Range time...finally

Well I finally got a chance to get to the range to try out my 10fp - .308, 12 4x4 .204, 11 .204.
Nothing spectacular regarding group size as these are first rounds through each.

The 10fp was shot with some Winchester 150gr SP for sighting in the scope.
Tried several different types of ammo..
Right To Bear Ammo 168 gr BTHP
Right To Bear Ammo 155 gr BTHP "utramatch"
HSM 168 gr, BTHp match
Ultramax 165 gr BTHP

I shot 6 round groups of each.
Groups tightened up the more I shot but only had a round count of 30 total. The Ultramax did best thus far... about an inch with flyer.

The 12 and 11 both being .204 made an interesting comparison.
I started with Winchester 34 gr JHP for scope sighting in.
Next came Hornady 32 gr vmax
followed by Hornady 40 gr vmax
Then came the Hornady 30 gr ntx
next was the Winchester 32 gr silver ballistic tip
and lastly the HSM 40 gr Berger BTHP match

These 2 also did better towards the end with approaching MOA groups with the HSM.

My initial opinions of the tupperware stocks stands.... I don't really like them so I'll be looking for new furniture for them
on the 10FP and the 12 4x4.

Hopefully as I get to shoot them more groups will tighten up some and I can start to work on handloads for them.

So I have a question... what kind of range log or shooting log do people keep to track groups, loads, trends, changes, etc ?

I have two binders. One contains my load information, tracks number of rounds fired and averaged accuracy results. My second binder contains my range targets with load info, weather conditions along with SD/ES, average velocity and group size.

I have a notebook for recording load data and chronograph results. I also keep almost every target I shoot at. After a while you can start to notice some patterns in your shooting and what your gun likes. Even though I am pretty thorough, I always wish I had written down more info. I develop loads mostly around ES and SD, and it is neat to try your different "preferred" loads at different times of the year.

Last night I had a few loads with max ES's around 10-15 and one with a max ES of 7 fps and a nice guy I had never met before and I were talking about testing procedures and such. I said, "watch this" and loaded a round in the hot chamber and let it sit in there for about 2 minutes. Bam! The round shot 35 fps faster from baking in the chamber. It's fun to have a book of evidence to play around with to help yourself and help others learn little things.

I had already found the elevation for 420 yds and loaded a round and quickly hit a 6" gong a little high of center. Then I let one bake in there and pulled off a steady shot and it jumped up about 2.25 inches to the strap that held the gong to crossbeam. This time the baked shot was 42 fps faster (I let my old .308 get pretty warm sometimes : P but she still shoots great) I'm always amazed at how seemingly little variables can change end results. Just keep an eye open and try to write down evidence of what you see.

My shooting buddy shot 5 shots rather quickly through my chrono (like 1 every 5-10 seconds) with an ES of around 20 and then he threw another in and let it bake. It shot 53 fps faster.

After who knows how many loads I have found that I can hardly achieve any better results for short range accuracy than IMR 3031 for one gun no matter what my chrono says. I have XBR loads with ES in 4-10 but my old 3031 load shoots better. Would I know that if I only did chrono work or only target work? Nope.

I always remind myself to take better logs, and one thing I forget is to correlate lot #s for bullets, primers, and powder kegs. I hate looking through my targets for a specific example of seating depth and for some reason that day I forgot to write it down besides in a tab in my cartridge box that is who knows where.

WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING lol

+1 record all you data for later, you'll be glad you did.