Out at the range last night I ran into a problem. I had previously sighted in both my rifles, but had to once again. Did I do it incorrectly? Did both the scopes get knocked off zero? Are both the scopes low enough quality that they are moving the zero internally? I'm really not sure.
I know that between shots the zero stays where I put it so I would think that the zero should be staying put with respect to the scope. It may be getting bumped around too much for the rings and bases. I put some, not a ton but some, money into getting good quality rings and bases. So my initial thought is that I didn't sight it in correctly last time. I'll take the rifles out again next week to see if the zero has stayed.
-Steven Kipp
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
IDPA and Long Range Shooting
What does IDPA have to do with Long Range Shooting? Well... not much.
So why am I posting about this? Good question! A: I went to an IDPA match and had a ball. More importantly, here are the two similarities that I observed:
1) Recoil is a huge factor. No matter if you're trying to see the target before it explodes at 600 yards or trying to get in a fast follow-up shot at 10 yards, recoil is a pain in the butt plate. Okay enough bad puns. Point being, managing recoil is a big part of both sports. While it is done in vastly different ways it has to be managed.
2) Anticipation runs very high. If you're waiting for the beep of the timer to draw or the first cold-bore shot of the day, there is a lot of expectation and anticipation. I think in both sports this is the same and has similar negative effects. Relaxation before the first shots seems to me to be the guiding principal. The tricky part is how to achieve it.
So my open question to anyone who is reading this: comments on these two problems? Advice or suggestions are also welcome. And for this post feel free to share about IDPA or action shooting games.
-Steven Kipp
So why am I posting about this? Good question! A: I went to an IDPA match and had a ball. More importantly, here are the two similarities that I observed:
1) Recoil is a huge factor. No matter if you're trying to see the target before it explodes at 600 yards or trying to get in a fast follow-up shot at 10 yards, recoil is a pain in the butt plate. Okay enough bad puns. Point being, managing recoil is a big part of both sports. While it is done in vastly different ways it has to be managed.
2) Anticipation runs very high. If you're waiting for the beep of the timer to draw or the first cold-bore shot of the day, there is a lot of expectation and anticipation. I think in both sports this is the same and has similar negative effects. Relaxation before the first shots seems to me to be the guiding principal. The tricky part is how to achieve it.
So my open question to anyone who is reading this: comments on these two problems? Advice or suggestions are also welcome. And for this post feel free to share about IDPA or action shooting games.
-Steven Kipp
Friday, July 10, 2009
Savage 10-FCP Review
As promised here is the savage 10-FCP review.
I bought this rifle for three reasons. 1) Savage has made a name for itself from the out-of-the-box accuracy that their rifles have. 2)The AccuTrigger and now the AccuStock. I had seen the AccuTrigger before and liked what I had
seen. I was eager to try the new AccuStock as it seemed like a good bedding system for the action. 3) It had gotten good reviews out of the box and I found one for about $750. This was a good deal for a good long range rifle, I thought.
Description: This rifle has a good deal of "big gun look" to it. It is under Savage's law enforcement section, so it's built with purpose in mind. It has a 26" fluted barrel on it with a muzzle brake. It's chambered in .308 Win, and has a synthetic stock on it. The old Savage stocks seemed to be flimsy, where this one is very stout due to the aluminum inlay of the Accustock. The butt end of the rifle still seems like it could use a thicker plastic to stiffen it up, however.
Being a LE model, everything on it is black, even the bolt. The bolt even has the Savage name and logo on it in bronze color. I thought this was a very neat feature. The other nice feature is the double swivel studs on the beaver tail fore end.
This rifle weighs in at just under 9 lbs (I think the spec is 8.9lbs) without anything on it. Add a good sized scope and a bipod and it may well reach 11 or 12 lbs. Personally I like my target rifles heavy, and I may look into adding weight and recoil reduction in the butt end of the stock.
As for accuracy This gun may always shoot better than I do. Here is a target from when I was sighting it in at 100 yrds. The top and right group is from some low-end 180 grain Federal. The other group is from some Federal Gold Medal Match 168 boat tail hollow points. (168 bthp is probably what I'll reload for this.) Each group is three shots. The group with the 168 grain bullets measured at under .5". I shoot this in prone on a bipod.
I must say I'm very impressed with this rifle, especially for being out-of-the-box. So don't get me wrong when I say there are two things I would fix with this rifle. 1) The previously mentioned butt end of the stock. It seems like it'd do the job, but I'd like a lot more rigidity to it. I do not, however, feel as though it might break on me, but I wouldn't want to try to fend off a bear with the back of this rifle. 2) The bolt is not as smooth as I'd like it to be. This could be just my rifle and it is not as though I'm worrying about the safety of it. When the bolt locks, it is solid. I'd just like it to work smoothly when I pull it back and put a new cartridge in it. In the big picture these two issues are minor and I could probably go my whole life without fixing them. (The problems probably won't last the summer, but I digress)
Overall I would recommend this rifle to anyone who asks about a long range rifle, not just those who want one on a budget or out-of-the-box.
-Steven Kipp
I bought this rifle for three reasons. 1) Savage has made a name for itself from the out-of-the-box accuracy that their rifles have. 2)The AccuTrigger and now the AccuStock. I had seen the AccuTrigger before and liked what I had
seen. I was eager to try the new AccuStock as it seemed like a good bedding system for the action. 3) It had gotten good reviews out of the box and I found one for about $750. This was a good deal for a good long range rifle, I thought.
Description: This rifle has a good deal of "big gun look" to it. It is under Savage's law enforcement section, so it's built with purpose in mind. It has a 26" fluted barrel on it with a muzzle brake. It's chambered in .308 Win, and has a synthetic stock on it. The old Savage stocks seemed to be flimsy, where this one is very stout due to the aluminum inlay of the Accustock. The butt end of the rifle still seems like it could use a thicker plastic to stiffen it up, however.
Being a LE model, everything on it is black, even the bolt. The bolt even has the Savage name and logo on it in bronze color. I thought this was a very neat feature. The other nice feature is the double swivel studs on the beaver tail fore end.
This rifle weighs in at just under 9 lbs (I think the spec is 8.9lbs) without anything on it. Add a good sized scope and a bipod and it may well reach 11 or 12 lbs. Personally I like my target rifles heavy, and I may look into adding weight and recoil reduction in the butt end of the stock.
As for accuracy This gun may always shoot better than I do. Here is a target from when I was sighting it in at 100 yrds. The top and right group is from some low-end 180 grain Federal. The other group is from some Federal Gold Medal Match 168 boat tail hollow points. (168 bthp is probably what I'll reload for this.) Each group is three shots. The group with the 168 grain bullets measured at under .5". I shoot this in prone on a bipod.
I must say I'm very impressed with this rifle, especially for being out-of-the-box. So don't get me wrong when I say there are two things I would fix with this rifle. 1) The previously mentioned butt end of the stock. It seems like it'd do the job, but I'd like a lot more rigidity to it. I do not, however, feel as though it might break on me, but I wouldn't want to try to fend off a bear with the back of this rifle. 2) The bolt is not as smooth as I'd like it to be. This could be just my rifle and it is not as though I'm worrying about the safety of it. When the bolt locks, it is solid. I'd just like it to work smoothly when I pull it back and put a new cartridge in it. In the big picture these two issues are minor and I could probably go my whole life without fixing them. (The problems probably won't last the summer, but I digress)
Overall I would recommend this rifle to anyone who asks about a long range rifle, not just those who want one on a budget or out-of-the-box.
-Steven Kipp
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