Sporting Firearms Journal

®

RIFLERIFLE

Display until 10/16/17 Printed in USA

September 2017 No. 294

ClassicCarbines!

Latest FactoryAmmunition Review!

Shooting

RugeR’S neW

PReciSion Rifle

5.56/.223

Aussie Import:LithgowCrossoverRimfire Rifle

Accuracy Issues?Rememberthe Basics

Rifle 294www.riflemagazine.com

COLUMNS

6 6.5 Cartridges Spotting Scope - Dave Scovill

12 Browning X-Bolt Lock, Stock & Barrel - Lee J. Hoots

16 Nosler Ammunition Mostly Long Guns - Brian Pearce

20 Skinner Sights’ Bush Pilot Carbine Survival Kit Down Range - Mike Venturino

22 Savage Model 99 Light Gunsmithing - Gil Sengel

26 SIG Sauer KILO2400ABS Rangefinder A Rif leman’s Optics - John Haviland

62 Barrel Motion Compensation Reader Research - Norman E. Johnson

66 Rif les, Inc. Custom Corner - Stan Trzoniec

70 Surplus to Requirements Walnut Hill Terry Wieland

FEATURES

30 Ruger Precision Rif le Shooting a New 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington Brian Pearce

38 New Rif le Ammunition An Assortment of Factory Loads Reviewed John Haviland

44 Remember the Basics Troubleshooting Rifle Ailments John Barsness

50 Lithgow Crossover Rimfire Rif le Testing a New Australian Import Stan Trzoniec

56 Captivating Carbines Early Forerunners of Today’s Short Rifles Terry Wieland

On the cover . . .Ruger’s Precision Rifle 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington with a Leupold Mark AR MOD 1 4-12x AO scope and a Model G33/40 Mauser K98k. Ruger photo by Brian Pearce. Mauser photo by Terry Wieland.

4

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26 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 294

Every year, rangefinders take a stride forward with features well beyond simply displaying a dis-

tance. SIG Sauer’s KILO2400ABS Laser Rangefinder is one such innovative electro-optic rangefinder. The KILO includes an Applied Ballistics System calcula-tor, bullet database and sensors that calculate shot angle, temperature, air density and altitude. Pairing the rangefinder with a tablet or smartphone and SIG’s Applied Ballistics application, information is keyed in to create a ballistic profile that can determine hold-over to compensate for bullet drop, hold-off to coun-teract wind direction and velocity in milliradians or minutes of angle (MOA) for a specific cartridge.

The KILO is a 7x25mm monocular that SIG states will range deer up to 1,400 yards, trees to 1,800 yards and reflective objects up to 2 miles. On a partly cloudy

morning just after sunrise, I ranged objects in the open foothills with the KILO. With a tree or large rock in the circular aiming reticle and pushing the ranging button, yardage for 550 to 1,300 yards instantly ap-peared in the display. Several times the KILO failed to register on objects when I did not hold it steady enough. A steady hold, though, provided distances up to 1,500 yards. While I was sitting on a hill, a white-tailed deer stood up from tall brown grass in a creek bottom below. The rangefinder showed 714 yards to it. The deer went into a stand of cottonwoods, and was tracked at 740 to 788 yards as it walked through the trees. A snow squall blew in, and I doubted the rangefinder would work at all through the snow, but it provided readings out to 345 yards.

I headed down to the creek to start my spring go-pher campaign, pairing the KILO with the discon-tinued Redfield Battlezone TAC.22 2-7x 34mm scope mounted on a Ruger 10/22. The Battlezone elevation dial is a pop-up with resettable ¼-MOA adjustment and a bullet drop compensation (BDC) dial calibrated for distance from 50 to 150 yards set for .22 Long Rifle cartridges shooting 36-grain hollowpoint bullets with a muzzle velocity of 1,260 fps. Shooting showed bullet trajectory and the BDC dial meshed within a ground squirrel’s eye out to 150 yards.

With a weight of only 7.5 ounces, holding the range-

A RIFLEMAN’S OPTICS by John Haviland

sig sauer kilo2400aBs rangefinder

Ballistic information can be downloaded to a KILO2400ABS rangefinder so it also displays compensation for distance and wind at a specific range.

