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303carbine
Senior Member Joined: January 29 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 329 |
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Posted: June 22 2018 at 10:36pm |
I picked up a nice 303 sporter with a Bishop stock, the barrel was 25 inches and was so long and clumsy that I decided to have it professionally cut to 18.5 inches to make it better handling in the dense forest here on Vancouver Island.
When the barrel was 25 inches long, the 174 grain hand loaded Hornady's shot into a nice 1.5 inch at 100 yds. I tried some 150 Hornady Spire Point bullets, they shot very dismal and a foot low at the same distance. After the barrel was cut, I had to re zero the scope due to the barrel chop. The 174 grainers shot into a 1 inch group again, I tried the 150's again, to my amazement, they shot about an inch below the heavier bullets. No more large difference in the group size with the two different weight bullets, I am very happy with the results. The rifle weighs a lot less and is easier handling in the dense woods, no more snagging trees and limbs with an extra long tube. I am going to chronograph again and compare what velocity was lost, I would rather have the ease of handling and the added bonus of accuracy with both chosen bullet weights.
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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Quick guess about 325FPS loss.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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303carbine
Senior Member Joined: January 29 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 329 |
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**************************************************************************** Update with chronograph results. With the factory length 25 inch barrel, I got 2235 fps shooting the 174 Hornady's With the shortened 18.5 inch barrel, I got 2168 fps shooting the 174 Hornady's Both were shot at the same range with the same chronograph, same loads, same distance from the chrony. 67 fps is nothing in the real world. I, like Shamu thought that there was going to be a lot bigger fps difference, pleasantly surprised at the small difference. |
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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Wow that's nice so little reduction!
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Zed
Special Member Donating Member Joined: May 01 2012 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 5585 |
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I suppose the difference in velocity may depend on what powder you are using. I suspect that you may be using one of the faster burn powder's; is that the case?
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It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!
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303carbine
Senior Member Joined: January 29 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 329 |
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I am using H380 and IMR 4320, just over starting loads, nothing hairy.
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