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Sporting Firearms Journal
®
RIFLERIFLE
Display until 4/10/17 Printed in USA
March 2017 No. 291
Win a Custom6.5 Creedmoor Rifle!
See Inside for Details
Tested: Browning X-BoltHell’s Canyon Speed7mm RemingtonMagnum
Cooper M92 BackcountryA New Lightweight .30-06
.33NoslerThe Latest
.338
Rare Find: Al Biesen .270 Winchester!
Rifle 291
COLUMNS
6 Muzzle Brakes Spotting Scope - Dave Scovill
8 Ruger Rotary Magazine Bolt Rifles Discontinued Lock, Stock & Barrel - Lee J. Hoots
12 The Classic Weatherby Vanguard Mostly Long Guns - Brian Pearce
16 Buttplates Down Range - Mike Venturino
18 Removing Recalcitrant Pins and Screws Light Gunsmithing - Gil Sengel
22 Low Light Binocular Testing A Rifleman’s Optics - John Haviland
56 Montana X-treme Gun Cleaning Products Product Tests - Charles E. Petty
62 Sniping as an Evolving Skill Walnut Hill Terry Wieland
FEATURES
26 Browning X-Bolt Hell’s Canyon Speed Testing a 7mm Remington Magnum in the Elk Woods John Haviland
32 Al Biesen .270 Winchester Not Just Another Custom Mauser Terry Wieland
36 Reboring Rifle Barrels An Overlooked Option for Tired Lands and Grooves John Barsness
42 .33 Nosler An Early Look at the Newest .338 Brian Pearce
48 Cooper Model 92 Backcountry A New Lightweight .30-06 from Montana Stan Trzoniec
On the cover . . .The Browning X-Bolt Hell’s Canyon Speed 7mm Remington Magnum features a Leupold VX-3i 3.5-10x 40mm scope.Photo by Chris Downs.
4
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6 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 291
SPOTTING SCOPE by Dave Scovill
Muzzle BrakesSporting Firearms Journal
ISSN 0162-3593Volume 49 Number 2Issue No. 291 March 2017
Publisher/President – Don PolacekPublishing Consultant – Mark Harris
Editor in Chief – Lee J. HootsEditor Emeritus – Dave Scovill
Managing Editor – Roberta ScovillSenior Art Director – Gerald HudsonProduction Director – Becky Pinkley
Contributing EditorsJohn Barsness Stan Trzoniec
John Haviland Mike Venturino
Brian Pearce Ken Waters
Gil Sengel Terry Wieland
AdvertisingAdvertising Director - Tammy Rossi
[email protected] Representative - Tom Bowman
[email protected] Representative - James Dietsch
[email protected] Information: 1-800-899-7810
CirculationCirculation Manager – Kendra Newell
[email protected] Information: 1-800-899-7810
www.handloadermagazine.com
Rifle® (ISSN 0162-3583) is published bi-monthly by Polacek Publishing Corporation, dba Wolfe Publishing Company (Don Polacek, Pres ident), 2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona 86301. Tele phone: (928) 445-7810. Periodical Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and additional mailing offices. Subscription prices: U.S. possessions – sin-gle issue, $5.99; 6 issues, $22.97; 12 issues, $39.00. Foreign and Canada – single issue, $5.99; 6 issues $29.00; 12 issues, $51.00. Please allow 8-10 weeks for first issue. Advertising rates furnished on re-quest. All rights reserved.
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Wolfe Publishing Co.2180 Gulfstream, Ste. APrescott, AZ 86301Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124 © Polacek Publishing Corporation
Publisher of Rifle® is not responsible for mis-haps of any nature that might occur from use of published loading data or from recommendations by any member of The Staff. No part of this pub-lication may be reproduced without written per-mission from the publisher. Publisher assumes all North American Rights upon acceptance and payment for all manuscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept re-sponsibility for lost or mutilated manuscripts.
heavyweight with a muzzle brake that produced obnoxious muzzle blast but the recoil of a .243 Win-chester.
Since Dr. Mike had mounted a custom scope calibrated to 1,000 yards for the Barnes factory loads on hand for the Model 70, I decided to give it a try, at least for the time being, just in case a big buck of-fered a reasonable shot out to 500 yards or so, maximum. I was still leery of the muzzle brake, however, since my hearing had just about had enough of mag-num-grade muzzle blast.