The SIG KILO2400ABS Laser Rangefinder can simply be used as a rangefinder by pushing its ranging button and reading the distance to a target. This mode worked well in conjunction with a .22 rimfire rifle and a scope with a bullet- drop compensation elevation turret.

28 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 294

finder steady enough to obtain an accurate reading on the little tar-get of a gopher was difficult. Brac-ing my elbows inside my knees or leaning against a fence post

helped. Pushing the SIG’s ranging button instantly displayed a distance. Holding down the button put the optic in Hyper- Scan mode that pro-vided four distances

every second; that helped com-pensate for a less than steady hold. Gophers standing up on their mounds looked like tent stakes, though the SIG provided

exact readings on the skinny tar-gets. The KILO also provided ex-act readings to gophers in narrow openings in the sagebrush and when aiming it at gophers just over the top of sagebrush.

Using the rangefinder was slow compared to eyeballing the range – aiming so much high or dialing the scope to the estimated range and firing. Often, a gopher had ducked into its burrow or disappeared into the grass before I could exchange the rangefinder for the rifle. The KILO showed its value when shoot-ing at 75 yards and farther. It deliv-ers distances to a tenth of a yard, and I turned the elevation dial on the TAC.22 scope to match the readings. One after another, four gophers were shot at 125 yards. The longest first-shot hit was at 134.7 yards. That’s about like hit-ting a deer at 700 yards.

An erratic wind came up, about enough to stir the peach fuzz in my ears. The scope’s reticle has hash marks with 2-MOA spaces on its horizontal wires with the scope set on 7x. One hash mark provided the correct spacing to compensate for the wind at 100 yards.

advanCed oPeration

The KILO’s advanced setting can be arranged to provide exact wind adjustment and much more. Pro-gramming electronic devices is above my paygrade, but it was easy to download the SIG Ballistics ap-plication to my iPad and synchro-nize the iPad to the rangefinder with Bluetooth. From the “Gun Profile” menu displayed on the iPad, I typed in information about my .223 Remington load, such as bul-let diameter, ballistic coefficient and muzzle velocity and sent the profile to the KILO. Once a load’s ballistic profile is matched with the rangefinder, there is no need for the iPad or smartphone. Select-ing the .223’s profile in the KILO, I advanced through the menu to configure wind direction and ve-locity, holdover and wind com-pensation in MOA values. Those settings can be adjusted on the application by overriding them with new numbers and pressing the “sync” button.

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The KILO2400ABS can be used by itself or synchronized with a smartphone or iPad to display its readings.

The rangefinder was now set to calculate wind and elevation holds. With the rangefinder aimed at a tree trunk, I pushed the rang-ing button; a distance of 561 yards immediately appeared. The eleva-

tion holdover of “Up 10.1 MOA” emerged seconds later, followed by a wind compensating hold of “Right 6.48 MOA.” Distance to a trailer registered 1,035 yards, followed by “Up 42.76 MOA” and “Right 15.63 MOA.”

The heads-up display (HUD) on the SIG application on my iPad is configured to display current range, holdover and environmen-tal conditions from the paired KILO rangefinder. With the KILO mounted on a tripod and aimed at a target, pushing the ranging button on the HUD remotely fires the rangefinder. That removes hu-man error. I mounted the range-finder on a tripod and aimed it at a board fence on a far hill. Push-ing the ranging button on the HUD displayed a distance of 915.7 yards after a few seconds. The range-finder displayed 913.8 yards.

The SIG app also calculates and sets muzzle velocity and bullet drop from actual shooting at known distances by entering your actual shooting results in the “Cus-

September-October 2017 www.riflemagazine.com 29

The SIG rangefinder instantly displays distance with a push of a button.

tom Profile” in the “Gun Profiles” submenu. The “Environment” sub-menu shows the temperature, pres- sure and humidity data coming from the rangefinder’s sensors. These figures can be updated and controlled by an iPad or smart-phone.

