This is a report on the RUGAGE 243 LBC that I have put together as pictured above. It has a 22” Tactical Ordnance five land polygon barrel turned to closely match the Ruger RAP profile. I have replaced the trigger with a unit from Timney. It carries an 8X32 Mueller scope. Speeds were recorded by a LabRadar that allows me to work up nice spreadsheets when I get home for hard paper record keeping.
After a month of trying I was finally able to get to the range. I had obtained my Sinclair action insert so was able to get some hard and fast numbers on the distance to lands. I selected three bullets as those that would cover the gamut of my needs. The 243 LBC was envisioned as a coyote round deluxe and was throated for the long skinny 70 pills and up. The smaller 58's thanks to their shape load right nicely too. It has also been pressed into usage shooting the 95 grain Sierra SMK bullets with great success out yonder.
That being said I decided to go with the 58 grain Hornady ZMAX, the Speer 70 TNT and the Sierra 95 SMK. Powder selection was based on previous work and with the advent of the 6 ARC I had some more parameters to feed into the mix for me to cogitate over. Published data on the ARC is based on gas and bolt gun loadings. The gas gun was held to 55,000 PSI and the bolt gun was held at 62,000. There are several reasons for the two to diverge but admittedly the brass will get hammered faster in the bolt gun loads no matter how we tune the gas platform. This one is definitely a bolt so I decided to go with the higher pressure levels. I also decided I was not going to be timid. Knowing full well I was going to be up in the top end I was going to gather my ceiling data and perhaps some general performance levels that might be translated in to my big Savage F-class gun and with some toning down in my AR match rifle.
As mentioned earlier I settled on three bullets and ended up using six powders. By and large I shot two three shot groups and a five shot at the top of my charge levels except for a couple when I was husbanding the quantity so I could end up with 98 pieces of formed brass. I had set the barrel up tight for the new brass. I will probably back it off another 0.002 before the next trip.
Range day was perfect and I dealt with temperature starting at 85 degrees up to 105 later in the afternoon. I spent eight hours there but it was not all shooting. I would say half of it was dealing with the Chatty Kathy shooters who just had to swap tales with me. Not that I didn’t hold up my end mind you but it did slow the process down somewhat. This was not all negative as the barrel is not particularly heavy and with high ambient temperatures it stayed warm all day long. Not egg frying hot but certainly more than most of us would want. Years ago, I would have been fretting this scenario but I want to shoot PD’s with it and while it involves some lulls when things get hectic barrels get hot. If it will shoot toasty warm it should do mucho bueno.
I can give you the cliff notes up front but there would be no fun in that. I could say it shot well but then most guys on the net never have a gun that doesn’t shoot well or they have one that would win 90% of the benchrest matches in the US yet they never shoot benchrest or show their work like we used to when doing proofs in Geometry. I just show the work and then some it up. Draw what conclusions you can and please voice any questions when you are through the posting. I will warn you that this could get very picture heavy but I will try and keep it within reason.
To the targets my friends… First up was the 58 ZMAX pill. Shot over 8208 XBR , H322 and RL15 I knew that I probably had some potential goodness on tap. I have shot a short tom of 8208 in the LBC along with some of the H322. RL15 is by and large reserved for heavier pills and is very mild mannered in the pressure world and while I expected it to be slow but I also hoped it would shoot well any way. I was not off on my expectations.
With IMR 8208 XBR as my starting powder I had to get the rifle on target right out of the box. I has some mild loads loaded up and as my target array is almost 2 ¾ yards square I held on the middle ad let it fly. I was rewarded with a hole 18” to the right for the first round. Two shots later I was close to a dot and called it good enough to fire for record. Had that one been a keeper it would have given me 27 groups for the day but I really was not averse to wasting the first few rounds to get the bore a bit dirty as it was squeaky clean going in. First one for three shots was under 0.750 and the five shot high end gave me an 0.62. From the bench that looked good being well shaped neither to tall nor too wide.
With my normal baseline powder gone I moved on to H322 that is world renowned for shooting well in the smaller PPC class cases. I knew that prior to this I had some slight success with only a bit of dabbling and this one turned up nicely for me. The top load of 31.7 grains gave me 3621 for a velocity and a decent 0.793.I do believe it wants to shoot so I will include the two supporting three shot groups to show it does have potential if we had a better trigger puller at the bench.
