My ThomasAir HPX I named SURELY + swaged 42gr slugs

[steve123]

Wednesday, 8 days ago, it was windy and it was hard to hit all the farther animals past 200Y. Also the vertical seemed to be affected by the wind because in light winds it's not hard hitting them, well except the bobcat.

Last week and this week the gun was hitting low by .6 mil at 125Y so I missed the T-Rex the first shot both days. I added .6 mil to my dope for the crow and hit it most of the time both days. The 5" 190Y square was hard to hit last week-(wind) but not hard this week.

Yesterday SLUGSURELY was shooting well and the wind was down. However my friend had his Chronograph out and the velocity had slowed to 745 fps??? I put this velocity into my app and the dope lined up again. I hit the 200Y donkey 3 times and went to the 250Y coyote. I broke my previous record on it by hitting it 15 times in a row. In 40 or so shots I only missed it 5-6 times and that included figiuring out exactly where to aim to stay centered on target.

I can ding the 275Y buffalo halfway decently but because I put a different scope on with less internal travel I'm at the bottom of the FOV to engage the bobcat so I don't shoot at it with SLUGSURELY. Later this year if it works out I'll have the reg taken out which will allow me to get around 1000 fps by tethering which will be a fun experiment.

I also hit the 300Y bobcat 13 times in a row with my Anschutz 22rf.

That was one fun day yesterday!

 

[steve123]

On Sunday I shot SLUGSURELY at a different location and on different steel targets but this time we shot off the bucket and sticks. We had a 5" diamond at 146Y and a 2/3 IPSC man silhouette target at 215Y which is 12" wide by 19" tall.
The wind was manageable though we found up to 1.2 mil of hold off was needed here and there. A guy I know in the FT club hadn't shot my rifle before and was surprised how easy it was to hit the steel so I told him he couldn't quit shooting until he hit the head of the IPSC target, lol, which he had achieved two times within the next couple minutes.
My time came to shoot and so I hit the 5" diamond 4 out of 6 attempts. Then went to the far target and after seeing exactly where I was hitting on the body of the IPSC target I directed fire to the head which is 4"x4". I hit it 3 out of the 4 attempts before firearm shooters wanted to use the gravel pit so we picked up everything and called it a day.

 

[Franklink]

Thanks for the updates Steve. It's been fun to follow along with the "Surely" experience. I find numerous aspects of Surely interesting. .

 

[steve123]

We finally had a really low wind afternoon on Wednesday.

I went straight for the 300Y Bobcat for the heck of it even though I'm holding over 11 mils. I was looking for improvement from the last couple times I shot at it. I could hit it 1 out of 3 shots. My guess is at this distance those slugs are petering out pretty bad and also the gun might be slightly out of tune for that far out. The vertical is larger than the animal is from back to belly by a few inches. I think I better put a bigger target up there at 300Y if I want to hit it more often. Probably 12"-13" from belley to back would suffice and 20" wide. Ha I need a big Rhino. Greatly needed is a 40 moa base too.

But??? at 275Y I could hit the buffalo most of the time. Had quite a few hits in a row before I missed. It's bigger from belly to back than the Bobcat and because the wind was low it was no problem staying on the steel in the vertical. It's a foot wide and 10"-ish from belly to back.

I didn't shoot at the Coyote with the HPX, but put quite a few on the 200Y donkey which was easy to hit. Crazy that a 200 yard shot with an airgun can be considered easy.

For the first time I tried some NSA 34.9 gr slugs in my 25 cal Uragan King. They shot well. I got 8/8 on my 50Y KYL rack, smallest is 1/4", so I started shooting at other steel.
A friend of my friend John's showed up right when I started engaging the 250Y Coyote with the Uragan. A few flyers but otherwise I hit it a lot. It was time to go home being almost 6 in the evening. John made me attempt a do or die offhand shot at the coyote. I shot and we all thought I missed but then came the ding, LOL. I can't believe I hit it. I was holding over 5 mils as well. In offhand its not easy holding over that much on top of using a heavy rifle like the King. A LUCK shot but as they say "no guts no glory"!

