A buddy and I got to the range the other day, to zero two new 6xc's I had built for him and his brother, I had broken the barrels in at home. Both guns shot 5 shot groups that looked like there was two bullet holes, 60% overlapped, with an old standby load, using Sierra 107's and 70 gr Sierras HPBT! We then broke out some old school stuff, a 1957 Marlin in .35 Remington I had picked up back in the winter, and a 1951 Savage 99 in .200 savage with a 2x7 Leupold on it. I zeroed the Marlin, using iron sights only, with Hornady's Leverloution ammo shooting a 200gr FTX at 25 yds, then went to 50 yds, just about an in high. Then I tried some ammo loaded with the same bullet, and Leverlution powder and supposedly the same load. I snugged it up in the sandbags, and at the shot my buddy said you barley made the first hole you shot with factory ammo bigger. I then levered in another one, took careful aim and he said dang if I had not hit the same hole, egged it out about 1/8 of an inch. I then put two quarters of a clay pigeon on the berm at 100yds, and calling my shot, hit them both, powdered, off hand. It is a long road back, but I am making slow, slow steady progress in my rehab from the 3 strokes back in November, especially to a feller like myself, that was an offhand ML competitor from a long way back.
Then my buddy shoots the .300 Savage, and it is about an inch high at 25 yds, so I tell him to go to 100 yds, but not to expect much better than 11/2 inch groups from the 99, since that is about the best I have ever seen them do. He then proceeds to shoot 3 Federal 180 grain loads into 3/4"! He then tells me to shoot the Rem. 150 grains for 3 shots, and we end up with a 3 shot group that is all 3 holes overlapping in a horizontal line, of about .600", and I offer him a tidy profit over what he has in the 99 right then and there, but he says this one is a keeper!
Now we had just been shooting two tack driving varmint rilfes, with Krieger barrels on them, but we were much more impressed with the old lever actions shooting than them, considering everhthing. Just thought I would share!
Then my buddy shoots the .300 Savage, and it is about an inch high at 25 yds, so I tell him to go to 100 yds, but not to expect much better than 11/2 inch groups from the 99, since that is about the best I have ever seen them do. He then proceeds to shoot 3 Federal 180 grain loads into 3/4"! He then tells me to shoot the Rem. 150 grains for 3 shots, and we end up with a 3 shot group that is all 3 holes overlapping in a horizontal line, of about .600", and I offer him a tidy profit over what he has in the 99 right then and there, but he says this one is a keeper!
Now we had just been shooting two tack driving varmint rilfes, with Krieger barrels on them, but we were much more impressed with the old lever actions shooting than them, considering everhthing. Just thought I would share!
