The Richard Utting Blog - April Edition
Recent visits to the Moor have been about fine-tuning the new Creedmoor and 300WinMag loads after their rather delayed return from the smith for new barrels.
Firstly, I zero, sort the powder charges out and, after barrel run-in has settled down, I would then fine-tune for vertical at long range. A single hole gun at 100y doesn’t mean much at long range.
I have a target just for this, actually. It’s a plate at 808y that is only a handful of inches high, but a couple of feet wide. There’s a mph or two of windage tolerance but for vertical, from the centre to the top and centre to the bottom, it is barely 0.1MIL.
When I’m tuning seating depth or maybe using a barrel tuner to the same end, it’s very easy to see on this target which nodes produce the best vertical dispersion. This, of course, is tied to fps SD results on the chronograph.
You can see SD7 on the Magnetospeed here so any vertical dispersion is the shooter or the load.
From this point, we can tune. Trusty IOR Crusader in the ridiculously burly Valdada King Kong 25MOA one-piece mounts. Tier one FTR bipod is good for getting super low or super high if you’re in an awkward firing position. Adjustable bag rider (ABR) in an Alacritas Fortis is, in my opinion, the Rolls Royce of rear support solutions in the field.
I’m running a Kestrel here after tragically losing my Garmin Tactix Delta on a train over the winter. However, I’m excited to be testing the new Garmin 901 Applied Ballistics watch very soon. If it is as it appears at the moment, a 701 with a better screen and the ability to import profiles from the AB app on a phone, then it’ll be just perfect for a lot of shooters, especially those looking for long term answers after StrelokPro was recently pulled from the APP Store.
Also, some fine-tuning of my 6.5x47 after a new firing pin spring.
Folks have been spotting the MDT LED level which I’m really taken with. Yes, it’s expensive but it swaps from rifle to rifle with no tools, in moments, so you only need one.
Then you have adjustable brightness, very adjustable sensitivity (really nice) and you can even set it to run a false level i.e. a canted gun but with a level reticle, if you wish. It’s a classy bit of kit.
Also, I’m lucky enough to be able to focus on a normal level bubble, even if it’s as far back as the back of the monomount, and the scope image too, but most folks over 35 or so have to consciously pull away from the scope image to check the level bubble. Indeed, many have to change their glasses too.
With the LED version, the lights are clearly visible in your peripheral vision at all times. This will help a lot of people.
The Creedmoor RPR has had its seating depth tuned now and is starting to show a good waterline at my 1209 half-minute target. My goal for my own, and my clients’ Creeds, is a good long string of hits on that half MOA plate at 1209. This barrel is still slicking in, adding a little noise but we’ll get there before long. Here is the Creed with the awesome little Valdada Mini on. A magic little dialler that’s a shade more compact than most while running the best of everything internally, and at a bargain price here in the UK. Note the ABR rear rest and Fortis rear bag again. This time, running the Accu-Tac up front.
Then, the new Arken EP5 arrived. Chinese made, which is not necessarily an issue these days. Indeed, my current favourite £1000 scope, the Delta Javelin, is Chinese. But under a £1000, what is best? Well, I have a very distinct shortlist above 1k through to 4k but sub 1k is murkier. With the help of Optics Warehouse, we are trying to see what’s what now so many superlative Chinese scopes are coming in. Remember, just a year or two ago, an FFP dialler with a 34mm tube, large adjustment range, great ret, flawlessly marked turrets, zero-stop and solid tracking was the preserve of scopes north of at least £1500. When the Delta Javelin dropped offering these features and really ridiculously good glass too for £1000, I was thrilled.
But perhaps the price of such a “proper” 34mm FFP dialler could come down even more? Well, initial impressions of the Arken EP5 are that it can walk the walk for £750.
Watch this space for more info but yes, my first impressions are that it is legit.
EQUIPMENT
- IOR Crusader BF 5.8-40x56 FFP Illuminated MOA Xtreme X1 1/8 MOA Rifle Scope
- Garmin Foretrex 901 Ballistic Edition Wrist-mounted GPS Navigator with Strap
- Garmin Foretrex 701 Ballistic Edition Wrist Mounted GPS
- Valdada Mini G2 4.5-28x50 FFP Illuminated MOA ¼ MOA 34mm Zero Stop Rifle Scope
- Arken Optics EP5 5-25X56 FFP VPR Illuminated Rifle Scope
- Delta Javelin 4.5-30x56 FFP SMR-1 Illuminated Zero Stop Rifle Scope
BRANDS
Another excellent blog by Richard Utting. Be sure to check him out at SharpShootingUK.