A Weatherflow WINDmeter is included with the KILO. My iPad and many new smartphones have no jack to plug it into, but that’s okay. Wind changes speed and direction from one second to the next along a bullet’s path. From watching instructors at rifle shooting schools, I noticed they do not solely rely on a wind meter to judge wind. Mostly they study vegetation and mirage movement, run the figures through the com-puter between their ears and pro-nounce an amazingly precise hold adjustment. When a rangefinder is developed to see mirage and veg-etation movement and apply and display a compensating hold-off, rangefinders will have taken their final steps forward. R

www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 29430

Brian Pearce

Bill Ruger designed the Ruger .22 Standard Pistol in the 1940s, founded Sturm, Ruger & Co. in 1949 and began pro-

duction in a humble “red barn” located in Southport, Connecticut. The .22 Standard was built with pioneering manufacturing methods and sold for $37.50. Industry “experts” expressed considerable skepticism, but Ruger’s success was inevitable.

RugerPrecisionRifle

September-October 2017 www.riflemagazine.com 31

Over the next few decades, Ruger introduced new-model firearms at the rate of about one design every 18 months. This included single- and double-action revolvers, autoloading pistols, bolt-action, single-shot and autoloading rifles and shotguns. Ruger has pro-duced around 30 million guns to date.

It has been 15 years since Mr. Ruger died, but the company continues to offer new, innovative manufac-turing processes and products that are not only in step with modern trends, but are also pacesetting. One ex-ample includes the Precision Rifle designed with long-

range target shooting in mind, but it works for other applications from varmint shooting to law enforcement.

The Precision Rifle is a rather unique, modular bolt-action design. It shares the same basic configu-ration as modern AR-15 rifles with in-line recoil path, flattop “upper” assembly, pistol grip, detachable mag-azine, fully free-floating barrel, adjustable stock, etc.

The Precision Rifle bolt assembly shares some in-ternal design features with the Ruger American bolt action, such as three forward locking lugs for a 70-de-gree bolt lift and dual cocking cams. The one-piece

Shooting a New 5.56NATO/.223 Remington

A Leupold Mark AR MOD 1 4-12x 40mm AO variable scope was used to test the new Precision Rifle 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington. With the 20-MOA Picatinny rail, having pre-sighted interchangeable scopes is feasible.

A generously long and swept bolt handle with a large knob allows bolt cycling and operation from any practical shooting position.

Although the safety is operated from the left side of the receiver and is similar to the AR-15, its position can also be seen from the right side.

RugerPrecisionRifle

The stock is adjustable for length of pull and comb height, and its folding design facilitates bolt removal (below) and shortens the overall rifle length when stored. When unfolded, the stock locks solidly in place.

32 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 294

bolt body is CNC machined from prehardened 4140 chrome-moly steel for strength. The bolt face is countersunk and fitted with a ro-tating extractor and plunger ejec-tor. The bolt body is full diameter, measuring .850 inch for increased rigidity and smooth operation. The bolt body is patented, being con-toured to accommodate multiple magazine designs (in select cali-bers). The bolt knob is large and threaded onto the swept bolt han-dle, which is comparatively long and offers good leverage. This combination allows easy oper-ation from a variety of shooting positions, including prone. The bolt features a hollow aluminum shroud that can be opened up by twisting and removing the cap to quickly access a bolt disassembly tool for striker channel cleaning.

The upper receiver is also CNC machined from prehardened 4140 chrome-moly steel, while the lower magazine well “halves,” en-compassing the trigger assembly and safety like a clamshell, are machined from 7075-T6 aluminum

and are type III hard-coat anod-ized for enhanced durability.

The barrel can be removed or replaced using standard AR-style wrenches and headspace gauges. The handguard and grip assem-bly are AR compatible. The stock is attached to an AR-style buffer tube and will accept any mil-spec AR stock. The handguard (or fore-arm) is a Samson 15-inch Keymod Evolution that is well vented for rapid barrel cooling, comes with a second rail to accept accesso-ries, such as a bipod, and allows the barrel to free-float.

The 5.56 NATO sample rifle used here will only accept Ruger mag-azines designed for the Precision Rifle. Rifles chambered for .308 Winchester and the 6.5 and 6mm Creedmoors (and discontinued

.243 Winchester) feature a patented Multi-Magazine Interface that al-lows the use of multiple AR-10 magazines and select M14-style magazines. The lower receiver of the 5.56 is the same size as those used for .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor, so Ruger elected to build a 10-shot plastic magazine to compensate for the rather large magazine well.

The two-position safety’s en-gagement control is operated from the left side, in AR position and style; however, there is a conve-nient position indicator on the right side. It is a positive system engineered as part of the trigger unit and assembly. The trigger fea-tures a “trigger release,” or center pivot, that has become common with modern rifle designs and is adjustable from 2.25 to 5 pounds.

