38supPat

Kinda like this, but not usually as bright…

The 178 ELD-m shot pretty good in the 24” but the 16.5” really seems to like the 175 smk. I’ve got to get out with the rifles and do some more testing now that the ranges are open again. I’d love to know what Hornady is doing with their superperformance line. The 165SST Load will go out the 16.5” barrel at around 2700fps, most other equivalent loads are around 2550fps. Expect to lose 150fps going from 24” to 17”

If the Hogue stock was just a bit more rigid it probably wouldn’t be a half bad stock for a budget gun, it’s just too flexible as is. Ok for a hunting stock but not for precision. I did the same thing as you with my .223 SPS tactical. Picked up an HS precision take off and swapped it out. I did nothing else and turned it into a one hole rifle.

Never mind that, whatcha build?

Having taught the BB course in Canada I would suggest starting with that as an outline. You don’t have to adopt it wholesale but you could parse out what you feel is relevant. A couple of suggestions. Since safety Is and should be the primary purpose, whoever is going to teach should have some skills but understand it’s about safety not teaching them how to be future top competitors. They don’t have to be GM’s but they should be able to demonstrate any skill competently and be able to focus on teaching safe methods. Also the students should have to do some drills on the timer under reasonably tight time limits, not to weed out less skilled but to put them under some kind of pressure similar to what they’ll experience at a match. I think we’ve all seen guys gun handling go south once they are under time pressure or something goes wrong. I don’t care how someone’s gun handling is when they are relaxed and happy, I want to see what’s going to happen when they are having a bad day and they just had a jam on the biggest stage of the match. Aside from that basic safety procedures regarding cold ranges, bagging and unbagging, where you can and cannot handle ammo or the gun, and the basic safety rules should be covered. Chapter 5 through 10 are the important ones to the new competitor.

This is my first but I’ve already bought more

Tracks done, getting closer

I remember when we were shooting 115gr bullets at old major. 1550+FPS. I had loads for my P9 in 9x21 That was back in the day when rifle primers only were used for major and after a couple loading in your brass you had to glue the primers in...

I like working on the kits but I need to finish something, I keep moving on and starting something else lol

Given that it’s a factory barrel I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem like a particularity fast barrel. The 24” load of 44.9 was around 2650fps and in the 16.5” it was right on 2500fps

Probably around 200? After the last session I really wasn’t happy where the accuracy level was, it will shoot some loads ok like AA 168 match, but other match not so much. So I took everything apart and reassembled it and gave the barrel a really good scrubbing. Now it shoots awesome. I’ll give it another good cleaning and then try some previous loads through it and see.

I do the same thing, I just trimmed the safety down, broke all the edges and polished it so there’s not any abrasion now.

I wasn’t but I’m starting to be

I think the brass made a difference, this was the first time trying Starline .308 brass. The long rifle is the one I’ve used for PRS the last two years and this is the best I’ve seen it group. It’s normally a 3/4” rifle. The shorty has been a bit of a struggle. It shot OK but not fantastic, now it seems like it’s coming into its own. Maybe it’s just broken in lol

44.9 worked best in the long rifle and seems to shoot OK in the short

Out with this again, looks like 44gr Varget with the 175SMK is dialed in.

I imagine at 6’4” every port looks like a low port.

It shouldn’t happen but it sometimes does, I wonder if 10.2.10 could be used?

And ambient sounds will block it as it’s not terribly loud. That’s why I suggest looking at an ejected casing anytime the pistol is racked during a course of fire, only takes a fraction of a second but good chance if it’s black there’s a squib.

If there’s enough energy to push the bullet into the barrel, there’s a noise. It may not be recognizable as a shot but there’s definitely something Sounds like you had some fizzy primers, that sucks. In my open gun I won’t run anything but Federal unless there’s a real shortage and then I might go Winchester.

There is always a distinct sound when a squib goes off, it’s never a click. The sound of the primer firing will give a funny pop. With a lot of ambient noise like OP described it will be hard to hear but it’s there. A guy on my squad a few years ago at Ryan Rocks match had a squib in the shoot house. I distinctly heard it from outside but the RO and shooter didn’t recognize it and the shooter attempted to rack about 2 mags worth of .45s through it before giving up. The shooter and the RO both couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t feed, I told the shooter he had a squib and he didn’t believe me until he went to safety area and...squib in barrel. So a couple of tips, learn to hear the sound of a squib, it’s pretty distinct. If the next round won’t feed like the chamber is blocked, it probably is. Stop and check it at safety area. No stage is worth getting hurt over. Lastly, as the shooter or RO, learn to watch the brass coming out of the gun any time you clear a malfunction. If it is a squib, primer or light powder charge, the casing will come out black since it won’t seal the chamber and the primer soot or partial powder charge will flow back and darken the casing.

Do you look for the holes as you shoot or after you shot?

Brian talks about a relaxed grip, not a loose grip. Also he says hold it like you would a hammer, personally I grip a hammer pretty tight. This caused me some confusion for a while too until I understood the difference between tense and relaxed is totally different from tight and loose.

I may play with this over the winter and see. Conventional wisdom says it’s bad, But I’ve found conventional wisdom is often wrong.

With a dot gun you are always target focussed at all distances. The only time I ever really focus on the dot is zeroing.