Ranch Dog
06-26-2008, 06:11 PM
I've been needing to load my dad some ammo for his Winchester and we have some feral hogs that really need killing, so I got busy last night revamping the load I had worked out for this rifle and shot it out this morning. I wasn't able to beat the wind that we have been having and laid my chronograph screens down before I was ready, but I'm satisfied that I have something that will work and work real well.
His rifle is a 1968 Winchester Model 94 Antique. This is a rifle that came with a case hardened finish and saddle ring. He has a B-Square side mount and Bushnell Banner 4X scope with a post reticle. While shooting I found both of these features, the offset and the post, very difficult to accommodate but my dad has become very use to them and has done well with this rifle in the 40 years he owned it. It's my dads rifle, I remember killing a hog with it about 15 years ago but I just haven't shot it much.
Not much science to the load development, I knew I would only have about an hour and a half before the wind got up to high to shoot (and it did) so I just concentrated on a max load of BL-C(2). I loaded three increments; 35.0, 35.5, and 36.0-grains. From my Glenfield 30 equipped with a strain gage, 35.5-grains of BL-C(2) produces 39.4K PSI.
35.0-grains produced 2182 FPS with a SD of 19 and an ES of 51. The second increment, 35.5-grains, produced 2213 FPS with a SD of 12 and an ES of 29. The Max increment, 36.0-grains, produced 2223 FPS with a SD of 13 and an ES of 43.
The first load of 35.0-grains produced a good group. While shooting the second load of 35.5-grains, the scope came loose so a considerable amount of time was spent getting the scope back into position and re-sighting in the rifle. In fact all of the bullets in this increment were shot across the chronograph so the velocity wouldn't be lost but I just used a bullet at a time to reestablish the zero. The load did track extremely well from the first shot hitting about 10-yards in front of the 50-yard berm (that's when you know something has come loose!) to back on the target.
After messing with the side-mount and the scope, the wind has risen to 12 mph with gusts of an additional 6 mph from my 4:30 position. The first five shots of the 36.0-grain load did very well despite hitting very high on the target. I had a terrible time with the cheek fit vs. sight picture and I think that this accounts for the fifth hit to the right rather than a load flyer.
http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/images/Firearms/M94/Targets/080626 36.0 01.gif
Well... I went back in and loaded some ammo as I wanted to get the zero near the bullseye and then let my dad have the rifle to sight in (especially in light of this offset scope). For the next bit of shooting, I used the Caldwell Tip Top 8" Sight-In Target and it definitely is not "post" friendly but I was out of time as the wind was now at 18 mph with gusts.
Shots 1, 2, and 3 where at 50-yards. Shots 4 through 9 at 100-yards. Shot 4 wasn't framed right with the post reticle but shots 5 and 6 where, they looked and felt real good at the shot. After that, I lost the sight picture and couldn't figure out what it took to balance cheek fit for the offset and hold the post on this type of target. Overall, not too bad with these factors and the wind.
http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/images/Firearms/M94/Targets/080626.gif
If you look closely at the bullet holes shot at 50-yards, particularly shot 2, you will notice the off square impact I mentioned in my 308MX post. The holes punched out at 100-yards are extremely round and clean.
This little light carbine delivers a beating especially while looking around the offset. It has been 4 to 5 hours since I shot these rounds and my jaw still hurts! Here are the particulars of the load...
http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/images/Firearms/M94/Loads/Box Label 3.gif
I will see what my dad can do with the shooting tomorrow being he is use to his setup. I know I can kill a hog with it and we will see what he can do the next couple of nights when the raiders come calling! I'm going to shooting it again tomorrow as I need to get two range velocities for a valid BC.
His rifle is a 1968 Winchester Model 94 Antique. This is a rifle that came with a case hardened finish and saddle ring. He has a B-Square side mount and Bushnell Banner 4X scope with a post reticle. While shooting I found both of these features, the offset and the post, very difficult to accommodate but my dad has become very use to them and has done well with this rifle in the 40 years he owned it. It's my dads rifle, I remember killing a hog with it about 15 years ago but I just haven't shot it much.
Not much science to the load development, I knew I would only have about an hour and a half before the wind got up to high to shoot (and it did) so I just concentrated on a max load of BL-C(2). I loaded three increments; 35.0, 35.5, and 36.0-grains. From my Glenfield 30 equipped with a strain gage, 35.5-grains of BL-C(2) produces 39.4K PSI.
35.0-grains produced 2182 FPS with a SD of 19 and an ES of 51. The second increment, 35.5-grains, produced 2213 FPS with a SD of 12 and an ES of 29. The Max increment, 36.0-grains, produced 2223 FPS with a SD of 13 and an ES of 43.
The first load of 35.0-grains produced a good group. While shooting the second load of 35.5-grains, the scope came loose so a considerable amount of time was spent getting the scope back into position and re-sighting in the rifle. In fact all of the bullets in this increment were shot across the chronograph so the velocity wouldn't be lost but I just used a bullet at a time to reestablish the zero. The load did track extremely well from the first shot hitting about 10-yards in front of the 50-yard berm (that's when you know something has come loose!) to back on the target.
After messing with the side-mount and the scope, the wind has risen to 12 mph with gusts of an additional 6 mph from my 4:30 position. The first five shots of the 36.0-grain load did very well despite hitting very high on the target. I had a terrible time with the cheek fit vs. sight picture and I think that this accounts for the fifth hit to the right rather than a load flyer.
http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/images/Firearms/M94/Targets/080626 36.0 01.gif
Well... I went back in and loaded some ammo as I wanted to get the zero near the bullseye and then let my dad have the rifle to sight in (especially in light of this offset scope). For the next bit of shooting, I used the Caldwell Tip Top 8" Sight-In Target and it definitely is not "post" friendly but I was out of time as the wind was now at 18 mph with gusts.
Shots 1, 2, and 3 where at 50-yards. Shots 4 through 9 at 100-yards. Shot 4 wasn't framed right with the post reticle but shots 5 and 6 where, they looked and felt real good at the shot. After that, I lost the sight picture and couldn't figure out what it took to balance cheek fit for the offset and hold the post on this type of target. Overall, not too bad with these factors and the wind.
http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/images/Firearms/M94/Targets/080626.gif
If you look closely at the bullet holes shot at 50-yards, particularly shot 2, you will notice the off square impact I mentioned in my 308MX post. The holes punched out at 100-yards are extremely round and clean.
This little light carbine delivers a beating especially while looking around the offset. It has been 4 to 5 hours since I shot these rounds and my jaw still hurts! Here are the particulars of the load...
http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/images/Firearms/M94/Loads/Box Label 3.gif
I will see what my dad can do with the shooting tomorrow being he is use to his setup. I know I can kill a hog with it and we will see what he can do the next couple of nights when the raiders come calling! I'm going to shooting it again tomorrow as I need to get two range velocities for a valid BC.