Ah, what a wonderful day at the range when I have the whole place to myself.

First of all, I had a 257 Wby Mk V that I wanted to try some 115 gr Barnes TSX in. It did not take long to figure that one out. As long as I did not exceed 3,000 fps, it shot quite well, but when it got to the 3,300+ that I wanted, groups turned in to “patterns”. Now the 257 Wby is nothing more than a 25-06, but sometimes that’s the way it is.

Next up was a SAKO 375 H&H that needed some loaded worked up for the 300 TSX. I tried a few with IMR 4064 and IMR 4350, but settled on 74 gr of AA2700. This did not surprise me, as AA2700 has been historically good in the 375 H&H. It also meters well, and naturally I used Federal 215 primers with this ball powder.

Now came two 300 Winchester Magnums. One was a brand new Rem 700 with a 26” Stainless barrel, and the other my old faithful Pre 64 M 70 with a Wilson 24” barrel on it. Old faithful was along, only because I had restocked it, and need to rezero it to use on my up coming South African trip.

The new Stainless barrel had been worked on before it ever went to the range, by running about 50 patches with Flitz thru the bore to smooth it out prior to firing the first shot. Then as I fired it, I cleaned it at 5 shot intervals.

This barrel was totally free floated, and I soon found out this may not be what I wanted. I’ve never seen a barrel that changed point of impact (POI) as dramatically as this one.

It sort of took a shine to 180 gr Nosler AccuBonds, but when I tried other 180 bullets, it moved the POI as much as 4 to 6 inches. That pretty well would make it impossible to change loads during a trip to match larger or smaller game. I sort of like AccuBond for most Plains Game, but when it comes to Blue Wildebeest and Eland, then I switch to Barnes TSX or Trophy Bonded Bear Claws. Not with this gun, the TSX shot as well as the AccuBonds, but were 4” higher, and 5” to the right.

Just for some experimentation, I shot a few 220 gr Hornady RN. They not only printed 2” lower, but 4” left from the original AccuBond zero. That puts the TSX and the RN a long ways apart.

So I am going to pull the M700 apart and put a little glass bedding under the barrel at the forend, and try to get a little tip pressure to dampen the vibes to see if it makes any difference to POI.

Now on to “ Old Faithful”. Like the name implies, just decide what you want to shoot, and zero it with load and go about your hunt. I initially tried the 180 AccuBond loads again and zeroed it with those. Then I shot a couple 180 TSX and 168 gr TSX to if when they printed in relation to the point of aim.

Glory be, they all went into a 1½” group, so I can switch loads to my hearts content.

Another interesting point, is that the 24” Wilson barrel consistently produced velocities at least 100 fps or faster than the 26” Stainless. Why? It could be anyone of a dozen possibilities. Maybe the Stainless produces less friction on the bullet, hence less pressure, and less velocity. Maybe I need to push the loads up a grain or two of powder to get the same velocity. This now produces the problem of if I need to use that ammo in the Wilson barrel, they could be excessive.

So I’ll leave it well enough alone, as I have never met a Kudu yet that could tell the difference in 100 fps.

The real star today was a Browning A-Bolt in a 243 Win using 85 gr TSX at 3,000 fps. Both H 4350 and IMR 4831 achieved this nicely, and I think I’ll load up a batch with the H 4350 mainly because those shorter kernels run thru a powder measure and drop the charge into that small 243 neck better than the longer IMR powder.

The trip to the range was really great, especially being there alone. There was no one trying to shoot the wrong ammo, or figure out a scope problem.

Feel free to write Terry anytime if you need help with something at tblauwkamp@superior-sales.com