Perry brought out his 17hmr. No problem keeping the hits on the coyote but big problem trying to see where in the cinders we missed. It had rained earlier which means there's no dust to see when that little 17grainer lands.

Fun fun!

 

[Scotchmo]

We finally had a really low wind afternoon on Wednesday.

I went straight for the 300Y Bobcat for the heck of it even though I'm holding over 11 mils. I was looking for improvement from the last couple times I shot at it. I could hit it 1 out of 3 shots. My guess is at this distance those slugs are petering out pretty bad and also the gun might be slightly out of tune for that far out. The vertical is larger than the animal is from back to belly by a few inches. I think I better put a bigger target up there at 300Y if I want to hit it more often. Probably 12"-13" from belley to back would suffice and 20" wide. Ha I need a big Rhino. Greatly needed is a 40 moa base too.
...

Fun fun!

12"-13" at 300yds is about 4moa. Hitting a 4moa target just happens to be my typical 1st engagement (no sighters) goal for airgun shots at 200yd-300yd. I like to see 1moa goups at 100yd, 200yd, and 300yd under ideal conditions, but that's rare. A cold bore shot that hits a 4moa target at those distances is what I like to see from my setup (71gr .257 slug). I tried 20moa mounts initially on my build, but settled on 50moa. I can click out to 300yds easily but I end up including holdover to get to 400yds.

 

[steve123]

12"-13" at 300yds is about 4moa. Hitting a 4moa target just happens to be my typical 1st engagement (no sighters) goal for airgun shots at 200yd-300yd. I like to see 1moa goups at 100yd, 200yd, and 300yd under ideal conditions, but that's rare. A cold bore shot that hits a 4moa target at those distances is what I like to see from my setup (71gr .257 slug). I tried 20moa mounts initially on my build, but settled on 50moa. I can click out to 300yds easily but I end up including holdover to get to 400yds.

60 moa base is probably what I should do then.

Thanks for the info Scott because it helps me to compare to others shooting that far away with slugs and I know both you and your rifle are at the top of the precision game and have the ability to make hits at these distances often and on the first shot.

 

[steve123]

On Wednesday we caught another low wind day, maybe 2-3 mph more than what I described in my July 28th post, however the wind was very consistent.

What's new??? Well I was sent five pre-production riflescopes from a certain optics company to check out, use, and to critique before final production begins. End of last week until yesterday that's what I've been doing in my spare time. I bring this up as a hint for 2023, good things coming in the scope world !!! and also because in the box with all those scopes was a 34mm 20 moa cantilever mount. I put this mount on SURELY which now gives me approx 45-50 moa of angle total combined with the picattiny mount on the gun which already has 25-30moa of angle machined into it. Then I mounted up my March 5-42x56.

I can now dial the dope for the 250Y coyote, the 275Y buffalo, and only need to holdover 1 mil for the 300Y bobcat with the elevation all the way up, NICE!!! I guess it would be ideal to have 60 moa of angle vs 45 moa of angle because I'm topped out on the bobcat and also because I'm topped out in elevation travel the image quality of the March is lacking/compromised.
Heck I'm actually considering selling this March and buying the March Genesis 4-40.

An awesomely fun day with friends. I had them looking through all five of the pre-production scopes. Thumbs up for the most part with few criticisms. I kept one of them for my 5mmFBI varmint rifle which is mounted, no pic for now. Here's the other 4 though. Hopefully the scopes are just blurry enough that you guys can't tel exactly what they are or I'll be in trouble because its hush hush until the official release date. All 5 have 10Y close focus is the only thing I can say for now.

John the guy that owns the property I shoot at bought a special 5 meter target system that is very unique. First off its electronically motorized. It has 5 small paper targets that turn to face you for 5 seconds then it turns sideways again so you can't see the targets. It remains sideways for 13 seconds then turns to face you again for another 5 seconds and repeats the cycle continuously when plugged in to an outlet. I had my Steyr LP5 semiauto pcp pistol with me so we had a blast trying out the new target system. Its a lot harder to get all 10's in 5 seconds/(about the size of a quarter) than it would seem!

