New 6.5 SLR Build

[lancetkenyon]

I have another idea for a paint job too, and might try it on a climbing helmet I have....

[lancetkenyon]

Took the new PCR built rifle out this weekend. What more can I say than "Dang".

 

Here is the look on my face after the very first shot. Like a kid with a new toy (which is exactly what I am).

 

 

I guess I can say a lot more. Here is the initial range report:

 

I had bore sighted it at my house, so when my brother and I got to the spot, I re-checked it and did a bit of adjustment.

 

I had no idea what to expect for recoil, so the first shot was an amazing surprise. Even though it was a fairly light load I had for sighting in, I would honestly say it kicked just a very little bit more than my .223 AR. Loud as heck though, and my brother who was spotting beside me rattled his cheeks. He moved back after the first shot.

 

So we set up a target at 100 yards across a wash, and were shooting prone out of my truck bed parked off a dirt road. I wanted a true 3 shot group to verify POI for my sight in. First 3 shots out of a brand new gun, including cold/clean bore shot, measured at under 1/2". Bottom shot is cold/clean shot out of a brand new barrel. Next two were touching, just above 1st.

 

 

Here is with a caliper showing group size.

 

 

Making adjustments after the 3 round group.

 

 

Made scope adjustments according to my math and set turrets to 0, and went straight back to 400 yards to try a middle of the scale load (42.5gr. H4350) to check velocity (2843 to 2856fps across 5 shots) and see how my adjustments worked out. Shooter stated 1.5MIL up for 400, so I dialed and let them fly. I think the results speak for themselves. There was no wind at this time, so shooting a 5 shot group at 400 seemed like a good call, especially after I walked up and saw this. These are shots 4-8 out of the gun. I knew it was pretty good from 400 yards out, but was amazed when we walked up to the target. I dialed back .1MIL left and reset 0 after the group.

 

 

1.008" for a 5 shot group at 400 yards. This is going to be good....

 

 

So I broke out my loads for my ladder test. I have two distinct nodes. One low from 2712-2789fps (shots 1-3 just below center). These were shot with zero wind. Then the winds really kicked up to about 8-10mph fluctuating for the next rounds. I have a high node from shots 6-8 (even 5 is just 1/2" low at 400 yards) at 2912-2966fps. Wind was swirling in the canyon, so L&R is a little off, but I wasn't holding for wind calls.

 

All loads are as follows:

Remington .243Win die formed brass (the fire formed brass has a truer shoulder and neck now) trimmed to 2.0325"

Berger 140 HVLD

H4350 (from 41.0-45.5gr. in 1/2gr. increments)

Federal GMM 210M primers

COAL 2.880" (.0010 jammed)

 

 

I will play with the higher node now, as this will be a hunting back-up rifle, and I want the extra 150-200fps. I will load up 5 rounds of each and go test them at 200 yards to check groups, and then play with seating depths after that.

 

 

I had (maybe) just a bit of pressure sign on my 45.5gr. (#10) load, with just a bit of swipe showing on the case head upon ejection. No other signs of pressure were noted on any rounds (flattened primers, cratered primers, ejection port marks, swipes, sticky bolt lift, etc.)

 

I had also loaded up some 5 round loads with H414 as I have a bunch on hand before I could find H4350. Loaded them from 41.0-42.5 (but I need to verify from my load data log book). No signs of pressure form any of them except I had one primer come out on my top end load. Not sure what that was, as I had no other signs of pressure from the other 4 rounds at that loading. Might have been a bad primer pocket? But I will probably not use that powder anyway. They might have been a bit hot, as the velocities were right at 2990 for the top loads.

 

After the ladder test was over, we went back to 1002 yards to see what it would do. I had 10 rounds left of the 42.5gr H4350 I had loaded for sight in. Chronograph had shown approximately 2850fps for these loads, so I plugged that info into the Shooter app. Along with 27.17" baro pressure, and 72°F temps and +3° look angle, I got 7.7MIL up at 1000. Dialed it and went to work. Winds were shifting somewhere between 6-12mph from a fairly consistent R-L angle of about 75°, so I held between .6-1MIL right depending on how I felt the wind on my face (I really need to buy a Kestrel).

