Shout out to the quality of Shilen and Proof!
PROOF- 6.5 PRC
I Got a Proof Carbon barrel in 6.5 PRC in January and put it on a Big Horn action. Now with about 80 rounds through it, I can say it is one of the most accurate barrels I have. I got 5 boxes of factory 147 ELD Match ammo that I have been shooting. I am not great at shooting 100 yard groups, but I can generally shoot pretty good at some distance. I have put up a few really dandy 1" 10 shot groups at 100, a couple 1/2 inch and a couple 3/8 inch 5 shot groups at 100 and a couple 2 inch groups at 300 yards. I took it out to 400 yards and shot 3 into a 3" steel target that looked like they all were in about the same spot (didn't measure, but it was really close). Then I had an 8" target at 828 yards, and only shot 2 at that distance... It was 2 shots about an inch apart near the bottom of the target. WOW!!! Then I let my buddy shoot it and he put 2 more on the 828 yard target about 4 inches above my 2 shots and his were about 1 1/2 inches apart. I am feeling really good about this!
SHILEN- 7x57
Last fall I got a Shilen Select match heavy sporter in 7x57 because of the nostalgia from when I was a kid. Both of my brothers had 7mm Mausers that they just pounded the deer with and I never had one... But I did borrow them and loved the way they shot. I believe this to be the IDEAL round for white tail... not too big and not too small, kind of the sweet spot.
I had got some preliminary test rounds measured with a Satterlee style test, but I didn't measure with my OAL guage to see where that was and with the few rounds that I loaded up for test rounds, I just couldn't get a consistent group.I don't have a lot of time, so I asked my brother to fine tune a round for my 7x57 for me. The first thing that he did was measure the OAL and discovered that it was a match chamber and that I was loading WAY too short. He did a single Satterlee test with 162 ELD-X and RL16 and found a great node at 2730 FPS. He didn't look for a higher node, and I was hoping to be around 2800+ since I got no pressure signs up to 2850 with my preliminary tests. He only loaded 15 rounds and threw up a couple groups around 1/8 inch, then he came over and set up my dies to match the loads. I haven't fired it myself, but I am super excited since it is a Savage 7mm RM Long Range Hunter that I swapped out the barrel, magazine box, spring and follower... otherwise it is all stock and just has a wonderful feel to it with the adjustable cheek riser and I love the accutrigger. When I put the silencer on it it barely kicks and is super easy on the ears. THIS will be my go-to deer rifle! I love it!
