Varmint Rifle Becomes Relatively Cheap Teaching Tool

I have .17 HMR ammo figured out.

Today I went out and fired 20 rounds of ammo at 100 yards. I used a 4-bullseye target. My goal was to decide whether I should buy 17-grain or 20-grain ammo. I wanted to get whatever was the most accurate.

Here is the target. I wrote “17” and “20” on it so I would remember what went where. I started at the bottom-left, and I moved clockwise, shooting 5 rounds per target.

The first group came in at just under 1 MOA. That proves this ammo is good enough for hunting. For all I know, it will work for target shooting, too, if I practice more.

The second group does not seem to exist. I was fooling with the scope, and I think I adjusted three shots off the target.

The third group is under 0.7 MOA. For some reason, I fired at the lower-right bullseye, and as you can see, the points of impact are pretty high. I adjusted the scope again, and I shot at the same point of aim, figuring the top bullseye was already messed up. I shot a little over 1 MOA. I think the two holes to the right may be flyers. Maybe I did something new. I felt pretty good while I shot, though.

Anyhow, it certainly looks like the 20-grain stuff is accurate in this gun, and at least one other Internet person got the same result, so I think it’s probably more accurate than the lighter bullets. The 17-grain ammo may not shoot quite as well. I’m not positive, and I don’t want to shoot all day to find out whether it’s 0.3 MOA wilder than the heavy rounds.

The 20-MOA scope base is not working out. It was fine yesterday. I had to move the scope forward last night, and when I did that, things moved around, and when I tried to fix the elevation, I ran out of clicks. Oh, well. A new base is on the way. Not a big deal.

I thought the base might conceivably have some use if I shot at really long ranges, past the subsonic transition, but it looks like it won’t work closer in if the eye relief is set correctly. I’m surprised to see how much the point of aim moved when I moved the scope up one picatinny slot.

It was not a brilliant idea. Even if I hadn’t run out of clicks, you don’t really need a super-low base if you have a mil-dot reticle.

This will give me an opportunity to use the mil dots while I wait for the new base. I’ll try to figure out which dot to place on my point of aim, and it should work.

Now I feel confident ordering more ammo.

Shooting this thing is a joy. No worries about ear damage. No recoil. Excellent accuracy. Nice glass.

Maybe by the end of the month, I’ll be able to post some targets showing that I’ve improved.