New project underway

[Zee]

Chassis guns are about function. They are not classic. They are not pretty. They have one purpose. Performance.

[CPJ 2.0]

Chassis guns are about function. They are not classic. They are not pretty. They have one purpose. Performance.

This. A lot of this. I’ve grown to like the look, wasn’t all that warm on them at first. But the function is what I love about them.

[Wambli Ska]

I get that, and I even agree with the concept. I'm just old and difficult to move, kind'a like a moss covered boulder

[Justsomedude]

That's a sexy looking rifle. I'm sure you probably have heard about just doing a preliminary headspace check with an in spec cartridge as a go gauge and add a piece of masking tape to the head as a no go gauge. That's if you're as impatient as I would be in wanting to fire that sexy beast

[Jay]

Thanks.

I’ve considered options such as that. Also considered buying a go gauge and using tape on it as a no go. But, it was $8 to rent a headspace gauge set from 4D. So I’ve put in an order for those.

I don’t have any ammo, brass, bullets or suitable powder for this thing yet anyway. I’ll just check it with the rental set and send them back.

[Zee]

Chassis guns are about function. They are not classic. They are not pretty. They have one purpose. Performance.

This. A lot of this. I’ve grown to like the look, wasn’t all that warm on them at first. But the function is what I love about them.

Well, I finally convinced you Glocks were good. So, rocks CAN learn! It’s not always about aesthetics, antiquated firearms, and playing dress up. Sometimes, reality has to kick in and a job has to get done as fast and efficiently as possible.

[CPJ 2.0]

Chassis guns are about function. They are not classic. They are not pretty. They have one purpose. Performance.

This. A lot of this. I’ve grown to like the look, wasn’t all that warm on them at first. But the function is what I love about them.

Well, I finally convinced you Glocks were good. So, rocks CAN learn! It’s not always about aesthetics, antiquated firearms, and playing dress up. Sometimes, reality has to kick in and a job has to get done as fast and efficiently as possible.

False. I always knew Glocks were good. I just couldn’t shoot them worth a piss. Then someone showed me HOW to shoot.
Cool guy, a little abrasive, short, hairy, drags his knuckles, but overall decent dude.

[Zee]

My bad. Meant to quote Wambli.
He’s the one likes to play cowboy.
The intranet was acting wonky.

[Wambli Ska]

My bad. Meant to quote Wambli.
He’s the one likes to play cowboy.
The intranet was acting wonky.

Not playing, owned a ranch and currently looking to build another and start training mustangs

Anyway you did sell me on those damn Glocks so I guess I still can learn a thing or two

[Zee]

IMG_6743.gif (141.73 KiB) Viewed 3472 times

[Jay]

I picked up a box of 147gr Hornady Match ammo yesterday and decided to take the new rifle out for a test session. I ordered brass, bullets and powder for it and am waiting for it to get here. But this allowed me to measure the necks of loaded ammo to get an idea of what size bushings Im going to need for my sizing die. The test run also allowed me to get the scope mostly zeroed and get some rounds through the barrel.

I boresighted it the best I could, being rather difficult to do since the chassis limits the ability to look through the bore. With 20 MOA on the rail, I knew it would need a good amount of adjustment down to start. I dialed 20 MOA down and was able to tell I was at least on cardboard at 100 yards. Fired one round at the center of the cardboard and used the reticle to determine it was 6 MOA high and 1 MOA left. So I dialed that and the second round hit the 1” target paster. Then started shooting for groups with the rest of the box of ammo. The groups moved a little low and left after a few rounds. I dialed for that once it was consistently hitting the same spot.

Every group fired was 1” or less, with several groups being one ragged hole plus a flier. Mostly shooter error, getting used to the rifle. Probably a little being the factory ammo. While it shot good, extreme spread and standard deviation was a tiny bit high for what I would like. Average velocity was 2920 fps.

Here are the best two overall groups of the day. It’s a good start, got me some info to work with and an extra 20 pieces of brass.

A37F312D-1DC9-4B78-A9E5-3F4644F8F054.jpeg (4.15 MiB) Viewed 3422 times

E42FB9E1-175A-46F9-9799-88358EC6FCA6.jpeg (3.94 MiB) Viewed 3422 times

[CPJ 2.0]

You didn’t mention who shot the smallest group.