The last powder on the 58’s was RL15. I knew it would be slow but if it makes itty bitty holes most of us will sacrifice a click or two on the scope if we up the hit probability exponentially. To sum it up three groups with an average of 0.581 would be more than adequate for my needs. This one was only a top end three shot so I could make my brass goal. The top speed was only 3319 but it sure would work for me in the game fields. Pressures were so low the primers look like the stuff you see in the shooting magazines to impress the troops.
The 58’s were shot early enough that I only hit 90 on the last shot fired for these 27 rounds. My jawing sessions got going in earnest here and by the time I got back on the set up it was a normal body temperature of 98.6.
My second bullet was the 70 grain Speer TNT. This one usually shoots well in whatever you stick it in and is a favorite for PD’s in my 243 Winchesters and they are cheap. LOL Powder #1 was the 8208 again the first two groups looked very good through the scope. The five shot foray looked god until Mr. Hiccup showed his face and dropped a round out of the group. If I could have a mulligan on that flinch, I would have had a three group agg. Of 0.544. Additionally, the speeds were decent with this pill. At 3396. My goal for any of these loads is a something down below 0.75 thereabouts as that gives me some wiggle room. Anything below an 0.6 is welcome. I could have stopped doing load work based on these eleven shoots but I had more turf to cover.
Going to my second powder I tried some H4895. This one often works well in smaller cases and meters well. I found the velocity was adequate toping out at 3396 and that is not too shabby with a 70 grain in these cases. Groups wise they were nothing extraordinary with the top load being my second over-MOA offering coming in at a 1.148. Pressures were at the top and I probably won’t chase the dragoon into the forest much more on this one. A nice aggregate of the three groups came in at 0.963. Usable and tantalizing.
The final powder was once again the RL15 that shot well with the 58’s but was slow. It did start picking up on the speed but no barn burner. All three groups were under an inch with the 31.5 grain load clocking 3199 with a very nice little 0.491 spread for the three shots.
I was starting to get a gut level feeling that most of these groups were being heavily effected by poor bench technique after my long layoff. I needed a cold drink to sort it out at this point so grabbed my lunch time Bear Claw and a jug of ice water and relaxed. The temperature had just crossed the 100 mark so a bit of a pause was in order.
Break time over meant it was time to see how the 1:10 twist handled the 95 SMK that I shoot in 500 yard F-Class matches with the LBC. The trade off on this bullet vs. the 105’s of speed vs. BC tips slightly to the 95 for me. One other befit is the cost factor is decidedly in favor of the 95. Even among the 95’s a choice presented itself early on in that Berger makes a fine offering and when shot against the Sierra pills I found virtually zero on target performance difference. What I did find was about $10.00/box more in greenbacks in my wallet when going with the Sierras. Fixed income is not for the weak so I opt for the lower cost alternative. IT might not be Memorex but when you are deaf it’s a moot point.
Once again, the lead off powder was 8208 XBR. This has been the powder of choice for this pill and this cartridge since day one. Normally shot at charge weights of 28.2-28.8 I expect velocities to be in the 2800-2900 band. Accuracy has always been stellar no matter what tube we shoot it in. I believe I have four barrels up right now. Three ASR’s and my Savage. This one makes five. Based on the ARC data and a bit bigger capacity I decided to bump up over the 28.8 level and see what IMR had to say about it. The first groups fired look pretty decent through the scope being a tad vertical. It could have been the boiling mirage that was settling in but if not implied it wanted more go juice. The following two groups were also vertical and the extra speed had no apparent bearing on the issue. One again all under an MOA with a best of 0.610 and the worst of 1.023. I was getting into a bit of primer flattening from the get go and the Ruger has a tiny bit oversized firing pin tunnel so I was seeing ever so light flow here also. Bearing in mind this is a 22” tube I was astounded at the velocities that topped out at 3065. I think I pretty well learned the ceiling on this one was at 29.2 when the temps are at 100 degrees. Cooler weather would gain me some wiggle room but I don’t believe in two load levels. I would prefer it be safe all the way around. Three group aggregate on this one was a decent 0.735 so I was under the magic 0.750 although it is not quite the Gold Medal War level I would want.
As I mentioned I took a cool down break earlier and was starting to feel like it had made a difference. The last three groups were pretty consistent and it just seems kike I was getting behind the gun better. The bench I was on s just a tad short and when you have to pull the muzzle back to use the bench mounted LabRadar you are way back further than is really ergonomically comfortable.
Next powder to be tried was CFE 223. This is one of the wunderkinds of the industry as it allegedly cuts down on coper fouling. I really am not certain of that but we use the snot out of it and have been happy in the smaller cases across the board. I have found the velocities on par with the 8208. It is pretty dense and is very mild mannered in top end loadings. It is great in the 223 size variants like the 20 Practical and 20 Tactical.
