SW Ammo 260rem range report

[taliv]

(disclaimer: i'm not affiliated with SWammo, though they did sponsor my team in a match last year)

So, finally got my new factory 260rem ammo in... decided to run it through a couple of my rifles today. Factory 260rem ammo has been scarce due to rem brass availability, as I understand, so to solve this problem, southwest ammo apparently found a bunch of 7mm-08 brass and necked it down! They're selling it at the moment for $25/box of 20 loaded with 142g SMK, which is a decent price as far as I'm concerned. They're out of stock now (i just cleaned them out, haha) but I expect they'll make more, and they have the more expensive brass still in stock. (Also, FYI, their 4th of july sale starts tomorrow and is supposed to be $17.76 / box of 175g or 168g 308win, I think.)

anyway... SO, short story, I put 10 rounds of it through 2 different rifles and none of them left the dots at 100 yrds, so I'm pretty happy! (technically, 11 rounds, since one of the scopes wasn't zeroed and it took me 1 round to zero it.)

This target, which is evil (and which I assume Orkan will appreciate) and what we use in classes, has just 3 sets of 5 rnd drills on it at the moment. The top one in red was done a couple weeks ago when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my Schmidt & Bender (long story; it's back at the factory at the moment...). It was shot with my left-handed Bighorn action in the mcmillan A5 stock and bartlein barrel in 260AI and a harris bipod. (not pictured below)

The second group in green was shot this evening with the new SW Ammo load, using my left-handed Stiller action with a Brux barrel and AICS chassis with viper skins (turns the thumbhole into a pistol grip) and an AI bipod. This rifle has my old USO SN-3 TPAL 3-17x44 on it.

The third group in blue was also shot with the SW Ammo, using my Badger M2008 action in a mcmillan A5 stock and bartlein barrel and harris bipod. It has the Bushnell HDMR 3-21x50 with the G2 reticle.

The last picture shows what this reticle looks like. Note the .1 mil hashes at the far edges of the reticle which allow VERY precise milling. The iphone pic isn't too hot, since the sun was at my back... the white circle left of the target is actually the sun reflecting off the ocular lens. You can still catch a glimpse of the infamous chromatic aberration though haha. Anyway, for the money, it's a great scope.

http://precisionmultigun.com/pics/626dots.jpg
http://precisionmultigun.com/pics/626badgerstiller.jpg
http://precisionmultigun.com/pics/626hdmrg2.jpg

[Warg]

An understatement, perhaps, but fantastic shooting! I'm impressed with what Bushnell has brought to market with their HDMR G2 and TRMR2 reticles. I think a little CA might be tolerable for a scope that's much less than half of an S&B or PR.

What barrel length and twist are you using?

[taliv]

thanks! I hadn't heard of the TRMR2

bighorn is 29" 8.5 twist
badger is 26" 8.5 twist
stiller is 24" 8.5 twist

[Pappabear]

Those new Bushnells are sweet. I have one and dig it. FFP, 3.5-21 monster truck nobs

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I would realy like to know more about your impressions of that scope?

[taliv]

update:

shot the SW Ammo at distance last night with the badger/bushnell HDMR build. Target is 1010 yrds. I was shooting for group and not correcting. To get a consistent POA, I put the .5 mil hash at the bottom of the silhouette and held the vertical crosshair on the left edge of the head for all shots. The half-mil from bottom hold put the horizontal crosshair pretty close to level with the two bolts where the nipples would be. It was 8.7 mils from zero.

I fired 3 shots and the first two are the top two hits, and the 3rd was slightly off the right side of the target. I was initially impressed with elevation (speaks well for the ammo) which on the 30" IPSC looked like only perhaps 3" or less. All of which were perhaps .1 mil high and obviously a good bit right. (there was some wind though)

Then I fired 5 more shots, that mysteriously dropped about .2 below the crosshair (and about .3 mil from the first 3 shots). 4 are easily visible in a tight cluster. the 5th was JUST off right side.

Figures I was trying to get some 1000 yrd dope for the rifle/ammo and now I don't know if it's 8.6 or 8.9. Nevertheless, discounting for the mysterious elevation shift between the 3rd and 4th (since I don't think the ammo could have caused it) rounds the ammo seems pretty consistent!

http://precisionmultigun.com/pics/627target.jpg


I would realy like to know more about your impressions of that scope?

overall, i feel it's very well designed for someone who intends to HOLD instead of DIAL. The combination of locking turrets and the G2 reticle are awesome. If you are used to S&B or Premier clicks, you will find these pretty mushy, and I find the locking turret annoying when I'm dialing. So I just very rarely dial and hold instead (with this rifle... I dial with the others). It's faster anyway, and for me really only starts to be a problem when holding very long distances that put the reticle near the edge of the glass where you can get some distortion and i sort of lose my horizon and have a tendency to cant the gun if i don't look at the bubble.

anyway, the scope is set up really well for holding.
The glass is quite good (except for the CA thing).
It's very light and short (great when you have to carry it or want to put a clip on NV in front of it).
I like the 35mm tube.
The biggest downside is the eyebox isn't very forgiving. You'll have to be careful when you position the scope so you can use it from prone and standing.
The G2 reticle is great for milling.

The 3-21 range is pretty awesome. (and IIRC it doesn't tunnel at the low end! unlike S&B) Personally, I like a little more magnification though and never find a use in matches for 3x. Maybe if you're shooting a running deer or something?

to sum up... $1200ish for a mil/mil, FFP, 3-21x, with locking turrets is an awesome deal.

one tip... pretty sure Bushnell will have a 4.5-30x version of the HDMR soon!

[Pappabear]

My impression is also favorable. The clicks don't pop like my NF, but it does not bother me. The turrets are truly HUGE and cool to me. They are only 5 mil's per rev. That could be improved. No zero stop, this is my only issue that i really miss. I am going to nail polish the zero marker to help my dumbass remember when I forget to dial down.

I'm still not used to holding vs dialing. I can do it, but much less precise IMHO. In most big game situations, you would only need to dial past 300 yards, and would have time to dial. I do like the locking turrets. For hunters, seems like a great feature.

All in all, a bad ass scope for the $$

Glass is great, reticle is great, 34 mm tube great. My only real issue is no zero stop. You have to decide if that's an issue to you.

Any other questions, let me know.