be able to do at longer ranges. But let me finish this gun and see how far I can stretch her out. The round goes trans sonic at about 750 and sub at 1000, so I would say the round should be easy to get to 800 with at least. According to the Hornady ballistics calculator energy level is 1064 foot pds at 600, 855 at 700 and 693 at 800 so we are getting a little shy there on horsey power. But if one pokes a 35 cal hole in the right spot I am sure the leakage will be sufficient.
Bought the rifle from Just Hunt guns in Wabash In, a Rem 700 SS in syn stock with a Douglas XX premium barrel, 35 cal, 1-14 twist, 25 inch, stainless.
www.justhuntguns.com/shop/index.php?id_product=10&controller=product
Ballistics- 200 gr Barnes- MV 2830 fps BC of .369 ( shoots a bit flatter then a 308 sniper load, but way more energy. A friend verified this speed on his chrono, I don't have one at the moment.
Barnes www.midwayusa.com/product/557229/barnes-tipped-triple-shock-x-bullets-35-caliber-358-diameter-200-grain-spitzer-boat-tail-box-of-50
bases/rings/scope- I went with a Warne tactical one piece rail, Warne steel rings, and a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 MC with the Rapid Z 600 reticle. This scope is no longer in production but I got a good deal on Ebay.
I checked out the ballistic reticle calculator on the Zeiss
website.
sportsoptics.zeiss.com/hunting/en_us/riflescopes/ballistic-reticle-solutions.html
Interesting to note that up to 300 yds it makes no difference what power ring you are on because that portion of the reticle is free floating on the scope axis whatever that means. Anyway I ran the numbers and the best I could come up with for a factory load match was a 35 Whelen with a 200 gr Hornady superformance load. The Zeiss site said that with a 200 yd zero, after 300 yds the power ring should be set at 7x to calibrate the load the rest of the distance but you might have to tweek the power ring up in power for a load that shot flatter or down for one with more drop.
Recoil- Yup she will boot you, about like a 30-06 with a heavy bullet.
Rifle notes- The stock is pretty sorry but I got a bid on a new laminated one on Ebay, hope to get it and have it glass bedded and free floated. The new Remington trigger is not as bad as some say, I could live with it but for really fine shooting it has to go. Got a new Timney adjustable on order.
Rifle is not fussy about how you hold it from what I can tell, but they ran a #4 contour on this barrel which matches up with a Factory Remington sporter profile. I do believe if I was building from scratch I would go with a little bit heavier barrel, if not with a full varmint weight heavy barrel and build a deer sniper rifle, but this rifle is gonna be an all around rifle so this ain't bad, but I would prefer one contour larger I do believe.
Ammo- I bought 100 loaded rds from Just Hunt and it was pricey, but its good ammo and I will be reloading my own on their brass when I get low. I think I might order 100 more brass this spring just to have enough for the long haul. They use 300 WSM brass as the parent case, blow it out to a 35 cal neck, set the shoulder back, and trim it to 1.8 ( actually the ones I miked were 1.775). Without special equipment ( dies) you cannot make your own brass so Im stuck there, but I think 200 will be plenty for a cannon like this. This ammo is pretty hot, I notice a little bit of primer flattening but it's plenty safe, I would guess in this big fat boy pressures are around 60K, which is fine in the 700 action.
Shooting/accuracy- I tried to run a different scope and mount set up I had on hand( Leupold MK IV in a Larue mount) before I received my new scope and base and it was just too high, but I did fire 4 rounds and it seemed to me the rifle was gonna shoot. Today was the first time I able to get out and shoot the rifle with the new scope and base and conditions were wet, dark and rainy. I shot at 100 yds off some sandbags and a picnic table to just get on paper after bore sighting. First shot was high left, made a correction and shot 3 shots into a group of 1.25 outside to outside, not bad with a crummy setup. I made a small correction and packed up to the big range.
At 200 yds on the big range I caught paper on first shot, 3 inches left, height was good. Made a correction and noticed at this range that shooter error was creeping in and I shot a few more rounds fooling around with my zero. Never shot a group per se, but put the last 2 in the middle. So tried 300 and hit the small plate, but missed the 400. Shot again, nope, came back to 3, bang hit. Hmm got to thinking I was a tad right and high at 400, so made a correction on windage and changed the power ring to 8x to account for a flatter trajectory. (could also be my scope is setting a little on the high side with the tactical rail, I think I could run a 56mm and still clear the barrel)Yup, we were on it now. Bang, Bang, Bang, hit the small plate at 3, 4, and 500 yds no problem. Missed at 600, but I had no spotter and at 3.75 a pop I knew it would be an expensive waste of time trying to find it. So I fired a total of 17 rds today and got her on to the 500 yd mark. I think that will do until I get the new stock glassed bedded and free floated and install the new trigger. I thought that was pretty good for a new rifle on the first day. Plus I was starting to feel her lovin. I do believe this rifle is sub moa as long as you let the barrel stay cool, but I won't spend the $$ to wring her out until the rest of the work is done. So I intend to hunt with it the rest of the season and see if I can get a doe or 2 to line up at some distance and see how hard this truck smacks down deer. Anyway shes a shooter.
Can't help but think what a heavy barrel version with a 15x might be able to do at longer ranges. But let me finish this gun and see how far I can stretch her out. The round goes trans sonic at about 750 and sub at 1000, so I would say the round should be easy to get to 800 with at least. According to the Hornady ballistics calculator energy level is 1064 foot pds at 600, 855 at 700 and 693 at 800 so we are getting a little shy there on horsey power. But if one pokes a 35 cal hole in the right spot I am sure the leakage will be sufficient.