Several years ago the late Wolfe Publishing editor Al Miller launched an effort to find a muz-zle brake that tamed the big-bore blasters but that might also reach some sort of happy medium in terms of muzzle blast. Unfortu-nately, such a device, from Al’s
tests, simply did not exist, albeit one outfit did advertise a “silent brake.” At the time, I advised Al that I would not be prone to find out if the claim was true by firing more than one shot without ear-plugs and muffs, and
that shot would not be fired under cover at the Prescott Sportsman Club range or any other covered range. I also reminded Al that the range master at the then-named Black Canyon Shooting Range north of Phoenix would not allow muzzle brakes on the line . . . period.
Eventually Al gave up on the quest to find an acceptable muz-zle brake, and I avoided them like a toxic plague until Winchester/Browning came up with the BOSS (Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System), a muzzle brake that was calibrated to encourage the user to turn the adjustment in or out
Upon receiving an invite to hunt desert mule deer in So-
nora, Mexico, a few days before Christmas, the first question that came to mind was whether or not the Mexican authorities would have enough time during the com-ing holidays to process the paper work required to take a rifle south of the border. Since the chance of acquiring a “permission” paper at such a time would be doubtful, I asked about a “camp” rifle.
As luck would have it, two rifles would be available at the ranch, a Winchester Model 70 .300 Win-chester Magnum and a Tikka .300 Winchester Short Magnum. Both rifles were quite acceptable – al-though a bit much for deer-sized game – assuming there would be an opportunity to shoot them prior to hunting, and arrangements were made for the hunt.
Uncasing the rifles at the ranch, the Model 70 was familiar to me. It was used by my friend Dr. Mike Poulos to take a fair number of Sonoran mule deer and whitetail. What I had forgotten was that it had a muzzle brake. The Tikka turned out to be a lightweight stainless steel short action with a synthetic stock. Both rifles proved capable of fine accuracy when fired from an impromptu benchrest at 100 long paces, so the choice was boiled down to the lightweight with the rock-hard buttpad that kicked like a mule or the relative
Holland’s Quick Discharge Muzzle Brake
March-April 2017 www.riflemagazine.com 7
in an attempt to “dial in” best ac-curacy. Turning the BOSS in rel-atively small increments between groups failed to produce accept-able accuracy for a dozen or so three-shot groups, whereupon it was cranked several full turns to extend the brake a full .5 inch or so, and “bingo,” .3-inch, three-shot clusters appeared. After shooting
a couple of whitetail deer, a few feral hogs, a nilgai and a coyote in the field sans ear protection, however, my ears were still ring-ing when we left Texas, and the rifle was returned to Morgan, Utah, posthaste.
The next muzzle brake on a Sav-age All Weather Rifle .300 Win-chester Magnum could be turned
off and on. The concept made good sense, but the question was whether or not it would hold zero and accu-racy when turned on and off, or vice versa. It was assumed the brake would reduce recoil to some degree.
The Savage rifle proved to shoot quite well at the outset, and subse-quent tests with the brake turned
Sir Isaac Newton’s third law states that for every action
there is an equal and opposite reaction. Applied to firearms, that means the air in front of a bullet, the bullet and the com-bustion gases behind the bullet are set in motion by ignition of the gun powder. The forward ac-celeration of the combined mass (ejecta) composed of the air, bul-let and combustion gas, includ- ing powder residue, creates an opposite reaction defined as re-coil.
The function of a muzzle brake
is to release the air and gas to the side at roughly a 90-degree or less angle, effectively reduc-ing the jet effect of the acceler-ating mass that would normally occur as it exits the muzzle of the barrel against the opposing at-mosphere. By reducing the force created by the ejecta mass at the muzzle, a muzzle brake reduces the opposing force, recoil.
The effectiveness of a muz-zle brake depends on the num-ber and size of the holes drilled around and along the length of the tubular-shaped brake. Most
NewtoN’s third lawbleed gas off at roughly a 90-de-gree angle, while some designs feature holes at a slight rear-ward angle to oppose the recoil action but toward the shooter’s head and, unfortunately, his or her ears.
