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If at First You Don’t Succeed….

If at First You Don’t Succeed….

One of the most rewarding parts of Mystic Precision is helping shooters get into various forms of shooting and meeting/exceeding their goals (hey, it helps pay the bills too 🙂 ).  But sometimes the journey can get a little long, frustrating and expensive.

I have had the pleasure of working with Kelly T for a few years now with info on set up, loading and testing.  His baby has been a Savage in 338 Lapua Mag but unlike most Savage rifles, this one was a royal PITA!

Here is the journey by Kelly T… Hard work, dedication and a large insertion of funds… success!

Well, It was a two year journey that started with my decision to get into the LR game after playing with what I had and realizing it’s limits.

I purchased a Savage 111 LR Hunter (I believe is the model) and decided this was a decent and economical way to get started as I had no clue if I would enjoy the discipline.As I was already an avid and patient reloader with mild OCD this would appeal to me and my nature.  

SO I order up a 10-50×60 LRMOA from Jerry as I like magnification and I felt it would be suited well to this application, I also asked Jerry at the time what other “gadgets” he had there and he told me about his new MPOD, so, I said lets try one of those also.

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Items arrive in timely fashion as usual with Jerry, I have used his services and product line for quite some time, as well, his knowledge has aided me greatly over which now I realize has been years.A custom machined 40MOA rail also came from EGW to give me the most flexibility if I really decide to move way out.

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Well, first off I configured my rounds as usual with seating depth but still allowing to be mag length as I still preferred a repeater, and off I went to reload.

This is where I really got into the Ladder testing , also a method I picked up from Jerry’s info  [My process is a bit different]

I always try a couple powders and bullets just to optimize potential and not miss that perfect load.Little did I know I would be using three different bullets and three different powders in varying combinations to try find that combo.

First test I went out with H1000 and Retumbo and had some interesting results.Found what I thought were some clusters to test and check, well , I couldn’t get a group to print at 2 or 300 yards that you could drop an 8″ pizza on.So, now I added IMR 7828 to the mix, as well as having tried Berger , Lapua and Sierra , all 300gr of course, what is the point of having a short range boomer, need the big boys for distance right?

After a whole summer of trying and talking and consulting and chatting and not listening to others and slugging the barrel and checking and tightening and even factory ammo I decided it was time to try a new barrel.

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I contacted Jerry and we decided to go with a 30″ McGowen pre-fit, as I wasn’t looking for benchrest accuracy , just decent. [Certainly shoots better then decent]

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Jerry pointed me to Terry at Black Art Rifle to do that install and thread and time my brake.

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The barreled action arrived early last spring along with 500 – 300gr SMK’s to get me going.I put it back into my XLR Chassis which I also painstakingly worked to ensure no issues would arise with clearances and/or bedding.

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Out I went with loads to test with Retumbo and IMR 7828 , well, I almost wet my pants as the results of my new ladder test were literally 1/20th of the vertical stringing.

 

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This brought me great relief as I now knew I was not a complete buffoon.After this , it came pretty darn easy.Picked a few charges from the ladder to take out to 500 yards and see what I got, what I got was good.I loaded a couple more to try three round groups to confirm a last time and then I was able to settle easily on my choice.

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The photos will speak for themselves [group at 500yds], obviously this isn’t all my blood sweat and tears with this en-devour but it definitely shows a portion of what I put myself through with my stubbornness and maybe patience trying to get that factory barrel to shoot.

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I am now getting this thing zeroed @ 1000 yards and will start reaching out past and hopefully educate myself on how to play this game.

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My load is Lapua brass, 215 primer, 95gr of Retumbo and 300gr SMK’s , chronographed at 2894 ft at the muzzle. 

[ Kelly took a shot, adjusted the scope and went to the other side, adjusted the scope to original and went back to the first side, then adjusted a final time to get to the other side.  A bit of scope ping pong but if you overlay the shots, that would have made a great 1000yds group – great scope tracking as well]

I must thank Jerry and Terry  and also many many members of Canadian Gun Nutz for keeping me focused and the end game in reach.”

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