Took advantage of the onset of offseason and a spring storm in the mountains yesterday to clean up my workshop. Pulled out my parts and lined them up to see if there was anything I was forgetting as I wait 3-6 weeks for the JP barrel kit ordered last week.
Its an Aero Precision Stealth Grey Monthly Builders Kit from last fall with Gen II enhanced upper receiver with Stealth Grey Magpul PRS and grip. Barrel kit will be 22" JP in BlackTeflon with black thermal dissipater, plus black Teflon JP competition compensator, JP enhanced bolt, JP low mass bolt carrier and JP Gen II silent capture spring.
Bushnell Elite Tactical XRS 4.5-30x50 with H59 reticle is arriving this afternoon from when Midway decided to blow a few out the door for $1249 last week.
The only things missing are a Giessele SSA-E (which got hijacked by a 22 Nosler build), charging handle (glad I checked my parts - the 22 Nosler hijacked that too!), scope rings and a bipod (where I might as well go all in with an Atlas).
A Geissele sale at Primary Arms is as easy to predict as a Chuck Schumer fit of outrage. They call it an EGGSTREME sale, but its pretty much the same sale they have at least 12 times a year. SSA-E ordered up along with a POF "Rattler" charging handle. Only thing left is to find a reason to buy anything other than Aero Precision Ultralight scope mounts while the JP Enterprises factory cogs turn.....
I have 2 of the Aero scope mounts and love them. They have held strong with my VX-R Patrol 3-9x40 (extended mount) and my SWFA 1-4x24 (standard mount) through some typical bumps and knocks over the past couple years. I have all the confidence in the world that they're tough enough for my uses.
You'll probably want the SPR mount for proper eye relief with that scope.
Thanks Drew - I probably would have ordered the extendeds which I have on my FDE carbine with an ERS and after checking, I definitely need the SPRs. I have a few Aero rings and I've been looking for anyone who has something bad to say about them (other than the PIA leveling) and I just can't find anyone. It just seems wrong paying so little for something so light given what some rings can cost, but they do what they're supposed to do. I don't know if I'd be mounting them up on an Ulfbehrt, but for Grendel they do just fine. Aero has the 34mm SPRs are on sale for $70 shipped, so I bit the bullet and used the $$ I could have spent on more expensive rings towards an Atlas 170S with lever for $245 shipped from Sportsmans Guide with their Double Member Discount
It's the offseason. It's snowing. Put my lower together today. LMOS carrier and silent capture spring arrived from JP but still waiting on the barrel. Figured I'd loosely screw on the handguard and scope to see how she's going to look
Kilco Wrote:Great looking rig!
And looks like it shooting very consistent across many different loads and powders.
Despite the absurd SDs with AR Comp, all 4 sets I did yesterday came in at 3/4" to 7/8" with no patterning. When it became apparent that the CFE load was "the one" i actually let someone else (gasp) shoot the remaining 10 ARCs I had made. I think the ARC is going to be tried next in the 22 Nosler. I got the 70 gr RDFs going up to 3050 with CFE but the variance wasn't there. Won't have the case fill issues with 22 Nosler and maybe the cool burning will help with the case head abuse.
Glad to see your JP is shooting great. I've still only been able to make it once with mine, with less than optimal results, but I was shooting 123 SST. Will be trying the Hornady Blacks next.
Previously the farthest we could go was a 12"er at 900. Was able to find a flat spot on an outcropping about a month ago and was able to get a general idea of a route doing some repairs on the hill about a week and a half ago. Finally gathered the muster and strapped a 1/2" thick 16" square slab of steel to the top bar of a Campmor external frame backpack purchased for $99 in 1994. Tied a Rouge Large Swinging Gong Stand on the bottom of the frame. It took 2 hours to get there from the bottom of the hill 200 yards from the firing line - 930 ft of elevation gain, across several steep ravines with soft gypsum soil and loose rock. I realized pretty quickly that I hung the target on my pack way to high (just used the hanging strap) but there was no turning back. With a 51 year old "really, I should stop smoking" body, I felt like Gollum scurrying up the hillside the last 200 yards - "my precious (1k target), my precious (1k target).....
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Was 10:15 when I got back to the firing line after a 7am start. Took about 30 minutes to relax and make sure the dog got enough water before banishing him in the truck in the shade on the other side of the clubhouse. Checked environmentals (humidity was 37% on the bench and 49% in my hand -lol) and lased to confirm distance and the 13% angle. Set up Greywyrm and took a 350 to warm up the barrel. Moved to one at 450 and one at 750 to make sure everything was in order. Bypassed the 12"ers at 800 and 900 and got right to it.
