The wind was pulsing far too hard for me to obtain any semi-wonderful groups. The above was the last consecutive three shot group of the day, at 102 laser-verified yards, fired within two minutes. The vertical dispersion was minimal, as it was all day.
Accurate Arms 5744 remains my favorite powder, the more I shoot it, the more I like it. The vent-liner in use has over two full pounds of AA5744 through it, with an average charge of 45 gr. by weight-- well over 300 shots, yet no appreciable erosion.
Surprising to me was, using the identical charge of 5744 and switching to a .40 / 50 240 gr. Dead Center for the final shot (
having exhausted all my 260 gr. DC's) the vertical point of impact was virtually unchanged-- though it drifted farthest to the left.
Here, while still a windy day, the gusts came in spurts-- and it was far easier to time shots between gusts. This remains my best group with this 10ML-II, measuring approx. .320 inches CTC.
Naturally, all guns are different, as has been mentioned ad nauseum. Yet, for this particular rifle, the most consistent repeatably accurate hunting-level loads have been:
Triple 7 FFg, 115 gr. by volume, .40 / 50 Dead Center 240 gr. (2110 fps)
Accurate Arms 5744, 46 gr. by weight, .45 / 50 300 gr. Dead Center (2080 fps).
For those interested in ballistics, the numbers look like this:
Name: .45 Cal, PR Bullet DC, 300 grn
Ballistic Coeff: 0.336
Bullet Weight: 300
Velocity: 2080
Scope Height: 1.500
Temperature: 50
Altitude: 500
Ballistic Data
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Range Elevation Velocity Energy ETA Drop Max Y 10mph Wind Deflect
0 yds -1.50 in 2080 fps 2882 fpe 0.000 sec 0.00 in -1.50 in 0.00 in
25 yds 0.71 in 2022 fps 2723 fpe 0.036 sec 0.25 in -0.54 in 0.05 in
50 yds 2.38 in 1965 fps 2572 fpe 0.074 sec 1.03 in -0.33 in 0.31 in
75 yds 3.52 in 1909 fps 2427 fpe 0.112 sec 2.36 in 0.01 in 0.68 in
100 yds 4.05 in 1854 fps 2289 fpe 0.152 sec 4.28 in 0.52 in 1.34 in
125 yds 3.92 in 1800 fps 2159 fpe 0.193 sec 6.87 in 1.21 in 2.26 in
150 yds 3.11 in 1748 fps 2035 fpe 0.236 sec 10.14 in 2.10 in 3.43 in
175 yds 1.57 in 1697 fps 1918 fpe 0.280 sec 14.13 in 3.20 in 4.82 in
200 yds -0.72 in 1647 fps 1807 fpe 0.325 sec 18.88 in 4.53 in 6.42 in
225 yds -3.79 in 1598 fps 1701 fpe 0.371 sec 24.41 in 6.10 in 8.22 in
250 yds -7.66 in 1550 fps 1601 fpe 0.419 sec 30.74 in 7.92 in 10.21 in
275 yds -12.34 in 1503 fps 1505 fpe 0.467 sec 37.88 in 10.00 in 12.38 in
300 yds -18.12 in 1458 fps 1417 fpe 0.518 sec 46.12 in 12.43 in 14.96 in
325 yds -24.91 in 1415 fps 1334 fpe 0.570 sec 55.36 in 15.18 in 17.80 in
350 yds -32.85 in 1374 fps 1258 fpe 0.624 sec 65.76 in 18.32 in 20.97 in
375 yds -41.96 in 1335 fps 1187 fpe 0.680 sec 77.33 in 21.85 in 24.42 in
400 yds -52.25 in 1297 fps 1121 fpe 0.737 sec 90.08 in 25.78 in 28.12 in
425 yds -63.73 in 1261 fps 1059 fpe 0.795 sec 104.02 in 30.12 in 32.04 in
450 yds -76.67 in 1227 fps 1002 fpe 0.855 sec 119.41 in 34.95 in 36.30 in
475 yds -91.11 in 1195 fps 951 fpe 0.917 sec 136.31 in 40.30 in 40.87 in
500 yds -107.07 in 1166 fps 905 fpe 0.981 sec 154.73 in 46.16 in 45.72 in
Maximum point blank range, assuming an 8 inch kill zone is 226 yards (calculated), and this load still retains 1000 ft. lbs. of kinetic energy at 450 yards.
