We finally had a decent day here. 40 degrees and wind only 10-15 MPH. I took the new 223 Ultra to the range along with the new Youth Model 7MM-08. This youth model fits me very well with my bad shoulder. I ran 24 rounds of 140 grain factory Remington shells through it with no ill effects to the shoulder. I had a heck of a time getting it sighted in. Darn Leupold scope with no click stops always fowls me up. Its a M8 4X scope. Its really not powerful enough for the 3 inch target spots at 100 yards. The cross hairs cover so much of the spot that its hard to center it. Anyway when I finally got it zeroed It shot a nice 1 1/4 inch group four shot group. I then had one flyer which was shooter error which opened it up a bit. This was with the 140 corlokts. I also shot a few remington extended range 140 grainers at some clay pigeons at 200 yards . I missed the first shot then hit the second shot then hit a half of one with the third shot. I would say this one will be a pretty darn good shooter.
The 223 Ultra shot well with the 45 grain WW HP's as I expected. I have a Scheels Outfitters 4x14 power scope with a 3 inch sunshade. This was the first time out of the house for this combo. I got it zeroed quickly and then put about eight shots in an1 1/2 group they were all right on the up and down line with a little vertical stringing. They would however been all in the center of a Prairie dog. The vertical stringing may be just me today or It could need some forend work. I was not steady enough today to be sure if it was shooter error or need for tweeking. All in all I think I have a couple real good shooters. I didn't really take time to focus the new scope either. With both guns there were no sticking cases or any other non perfect functions :grin: For prairie dogs I may need a little more manification. Tonight I will start reloading and see what kind of loads I can come up with. For the 7mm-08 I have on hand 130 Gr. Barnes XBT's, 120 grain Sierra Pro Hunter spitzers and 140 grain Nosler Ballistic tips. For the 223 all I have right now are 45 grain Hornets. 50 grain Sierra spire points and Barnes 53 grain X bullets. I quess I have a few 60 grain Hornadys and 64 grain WW's.
