SAKO A7 and range report

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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by bigfellascott » 22 Jul 2017, 1:00 pm

Gwion wrote:
bigfellascott wrote:Any of those results will be good enough to hunt with, pick one and go huntin, no need to waste more time and money for bugger all diff down the pointy end results wise.


I think you are missing the point that he quite enjoys the process.
Also, those groups are 50yd. Some of them would be 2" at 100yd.
Nothing wrong with being thorough, especially when you are new to it and learning basic processes for tuning a load. :thumbsup:


Is the rifle not for hunting? if so stop wasting time and money and start using the thing on ferals, G'tee they will die with that sort of accuracy, after all he's not shooting groups on em, just one shot and they are down, my point is you don't need bench rest accuracy to shoot things with a 308, animals that are usually hunted with such cals are big as a rule and you won't be shooting off a bench controlling your breathing and reading the wind and shooting at measured distances, it's more take aim and shoot type deal most of the time, sometimes with a rest whether it be a bipod or tree etc.

People get all obsessed with groups and if they ain't tiny they think they can't hit anything, fact is you will hit most of the time if you know how to shoot (ie allow for holdover if needed or wind if needed) I still haven't tested loads in my 204 for some of the projectiles/loads I made for it and yet it's good enough to take heads of bunnies out around 260-270m or so. The Tikka 308 shoots around 1.5-2" groups with the factory ammo I'm running in it at the moment but so far everything I shot at it with has fallen over and dropped dead on the spot (using trees or bonnets for a rest).

If it were a varmint rifle I would say fine tune it as best you can but it ain't so no need to be pedantic about group sizes etc. Little targets small groups, big targets bigger groups are fine :drinks:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by duncan61 » 22 Jul 2017, 1:36 pm

I like reading about how other people have interpreted the available information and applied it to get their toys to work good.I have seen a lot dumber topics on this forum.I am fortunate in that The group I shoot with have all standardised our reloads and some of the newer guys are still keen to reload as the thrill has gone for me.
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by bigfellascott » 22 Jul 2017, 1:55 pm

duncan61 wrote:I like reading about how other people have interpreted the available information and applied it to get their toys to work good.I have seen a lot dumber topics on this forum.I am fortunate in that The group I shoot with have all standardised our reloads and some of the newer guys are still keen to reload as the thrill has gone for me.


Yep the obsession with group sizes is long gone for me now, only hunt these days so not so important in the grand scheme of things. :thumbsup:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by duncan61 » 22 Jul 2017, 2:31 pm

I mainly culled Kangaroos and my longest shot would be 150M or less during the day.I would use the .243 with 80gr PSP.I have no memory of ever missing.It was up north and most of the roos have only ever seen the station vehicles going past its cold up north in May June and the flies calm down so I would start about 4.00 PM and get a few.At night under spotlight my longest shot would be less than 80M and I would use my .222 with 50 gr PSP no real need for pin point grouping
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by bigfellascott » 22 Jul 2017, 2:40 pm

duncan61 wrote:I mainly culled Kangaroos and my longest shot would be 150M or less during the day.I would use the .243 with 80gr PSP.I have no memory of ever missing.It was up north and most of the roos have only ever seen the station vehicles going past its cold up north in May June and the flies calm down so I would start about 4.00 PM and get a few.At night under spotlight my longest shot would be less than 80M and I would use my .222 with 50 gr PSP no real need for pin point grouping


Sounds about right to me, done plenty of that back in the day too, occasionally you'd get a 200m shot or there abouts but most were well under that as a rule and roos are easy to shoot as a rule (they can get a bit twitchy after a week of shooting em however) but you leave em alone for a while and they settle down as a rule.

It's that first shot that really counts when it comes to hunting etc, after that it's all over a lot of the time depending on what one is shooting. :thumbsup:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by Member-Deleted » 22 Jul 2017, 3:14 pm

I to am a sako fan but 12 mths ago i bought a Rough tech range sako in 25-06 ,26'' fluted barrel
I could not get it to shoot less than 3'' at 100 yds ,found that i couldn't tighten the screws enough to stop the barrel from moving sideways
Was told to glass bed the barrel but couldn't get anyone up north to do it because of the material used in the stock
most likely the epoxy would come away from the stock so they wouldn't stand by their work

SO, i done it myself , drilled lots of small holes at all angles so that the epoxy would anchor itself to the stock
opened the stock to get thick enough epoxy where needed, poked epoxy in all the little holes,put in the epoxy and set the barrel
I now tighten the screws to set torque and bingo shooting 1/4''

After all the trouble i've had i've heard other people having similar problems and not getting backup support from sako
It leaves me to wonder if beretta have already dropped some of the quality control that sako had in place all them years

But note prices haven't come down when buying sako
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by in2anity » 22 Jul 2017, 3:32 pm

sungazer wrote:
in2anity wrote:
sungazer wrote:It is a proven effect. not sure where I could point you to off the top of my head though. A lot of competition shooters also shoot with very little check weld or none at all, so that is not really an issue. Think of a tight rope walker using a long pole for balance. It is the length of the pole that changes the point of momentum that helps steady him. It was shown very often in different ways on the TV show "The science of being stupid".