There has been some debate over the years regarding the net effectiveness of muzzle brakes, which is largely affected by the weight of the individual firearm. Even without a brake, heavy guns recoil less than lighter designs, assuming they both fire identical ammunition. R
(Continued on page 59)
8 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 291
Discouraging news is, well, discouraging. Sometimes it
spreads quickly; other times it travels as slowly as its bearers want it to. Due to the often mis-guided and twisted “information” provided, among countless other reasons, I have mostly tried to ig-nore the goings-on of the Internet so unfortunately missed Ruger’s soft announcement sent out in mid-September via an e-mail list: All bolt-action rifles (rimfire and centerfire) that utilize the com-pany’s well-liked rotary magazine have been temporarily discontin-ued.
All of them, from the 77/22 to the 77/357 and 77/17 .17 Hornet and several others in between, are done for. Gone. When first heard, this information was brushed off as a rumor on the cusp of depar-ture for an elk hunt in New Mexico followed by a magazine production deadline then a trip to northern Wyoming for whitetails. Why would Ruger, it was figured, give up on one of its best received rifles?
Somewhat modular, the design allows for the use of multiple re-ceiver lengths that accept various bottom metal components to ac-commodate several cartridges of varying size and length, along with
a corresponding magazine. Ruger’s rotary magazine was introduced in 1964, along with the 10/22 .22 Long Rifle autoloader. The simple yet nearly infallible magazine de-sign was later used on a number of rifles from the Model 96 levergun through the 77/22 .22 Hornet. It ap-pears that the first .22 LR in this series, the 77/22-R or -RS (denot-ing rifle sights), was available in 1984, nearly 20 years prior to the death of Bill Ruger. The models 77/357 and 77/44 have also been popular with riflemen who enjoy shooting revolver cartridges in a short rifle.
“Temporary” can mean many things, including that a product could be back in a lineup within a few months or a year or two. It
could also mean that it may never return – a thought that warrants consideration now that Ruger’s wildly popular American Rimfire rifle is in the midst of high-volume production and sells for consid-erably less money than the 77/22 series rifles. I suspect this great production mass is also far more profitable since American Rim-fire receivers are cut on modern computer controlled machinery at lower labor costs when compared to the work and time put into cast-ing and final finishing of the re-ceivers made for the 77/22-based rifles. Far be it from me, however, to suspect some wool-pulling. The simple fact is a business will run as its executives intend for it to, in spite of pontificating gun writers.
On the heels of Hornady Manu-facturing’s 2002 unveiling of the .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (HMR) cartridge, a Ruger 77/17 rifle so chambered was purchased and topped off with a Leupold scope; whereupon I set out single-hand-edly to rid some co-leased hunt- ing ground of its population of ground squirrels, some of which were burrowing under the foun-dation of an old and storied cabin that served as a drafty bunk-house. After a couple of buddies witnessed the downrange results
LOCK, STOCK & BARREL by Lee J. Hoots
ruger rotary MagaziNe Bolt rifles discoNtiNued
Ruger’s rotary magazine bolt-action rifles have been temporarily discontinued, according to the manufacturer. This .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire was purchased to replace a .17 HMR that was regrettably sold years ago.
The rifle’s somewhat modular design allows the use of different receiver lengths and ap-propriate bottom metal components to accommodate several different cartridges. Ruger’s rotary magazine has been in use on several different rifles since 1964.
10 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 291
of the new cartridge and the ac-curacy of the rifle, not so single- handedly that .17 HMR and its speedy bullet accounted for un-told numbers of vermin, a couple of rattlesnakes, a badger and one mangy coyote.
Later, during a lapse of good judgment, the walnut-stocked sub-MOA rifle was passed along to a close friend who had far more in-terest in year-round ground squir-rel shooting than I did. Over the years that decision proved to be a regrettable mistake, for the rifle has been missed ever since. A par-tial replacement was made upon the introduction by Ruger of the 77/17 .17 Hornet, a hot-stepping centerfire version of the original rifle. It too shoots quite well, but with its laminated stock and lon-ger and heavier stainless steel barrel and receiver, it lacks the handiness of the original.