 

First round at 1002 on an 8" steel: Boom....(watch the impact through my scope)....ding! My brother watched the vapor trail up and curve and called the shot before we heard the ring. Holy cow. This was shot #19 out of the rifle, and first shot at 1K with no real load development yet. I wound up 8 for 10 @ 1002 yards, with two very slight misses due to wind calls. My brother took a few shots with a different load too, and made his first ever hit at 1K+.

 

Total round count for the day was 28.

 

I will keep the thread updated with my results from load development in the future, as I can see myself shooting this gun...a LOT.

[4Falls]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing all this with us.

[Zeke-BE]

I've been enjoying the up dates! As a religious man I know I shouldn't covet thy neighbor rifle, but this thread isn't helping me!

[lancetkenyon]

I have decided to ditch the MultiCam paint job. I just didn't like it as much as I thought I would after 4 different attempts. I will be going back with an old favorite, the camo American flag theme. Got one of the practice stocks I am working on right now, but I need to let it dry a day or two before I work on the stars and dark area on the front. Got the stripes done though. The real one will be coated in matte clear, to eliminate the sheen of the satin colors. Just hard to find a selection of colors in a true flat...

 

This one will have a little more detail than my AR. With some shading to add depth, and some color variation too.

 

 

[lancetkenyon]

Well, I got my real stock finished up this weekend. I am pleased with the final results.

 

Here was the practice stock laid on top of the action to see what it might look like. I liked it, so went with the scheme, but decided to go wider with the stripes on the real stock.

 

 

First stage was go over the Coyote Tan with some Dark Khaki and a couple of the darker greens.

 

 

After letting it dry for a couple days, I masked off the stripes, and hit it in a similar pattern with a light khaki/sand and a Sage green, then stripped off the stencils and hit a few shadows of olive on the stripes.

 

 

 

Let that all dry for a couple days, then taped off the stars and the edge of the dark background using dark olive with a few light sage highlights.

 

 

[lancetkenyon]

After that all dried, I hit it with four coats of flat clear, and let it dry. Did my final assembly on Monday, and was extremely happy with the results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[coueser4]

That turned out awesome!!! Looking forward to seeing more of your load development process to see how dialed in you can get this thing. This is an awesome thread. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Big Browns]

That paint job is Awesome! How much would you charge to paint my gun in a similar American flag pattern?

 

Adam

[DAS]

Awesome build. The paint job turned out sweet!

[STOMP442]

Dude that looks amazing. Great job!

[lancetkenyon]

I got out to the range on Sunday to almost complete my load development. Still just a touch of tweaking, but I am almost there.

 

I had two seating depths I liked within .0400" of each other. Going to try a few between these and see how it works out. Then load up 300 or so and start my ballistic verification work at distance.

 

I usually sight in and zero at 200 yards, so I hit about an inch high at 100 on all of my rifles. Well, I forgot I zeroed this in at 100, so when I dialed down 3 clicks, it put me about 1/2 to 3/4" low for my first group of 3 shots. After the first shot, I kicked myself, but shot all 3 at that setting for group.

 

Not bad. Aiming dot is .250". Group measures in the mid .2s for 3 shots. This is at .0100" off the lands.

 

 

Second group, I dialed back up .2MILs, and left .1MIL. I think I will re-zero windage at this and call it good. Again, in the mid .2s. This was at .0500" jump.

 

 

2 other groups, at .0800" jump and .1200" jump were not nearly as good, about .75 MOA. Still pretty good, but nowhere near these two. This gives the Berger VLD discussion of a sweet spot of .0400" somewhere some validity.

[Big or Bust]

Looking good Lance -

[Big or Bust]

Looking good Lance -

[STOMP442]

Looking very good. I like the second group best with less vertical but testing at longer ranges will verify that. What is your velocity and powder charge for that load? I'm guessing a velocity somewhere around 2900-2950?