[Jay]

My little scrap lumber bench also isn’t long enough for this rifle. At least with my front rest. Couldn’t get the rest as far forward as I would have liked. I think that brought in a little instability.

The rifle doesn’t move up at all during recoil. It’s just a little shove straight back.

F8746812-CF87-4D4C-A697-799C788DA8D6.jpeg (1.31 MiB) Viewed 3420 times

[Jay]

You didn’t mention who shot the smallest group.

Shut up, you…

[Jay]

Yes, my shooting buddy shot the .48” group. Shooting the best group of the day, with my rifle…

[Jay]

I finally got all the stuff together I needed and got some test loads ready to try. Using Hodgdon data, max load with this bullet and powder is 59.5gr. I’ve measured the length from base to ogive to the lands and Im seating .031 off the lands. That number just to make the loaded length a round number. Probably a good bit shorter than it needs to be and could move it out closer to the lands. But still a bit longer than book OAL and gives me some room to fine tune if or when I find a load that seems worthy of working with. While they do fit in the magazine, it isn’t practical to do so. Pushing them into the mag is already putting pressure on the polymer tips. So they will be single load rounds. If I end up seating any longer, they won’t fit in the mag at all.

I’m starting off trying Winchester StaBall HD. Because that’s what was available right now. Primers are Federal GM210M. Brass is new Hornady. Bullets 147gr Hornady ELD Match.

Im not sure when I’ll take it out to try them, but they’re loaded. Also, in case of an outsider looking in, I’m obviously starting close to max and working slowly above max. Don’t try this at home…

DE97180F-F6DA-44D8-B471-CA77E9572C37.jpeg (4.37 MiB) Viewed 3389 times

[Jay]

The rig I’m using to seat is an RCBS Summit press and Matchmaster seating die. Until now, I’ve only used this press to size brass. It seems to be working very well for this job.

F807D7EF-3A13-4685-A230-6ECE4C3379C7.jpeg (4.68 MiB) Viewed 3388 times

[Zee]

Looks fancy.

[Wambli Ska]

You didn’t mention who shot the smallest group.

It’s awesome when you flinch in the same direction three times in a row!

[Jay]

Finally took it out and tried my hand loads. I was glad to see it shoot better than factory ammo and a bit more velocity. Definitely gives me something to work off of. The rifle still only has 35 rounds out of it. This barrel is shooting great. Several loads before this shot good. I still had loads at 60.0 grains that I didn’t test. The barrel got hot and I didn’t have enough time to cool it down. No pressure signs so far. Hard to beat sub 3/8” while exceeding factory ammo velocity.

Fwiw, all my hand loads were better than factory Match ammo. All under 1”. I worked up in .2 to .3 grains to this one and called it for today.

More to come as I tweak loads for it.

D01296E7-B9F1-4DA6-9685-8450141706F4.jpeg (413.63 KiB) Viewed 2923 times

[GrapeApe]

Nice shooting Jay!!

[Jay]

Thanks.

The only thing is, while that was the best group out of all my loads, it’s also the one that my chronograph only picked up one of the rounds. That velocity was it. The group before at 59.5gr shot just over 1/2”. The chronograph picked up all of them at 2932fps avg with a spread of 43.1. So I’ll load more at 59.7 and try to get more data on it over a longer string. If it stays consistent, that will be the load.

At this point, it’s not about trying to get it to group any better. Changes in group size at under 1/2” is far more dependent on me than the loads. I’m looking to keep groups close to that size and be as consistent as possible on the chronograph.

Things could also still change as I put more rounds out of the barrel. It still only has 35 rounds out of it.

[Jay]

Add to the consistency variables, this ammo is loaded with brand new brass. Things could also change once I start loading once fired brass.

[mitdr774]

Those groups are far better than I have seen at the range from anyone shooting a factory rifle and ammunition. I was starting to think the cartridge was turning into a dud. Velocities are better then I have observed at the range as well. Not my style of build, but its still impressive.

[Wambli Ska]

Outstanding! Glad the project worked out this well