.350 Remington mag With NEW Burris Fullfield II 3X9X40 Ballistic Plex LRS

I received the NEW replacement Burris Fullfield II scope recently and decided to mount it and take it to the range to sight it in. The procedure started out quite well and went rapidly downhill from there. It wasn't the scopes fault this time. It was more like operator malfunction and lack of common sense.

Essentially what happened is I forgot rule #1 of scope mounting. Although I did a masterful job of mounting the new scope and aligning it properly, getting the right eye relief etc., I NEGLECTED in my haste RE-checking the Ruger integral rings to make sure they were on tight.

My first shot rightfully so was taken at 25 yards. The shot was low 3 inches low and one inch to the right. I moved the elevation knob 48 clicks UP and the windage knob 16 clicks LEFT. This put my 2nd shot dead center of the target at 25 yards.

I then moved out to 100 yards and found my two shot group was about 6-7 inches to the left and about 3 inches high.I should have KNOWN something was not right about that group and went back to the think tank box for a recess. Instead I moved the windage knob the appropriate number of clicks and LO and Behold, my next two shot group was about a foot to the right.

OK, I was having a bad day and pushing the envelope because of time limitations, however I soon discovered I could easily turn the front and rear screws that tightened the Ruger rings down with my fingers. Of course in my haste, I also did NOT bring my tool box with all the assorted screwdrivers, etc. to check all the screws, so I had to pack it in the first day. I have now checked everything out and on my next range session can get down to business and put the gun and the scope through the test.

 Back to the range 6/18/11:

With all bedding and mounting screws including rings checked and tightened, I made a slight adjustment at 25 yards and fired a 3 shot group at 100 yards. I put the point of impact low on purpose at 25 yards so as to be on the money at 100 yards. My three shot group was well centered, however (center to center) spread was one and 7/8 inches. Prior range testing has proved to me, that the gun is capable of shooting better than that, however the range was crowded and I had limited time. I would certainly go hunting with it the way it is if I had to. Next time to the club I will take the tool kit and cleaning kit and try the ballistic plex reticle at 200 yards which is the range limit of the club I belong to.

I have previously fired 3 shots groups at 100 yards of around 3/4 inches. I suspect that since I tightened all screws a little more including the stock bedding screws, that might account for the 2 inch group. I will clean the gun, take the tools with me, and fire the first  group as is again, and then play with the tension on the stock screws a little and see if it makes a difference. I will run a cleaning patch and a dry patch between 3 shot strings to level the playing field. The NEW Burris scope performed well, and produced a bright and clear sight picture out to the 200 yard limit. The windage and elevation adjustments seem to track very well with the 1/4 min clicks and the scope holds a zero.

I was using Remington 200 grain CoreLokt factory ammo in the rifle. My load of choice for this gun for everything will ultimately be the Nosler 225 grain Partition load. From previous sessions with the older Weaver Grand Slam scope, the gun would keep 3 shots inside of an inch at 100 yards. Following everything I can read in the forums and historically etc., the Nosler 225 grain Partition load at  2700fps seems to fill the bill for everything you could want out of the .350 Rem mag. Another option might be the same weight in a Barnes X load. I have read many articles where shooters and hunters use if for deer, and hogs, bear etc. and are well pleased with the accuracy and performance of the load on various game animals.

Dan

Happy the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding!
-- Proverbs 3:13