lancetkenyon

Archery only? Rifle too? Big or small game?

Stay turned as parts start coming in. Should have some early next week. Others to follow over the next few.

Why would you cut half of your hunting unit out for a hunt? Especially when there is so much water on the Bo? If this is a dry year, elk will be drawn to water.

Not sure which one I have, but I have had it for 3 years. Wind, rain, snow, sun. It has stood up to it all very well. Doesn't flap in the wind either. Which I hate on windy nights when I am trying to sleep.

Pushing a 160g .284 out of an AI at that speed and accuracy thats some good work That is not even that fast for this rifle. My hunting load is a 175 Berger Elite Hunter @ 2975fps. Again, a hot load, but ridiculously accurate too.

My final load for the 6.5 SS is as follows. Please, do NOT start here. It is safe in my rifle, but right on the edge. I need to work up a reduced load for shooting more often. My hunting load is HOT!!! I don't have too many group photos, as I am usually squeezing mine in while doing other load development. I need to take some photos of the targets later. Norma .300SAUM brass, fired formed to 6.5 SS CCI BR-2 58.0 gr RL26 150 SMK 2.278" CBTO (.005" jump) 3158fps Shoots in the .2s. 3 shot group @ 921 was 2.7". I also was tinkering with some of the 127 LRX. Had some good preliminary results with those @ 3350 IIRC @ .0500" jump. I have to break out the data log and check. Had them shooting in the .4s with nothing more than throwing a few charge weights together.

At those speeds, just barely broken in. Should have 800-1000 left in it easily.

Sometimes, everything comes together. Even for 5 shots in a row! Do you know infuriating it is when you have 4 shots in one single.hole, and you have one pull opening a group up from the .0s to the mid .1s? OK, maybe not infuriating, but still a let.down.

Action brand? I am betting Pierce TI... Barrel length? Barrel twist? Barrel contour? Trigger pull weight? Action bedded? What height Talley 30mm rings? Group size and photos? Factory or hand loads? Recipe? Dies/brass/reloading components go with it? Don't hold out on us bro...

I had a Reese Towpower 16K manual slider for my 31ft 5th wheel in my F250 short bed. Awesome, relatively inexpensive. Worked great.

Is it bad that the first thing I thought of was a fat lady in a wedding dress?

I cannot believe these two rifles have not sold yet???

I settled on 61.3gr H1000. 2909fps average for that seating depth. At 6 seating depths, starting at the lands, for every .010" more jump, average velocity went down about 5fps. From 2938 to 2909 average. All were .5 or better, but they slowly shrunk to .3", until I got to .060" jump as seen in the photo. Hands down the best group.

A quick update on the .280AI. I have my great, fast, full power hunting load. But I wanted something a little lighter for varmint hunting and shooting long range for practice. I tried a 160 TMK (Tipped Match King). Running it over H1000 for stability and accuracy potential. I didn't do the full ladder test method, just loaded up 5 different 3 round groups with charge weights going up in .5gr increments. I know H1000 is not as fast as others, and thatvway fine with me. Here were 4 of my 5 charge weight testing groups. Pretty respectable for just throwing together chsrge weights and seating the bullets into the lands. Here is what my preferred charge weight did with seating depth testing. In the high .1s. That should do just fine for just about anything.

Ha. Don't worry. I am already in line...