Huh :huh: with all due respect exactly what competition are you talking about here? I ain't no F-class supported shooter, but I grew up shooting fullbore and UIT target these days mainly metallic silhouette, and cheek weld is absolutely paramount in achieving consistent sight alignment.


A lot of Bench Rest guys (depending on class), a lot of F class whether shooting off a rest or bipod F/TR. Have a read over on the oz fclass forum some of the guys or should i say most of the guys over there are the very top F class shooters in Australia currently preparing to go to Canada for the world championships. A quote from over there

"To the point that free recoiling rifle setups can and are being used. There is no forearm grip being used, there is no cheek weld being used, even contact of the
butt with the shoulder is not used. The grip of the rifle by the trigger hand is not always used the trigger is being pulled by a pincer motion of two fingers."

"True. I've ended up shooting FTR totally "Free Recoil" with a specially designed low long stiff rifle using big bullets and a Very light trigger."


Fair enough - I must say that F-class and benchrest realm is a discipline I've had zero experience with. I guess I comes down to what OP's end goal is - but if it's tradiotional fullbore or hunting I still say lowest rings possible is ideal
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by bigfellascott » 22 Jul 2017, 5:34 pm

Yeah just buy what ever suits your line of sight through the scope, if you find yourself having to adjust your head to see through the scope each time you use it something isn't right, either the rings aren't the correct height or the scope isn't in the correct position in relation to where your head naturally goes when you mount the rifle - close your eyes and mount your rifle, open them and if you can't see through it without having to move your head to do so somethings out (more than likely your scope position in relation to where you naturally put your head each time you are ready to take a shot, just adjust it until it suits. :thumbsup:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by Gwion » 22 Jul 2017, 11:46 pm

BFS. True. The loads he has chosen look good enough for a good single shot kill but maybe he is enjoying the process of load development and actually learning something; in which case it not a waste of either time or money.
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by bigfellascott » 23 Jul 2017, 7:03 am

Gwion wrote:BFS. True. The loads he has chosen look good enough for a good single shot kill but maybe he is enjoying the process of load development and actually learning something; in which case it not a waste of either time or money.


Maybe he is mate, I don't know - either way choose one and go huntin and don't worry about group sizes, as I said he isn't shooting groups on ferals, one well placed shot will see em fall over 99% of the time, so long as the rifle isn't spraying them all over the place (which it isn't) it will be fine for the intended purpose (hunting).

Buy all means keep blazing away at 50m (not sure why one would bother with such a short range with a centrefire) but I guess if that's all that's available it will have to do, me I'd rather test it in the bush at 100, 200 and 300m with single shots to see where they shoot at those distances to make sure I have a reasonable idea of what it's doing at the pointy end so to speak, which to me is the important bit, it's all good and well having a nice bench, rest, no wind, known distance etc but that's completely diff to the real world of hunting where it's 100% the opposite, no real stable rest, no real time to much around getting the breathing etc right, no known distance as a rule, wind and hills etc to contend with.

Each to their own of course but to me the rifle shoots fine so go use it on the ferals is the way I look at it. :drinks:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 26 Jul 2017, 9:31 pm

thank you guys for your replies, they are really helpful, just came back from St Mary's interesting resort, first 5 shot Hornady steel case match, not good but constantly separate about the same distance as aways

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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 26 Jul 2017, 9:35 pm

second 5 shot, 41.8 gr 8208

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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 26 Jul 2017, 9:42 pm

the 3rd 5 shot, 42.2gr I thought I found it

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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 26 Jul 2017, 9:50 pm

the 4th 5 shot group is 42.2 gr again, but 3 shot very good, 2 fly, maybe it is me, maybe is the ammo, or maybe the barrel suddenly heated up?

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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 26 Jul 2017, 10:18 pm

the 5th 5 shot, 42.8gr
almost the same as the last 42.2 5 shot, only difference is POI higher a little bit

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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 26 Jul 2017, 10:26 pm

the last 5 shot group this evening, 43.0 gr
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by Gwion » 27 Jul 2017, 6:42 am

Personally, I'd stop testing so many different charges. You have already had some good results. Pick a good one and load 15 rounds. Confirm the load by shooting 5x 3 round groups, allowing the barrel to cool completely between groups (take your 22 to the range). Take special note of where the first round from the group impacts and sight the rifle to that bullet strike. Take the rifle hunting. Set up a target in the field at 100yd/m. Shoot one shot at the target, adjust your turrets so you are 1" above bull. Fire one shot to confirm and then go hunting.

