by isptroop38 » Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:46 am
Hey, that's a great target Hoot!
I should have given more detail in my first post. Thanks for the welcome by the way, I just got into the 450BM since Iowa made it a legal cartridge for deer this year - much the same as Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. I understand marksmanship principles and ballistics. I do reload as well, but have not started reloading the 450 yet.
I shoot a lot of .308 at distance and my best group to date is a .279" at 100 and 2.83" at 500 with my old Rem 700 VSF and handloads. I just had my .223 bolt gun rebarreled with a Bartlein, so I'm interested to try it out and find the load it likes best. I usually reload to get my rifles to shoot sub-minute as factory ammo obviously limits that ability, though factory produced ammo has come a long way from where it used to be. I am somewhat picky - if a rifle won't shoot 3/4 minute or better, I get rid of it and move on.
I bought my RAR from Randy's Hunting Center like so many others. I adjusted the trigger to 3 lbs and mounted a Vortex Viper 2.5-10x44 in cheap Vortex rings using a scope level. I got it sighted in and then it started throwing flyers several inches away. I was using Hornady Black ammo. I checked the ring screws immediately and found they were loose. I checked them after each subsequent shot and found they were loosening with each shot. I got the rings very cheap and I got what I paid for. I replaced those rings with Warne Maxima Steel rings and used low strength 222 (purple) loc-tite to be sure they would not budge. I also removed and reinstalled the base screws in the factory rail using the low strength loc-tite. In addition, I relieved the barrel channel in the stock at the end of the forearm slightly. When shooting off a bipod and loading the bipod, the forearm tip was making contact with the barrel. I ensured the barrel was free floating so there was no stock contact.
I got sighted back in with Hornady Black ammo and got the rifle zeroed. The best group it has shot is 1.25 MOA which is unacceptable to me. Maybe it will shoot half that with handloads, but Hornady guarantees 1 MOA with factory ammo. I bought a box of the Hornady custom ammo to see if that would shoot better and it shot even worse. I checked all ring screws and they are solid - they will not turn without significant pressure to break the loc-tite loose (which I did not do). I do not expect this factory rifle with factory ammo to shoot .5 MOA, but it should at least shoot the 1 MOA guarantee. When a manufacturer gives that guarantee, the rifle will usually shoot much better. I have not found that to be the case here.
I plan to upgrade after this year's deer season and have been looking at many options. I plan to stick with a bolt action. I am leaning heavily towards an aftermarket barrel on a Remington or Savage. I want a heavier profile than what the RAR has for sure. The Christensen Arms Mesa caught my eye, but I am very leery if even Ruger guarantees 1 MOA and Christensen will not. I have not seen any reviews on their 450 or any targets shot with one, so I wanted to check here. Maybe it's too new of a rifle and not readily available yet.
Lastly, I have a Bowers VERS 458 on my RAR. It knocks the recoil down to make it feel like a .308 despite being such a light rifle and it takes away all of the concussion. It is the longest of any suppressor I own, but I wanted more volume to be effective as opposed to the SilencerCo Hybrid. The VERS weighs 18 oz, which is in a pretty common weight range. I don't know how much that is affecting the barrel harmonics on the lightweight barrel profile of the RAR. That said, I'm not going to waste any more money on ammo finding out. I plan to upgrade regardless after season. I have saved all my brass and plan to reload as well, I just didn't get any loads worked up before season and wanted to try the Hornday FTX projos on deer before deciding if I would load them or a different round.