RugerPrecisionRifle

34 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 294

A Hybrid Muzzle Brake reduces recoil and is said to minimize noise and muzzle blast over previous designs.

The new rifle’s Marksman adjustable trigger breaks crisply and cleanly and can be adjusted from 2.25 to 5 pounds.

The trigger of the sample rifle broke crisply at 2.25 pounds right out of the box.

During the middle 1980s, Ruger began manufacturing hammer- forged barrels so as not to be at the mercy of outside barrel suppliers. Although there has been something of a learning curve, Ruger barrels are generally good and have been especially good in recent years. The Precision Rifle is fitted with a cold-hammer-forged barrel that is con-structed of 4140 chrome-moly steel with 5R rifling. The 5R rifling fea-tures land “edges” that are slightly rounded and is reported to distort bullets to a lesser degree for im-proved accuracy. It also uniquely places the lands more or less op-

posite of the grooves to reportedly reduce powder and copper fouling. Ruger has taken steps to assure the chamber is cut concentrically to the bore, groove and bore di-mensions are at industry minimal tolerances and headspace is like-wise at minimum specifications.

When the Ruger Precision rifle was first announced, my initial thought was: Why use a folding stock that has traditionally been wobbly, which is absolutely con-trary to precision shooting? Upon examining a preproduction rifle, I quickly realized that this was not a traditional folding stock. Rather, it is extremely rigid and locks up rock-solid with only very slight side movement. It is fully adjustable for length of pull from 12 to 15.50 inches, and the comb height is adjustable, all of which allows shooters to get properly “locked in” with the rifle, scope, target and particular shooting po-sition. It also features a soft one-inch-thick recoil pad. The folding stock allows rearward removal of the bolt assembly and results in a handy overall rifle length of just 31.6 inches when folded.

My first hands-on experience with a Ruger Precision Rifle 6.5 Creedmoor was a couple of years ago at Hornady Manufacturing’s long-range testing facility; it was one of the rifles used when develop-ing the ELD-X bullet. I had the op-portunity to shoot that rifle, along with several others, at 500 to 1,200 yards. With Dave Emary as my spotter and reading the wind with

RugerPrecision Rifle

5.56 NATO Specifications

Caliber: 5.56 NATO and .223 RemingtonAction: bolt action, 3 locking lugs, 70-degree liftStock: folding, adjustable for length of pull and comb heightBarrel: Ruger cold hammer forged 4140 chrome-moly, 5R rifling Barrel twist rate: 1:7, RH, 5 lands and groovesBarrel length: 20 inchesChamber: 5.56 target, minimum specification Handguard: AR compatible, ventilated, free- floating barrelUpper receiver: CNC machined 4140 chrome-molyCapacity: 10-round magazineOverall length: 39.25 to 42.75 inchesFolded stock overall length: 31.60 inchesTrigger: Ruger Marksman, adjustable from 2.25 to 5 poundsWeight: 9.8 pounds MSRP: $1,599

a Kestrel gauge, it didn’t take long to get locked onto a small steel target at 1,200 yards and begin pounding it with reasonable reg-ularity. I did not have the chance to measure group size, but it was clear that the rifle and load were easily producing sub-MOA accu-racy in spite of crosswinds in ex-cess of 8 mph. There were several other custom and semi-custom test rifles that demonstrated sim-ilar accuracy, but most of them cost several times more than the Ruger Precision Rifle.

A Ruger Precision Rifle 6.5 Creedmoor was ordered along with a 5.56 NATO version. The lat-ter arrived first and was chosen for this review. The barrel features a 1:7 twist to stabilize .22-caliber bullets up to 80 grains. Several factory loads containing 55- to 60-grain bullets produced respect-able 100-yard accuracy. However, bullets weighing 69 through 80 grains and designed specifically for extreme long-range work (at least with this cartridge) were the primary focus.