Buy a heavy barrel rifle for range use or stick to the 22 if you are heading to a 50yd range.
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by bigfellascott » 27 Jul 2017, 9:09 am

You can play around with bullet seating depth too if you really want to fine tune the best group, but for hunting any of those results will see stuff fall over with one well placed shot.
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 27 Jul 2017, 10:58 am

Gwion wrote:Personally, I'd stop testing so many different charges. You have already had some good results. Pick a good one and load 15 rounds. Confirm the load by shooting 5x 3 round groups, allowing the barrel to cool completely between groups (take your 22 to the range). Take special note of where the first round from the group impacts and sight the rifle to that bullet strike. Take the rifle hunting. Set up a target in the field at 100yd/m. Shoot one shot at the target, adjust your turrets so you are 1" above bull. Fire one shot to confirm and then go hunting.

Buy a heavy barrel rifle for range use or stick to the 22 if you are heading to a 50yd range.


yes you are right, it is a hunting rifle, no need to get "boring accuracy" :lol:
once have chance to try 100 meter then try 42.2 and 43 to see which one's better, thanks
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 27 Jul 2017, 10:59 am

:thumbsup:
bigfellascott wrote:You can play around with bullet seating depth too if you really want to fine tune the best group, but for hunting any of those results will see stuff fall over with one well placed shot.

:thumbsup:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by Gwion » 27 Jul 2017, 2:57 pm

All good, mate! :thumbsup:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by in2anity » 28 Jul 2017, 8:58 am

But TBH SHV I'd be taking your 527 carbine on hunting trips over this rifle; 7.62x39 hunting loads hit like a 30/30, PLENTY heavy enough the vast majority of Aussie game, and you'll really appreciate its portability once you starting walking around with a rifle. That's a fantastic little rifle for so many reasons.
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 28 Jul 2017, 9:30 am

in2anity wrote:But TBH SHV I'd be taking your 527 carbine on hunting trips over this rifle; 7.62x39 hunting loads hit like a 30/30, PLENTY heavy enough the vast majority of Aussie game, and you'll really appreciate its portability once you starting walking around with a rifle. That's a fantastic little rifle for so many reasons.

long range 308, short distance walking in the bush 7.62x39, pig hunting Battue 30-06, plinking win94 30-30 :lol:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by in2anity » 28 Jul 2017, 10:07 am

SHV wrote:
in2anity wrote:But TBH SHV I'd be taking your 527 carbine on hunting trips over this rifle; 7.62x39 hunting loads hit like a 30/30, PLENTY heavy enough the vast majority of Aussie game, and you'll really appreciate its portability once you starting walking around with a rifle. That's a fantastic little rifle for so many reasons.

long range 308, short distance walking in the bush 7.62x39, pig hunting Battue 30-06, plinking win94 30-30 :lol:


sounds good in theory, but your 7.62x39 will tick all those boxes and then some. I doubt you'll be taking shots past 200m in the field; 7.62x39 is perfectly capable of precise 200m shots. pig hunting; hot 7.62x39 hollow points will easily break down a pig. plinking; you can shoot Trail Boss cast-lead loads through your 7.62x39.

In case you hadn't noticed :P I'm a big advocate of 100% familiarising yourself with the ergonomics and trajectory of a single load and rifle, and the only way to do that is to get some serious time behind the trigger on that specific load and rifle. Chopping and changing is novel, but it won't do you any favours when it comes to precisely honing your hunting and offhand capabilities.

I'm only referring to the practicalities of hunting here though; don't get me wrong I love owning and shooting all kinds of loads and guns at the range, and you have every right to own and play with as many loads and guns as you want. But if you wanna git guud (at hunting) I say KISS and practice on the one gun.
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by in2anity » 28 Jul 2017, 2:10 pm

And to support my claims, watch Hickok standing offhand your exact cz527 out to 230 yards with iron sights! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caCiANMCixo :D :D :D :D they shoot pretty flat so not really any argument for the 308w, long range F-class style demands a target rifle anyway, not a sporter barrel rifle .
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 09 Aug 2017, 10:15 pm

tried 2 x 5 shot groups, cold barrel and hot barrel, 168gr zmax, 42.4gr 8208 50 meter indoor shooting range(St Mary's)

cold barrel 5 shoot got one fly(it could be my fault), otherwise not too bad

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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 09 Aug 2017, 10:17 pm

hot barrel one is ok, for hunting should be good enough anyway...

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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by Gwion » 10 Aug 2017, 12:02 am

Now you just need to sight in for max point blank range and off you go!
About 1" high at 100yd is common.
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by SHV » 10 Aug 2017, 12:12 am

Gwion wrote:Now you just need to sight in for max point blank range and off you go!
About 1" high at 100yd is common.

thanks a lot for your help :drinks:
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Re: SAKO A7 and range report

Post by Gwion » 10 Aug 2017, 12:14 am

:thumbsup: :drinks:
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