All 3 were considered. All 3 were actually 3 of the 4 I was looking at. The other was the 6SLR. The .243 Win has too short of neck and the 20° shoulder does not interest me. The AI version has a better shoulder, but still retains the short neck. Which is why the 6SLR peaked my interests so much more. I have a .223, two 6.5mms, two 7mms, and a big .30 magnum. I wanted something with lighter recoil, decent barrel life, and smaller for medium game/LR varmints/and LR steel. .243/6mm fits that bill. I thought about another .257 of some kind, but the 115 6mm has better BC than a 115 .257". Plus, .257" short case rounds are extremely limited. .250-3000 Savage (or .250AI which was a sweetheart round for me for years), .257 Roberts (or .257AI) for the most part. I wanted something that would fit in an AI mag without pushing the bullet too far back in the case. So the 6SLR was the first on the chopping block. Could have fit with the 95 or the 105s probably, but the 105s, 110s, and especially the 115s would be seated fairly deep. That left 6x47L, 6XC, and 6CM. I also wanted to try and hit close to 2950-3000 with a relatively short barrel in a 105. The added case capacity of the 6CM should help that some. But I know some guys that get 3100 w. 105s in the 6x47L w. 26" barrel, so that gave me hope. Next was case availability. I wanted to run Lapua brass. Another reason the 6SLR was eliminated due to the case design and prep work needed to use Lapua brass. Lapua does not make 6XC brass. The 6XC was on my short list for quite a while even without Lapua availability. I have recently heard of some issues with consistency with the 6XC brass however. So...that dropped it to #3 on the list. 6x47L (6.5x47L case necked down) Lapua brass was really promising with the small primer pocket. Plus, the cartridge is renowned for its accuracy. But, smaller case capacity still was nagging at me. Sure would not burn out a barrel very fast though. Everyone and their brother is on the 6.5CM fan train. So I really shy away from the cartridge. Really nothing that the .260 Rem, 6.5x47L, 6.5x55 Swede, etc. wouldn't do, and some do it better or faster. But...Hornady is a genius in marketing, and the availability of high quality factory loaded ammo made it popular overnight. I have loaded for 6 different 6.5CM, and they do usually shoot really well once you find that recipe. To me....It is better suited for the 140 range than the 6.4x47L. Then....Lapua came out with a small rifle primer 6.5CM case....making it quite a bit more desireable as the case of choice. Not a few others are doing that too. Meaning the extra case capacity over the 6.5x47L is a viable reason to go that route. Plus, some companies are making 6CM headstamped brass, and factory ammo now. So the case that ticks the most boxes is the 6CM for me. 1. Great brass. One pass of 6.5CM brass through a 6CM die and viola. 6CM cases ready to load. 2. Slightly better case capacity for better speed possibilities. I will have 2 loads. A hot hunting load, and a target/varmint load to be shot a lot. I can load down to 6x47L speeds, but not vice versa. 3. With all of the popularity of the 6.5CM, even though Lapua SR brass might be a bit hard to find right now, I am sure it will be around for a long time. Plus, with the rising popularity growing, 6CM Lapua brass might be right around the corner. 4. The Creedmoor is a decently inherently accurate round. Similar to the 6XC and 6x47L. 5. AxisWorks has a 6CM reamer on hand. They also have a 6x47L reamer. No 6XC or 6SLR reamers though. I thought about a 6SST for a while too, because it would make a stellar medium game hunting round. But I bet barrel life @ 3400fps would be as short as some of the big overbore super magnums. I have a few of those, and I like being able to put a lot of rounds downrange. Same thing with cases like .243AI, 6mmAI, 6-06, and a bunch of others.

7mm. My choice of cartridge would have to be 7RM also. With .280AI a close second. But no way would I ever only have 1 rifle! Heck, I take at least 3 on every hunting trip I go on! A carry weight, a heavy LR, and a backup. For varmints or javelina: .223, 6CM (coming soon), 6.5SLR For Coues or antelope: 6CM (coming soon), 6.5SS, 6.5SLR For mule deer: 6.5SS, .280AI, 7RM For elk: 7RM, .280AI, .300RUM

New hunter, new rifle in 6.5CM that won't be shot at game more than 600-700? I would gonlower in magnification range. Something like a 3-12, 3-15, 3-18, 4-16, 4.5-14 range. Much easier to locate game quickly when you are not used to fast target acquisition with the much wider FOV. Plus, 12-15x is plenty for shooting well past 1000 on medium game. I made myb2nd longest kill ever on a coyote @ 1327 with the Vortex Viper HS 4-16×50. And 2 coyotes @ 1365 on 17x. If you want to stay with the same scope lines: Athlon Midas HMR 2.5-15×50 Leupold VX3i LRP 4.5-14×50 Vortex Viper HS LR 4-16×50 Give us a firm budget, and I am sure we will.muddy the waters of your decision with a LOT of other recommendations.

Big thanks to TruArms (Douglas-gun-guy) for the action. Should be here in a couple weeks.

Just rebarrel and restock it already...

Everything is for sale for the right price. I will beat the price of the new Gunwerks CoPilot when it is done....

Just rebarrel and restock it already!!!

Parts are starting to roll in...baby steps... Carbon fiber bolt knob by TacOps.