Shout out to the quality of Shilen and Proof!

**want2ride** · 05-25-2019, 05:28 PM

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!

**GaCop** · 05-26-2019, 06:23 AM

Glad to hear your getting good performance from your Shilen barrels. I have a warm spot for the 7x57. I still have a Mauser 1893 sporter I bought back in 1972 for the princely sum of $60. The rifle still shoots well out to 300 yards with my handloads that are neck sized after fire forming due to the chamber being a bit oversized.

**want2ride** · 06-12-2019, 08:49 AM

I just got the most recent round of test loads for my Shilen 7x57 barrelled Savage 110 Long Range Hunter shot off, and the results are pretty promising.
The 3 loads that i did final testing with yesterday were as follows.
44.6 G RL16- 3/8 inch 3 shot group
44.8g RL16 - 3/4 inch 3 shot group with the first 2 almost touching, the third shot felt good when i set it off but down and right. not sure why it was so far off other than it just isn't as accurate... or I was the problem. admittedly I am not great at shooting tiny groups.
45g RL 16- 1/4 inch 3 shot group.

OK I think I am on the right track, and all of this brass was the second firing, but I ran out of the twice fired brass so I loaded up 12 of the 45g of RL 16 with Virgin brass that has been neck sized. I hope this doesn't throw me into an incoherent rage if it doesn't shoot well, because it has shown so much promise. Wish me luck!

Needless to say, I am super impressed with this Shilen barrel. If I could find a place to upload a picture, I would show you all how good the testing is going!