.40 Testiing

[ewc]

Fixing to get interesting.

Tested on Saturday and hit 2,900. Testing tomorrow and hope to break 3,000 fps.

 

[mike243]

you be careful,& i hope the acccuracy stays good,i hope to have 1 some day soon,im going to stick with a 50 calibur,mike243

 

[ewc]

Thanks Mike, I'll be fine and right near you on Mill Creek Rd.

You may know your neighbor where I shoot.

Accuracy with the wind on Sat was at .8" or so at 100.

 

[mike243]

i use to buy a yearly pass at norris when i had a lot of free time,going to buy it again this year,july 1st is the start of a new year,i heard its $30 now,covered shooting tables & a short pistol range thats seperate,it might be worth it to you to ck out if you've never been,mike243

 

[iowavf]

Fixing to get interesting.

Tested on Saturday and hit 2,900. Testing tomorrow and hope to break 3,000 fps.

What's your setup and what are you using?

 

[ewc]

A savage 10ml2 action and a .40 Pacnor barrel shooting smokeless.

More info can be found on Doug's site. I think there are 5 Pacnor .40's floating around the U.S. now. Four in AR and one here in TN.

I thought you posted there some? Maybe not.

 

[ewc]

I just realized I misspelled "testing". :crazy:

Oh well.

FWIW-

At 2,900 a +2" at 100, yields a zero at 200, minus 8.5 at 300, and minus 26" at 400.

With the M1 dials these drops will be a cinch.

3,000 is doable as one other fellow has hit 3,150. Using 3,000, those drops will shrink.

I have killed a deer at 326 with a muzzleloader, this one will make 300 look like a walk in the park.

 

[Tiny]

:cool:

 

[ewc]

Didn't get there yet. Highest speed yesterday was 2826 - that load grouped a hair over .4 - basically just one hole.

Shot 4 different powders - H4350, H4831sc, RL19, and RL22. All grouped moa or better.

Trying RL17 and H4350 (again) tomorrow.

Once 17 is tested, I will have run 10 different smokeless powders thru this gun at speeds of 2400-2900 - with moa or better with each.

I don't know of many guns that versatile with powder choices.

 

[ewc]

Shot the .40 again today. Temp was 45 or so, but the wind was 15-20 with gusting to 30 - a great day to shoot :grin:

Cows were @ my 100 and 200 targets, so I shot at 300 yards all day (anyone care to guess where this is going?)

Because of the wind, I thought I could at least gather data for speed.

Shot the 200 sst, Fed 209a primer and 2 dry wonder wads. Chrono was about 8' and I swabbed with a dry patch between shots (I think this may help with my gun).

First off was a guess of another - 12/78 of 4759/H4350. Shot 2838, 2842, and 2773. Slow, but a 5.5" group at 300.

Next I tried a new powder (powder # 10 with the .40 and me) - RL-17.

It compares favorably to H4350 in burn rate. I think it to be a tad slower than H4350 in the .40. I started at 12/71 and went up to 12/75.

12/71 went 2747, 2706, and 2758 for a 7" group.
12/73 went 2767, 2721, and 2773 for a 7" group
12/75 went 2809, 2759, and 2780 for a sub-4" group

Checked the chrono with my 7-08 load (43 Varget and 140NBT) and it shot 2,800 - right where it normally does.

FWIW, with 12 shots at 300 (with the wind), I would have killed 12 deer :) - easy as pie .

 

[Tiny]

Very :cool: and :mad: at the same time,you have started an itch dang it. :D :D

 

[fullstream]

Wow great post ewc, that pacnor is awesome. hows the recoil compared to a .50 load?

 

[ewc]

Recoil at 2900 is mild to me. About like a 30.06.

Its very pleasant to shoot.

My loads here lately are likely too low in pressure - 41,000 or less.

 

[Boone 58]

cool

 

[Blue5]

cool

 

[varmint1111]

did you build the gun yourself or did you have it done??

 

[ewc]

I had my gunsmith install the barrel while he was installing the aluminum pillars, third screw, glass bedding, recrowning, and doing the trigger.

I bought the barrel. If I only wanted to swap a .40 barrel from a .50, then I could install and headspace a barrel with a Savage wrench.

That part is easy.

 

[ewc]

By the way-

2900 is now a baseline standard.

Easy as pie to reach and no signs of any pressure.