Worthwhile range trip with a wee bonus

Thinking of going for an overnight hunt this weekend so I decided it would be a good idea to put some rounds down range.

Also I have a new bipod and all my range trips for the last couple of years have been off a bags on a bench. So I thought best I validate my impact point with a more realistic shooting scenario.
I've also been trying to develop a load with 162's but 120's seem to go better so I thought I'd try both off the bipod.

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100 yards, measures .7 for a five shot group of 120's

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162's, 2.2 inches or if you take out the one that's high and right, 1.1 inch

Targets were next to each other and I shot a 120bt to verify aim point. (exactly 1 inch high, dead center on the y axis), then 162 on target 2 then 120hp on target 1 etc.

As much as I wanted it to be the 162's, the 120's are a clear winner. I've shot multiple groups with them and they always shoot well under an inch.
The biggest problem with the 120's is the only ones available that I know of are Vmax's
Not exactly my preferred choice for deer.

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Plenty of these guys around to exercise the dog and the 10/22 as wee bonus :thumbsup:

Sweet. Awesome group with the 120's

120 NBT is a great bullet

+1 for the 120 NBTs. Assume you’re running a 708?
If it doesn’t like 162s (? Are you hand loading?), you could try Speer 130 or 145 HC, or 150 ELDx.

I've tried 140's and 150's with similar result's to the 162's.
Haven't tried any Speers in this rifle.
I have a box of the 120Bt's and another 30 120gn Pro hunters I can load up so I'm good for a bit.
Looked online at the Nosler site and their showing the 120's out of stock so I guess we won't be getting any for a while yet.

If V-Max are giving you groups like that, run with them. Axis or crease shot the deer or whatever arn't going to give a toss. If you know what the rifle can do and an animal walks, look to the nut behind the butt. .224 V-Max work plenty good enough on deer and goats so can't see why they won't work with a bit more weight.

Your dog looks happy with the rabbit there,oh good shooting with the 120s.Good luck with the hunting.

She should. At one point I had several to shoot at from an offhand position, I thought I had 2 for her to retrieve in the open with maybe 1 other at a burrow entrance.
Sent her for 1 which she brought back no problem. Sent her for number 2 which she retrieved no problem.
Sent her for number 3 which was a bit of head scratch because I didn't remember shooting it. It took a bit to get her to go to it as she kept trying to hunt where the first 2 were.
Eventually she closed in on number 3 only for it to come to life and make the 30 yard dash to it's burrow which was 10 feet from me! Naturally she was in hot pursuit trail barking all the way.
Note to self. If you don't remember shooting it, it's most likely because you didn't. :roll:
Not ideal for steadiness training.

Great shooting, nice looking border collie too