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Post by Purebred Redneck on Sept 30, 2014 20:38:11 GMT -5
Well I was able to get out and shoot it after a couple months!
After sight-in, I still had a 1/2 box of 150gr core-locts. I was only about to get 2-2 1/2" groups from them so it left me fairly unhappy.
I have a box of Hornady SST and a couple boxes of Federal Sierra GameKings. I will probably give the Federals a try this weekend since Cabelas has them on sale in the event I like them.
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Post by jmarriott on Oct 26, 2014 5:53:37 GMT -5
Remember that level guns on a bench often shoot better if not supported at the forearm.
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Post by Purebred Redneck on Oct 26, 2014 9:45:58 GMT -5
Remember that level guns on a bench often shoot better if not supported at the forearm. Well that is a question I was going on here to ask now anyway. Why is that and what (if anything) can be done about it? Is it just the fact the hammer has a long distance to travel and during that time the rifle moves? Is this due to the 6-7 pound trigger on this gun? Is the forearm not fitted properly? Is it worth getting Browning involved? The trigger is definatly heavy (double what the rifle is advertised to have) but it is a hunting gun afterall. When I shoot with the forearm on the sand bags (me not touching the forearm at all), I can barely hit a paper plate at 100 yards ---- they go high, low, left, right. All over the place When I hold the forearm, I was able to get some pretty good groups with PowerPoints. 1 - 1 1/2" Now when I shoot the gun from my homemade shooting sticks (the kind where you take 2 rods tied together to form an X and hold/pinch under the X), it will shoot a very nice group but about 4" high A lot more tricky to do - but when I take the same sticks & dig the ends into the ground to hold them, then hold the forearm & rest my wrist inside the shooting sticks X --- groups come back down where they are sighted for. But this is a very shaky rest and not very practical. SOThis rifle does seem to be predictable - you must hold the forearm. For most of my hunting, that's what I do anyway ---- offhand shots, sitting on the ground shooting off a knee, leaned over in a tree stand, and shooting in that 150yard kind of range laying down with a backpack. So for most of my hunting, it's probably fine. HoweverI would like to use this rifle for those times I will go out west where long shots are normal. Laying down with a pack is a very good rest. When you add your hand to the forearm, it's still a good rest but I don't think it's as good as having your arm tucked under. Shooting sticks, they are about completely worthless! However, I do have another rifle which is a bolt action, has better trajectory, and hits harder --- so the solution may be to just use that during those 10% applications.
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Post by Jack on Oct 26, 2014 10:45:18 GMT -5
Red, it's not the gun, it's the shooter. When you don't hold the forend and you're on sandbags, the rifle can jump from recoil without being impeded. When you hold the forend, the rifle won't jump as much. When you hold the rifle on cross sticks, you are holding the rifle forend with a different pressure. With each, you'll group differently, as the rifle is moving differently. You're on the right track - hold the forend. The trick is, hold it with the same pressure every time. Easy to say, not so easy to do. BTW, what you are seeing is the results of varying bench technique, and it holds true for any kind of rifle - one piece stock bolt actions can show it, too. Bench technique is what it really is. Everyone assumes that resting a rifle on a benchrest or sandbags, the rifle will automatically shoot its best. Nuh uh. Bench technique is a bit different than field position shooting, and bench technique is an art in itself.
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Post by jmarriott on Nov 18, 2014 21:35:39 GMT -5
As to why it does this i do not know but I have been shooting levers since I was none so 40 years and I have learned that they do not like the sandbag or anything else under the forearm. If I place the support and the tube(no tube on a blr) they group great.
Yes the hammer swing to strike the bullet is long compared to other rifles. Still you have to shoot thru the target so to speak. Hold squeeze and let the bullet flow out the barrel. My bolts have much less time to strike the primer but letting the bullet flow (in my mind only) seems to be the key.
Arts gun shop is the only shop I would send a blr to have the trigger work done (well I would trust two moons) they are tricky to say the least.
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Post by Jack on Nov 18, 2014 22:52:53 GMT -5
I've found best results off the bench with a 2 piece stocked lever gun if I position the front rest as far back towards the action as I can get it. I won't claim I've done enough testing to be definitive, but several 94's and 336's seem to do best with the front rest just in front of the action. I have observed the same thing with Ruger #1's, too. I will say this: I have NOT run into a 336, 94, or R#1 that shoots better off the bench with the front rest out at the front end of the forend.
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Post by Purebred Redneck on Nov 22, 2014 10:15:40 GMT -5
Thanks both of you. Not only is the Browning service department located in Saint Louis, there is a gun shop near that Browning office that states they can do a BLR trigger because they employ former browning workers.
I will have to try resting the gun farther back this spring. Hunting wise, I took my big camera tripod and got a V-yoke attachment. So that gives the stability and ability to hold the forearm while hunting in the blind.
On the good side, I dropped a button buck at 170 yards last weekend with it. 150gr power point --- 30 caliber hole going in, good upper shoulder and vertebrae damage, and a 30 caliber hole going out. Not sure what to think about the exit hole, I would have thought it would have been bigger but the bullet could have blown up on that bone. I probably won't be using those bullets anymore anyway because of quality control problems. I have a couple boxes of Federal 165gr Sierra GameKings but I have also heard good things about the 180 round nose (sp) corelock as a woods gun. They lose a ton of energy past 200 yards but at the property we're currently hunting 225 is the most you're going to shoot anyway.
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Post by Jack on Nov 23, 2014 8:14:18 GMT -5
Red, IME, exit holes aren't a good way to judge bullet performance - go by the internal damage. Sounds to me like you got excellent performance from that bullet. For deer, I'd use 150's for deer, or 165's. Getting a good trigger is about the best way to improve a rifle's accuracy, so getting that trigger job sounds like a good idea.
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