Finally...after almost a month I made it back to the range. Was excited to get out as I was going to shoot the Ruger M77/RSI in .223 for the first time since I bought it back in 20 or 21. Decided since it was .223 day I'd also bring the old New England Firearms (NEF) Survivor (their designation...not mine) in .223. It's been a long time (years and years) since that rifle has seen the light of day. Basically wanted to compare how it would stand up to the RSI...my version of a $210 vs a $880 (+/-) gun shoot out.
I flew out of the neighborhood down the main arterial feeder at 75 MPH with all the windows down in the truck looking like a Yeti with mange with a large amount of dog hair coming out of the side windows. I was doing that because the corgis have started to shed and I needed to clean the interior out some.
A few minutes later I was at the range where it was 40 degrees and overcast with zero wind. The range at noon had 5 shooters. One, a friend who lives in my neighborhood. Got my favorite lane just as they called a cease fire and set up the bench and target (at 50 yards) and got the chrono squared away. As always happens it usually needs to be readjusted at least once and I couldn't do that as shooting had started. Instead, I picked a spot on the target and fired 3 rounds just to see where the NEF was hitting. Was pretty much dead center but about 3.5 inches low. I forgot exactly what distance it was zeroed at. At one time it was my primary coyote gun in the late 90's and prob was set up to be dead on around 200-250 yards.
Rounds I was shooting:
Of note: Hornady advertises 3249 FPS for an unknown barrel length.
For the RSI the average FPS was 3072 FPS
For the NEF the Average FPS was 3125 FPS
.223 NEF Survivor on deck. I forgot how much I like shooting this budget offering. Wearing a Bushnell Banner 6X18X50
Next was the RSI in .223
After confirming I was on paper and adjusting windage I dialed in the Leupold 1X4 Pig Plex at 50 yards and then moved to 100 yards. This (Top Target) was my first and best group at that distance for the RSI.
I forgot to bring my adjustable rifle rest and had to use a sandbag on the stock that just wasn't the right size I needed. I worked on it for each shot of the best group but became frustrated and stopped using it. As a result my last group opened up considerably.
For comparison: this was a 9-shot group at 100 yards a few months back from a Ruger Ranch using 5.56. The gun was sitting in my rifle rest and was wearing a 1X4X30mm.
All in all it was a fun 2.5 hours and I'm looking forward to going back next Friday with the rifle rest to see if those groups will improve.
Lastly, while I forgot to take pics the NEF did in fact shoot a couple of groups that beat the RSI's best for the day. In the picture with two targets a couple of those orange dots had two holes under them. Specifically the ones directly above the center square and just off to the right and above the largest group of dots.
In the RSI's defense the NEF was wearing A LOT more glass. That made a difference at that distance.
Think I'll order some more of that ammo from Midway. Seems to shoot well in both guns.
And I could eat cookies and shoot at the same time.
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