No video, though I should have - nobody was out there. Good reason too - it was a wee bit warm for a spring day, 107 or so.
First up was the P-10C and I have to say one word. Disappointed. Sorry, Joe, I tried it at 25 yards and I don't know if it was me, the loads, the weather, what....this was the BEST target I had at 25 yards. I shot it off the rest, braced barricade style and free hand. This one was barricade.
I also experienced my first jam, a failure to feed with a cast bullet load. Full disclosure is this particular bullet profile also causes FTF in the Phantom as well, once in a while, so I wasn't REALLY put out. This is the only jam in 300 rounds so far. Also I think this pistol shows a preference for 124 gr and heavier slugs. I could be wrong. The grip actually started to bother me slightly too, which it didn't last time, so I will probably break out the sanding sponge tonight.
So, I did bring my chrono out today. Yes, I set it up in the shade - full sunlight would have melted it. It still worked.
BTW, which one of these accessories is required for shooting in late Arizona spring? There is only one right answer...
I do have some numbers, but we'll start off with the 75 gr TAP loads. I figured I would just try to find one that works OK, and then load them up for bad times, as it is highly unlikely I will find these bullets again. I did find a load that pretty much works.
That's 50 yards, so I figure it's a definite minute of predator round, and that 75 gr TAP bullet is like a miniature sledgehammer. Should do the job, but will keep it short range for best results. Chrono results - IMR 3031 21.5 grs 2430 FPS average with an 11.6 standard deviation. Not bad.
Then I pulled out those 50+ year old, (more like over 60 years old), Sierra HP bullets I loaded recently. They aged well.
Chrono'd at 2758, SD 37
I had a few of those cast bullets left, waiting for a push through sizer to start working on the other ones I was given, so I ran them in a hotter load.
One thing that was obvious was this load had no difficulty functioning the rifle, everything ran as normal. The ejected brass wasn't nearly as gunky as last time.
Accuracy...well, it's still a work in progress. Chrono'd at 2041 FPS, SD 47
I did run the target out to 100 yards just to pretend I was getting some actual rifle shooting in - I generally consider anything inside 100 yards to be too short for anything other than load development.
The VMAX standard load worked very well.
Honestly, it was like I was getting a vibe - "quit farting around, buy more VMAX". I would if they weren't so darned expensive!
Now this last target isn't really anything to go nuts over except for one very important thing - I was shooting it when a dust devil twisted through between me and the target and for once I said to heck with it and kept shooting.
The BREN got HOT out there, so hot she was almost...
https://youtu.be/wVOa3xhl0bgSeriously - that baby was hotter than a $2 pistol when I shot those 100 yard groups. That 55gr VMAX load BARKS.
George did come by, and he stuck around for a while on the BREN. Actually, he was in one place for so long buzzing his wings and waving his butt that I thought he really was stuck!
He did finally crawl off the stock and walked around the table buzzing and wagging - it wasn't until after he left that I realized this is how bees communicate...was he telling me where the fortune in gold was hidden? Or that Bud Light tastes great and is less filling? I will never know...
Was hot, was fun.
