Finally got to the range to zero, shoot some with my rebarreled Model 700 Mountain rifle. This is the one I had the stock refinished on and a #2 Shilen Match 24" barrel put on. Pillar bedded,etc. It had been broken in some by the smith before I got it. I zeroed it in with some factory 150 UMC fmjs and then I began trying some ammo I had for another '06. I had checked the col and all these loads were not hot rounds either. All 3 shot groups, hot day, wind blustering 10-30 mph. The Nosler 125 BT/Varget loads went into about 1.5" with 2 touching. Not too bad from a lw barrel, hot day. My Nosler 200gr PT/R22 loads went into a solid 1.75" group, still useable. The woodleigh 240gr/R15 did not fare well. Granted, these were all worked up on another rifle. Just wanted to see what theyd do.
I had some Sierra 125 Pro Hunters loaded up with H4895 for a mild deer/coyote load. These had been loaded in new RP brass and BR2 primers. I shot first at 50yds then at 100. 41gr shot about .5" at 50, then 1" at 100, very impressive. Then the 42gr load went bughole at 50 and .5" at 100, so I settled there. I plan on shooting alot of these through the summer, and then later work up loads with the Barnes 130 TTSX and the Barnes 168 TTSX. This barrel seems to prefer the lighter bullets...so far.
I asked my smith to order a Shilen trigger for it, to match up with my Mod 700 35 Whelen AI. I still have not found my camera cable to post pics. Sorry. I can say that the #2 LW, 24" bbl sure makes this rifle handle well in my hands. I never could cotton to the factory 22" FW bbls, made the rifle feel "too whippy" in the field. Anyhow, I still love the old 30.06, and I'm glad I picked this chambering.
