356 Winchester-200 yards

[Trailblazer]

Deer season opens tomorrow in D-13 so I went up to the range for my final sighting in and trajectory test. Rifle is a Winchester 94 with 20" barrel and a 4X Burris Compact scope. Load is WW brass, WLR primer and 43 Grains Varget. Boolit is the Saeco 352 cast from wheel weight and a smidgeon of linotype, aircooled and they drop at 252 grains. Sized and lubed in a .360" sizer and seated in the crimp groove to 2.61" to 2.62" and crimped with the Lee factory crimp die. Boolits are weighed to + or - .5 grain. I may be anal about that but most fall in that weight range. I did load some that were + or- a grain but didn't get around to shooting them. These cross the Chrony at 2080 FPS at 15 feet.

This target is three shots at 100 yards. It is a used target so there are some small extra holes in the target. I figured I would be able to tell which were 35 caliber! I was shooting off the bench and holding the forearm in my hand with my hand resting on the bags. I bobbled the second shot and knew it went low when the trigger broke:

http://www.hunt101.com/img/521743.jpg (http://www.hunt101.com/?p=521743&c=556&z=1)

I then put three shots on this 200 yard target. There was a gusty breeze coming from the left so the group did drift right a little over an inch. I got these off well without wobbling and bobbling to much:

http://www.hunt101.com/img/521744.jpg (http://www.hunt101.com/?p=521744&c=556&z=1)

I am amazed at this group. As you can see the group only measures about 1-3/8" and is only about 2" low! I was expecting a 4" group, 4" or more low. I don't have any ballistic software but I am curious what BC this trajectory corresponds to. I looked at the ballistic charts but nothing really compares at a reasonable B.C. for a flat nose cast boolit. The line of sight is right at 1-1/2" above the bore. Maybe I am not reading the charts right.

I am happy with this combination! It is a real confidence builder to get results like this! Even a blind sow finds an acorn from time to time!

[LIMPINGJ]

Trailblazer looks like you will not be able to blame a miss on equipment or load. Were those shots on an IFR or VFR flight plan?

[Lloyd Smale]

my bigbore 356 is a shooter too. Ive shot 1.5 inch 100 yard groups with a peep sight with it using the same bullet as your using. It even shoots the rcbs 200 a tad better then the seaco. I shot a few deer with jacketed out of that gun and one 8 pointer at about 75 yards using the seaco cast bullet. Dumped it in its tracks with a behind the shoulder hit.

[charger 1]

Deer season opens tomorrow in D-13 so I went up to the range for my final sighting in and trajectory test. Rifle is a Winchester 94 with 20" barrel and a 4X Burris Compact scope. Load is WW brass, WLR primer and 43 Grains Varget. Boolit is the Saeco 352 cast from wheel weight and a smidgeon of linotype, aircooled and they drop at 252 grains. Sized and lubed in a .360" sizer and seated in the crimp groove to 2.61" to 2.62" and crimped with the Lee factory crimp die. Boolits are weighed to + or - .5 grain. I may be anal about that but most fall in that weight range. I did load some that were + or- a grain but didn't get around to shooting them. These cross the Chrony at 2080 FPS at 15 feet.

This target is three shots at 100 yards. It is a used target so there are some small extra holes in the target. I figured I would be able to tell which were 35 caliber! I was shooting off the bench and holding the forearm in my hand with my hand resting on the bags. I bobbled the second shot and knew it went low when the trigger broke:

http://www.hunt101.com/img/521743.jpg (http://www.hunt101.com/?p=521743&c=556&z=1)

I then put three shots on this 200 yard target. There was a gusty breeze coming from the left so the group did drift right a little over an inch. I got these off well without wobbling and bobbling to much:

http://www.hunt101.com/img/521744.jpg (http://www.hunt101.com/?p=521744&c=556&z=1)

I am amazed at this group. As you can see the group only measures about 1-3/8" and is only about 2" low! I was expecting a 4" group, 4" or more low. I don't have any ballistic software but I am curious what BC this trajectory corresponds to. I looked at the ballistic charts but nothing really compares at a reasonable B.C. for a flat nose cast boolit. The line of sight is right at 1-1/2" above the bore. Maybe I am not reading the charts right.

I am happy with this combination! It is a real confidence builder to get results like this! Even a blind sow finds an acorn from time to time!



You realize theres one problem here huh? If you miss you aint got no excuses:mrgreen:

[Trailblazer]

Dang, I didn't think of that! On the other hand never underestimate the creative mind. I have experience you know! I had a flier when I was adjusting the scope. I noticed one bullet had a good crease diagonal across the side that I hadn't noticed. I wanted to see what it would do so I went ahead and loaded it and it fell 2" or 3" out of the group. Still not enough to cause a miss at 100 or less. The last time I hunted with the rifle I missed a buck twice with the RCBS 200. I had fallen and knocked the scope out of adjustment. After I shot at the buck I found a rock in a bare patch and found it was shooting way high. But I fixed that problem too. It had the wrong scope bases on it when I bought it and I had the scope adjustment all the way to the top so there wasn't much spring tension to hold things in place inside. I have the correct scope bases on it now so I guess that excuse is gone too. This is it! Venison next week!

VFR all the way. Nary cloud in sight!

Lloyd, that's what I like to hear. In the vertical real estate I hunt in things seldom improve if they go anywhere after they are hit. All the roads seem to be on the ridge tops! Mine shoots the RCBS-200 OK-about 2" at 100. I have a NEI-290 that will go under an inch at 100. This rifle is a shooter!

[Trailblazer]

The 356 Win made meat yesterday. Very close to 200 yards. More later after I rest up.

[MtGun44]

Congratulations to someone from my home town. I was born
in Ventura, ahem, several years ago.

Great shooting to connect at 200 yds. looking fwd to the
'rest of the story'.

Bill

[cattleskinner]

And don't forget to include pictures with your story[smilie=1:

~Amos

[Trailblazer]

Thanks! I put a thread in the Hunting section with a couple pics!

Ventura has its attractions. Still mostly conservative and the weather is hard to beat. I will leave as soon as my wife retires though.

[Blammer]

very nice shooting!