Range Trip - Remington 788, 30-30 Win.

Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I took my Rem. 788 , 30-30 Win. to the range today.
I had a fixed power 6X scope on the rifle.
Didn't take me very long to realize I need more optics.
I came home and looked through my scopes.
I found a nice Japanese Weaver KT- 15 X 40 A/O target scope.
I believe that for " paper punching " the Weaver will give me a much better look at things.
I shot mostly plain base bullets today.
I didn't set any records, but for my 1st trip to the range with the rifle , I'm not upset with the performance of the rifle.

Now I need to sit down and load all that empty brass I brought home.

Ben
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oW317E7.jpg


EQI8QxQ.jpg


6hbOh8J.jpg


NAiCwz3.jpg



I plan to shoot more of the NOE 311041 plain base that you see in the target above :


Glad that I have plenty cast.

TxJFn8f.jpg
 
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waco

waco

Springfield, Oregon
You can't complain about groups like that the first time out! I'm sure you can make them even better. Awesome rifle BTW.
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Those rifles just seem to shoot well. I would consider buying one but I don't have time to shoot what I already own!

Can't beat that for cheap shooting and it is accurate to boot. What isn't to like?
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I have many loads that are ready to test. I ran out of time yesterday. More testing on another day...........

Thanks Brad,
Ben
 
Wasalmonslayer

Wasalmonslayer

Well-Known Member
Congratulations Ben on finding that little gem!!
I am very jelous I have been hunting for one for my son for quite a while now and all I keep finding is used and abused ones!!
My son is just getting old enough to shoot a rifle finally.
Sooner or later one will spring up and I will nab it for him :)

That ranch dog bullet is a good bullet I have shot a lot of them!

Those loads are a very good start for just throwing a few things together I would be very pleased and I think you are off to a great start ;)
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
That little rifle just wants to shoot, no matter what...:)

We have to remember there was some stock work, bedding work, re-mounting the action, etc. Good work Ben!
 
Kevin Stenberg

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
I try to keep telling myself that all of the good groups everyone is getting. Is not because they have "THE" perfect mold. But they have the experience with every phase of casting, loading, shooting. That they can get the best out of every part of our sport that they can.
As has been said many times before. We are living in the best time to get exactly what we want in a bullet mold.
I hope someday that I could add my name as one of the EXPERIANCED members of our little group. Until that day I will keep trying my best.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Kevin, I'm sure most of us can show you any number of ways to take the most perfect bullet design possible for your rifle and make it shoot terribly. Most of the time, close enough is close enough because with everything else dialed in right to work with the bullet you have, there is at least one way to make it really shoot if it's in the ballpark for fit and design and you're willing to settle for the velocity range the bullet seems to like.

I think it's been well-proven over the years on these boards that the quest for the perfect bullet is a fool's errand most of the time. There are so many different ways to make completely different bullets all shoot well in one rifle, you just have to keep plugging at it and find what it takes to make each one shoot as well as you can. Look at how many different .30-caliber moulds Ben has and how many of them he's been able to make shoot ragged little holes. When you start pushing the velocity envelope, the list of designs that work well shrinks considerably, but still there is more than one way to achieve the HV goal.

All that said, we all have our favorites. My favorite .30-caliber bullet is still my Lee group buy 311041 copy that no other manufacturer has ever gotten quite as right. That bullet fits and shoots well in everything I've ever tried it in, even rifles with bores so big the nose doesn't touch anything, I just have to watch the velocity in those or use some buffer tricks to steer it from behind. For my older 336, nothing has ever surpassed the bullet Jim is using in his 340, but the gas checked version. You'd just have to shoot it yourself to believe that it will put ten shots in 5/8" at 100 yards at 2150 fps, from a ten-twist microgroove barrel, but it will if everything is just right.
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Ian said:
there is at least one way to make it really shoot if it's in the ballpark for fit and design and you're willing to settle for the velocity range the bullet seems to like.
Click to expand...

The Lyman 311413 comes to my mind when I read the above. After WW II, returning GI's thought this bullet looked a lot like the GI ball round. They also tried to shoot the cast bullet at those speeds.

Horrible results. I think that is what started the bad reputation the 413' still carries today.

The bullet with a velocity threshold ceiling of about 1,600 fps is a fine shooter out of most of my .30 cal. rifles. But like Ian says, you have to learn to accept and settle for a particular velocity with a particular bullet in many cases.

Ben
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
speaking of the 041.
when I got my 03 I did some quick measuring and figured the 041 was close enough to good.
yeah...no.
absolutely hated it, I could maybe have found a node somewhere along the line, or I could just try another bullet.
I tried the other bullet.
same basic design, same basic shape, just shorter with a stronger nose.
okay that one is showing promise.
now I can go look for the node, or I can just be happy shooting sub 2" groups with open sights.
 
R

Rushcreek

Well-Known Member
Good shooting from a very nice rifle!
The walnut stock is beautiful and I like the forend treatment.
A bolt action 30-30 is a neat thing to have. Especially one that shoots like yours.
I’ve used a 10x Weaver on mine for groups but it’s wearing a K4 at present- I’ll probably just put my 6x Fullfield on it.
 
Rockydoc

Rockydoc

Well-Known Member
Ben, I am never surprised at great groups fired by you. You have the knack for finding what a rifle likes.
That stock doesn't look like what I would expect to find on a 788. Is that your work?
 
johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
Ben said:
I took my Rem. 788 , 30-30 Win. to the range today.
I had a fixed power 6X scope on the rifle.
Didn't take me very long to realize I need more optics.
I came home and looked through my scopes.
I found a nice Japanese Weaver KT- 15 X 40 A/O target scope.
I believe that for " paper punching " the Weaver will give me a much better look at things.
I shot mostly plain base bullets today.
I didn't set any records, but for my 1st trip to the range with the rifle , I'm not upset with the performance of the rifle.

Now I need to sit down and load all that empty brass I brought home.

Ben
yvYprkP.jpg


oW317E7.jpg


EQI8QxQ.jpg


6hbOh8J.jpg


NAiCwz3.jpg



I plan to shoot more of the NOE 311041 plain base that you see in the target above :


Glad that I have plenty cast.

TxJFn8f.jpg
Click to expand...
Have you ever tried that load out to 100?
Just curious how it performed at the longer range. Which is my next move.
 
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