It was now 102.1 on the Kestrel so I felt like my joints were loosening up. The wind had come up ever so slightly and the mirage appeared to be dropping so with the first three rounds at 31.8 I started to work. Over the next two minutes I put three together that really made me smile. Everyone shots ragged holes per report. I shoot lots of “small” groups but rarely are they a ragged mess. There is usually plenty of real estate between bullets even on my sub-0.5 groups. Later this one was to measure an honest 0.156 at a nice velocity of 30340. What’s not to like?
Bumped up 0.3 gave me a 32.1 charge weight. These bullets are loaded long so that does pull down the pressures somewhat and in a bolt gun I have plenty of room in the magazine to hold them out. The first shot impacted my aiming dot just like the previous group. I do not purposely do that but it happens. The second shot didn’t look right through the scope. I’ve blown up lots of bullets in my wildcats but never a 95 grain pill. Surely the spin gods didn’t strike as I saw nothing other than shot number one. Oh well we shall see. The third shot was loaded and I went back. Sometimes it just feels right and after the recoil I still couldn’t see anything other than the first. At 32 X it just wasn’t there. Velocity was a credible 3063 and I was happy with that. I think you will see what caused the happy dance to break out at the target butt later in the day when I looked over that one. The Mitutoyo was placed on it and replaced and replaced. The biggest I could come up on this one was 0.048. Not even a 1!! By far the best group I have shot in years. 0.1’s are not unheard of and 0.2’s are more prevalent but not like this.
I had five more to go so settled in and turned out a nice round grouping at 3091. By far the fastest I’d ever pushed a 95 in an LBC. Primers were showing that I had maxed out on this one so I was not surprised by them given the chronograph. The group was nice round 0.694 and I will take that on most days. All told the measurements came down to an average of 0.299. I will freely admit that the 0.048 was a case of the blind hog phenomena but the 0.156 was totally in the realm of being a possibility for many here on the board.
I had eleven more bullets that need to applied to the pulp down range so settled in. It was getting to put it mildly dang hot now with the next three efforts shot at 104.3 to 105.8. Basically, a cool summer day here but hardly what one expects in October.
The last powder was TAC. This one is pretty fast day in day out and is a hammer choice in my small 20’s and 223’s. I like it a great deal for metering. I don’t believe I’d ever shot it on anything heavier than the 70’s in the past as I do view it as a viable mid weight powder. I often overlook it in my load work ups. So many powders and so few range days.
AT 30.5 I got a romping 3060 out of it with a primer that says maybe a bit more but it would not object to a bit less. Coming off the previous three groups this one looked pretty big but based on the ¾” red dot I knew it was not ungodly large. Later it showed me a CTC of 0.803. The second bumped up 0.3 looked a tiny bit better and was a decent 0.568 at 3116. Its POI was only a tad lower than the first loading. The last five for this rifle gave me a decent looking group that measures=d out at 0.673 and a screaming 3135. By far the fastest I have ever shot one of these and in a 22” tube I can’t wait to see how it does in a 26” version. The aggregate three groups on the TAC was a very nice 0.681. I’d take that any day. Judging from the slight horizontal spread I observed here a reshoot with more/less COL is in order. I do believe it would be a good one.
So that was the tale of my Octoberfest outing. I apologize for the pic heavy post but I am pretty well gobsmacked with this Tactical Ordnance barrel and how it performed. I mentioned Cliff Notes and how they were no fun but I will leave you with some crunchies to cogitate. Total groups fired was 26. Total over 1 MOA was two. Average group size for three different bullets and six different powders was satisfying a 0.696. Across the board this was below my 0.750 baseline. The 70’s need some work as they blew the average up with their 0.846 as compared to 0.6375 and 0.599. Personally, I’m convinced that these could all be cut by a solid 0.1 or 0.2 with the right guy behind it. Unfortunately, unless a long-lost doppelganger drives up to the house I am stuck with my trigger finger digit.
I’ll be doing a lot more work on this one. I intend to set the barrel pout slightly and am going to swap the scope rings back to front as I am currently about out of leftward adjustment in the scope. If that does not cure it then a set of Burris Signature rings with the insert will be fitted to this one. there is also a 20 LBC destined to be turned for this rifle but the industry is so backed up that getting 1.25” stock for the tube in the subcaliber range is not very quick. It will arrive in due time and at that point I’ll be busting out the bushings and making brass.
Greg