So rather than over-ponder the future of the rotary magazine rifle line, and knowing no further in-formation other than “temporar-ily out of production” was likely to be shared, the new task of re-placing the long-lost .17 HMR was taken up in late November. There were a number of .22 LR rifles to be found online, all of which were marked at full retail, no doubt ow-
ing to the information Ruger had shared through its e-mail. On hand are a couple of really nice bolt- action .22s, so another one seemed unnecessary. The local gun shops in town had nothing different to offer either, so a hopeful phone call to a long-time friend at Ruger was placed.
The conversation revealed that “There were no more available,” so the dreaded Internet was again appearing to be the best option. A few days later an e-mail arrived indicating that a .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) had been found, perhaps the last one avail-able, and it could be shipped right away. When it arrived, the fact that it had a black polymer stock was only slightly surprising, but the blued receiver and 20-inch barrel were of the same proportion as the original rifle – and, after all, the man now typing these words while on vacation from the office had waited much too long to right a wrong.
While the original rifle had a Leupold rimfire scope with an adjustable objective, which was a bit of a hindrance when hunt-ing ground squirrels and would likely be more of an issue when hunting the big jackrabbits of Ar-izona, a Leupold VX-1 2-7x 28mm
Rimfire scope with a fine Duplex reticle and a parallax-free setting at 60 yards was purchased from MidwayUSA (again, the dreaded Internet). It is a fine small-game scope that at roughly 10 inches long does not overburden a rim-fire rifle, and its gloss black finish nearly matches the rich bluing on the barreled action. A set of No. 3 (low) Ruger scope rings was also purchased from Ruger’s online ac-cessories store (www.shopruger .com) along with a pair of extra magazines, which at the time were out of stock but are expected soon. Fortunately, far too many of these handy rifles have been sold over the years to fret over the idea that spare magazines will be temporar-ily discontinued as well.
Over the Christmas holiday, northern Arizona got several inches of welcome snow and low temper- atures, so that time was used to mount the scope and swap out the factory trigger, which gave a measured pull weight of 5 pounds, 12 ounces over an average of five pulls using a digital scale. It was replaced with a Rifle Basix trigg- er used while testing a 77/17 .17 Winchester Super Magnum about a year ago. On that accurate rifle, the Rifle Basix trigger was ad-justed to 2 pounds, 11 ounces. When installed on the .22 WMR, it gave an average trigger pull of 2 pounds, 10.8 ounces without ad-justment.
GoldMedalNiccolo
Campriani- Italy -
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SergeyKamenskiy
- Russia -Men’s 3-Position
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KimJonghyn- Korea -50-Meter
Rifle Prone
Bronze Medal
AlexisRaynaud- France -
Men’s 3-PositionRifle
KirillGrigoryan- Russia -50-Meter
Rifle Prone
Shooters using .22rimfire Bleiker rifles
with Lilja barrelsdominated the 2016 Olympics shooting in
Rio taking 5 of the9 available medals.
www.riflebarrels.comLilja Precision Rifle Barrels, Inc.P.O. Box 372, Plains, MT 59859Tel: 406-826-3084 • Fax: 406-826-3083
If you want to shoot like a champion,
choose Lilja!
At 70 paces, the first three shots with CCI Game Point loads with 35-grain bullets provided this group.
The snow had melted enough in two days to allow for a hasty trip into the cold woods for a quick rough-zeroing of the scope and to shoot a couple of cursory test groups with the new rifle, which took place the day before this was written. Not exactly expecting a .22 Magnum, ammunition on hand con-
sisted of one partial 20-cartridge box of Hornady 30-grain V-MAX loads plus a box of CCI Game Point loads with 35-grain bullets.
Quite a bit of the CCI ammu-nition was used up in zeroing the scope. Ruger scope rings, which attach to an integral dovetailed flat on top of the receiver, include no provision for coarse windage adjustment. While this ring design is tough as nails, once clamped into place, the scope sits where it will, but the rings are generally centered well enough. On this par-ticular rifle and with this particu-lar scope, however, the first couple of shots at a target some 70 paces away were hitting more than a foot to the left. The Leupold 2-7x Rim-fire scope has both vertical and horizontal adjustments of 65 min-utes of angle, so corrections were made easily enough.