Trying out the new 20 moa mount on SURELY I missed the coyote two times in a dozen or more shots. No challenge so I moved onto the bobcat. I got it 8 times in a row which was so cool! I shot at the buffalo too, though

I'd miss once every 4-5 shots. Occasionally a shot will hit slightly high or low or the wind changes a tad so at this point I think that's just how its going to be on these size targets. I'd need the 275Y and 300Y targets to be bigger by 2-3" to hit them, say, 14 out of 15 shots on a low wind day if I were to hazard a guess. I suppose if I hit them all the time it wouldn't be fun anymore but on the other hand I can't help thinking I'd like em bigger anyway?!

It's funny because only need to dial .7 mil for the bobcat with my 5mmFBI centerfire at 3750 fps, but I need 24 mils using SLUGSURELY at 750 fps. What a difference aye!

 

[XSUltimate]

Never gets old hearing the steel go TINK! Glad to hear about the scopes Steve!!!
Thx
Dan

 

[steve123]

Never gets old hearing the steel go TINK! Glad to hear about the scopes Steve!!!
Thx
Dan

That's for sure Dan! I've felt this way ever since I was 8 years old when knocking my first tin can off the old saw horse with a BB gun. STEEL is FUN and these longer range 1/4" thick steel animals really sing. No question if you had hit them and when you hit center they sound even better.

Come on up sometime on a Wednesday so you can shoot with us.

 

[steve123]

Some fun news!

A guy here on AGN bought my March 5-42x56, so I'm applying that money with a bit more to buy a March Genesis 4-40x52. I always wanted to try one of these! It'll be arriving in a week or so. It has 86 mils of elevation travel and because its an externally adjustable scope It'll always be in the optical center of the High Master glass lens system. Hopefully it'll have stellar IQ. Not quite the reticle I wanted but I won't be holding over with the reticle much anyway.

This might mean putting a 350Y steel up on the hill to take some pokes at.

Also I gotta 'try' to hit the 421Y turkey with ole SLUGSURELY which will require around 39 mils to do.

 

[Chuck-in-Ohio]

A March Genesis....... WOW!

Taking the old rule that the optics should cost as much as the rifle, and doubling down is a strong move my friend!

That has to be the cats pajamas as far as long range optics go.
I do believe that the attributes of maintaining optical center throughout the entire elevation range will pay dividends for you on target.

I would keep Surely handcuffed to my wrist like a high value briefcase while at the range. That or chain a German Shepherd to the bench in case you have to step away for a moment.

 

[Centercut]

On Wednesday we caught another low wind day, maybe 2-3 mph more than what I described in my July 28th post, however the wind was very consistent.

What's new??? Well I was sent five pre-production riflescopes from a certain optics company to check out, use, and to critique before final production begins. End of last week until yesterday that's what I've been doing in my spare time. I bring this up as a hint for 2023, good things coming in the scope world !!! and also because in the box with all those scopes was a 34mm 20 moa cantilever mount. I put this mount on SURELY which now gives me approx 45-50 moa of angle total combined with the picattiny mount on the gun which already has 25-30moa of angle machined into it. Then I mounted up my March 5-42x56.

I can now dial the dope for the 250Y coyote, the 275Y buffalo, and only need to holdover 1 mil for the 300Y bobcat with the elevation all the way up, NICE!!! I guess it would be ideal to have 60 moa of angle vs 45 moa of angle because I'm topped out on the bobcat and also because I'm topped out in elevation travel the image quality of the March is lacking/compromised.
Heck I'm actually considering selling this March and buying the March Genesis 4-40.

An awesomely fun day with friends. I had them looking through all five of the pre-production scopes. Thumbs up for the most part with few criticisms. I kept one of them for my 5mmFBI varmint rifle which is mounted, no pic for now. Here's the other 4 though. Hopefully the scopes are just blurry enough that you guys can't tel exactly what they are or I'll be in trouble because its hush hush until the official release date. All 5 have 10Y close focus is the only thing I can say for now.
View attachment 283818

John the guy that owns the property I shoot at bought a special 5 meter target system that is very unique. First off its electronically motorized. It has 5 small paper targets that turn to face you for 5 seconds then it turns sideways again so you can't see the targets. It remains sideways for 13 seconds then turns to face you again for another 5 seconds and repeats the cycle continuously when plugged in to an outlet. I had my Steyr LP5 semiauto pcp pistol with me so we had a blast trying out the new target system. Its a lot harder to get all 10's in 5 seconds/(about the size of a quarter) than it would seem!

