Tatume
07-14-2014, 02:50 PM
Hello Fellows,
Next week I’m driving to North Carolina to hunt wild hogs. Today I went to the range to check the two rifles I’m taking. The first thing I did was shoot one shot with the 30-06 Browning High Wall at a 2.5” black bull, using a six o-clock hold. Previously I had sighted this gun and 4x M8 Leupold scope to be one inch high at 100 yards. When I couldn’t find the shot in my spotting scope I walked to the 100-yard target. There it was, right in the dead center, which is 1-1/4” high. I put the gun in the shade to let it cool. About an hour later I shot it again, and this shot was 3/4” high directly above point of aim, for a cold barrel average of one inch high at 100 yards, exactly as I had set it. This gun is shooting this load (IMR7383 and Sierra 165 gr HPBT w/Rem LRP) into an average of 1.6” for five, five-shot groups at 100 yards. The smallest group was 1.1” and the largest was 2.2”. I expect that if I took the time to let the barrel cool completely between shots that it would average well under MOA.
The Browning BLR 358 Winchester was sighted in with cast bullets at 1800 fps. I’ve decided to hunt with Sierra 225 grain SPBT bullets, and loaded a batch with 0.5 grain less H4895 than the max load at the Hodgdon web site. I expected it to shoot high, and it did, about 15 inches. I put in 15 MOA of down, fired again, and this time it was two inches low. So I put in two MOA of up, and the next shot was right on point of aim. Then I fired a group centered 0.4” high, with which I am satisfied. This gun is shooting two inch groups at 100 yards with this bullet and load, which is not bad for a lever gun with a 2.5x Leupold Ultralight scope. Certainly for hogs in the swamp it is more than sufficiently accurate. There were no signs of excess pressure. Before I leave I may go back to the range to fire one shot from a cold gun.
The 225 grain Sierra 358 bullet is traveling 2403 fps, which is an average of five shots with 22 fps extreme spread. This puts the bullet near zero at 50 and 100 yards, and about one inch low at 150 yards. That will certainly suffice.
While I had the chronograph set up I fired five shots with the High Wall too. The average for the 30-06 was 2531 fps with an extreme spread of 33 fps. This speed and zero puts me 1/2” high at 50 yards, zeroed at 150 yards, and three inches low at 200 yards. For hunting hogs in the swamp, I consider that perfect.
I have a padded cartridge wallet that holds 14 cartridges in two rows of seven. It is packed with seven each of the 358 Winchester and 30-06 cartridges. I hope to use one of each. Wish me luck. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Take care, Tom
Next week I’m driving to North Carolina to hunt wild hogs. Today I went to the range to check the two rifles I’m taking. The first thing I did was shoot one shot with the 30-06 Browning High Wall at a 2.5” black bull, using a six o-clock hold. Previously I had sighted this gun and 4x M8 Leupold scope to be one inch high at 100 yards. When I couldn’t find the shot in my spotting scope I walked to the 100-yard target. There it was, right in the dead center, which is 1-1/4” high. I put the gun in the shade to let it cool. About an hour later I shot it again, and this shot was 3/4” high directly above point of aim, for a cold barrel average of one inch high at 100 yards, exactly as I had set it. This gun is shooting this load (IMR7383 and Sierra 165 gr HPBT w/Rem LRP) into an average of 1.6” for five, five-shot groups at 100 yards. The smallest group was 1.1” and the largest was 2.2”. I expect that if I took the time to let the barrel cool completely between shots that it would average well under MOA.
The Browning BLR 358 Winchester was sighted in with cast bullets at 1800 fps. I’ve decided to hunt with Sierra 225 grain SPBT bullets, and loaded a batch with 0.5 grain less H4895 than the max load at the Hodgdon web site. I expected it to shoot high, and it did, about 15 inches. I put in 15 MOA of down, fired again, and this time it was two inches low. So I put in two MOA of up, and the next shot was right on point of aim. Then I fired a group centered 0.4” high, with which I am satisfied. This gun is shooting two inch groups at 100 yards with this bullet and load, which is not bad for a lever gun with a 2.5x Leupold Ultralight scope. Certainly for hogs in the swamp it is more than sufficiently accurate. There were no signs of excess pressure. Before I leave I may go back to the range to fire one shot from a cold gun.
The 225 grain Sierra 358 bullet is traveling 2403 fps, which is an average of five shots with 22 fps extreme spread. This puts the bullet near zero at 50 and 100 yards, and about one inch low at 150 yards. That will certainly suffice.
While I had the chronograph set up I fired five shots with the High Wall too. The average for the 30-06 was 2531 fps with an extreme spread of 33 fps. This speed and zero puts me 1/2” high at 50 yards, zeroed at 150 yards, and three inches low at 200 yards. For hunting hogs in the swamp, I consider that perfect.
I have a padded cartridge wallet that holds 14 cartridges in two rows of seven. It is packed with seven each of the 358 Winchester and 30-06 cartridges. I hope to use one of each. Wish me luck. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Take care, Tom