With a fresh target, the first three-shot group with the CCI ammunition printed a tight clus-ter that was three-quarters of the size of the fluorescent orange, one-
March-April 2017 www.riflemagazine.com 11
This three-shot group with Hornady 22 Mag
ammunition with 30-grain V-MAX bullets shows plenty
of “jackrabbit” accuracy.
inch target dot used as point of aim. The first three shots with the Hornady ammunition measured just under an inch (as measured at outside edges of the bullet holes) but grouped left of point of aim when compared to the CCI am-munition.
It may seem to some readers that two cursory groups shot on a cold and blustery winter day off a sandbag over the hood of a pickup truck are not a great indi-cator of the rifle’s accuracy, and I would agree with that. Certainly, however, it is enough for one fel-low to justify writing a check to replace another rifle that should never have been sold in the first place.
As for the future of Ruger bolt-action rifles that utilize the company’s reliable rotary maga-zine, the shooting public will have to wait and see. In the meantime, for those readers who own and enjoy such rifles, know that their value has just appreciated in so many ways. R
John Haviland
Since Browning introduced its X-Bolt in 2008, the bolt action has become the company’s flagship rifle with 29 current
variations listed in its catalog. The Hell’s Canyon Speed is one of the newest X-Bolt rifles and was named after Hell’s Canyon on the border of eastern Oregon and western Idaho to imply rugged and tough hunting con-ditions and play off its apparel line of the same name. The Speed is a pure hunting rifle chambered in 11 car-tridges from .243 Winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor to the .26 Nosler and .300 Winchester Magnum.
Browning X-BoltHELL’S CANYON SPEED
Testing a7mm
Remington Magnum
in theElk Woods
www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 29126
The Speed I’ve been shooting is a 7mm Remington Magnum. While shooting a variety of factory and hand- loaded 7mm magnum cartridges through the rifle, the Speed shot fairly well from a bench at targets at 100 yards. In fact, two Hornady and two Federal factory cartridges shot tighter groups than four of my five handloaded cartridges. I also shot the rifle extensively from field positions to practice for an elk hunt. The Speed showed it was very accurate and had features to help a shooter take advantage of that accuracy.
Encroaching years have made me review every pound of gear I pack up an elk mountain. My rifle is the first item up for assessment. The Speed weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces as it came from the box. I added a Leupold VX-3i 3.5-10x 40mm scope in Leupold steel standard bases and rings. The whole outfit weighed 8.5 pounds. It would be nice if a horse would carry that weight up a mountain, but my hunt would be on foot, and that is a bearable weight for an elk rifle chambered in a magnum cartridge.
The Speed’s fluted 26-inch barrel is of a “heavy sporter” contour, according to Browning. That stretch of barrel gives the rifle a long length of 46.75 inches. Add its muzzle brake and the rifle is 4 feet long with a barrel nearly 28 inches long sticking up like an an-tenna to snag every overhanging branch. If going to sit in a stand while hunting, I might leave the brake on the barrel and keep ear protection close at hand, but before hiking through lodgepole pine thickets, I would replace it with the thread-protector cap.
Muzzle blast was quite sharp with the brake in place, even when wearing earplugs and muffs. The brake reduced recoil, though, to about the level of a .243 Winchester. Without the brake, the rifle twisted
noticeably on firing, but the rifle’s Inflex soft recoil
pad helped lessen felt kick, and recoil was quite manageable – really no more than a .30-06. Bullet impact location remained the same with the muzzle brake on and off the barrel when shooting Nosler 150-grain Ballistic Tip bullets.
The Speed’s 26-inch barrel provided some impres-sive velocities from the 7mm Remington Magnum. Ve-locities 10 feet in front of the rifle’s muzzle for the four factory loads were 5 to 48 fps faster than stated on the ammunition boxes. Handloads were also a tad faster than velocities stated in most handloading manuals.
The X-Bolt action cycles slickly. A guide tab on the right side of the bolt body runs in a slot on the inside of the receiver to steady bolt travel. The flat top of the bolt, running in a corresponding channel inside the top of the receiver bridge, and the three locking lugs bearing on the raceways further enhance bolt glide. The rotary magazine positions a cartridge in line with the chamber, so feeding is very smooth.
