Having A Blast

This week marked the first time in a very long time that we went out shooting. And it just so happened it was on a Tuesday night (in years past we shot every Tuesday night). The last time we shot 100 yard groups was April 8th, 2010. At that time my treasured .300 WSM, aptly named Tuesday, was up for sale so I borrowed Kyle's rifle. Since then, I traded the rifle that was built to replace Tuesday for the very rifle I borrowed almost 9 months ago. Below is a picture of how it went:
My first target was shot with 123 Scenars & 38 grains of RL17. This target was shot with 140 Matchkings over Lapua Brass filled with 36 grains RL17. Kyle says the Scenars shoot a little better than the Sierra's but are much more expensive. I'm still undecided about what I would like to use.

Target 3 was my first target of the night. I was actually aiming for a different piece of paper. The last time anyone had this rifle out, they were hitting steel from 600 - 1200 yards. So we didn't have any idea where the zero would be. Turned out POI was 4.5 MOA high and 2.5 MOA left. For record keeping purposes, I want to note that after making my adjustments, I am totally bottomed out in elevation on my scope (pretty convenient really). Prior to leaving for the range, someone insisted I run a couple patches through the bore since the rifle had been sitting on the shelf for so long. Indeed, I have no idea when the last time this rifle was cleaned. So Kyle pushed a couple oil soaked patched through it. Now pay attention to my first shot of the night. It's the one with no copper residue on target 3. One of the reasons I quite cleaning my rifles is because it sku's my averages. I believe having oil in the bore added .170 to that group.

After target 3 was "in the books" and adjustments were made, the targets were shot in numerical order. It was a little frustrating having my adjustment calls come out so right because when you shoot the bulls eye, you lose your point of aim (POA). But I guess it looks cool. Overall this was a good nigh of shooting. I feel very comfortable behind my new rifle. This is the second complete set of groups I've shot with it, so I can start keeping an MOA average. Hopefully, I will get some good trigger time this year. My goal for this rifle is to average less than .400, long term. Here's where we are so far:

Date Shot: 1/25/11
Target Average: .505 MOA
New Lifetime Average: .484 MOA
Total Rounds Since Cleaning: n/a
Total Groups Fired: 11 (55 rounds)