Trying out the new 20 moa mount on SURELY I missed the coyote two times in a dozen or more shots. No challenge so I moved onto the bobcat. I got it 8 times in a row which was so cool! I shot at the buffalo too, though View attachment 283817I'd miss once every 4-5 shots. Occasionally a shot will hit slightly high or low or the wind changes a tad so at this point I think that's just how its going to be on these size targets. I'd need the 275Y and 300Y targets to be bigger by 2-3" to hit them, say, 14 out of 15 shots on a low wind day if I were to hazard a guess. I suppose if I hit them all the time it wouldn't be fun anymore but on the other hand I can't help thinking I'd like em bigger anyway?!

It's funny because only need to dial .7 mil for the bobcat with my 5mmFBI centerfire at 3750 fps, but I need 24 mils using SLUGSURELY at 750 fps. What a difference aye!

Looks like you took the Sherman Tank diffuser off surely?

 

[steve123]

Looks like you took the Sherman Tank diffuser off surely?

I didn't want to hassle with moving the MB back and forth so I left it on the pellet barrel. Its a little quieter without one and since I mostly shoot from a bipod the recoil doesn't matter to me.

 

[steve123]

A March Genesis....... WOW!

Taking the old rule that the optics should cost as much as the rifle, and doubling down is a strong move my friend!

That has to be the cats pajamas as far as long range optics go.
I do believe that the attributes of maintaining optical center throughout the entire elevation range will pay dividends for you on target.

I would keep Surely handcuffed to my wrist like a high value briefcase while at the range. That or chain a German Shepherd to the bench in case you have to step away for a moment.

It's fun trying out different scopes to see what's up with each one.

I didn't want to use a Charlie TARAC, nor an adjustable angled base, so this was it for me.

 

[Chuck-in-Ohio]

IMO the Genesis was the smart play.

Adjustments are all same same without having to fiddle with adjusting a mount or base independently of the optics.

 

[thomasair]

Cool scope, Steve! I did not know something like this existed until your mention of it.

Mike

 

[steve123]

I received the March Genesis 4-40x52 on Tuesday, mounted it on SURELY, and did a quick sight in late in the afternoon. I discovered that there's only 1.5 mils of down elevation on the bottom of the travel remaning. This is because the mount that attaches to the bottom of the scope has 29 mils of angle and the mount on the gun has 25-30 moa angle in it already. So there's 84.5 mils of elevation travel I can use, not that I will ever use it but hey yuh never know, lol.

I bought it NIB from an individual however some of the letters in the word Genesis on the scope are funky, parts of them have flaked off in areas on the edge of the font. A minor annoyance but I decided to keep the scope anyway because I payed $700 less than what retailers are selling these for normally.

Its a really heavy scope though, almost 29oz and that doesn't include the mount which must weight another 10oz or so, but this is great for shooting from a bench off a rest. Glass is nice as well as everything else functional about the scope. I like it! Can't wait to go past 300Y on a low wind day.

Used it yesterday at Johns place shooting at the targets from 200Y to 300Y. Fun not having to hold over but it was windy and switchy so it was hard keeping shots on the steel.

 

[Scotchmo]

"...I discovered that there's only 1.5 mils of down elevation on the bottom...."

I would normally not like being that close to max out (min out?) at the zero, but with that scope, at least it's always on the center of the glass, so I guess it does not matter as much. Even without the 29mils and 25-30moa, that scope should be able to click out past 500yds for subsonic rounds.

 

[qball]

That scope is so drool worthy!! Only down side is it changes eye position if dialed to extreme elevation but amazing scope!

 

[steve123]

Scott, same here, and mostly why I sold my other March.
According to my app I can get to 700y but???

Qball, yep that's the downside. Because this scope sits taller than normal and the cheek piece is as high as it will go I can't rest my cheek on it anymore so I have to push my jaw sideways a tad to hold my face up.
Perhaps this winter I'll make a taller post for the cheek piece.