A red tab protrudes behind the bolt shroud when the firing pin is cocked. Engaging the two-position safety, on top of the tang, blocks the sear and trigger lever and locks the bolt shut. A three-position safety was attempted for the X-Bolt, with a middle position that allowed opening the bolt with the safety still en-gaged. It proved difficult to quickly distinguish the exact position of the safety tab in the rush of firing at game and the safety was often pushed forward only
into the middle position where the rifle would not fire. On the final version, pushing a bolt
lock on the root of the bolt handle
The Speed X-Bolt features a removable muzzle brake. A cap protects the threads when the brake is removed.
©2017 Chris Downs photos
A Leupold VX-3i 3.5-10x 40mm scope brought the weight of the X-Bolt Speed up to 8.5 pounds.
March-April 2017
©2017 Chris Downs photos
28 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 291
the rifle. The magazine release le-ver is at the front of the magazine and is slightly recessed below the frame, so there is little concern it will be pushed inadvertently and dropped into tall grass, where it will be lost forever. The rifle single- loads a cartridge into the chamber well by dropping a shell on top of the empty magazine and pushing the bolt closed.
The round bottom receiver is mated to the stock with a receiver screw through the stock and into the receiver ring and a second screw into the receiver behind the magazine opening. A steel plate re- coil lug, inserted between the barrel shank and front of the re-ceiver, extends into a mortise in the stock. About .75 inch of the barrel in front of the receiver rests on a layer of bedding ep-oxy; the remainder of the barrel is free-floated. The recoil lug is held tightly in its stock cutout with bed-ding material, and the receiver ring and a section behind the mag-azine opening are also cradled by bedding material.
The trigger was set at just over 4 pounds as the rifle came from the
box. To lighten the trigger, the ac-tion was removed from the stock to access the trigger pull adjust-ment screw located in front of the trigger. I peeled off the securing paint on the screw’s threads and turned out the screw. The lightest the trigger pull would adjust to was 3 pounds, 6 ounces.
All the metal, even the stock’s sling-swivel studs, is coated with a Burnt Bronze color CERAKOTE finish. The stock weighs a couple of candy bars less than 2 pounds.
The Dura-Touch Armor Coating on the stock is smooth but with a slightly gummy texture. The grip and forearm have panels of stip-pled gripping surfaces that add even more of a sure hold. Tem-peratures rose into the 90s at midday when elk season opened, and I sweated like a horse, but the rifle remained tight in my clammy hands.
Camouflage stocks are the fash-ion in hunting rifles. The Speed’s stock is covered with A-TACS AU (Arid/Urban) camouflage, which matches nicely with the Burnt Bronze metal finish. When you’re over 50, however, you might lean
Above, a push-button lock at the top of the bolt handle keeps it shut. Pushing the lock allows opening the bolt with the safety engaged. Right, an Inflex recoil pad soaks up recoil.
©2017 Photo by Chris Downs
BrowningX-Bolt
HELL’S CANYON SPEED
allows opening the bolt with the safety employed.
The detachable polymer maga-zine holds three 7mm Remington Magnum cartridges. It fits flush with the aluminum trigger guard/magazine frame on the bottom of
your camouflage rifle up against a tree, walk off a ways and never find it when you return.
Because the magazine holds three magnum cartridges, that’s the number of rounds I fired for groups on targets at 100 yards. Hornady Precision Hunter and Federal Vital Shok factory loads shot groups a little under and a little over an inch at 100 yards. Federal Premium Vital Shok cartridges loaded with Nosler 150-grain Ballistic Tip bullets bet-tered the other factory loads by a smidgen. A few handloads shot as precisely as the factory loads, but there was not a great deal of dif-ference.
In preparation for the upcom-ing elk hunt, I sat and shot 30 7mm cartridges loaded with Berger 168-grain VLD Hunting bullets and H-4831 and chipped away at rocks on a hillside at 300 yards. I sat with the rifle braced with my el-bows inside my knees and shot at a target at 100 yards with the last seven handloads. The first four bullets landed in a wide 5 inches. The last three printed a 1.38-inch circle, plenty good enough for elk in the timber. Next I adjusted the Leupold scope for the rifle to fire Hornady Precision Hunter car-tridges loaded with 162-grain ELD-X bullets 2 inches above aim at 100 yards.
