I'm at the range with the Woodsman SS 62/308

Jerry made some 308 slugs fir me to try. These are from various commercial molds he has in the caliber. I have not yet spent much time with 308 rifle slugs. That is coming as I have time.

I've found a couple of winners so far. Let me first tell you that it is "blow yer hat off gusty" here at the field. AND, AFTER I shot these targets, I've found that my scope rings are just finger tight on the gun. Yep, one of those lovely days last week when everything seemed intent upon chewing me up, I was trying to get ready for the range. I stuck the scope on, and made a mental note that I needed to use a wrench on these rings. I'd tried my normal Warne thumb screw mounts with my Nikko Sterling scope, but they didn't like the flat base of this scope rail. I grabbed a Center Point and some rings from the drawer ... And forgot to tighten them. So; yes, throughout the testing of the 62 slugs, the scope was finger tight. Who knows if the first slugs were fine or not? I'll find out.

Well ... Why post anything with loose rings on a windy day?







Cause the results look like this already.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2012 07:57PM by barnespneumatic.

At the range and didn't want to loose that part of the post ...



Another good slug. These are at 60 yards.



Here is the muzzle I finished this morning. Remember, this is a thread in insert. This is not a dedicated 308 rifle.

More testing to do ...

Would have been nice to finish testing, however; just after I tightened the scope ... I heard a motorcycle coming in the dirt toad. The road makes a sharp turn to the left at the field, and goes straight over hill and Dale on that heading. I see the dirtbike go by slow, but it doesn't go up the road. Guy walks it back and looks in the trailer side door. "are you shooting a gun?". Yes. "what kind? ". It's an airgun. "oh".

So the kid goes up the dirt road, but I can tell he doesn't keep going. Next thing I see, he's riding the ridgeline off to my left quartering. Well, that's the game. I did move the backer to a new more secure position, but then I heard the bike again ... Somewhere. I just started packing up. While I did that, he was here ... Then he's there ... No ... He's back again. He leaves on the dirt road behind me ... And then a few minutes later he's coming down the dirt road up the hill to the left. Must be at least three of him.

Another day. . Hope there's more like this. About 65 degrees and clear.

Gun works. It's done.

Gary

Well how about that? 2 out of 3 at an abbreviated session! Great news, ought to take the heat off for a while.

I'm a little surprised the 117 flat tips didn't do well, I'd figured they would be the first to show good groups. But that's why testing needs to be done! There aren't that many "great pellets" just a few that make a good combination with a lot of guns. Clearly, this so called "proven" design (it has worked with some lesser guns) is not a good fit for this powerhouse.

On the flip side, I've not, heretofore, had a report saying the 163gr spitzer was an accurate round out of anything! (I'll admit very limited users out there...)

I think it's awesome that this gun likes the long, heavy rounds! Those slugs are bound to have the highest BC and thus carry power to long range. I'm not seeing any signs of wobble in the smears so they probably don't go unstable before 100 yards. I guess we'll keep the mold just in case anyone ever has a gun that can use this slug.

It's unfortunate the test got called short but I think there was only one other 160ish grain slug to test. The other slugs I sent were a round tip version of the slug that didn't do well and something around 100gr IIRC. Based on the 117 results, my hopes for the lighter designs are diminished...

Hi Jerry
Yeah, I'm pleased too. The fact that I found a scope issue at the end made it all the more odd. As soon as I had a hint of "scope" idea ... I knew without question that I'd never tightened it. The cross bar and finger tight did the work to a point. Surprising

You'd sent a 155 grain pack. That mold is damaged or flawed. Consistent off center tails. We'll talk. I have a pic on the phone.

I'll get back to the other slugs. It will be a while until Sean digs out his computer again. I see he's missing. Probably got another five feet of snow.

I'm sure these long pointed slugs will penetrate great. They hurried out of sight in the locust scrub trees behind the backer. Also, that backer was leaning pretty good, and flimsy ... So great round holes are all the more special.

Gary

Hi Gary,

Great shooting! Outstanding groups under those circumstances. The picture of the .308 muzzle insert shows a lot of character. Please show a picture of the complete Woodsman SS with the .308 insert installed.
Sean, you got there a winner. I hope that you find the time to enjoy it and please keep us posted on your adventures in the wild Alaska using the Woodsman SS…

Julio

Hello Gary,

That's fantastic grouping, especially given the circumstances. Those heavyweight .308 slugs are going to be some great long-distance rounds, and they'll carry great power out to that distance given their size, weight, and profile. Thanks for posting the photo of the barrel end adapter, I was wondering how that worked. I suspect that this new design for inserts is going to be very, very popular, and I'm thrilled that you decided to pioneer it on my rifle.

Good guess on the snow. It's not that we got another five feet yesterday, it's just that it's warmed up to the mid '30s and we've got to clear off the existing snow before it starts raining on it. The rain adds so much weight to the existing snow that there's danger of roofs collapsing and such. Spent four hours (fortunately with some help) clearing the house yesterday, the garage is next. Another 10-14" of wet, heavy snow forecast, then comes the rain.

On the positive side, it'll be nice to reduce the snowpack a bit, it's piling up over two stories high where the plows and loaders are pushing and stacking it.

Gary, those print nice neat holes alright. Sayisfying for both the gun-maker and the caster!

Sean, snow piled up to 2 stories?! I will never complain about our occasional snowfall again!

Cheers
Neil

I'm liking those groups and i love the 308 cal in airguns. With accuracy like that, i expect to see some fantastic shooting at 200 yards on you and Jerry's next outting.

Video taped of course....LOL