The Precision Rifle barrel is marked “5.56 NATO TARGET CHAMBER.” I called Ruger to ver-ify what that entailed; however, before giving the company’s re-sponse, it should be mentioned that the .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO are not fully interchange-able. Externally, the two cartridges are identical, but 5.56 pressures are measured one millimeter for-ward of the case mouth (in the freebore area of the chamber, if you will), while .223 pressures are traditionally measured on the case

body. The .223 also was designed for a shorter chamber throat, with the leade being cut at 3 degrees. The 5.56 requires a longer throat with the leade being cut at 1.5 de-grees. As a result, a rifle with a 5.56 chamber can safely fire both cartridges, while firing 5.56 loads in a rifle with a .223 chamber can result in high pressures, stuck cases, blown primers or possibly worse. Ruger representatives in-dicate that the Precision Rifle’s Target Chamber leade is cut “at

slightly less than 1.5 degrees . . . with longer free-bore than the .223 . . . but with the tighter chamber tolerances of the .223.”

A Leupold Mark AR MOD 1 4-12x 40mm AO (mil-dot reticle) scope was installed on the test rifle, as it is designed specifically for AR-15 pattern rifles. In spite of this scope’s features being less than ideal for the outer range limits of the rifle’s accuracy and the car-tridge’s potential with new, low- drag, long-range bullets, it was

September-October 2017 www.riflemagazine.com 35

Several of the factory and hand-loads shot

grouped well under one inch at

100 yards (shown) and

within .65 MOA at

300 yards.

Ruger Precision Rifle 5.56 NATO Accuracy Results

advertised actual 100-yard load velocity velocity group (grains) (fps) (fps) (inches)

55 Federal American Eagle FMJ 3,165 3,135 1.0055 Winchester SP 3,240 3,201 .8060 Hornady TAP FPD 3,115 3,088 .6569 Buffalo Bore Sierra BTHP 2,900 2,835 .5573 Hornady ELD Match 2,790 2,777 .4575 Black Hills Match HP 2,750 2,722 .5075 Hornady SM HPBT 2,910 2,844 .6077 Buffalo Bore Sierra BTHP 2,800 2,752 .75Notes: Velocities recorded from a 20-inch barrel.

36 www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 294

extend the effective range of the cartridge by offering low-drag co-efficients, flatter trajectories and improved wind-bucking qualities. Examples included the Hornady 73-grain ELD Match at an adver-tised 2,790 fps and the 75-grain HPBT at an advertised 2,910 fps, both from a 24-inch test barrel; Black Hills 75-grain Match HP at 2,750 fps; Buffalo Bore Sierra 69-grain bullets at 2,900 fps; and the company’s 77-grain Sierra load at 2,800 fps. With changing wind gusts and other variables at the time of 500- and 800-yard shoot-ing, it was difficult to determine exact – or even average – accu-racy of the above loads, but each produced at least one five-shot group that went inside 2.3 inches (around .65 MOA) at 300 yards. I believe that on a calm day and with select match ammunition, the Precision Rifle is capable of hold-ing between .60 to .80 MOA at 500 yards, perhaps even less.

Several handloads were tried, including the Hornady 73-grain ELD Match bullet over 24.0 grains of Norma 203B powder for 2,460 fps, and the 80-grain ELD Match bullet shot at just over 2,400 fps using 23.8 grains of Hodgdon Var-get powder. Loads were assembled in NoslerCustom cases and ignited with CCI BR-4 Bench Rest prim-ers. Several five-shot groups at 100 yards hovered around .5 inch.

The Precision Rifle functioned flawlessly throughout shooting sessions and consistently pro-duced a high level of accuracy. For shooters who have only used more traditional “sporting” rifles with conventional stock profiles, the new Ruger will take some get- ting used to. Once that learning curve is over and the stock is properly adjusted for the shooter, it becomes possible to hit small targets at long range. With its in- line recoil path and substantial 9.8-pound weight, recoil was min-imal.

With an escalating interest in long-range shooting during the last few years, Ruger has developed a rifle that is available at the reason-able cost of about $1,250.

those results listed in the accom-panying table. Respectable ac-curacy was obtained with select 55- to 60-grain loads, though some 55-grain “varmint” bullets did not reach the 100-yard target. This was probably due to the fast 1:7 twist barrel that is not intended for lightweight, frangible varmint- style bullets.

The most interesting factory loads contained 69- through 77- grain bullets that are designed to

RugerPrecisionRiflenonetheless adequate for accuracy testing at 100, 300 and 500 yards.

A variety of factory loads were tried at 100 yards, with most of

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