Reticle holdover at 9.9 mils (easy with the H59 with the long line at 10 mils). Dialed back to 14x to assure I kept sight picture. 3 mph wind? Takes a lot more than that to get juniper and pinion to move, but that's what the tape on a pole at 460 was saying. Set, square, 1st stage take up, all good, let her fly. 1.6 seconds later it danced. I fist pumped and the only other guy there looked at me like I was smoking crack. 4.5 seconds after release a resound "dong" filled the air (the steep rocky hillside does a great job of bouncing sound back). Upon inspection at 30x, I just caught the lower right corner. If it was a 14" square, it probably would have been a miss. But it is 16".
The moral of the story? Hunting season is around the corner. And everyone is starting to show up with their 300 winmags and 7mm remmags and 300 weatherbys and their pick a number super duper ultra mags. They pull a lead sled and box of bricks out of their truck and are lucky to shoot a 2" 3 shot group at 100. A guy sat next to me Sunday with a 7mm Remmag and went 0 for 20 on 8" at 350. I guess they need the power because chances are they'll probably hit the elk they're shooting at in the @ss. But they get lucky every now and then and it is impossible to keep steel hanging out to 250 yds. There's even a guy with a Savage Stealth 338LM who took out the rebar crossbar hanging a life size steel turkey on an 6" chain at 240 yards (snapped the rebar in half!) So a lot of big chunks of lead are going to get launched up the hill. Hopefully if they get close, they don't take out a leg or the crossbar. There's a couple of 6.5 CM bolt guys who should hit it as well as a 6.5 - 284 guy. The guy with the 26" 7mm WSM with a TB9 damn well better get it.
But the first shot ever at the first 1000 yd target at a gun club that has been around for a very long time (and the only 1000 yd target that I'm aware of in a 120 mile radius) was a hit. With an AR-15 chambered with a mousy little round known as 6.5 Grendel.
Great story Stonehenge.....the picture is bright in my eyes. Pretty work.
Carl
NRA Patron Member, frequent supporter of the ILA, when knives are on offer
Living free and willing to lay it down to keep it that way......
Eternally grateful to my brothers and sisters that did and to those who strap it on each day so that we may enjoy life the way we do
Great shooting!! 1000 yards with the Grendel is no joke. First round hit is seriously impressive. I've followed your posts as you got your builders kit in and were anxiously awaiting your 22" JP kit. Glad to see it paid off, and you are getting the results you expected.
Hunting seasons kicking off here in Maine as well. I've sold a boat load of the R700 Long Range in 300 ultra mag to green shooters watching American Sniper over and over.
It's always a treat watching them take their first shots...
Keeps my lathe going threading barrels and muzzle brakes goijnf out the door...lol
Sticks - unfortunately, if someone brought it up at a board meeting, their eyes would glaze over and the President would say "what does that have to do with shooting trap?" Then another board member would add "or Cowboy Action Shooting?"
Kilco Wrote:Great shooting!! 1000 yards with the Grendel is no joke. First round hit is seriously impressive. I've followed your posts as you got your builders kit in and were anxiously awaiting your 22" JP kit. Glad to see it paid off, and you are getting the results you expected.
Hunting seasons kicking off here in Maine as well. I've sold a boat load of the R700 Long Range in 300 ultra mag to green shooters watching American Sniper over and over.
It's always a treat watching them take their first shots...
Keeps my lathe going threading barrels and muzzle brakes goijnf out the door...lol
To be fair, the firing line is at 6600ASL and my velocity was around 1375 at 1k, so still > Mach 1.2. I input a sea level average pressure of 29.92 Hg and kept the othe environmentals the same and 1375 is about what it would be doing at 800 yds - and it would be just off mach 1 at 1k. I buy into the destabilization thing at Mach 1.2 since I'm able to observe it with 223 at 900 yards on windless days with the ballistics model starting to fall short, as well as randomly widening POIs after adjusting holdover. A 123 gr 6.5 is obviously going to transition better, but a little bit of luck does enter the equation after going below Mach 1.2....
I was going to suggest that you wheel a box of bricks out of the back on a hand truck after you close a super ultra mag rifle sale and say "your going to need these", but I guess that might impact threading and muzzle brake sales. Lol
StoneHendge Wrote:...
I was going to suggest that you wheel a box of bricks out of the back on a hand truck after you close a super ultra mag rifle sale and say "your going to need these", but I guess that might impact threading and muzzle brake sales. Lol
Nah, just upsell on some analgesic cream. Helps heal the bruised shoulders faster.
Perhaps the greatest "Stonehenge" of them all. Relocated to Phoenix and got to range this morning to work on a summer match load. Had been using 30.8 grains CFE 223 in CO (123 Scenar / Lapua case / GM205MAR) but that would obviously be too much in the summer heat here. 30.4 grains is where I started a short ladder and it looks like it hits the spot at 95 degrees. The 4 together measure under 0.20", the StoneHendge brings it out to 0.55"
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The velocity was the crazy part:
2596 / 2599 / 2598 / 2598 / 2595
SD 1 / ES 4
I'm guessing the barrel has little bit over 2k on it at this point.