On opening day of elk season, the sun spiked the temperature to a blistering 93 degrees and hu-midity low enough to wither the green out of the grass. I hiked away from the road and within a couple of hours had drank most of my water. The Speed’s 26-inch barrel snagged every branch with the rifle’s sling on my shoulder as I walked along. Finally I took the
March-April 2017 www.riflemagazine.com 29
hint, and when entering a thicket I carried the rifle in my hand. My sweaty hands, though, kept a tight grip on the rifle due to the Du-ra-Touch finish. Mosquitoes boiled up from a swamp, and I hosed my-
self with bug dope, sat on a rise and glassed the country, but the sun set without the hint of an elk.
The next time out I hiked a few miles looking for elk and elk sign. The temperature peaked at 75 de-
The Speed X-Bolt’s magazine holds three 7mm Remington
Magnum cartridges.
7mm Remington Magnum Factory LoadsShooting Results
stated 3-shot, 100-yard bullet velocity velocity group (grains) (fps) (fps) (inches)
139 Hornady American Whitetail InterLock 3,150 3,155 1.72, 1.43150 Federal Premium Vital Shok Ballistic Tip 3,025 3,046 .75, .93150 Federal Premium Vital Shok Trophy Copper 3,025 3,031 1.95, 1.02162 Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X 2,940 2,988 .93, 1.17
Notes: All loads were test-fired in a Browning X-Bolt Hell’s Canyon Speed with a Leupold VX-3i 3.5-10x 40mm, set on 10x.
Table I
7mm Remington Magnum Handloads overall 3-shot loaded 100-yard bullet powder charge length velocity group (grains) (grains) (inches) (fps) (inches)
150 Swift Scirocco RL-19 65.0 3.29 3,210 2.02160 Barnes Triple-Shock RL-25 62.5 3.24 2,780 .80160 Sierra GameKing H-4831 63.5 3.25 3,015 1.44162 Hornady BTSP InterLock IMR-7977 69.5 3.29 2,856 1.78168 Berger VLD Hunting H-4831 57.5 3.28 2,781 1.12168 Nosler AccuBond Long Range Power Pro 4000-MR 59.0 3.29 2,889 1.66
Notes: All loads were test-fired in a Browning X-Bolt Hell’s Canyon Speed with a Leupold VX-3i 3.5-10x 40mm, set on 10x. Federal 215 primers in Winchester cases were used throughout. Velocities were recorded 10 feet in front of the X-Bolt’s muzzle at temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Listed loads are only valid in the test firearms used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for pressure signs.
Table II
John practiced extensively with the X-Bolt Speed rifle for an upcoming elk hunt.
30 www.riflemagazine.com
grees in the early evening, and a wind evaporated my sweat. The rifle was easy to carry. The third day dawned cool and stayed pleas-ant the whole day. An hour before sundown, the wind carried the high note of a bull’s bugle, but I never saw anything.
On the hike out, the brown spots of elk were spotted far downstream along the riverbank. The last elk walked into the trees when I arrived in sure range, so I ran up a rise and peeked over the edge. A rutting bull circled a dozen cows and calves. Leaning my chest and the rifle into a tree trunk, a big cow was shot broad-side at about 150 yards.
The elk ran and I hurried after them, finding the cow standing in the brush with its head hang-ing. The rifle came up as if on its own and fired, but the bullet never made it through the brush. The cow hobbled off and splashed into the river. I made it to the river bank just in time to see the
elk fall over dead in the middle of the river. There are no pictures of the elk, rifle and me, because it wasn’t until midnight in a cold rain that I had dragged and pushed and floated the carcass down the river to where I could pull it out. Field dressing the elk showed the Hornady ELD-X bullet had hit just behind the diaphragm, shattered part of the liver and plowed out the far side.
The rain, river water and salt of sweat and blood were wiped off the X-Bolt rifle and Leupold scope with my shirt sleeve. The pair cer-tainly withstood some tough use and weather – and stand ready for more elk hunting.
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