Bench-Talk

Well I won the Varmint for score and the overall high score at Austin Rifle Club Sunday using the excellent BIB 88 Gr. 257 bullets launched from the trusty 257TED. The best rifle in the world cant make bad bullets go into the 10 ring, but great bullets can help make a mediocre shooter and rifle look good. Thanks RG

Ted Heck:

Well I won the Varmint for score and the overall high score at Austin Rifle Club Sunday using the excellent BIB 88 Gr. 257 bullets launched from the trusty 257TED. The best rifle in the world cant make bad bullets go into the 10 ring, but great bullets can help make a mediocre shooter and rifle look good. Thanks RG

 

Ted, very kind of you to trust the new 88s enough to shoot a match - it seems you did well and that the bullets did not let either you, or your rifle, down. I have come to expect nothing less from bullets made in Niemi swage dies, using J4 jackets. Be warned, those bullets were made on a LEE Classic [cast iron] press - it appears that the red paint didn't interfere witht he Niemi dies! ;)

How about the "rest of the story": yardages, format, conditions, scores; attendance, etc.- Especially the cartridge, barrel, action and load info - I believe many will be particularly interested in THAT ! ;)  Inquiring minds HAVE to KNOW !  Congratulations on your shootin' ! RG

    Congrats, Ted!     Like Randy, I'm anxious for details.  -Al

The match was our regular ARC end of the month match at the Austin Rifle Club range out between Manor and Elgin TX at 16312 LITTIG ROAD. Match fees are only 5 dollars so shooting is cheap. The match is run by Virgil Howarth who does a great job and we shoot 100 yards for score starting at 1PM (just a little plug). These numbers are approximate but I think we had had about 12 shooters 5 in the Factory class 5 in the HBR class and 2 in the VFS The conditions were not to bad but the pickups came in quick. There was some good mirage running and a few times when I did take notice of the flags I saw the flags running opposite the mirage. I haven't shot in a while so I kept hiding behind the scope not paying attention to the flags those last few seconds before pulling the trigger and it almost got me several times but luckily the BIB 88's at about 3050fps do a good job of fighting the wind. I would suspect that as pointy as those bullets are that the BC is .400 or better because when I go from 100 to 200 I only need to come up about 7/ 8 MOA when it is warm and dry out. The other VFS shooter had a custom savage of some sort with a 36 power Weaver in .223. He was just giving away to much space on the target with that little 22 caliber bullet and he got a 247. I ended up with a 250 14X which I am sure wouldn't stand long at one of the big VFS matches that you guys have. But Virgil Howarth shot a 249 11X in the HBR class and I have seen him throw down some pretty good scores at this range and at the range in New Braunfels, so as long as I keep him at bay I guess I am doing OK. Frankly I don't see how those guys can even shoot 9's with those little 6 power scopes. I think they do pretty dang good. Almost everybody was shooting the back right to left front breeze that was coming in at 4 or 5 miles per hour but several times during the match the pickup came in hard in fast from the opposite corner of the range and some of the newer factory class shooters just started letting loose and when I asked them why the said it was because the mirage had cleared up during that pick up. Now that sort of makes sense when you think about it. Shoot the condition that lets you see the target. But most of them failed to shoot a sighter to see where that condition would put the bullet and wound up with 8's and maybe even a 7. My gun for those that don't know is a 79 vintage Stolle Panda screwed into one of the older thumbhole stocks that were popular in those days. It has a Burns Trigger and a Shilen 1/12 257 LV contour about 24 inches long at this time. MY cartridge is the infamous 257TED , which is sort of like a 25 PPC +.075 and a no or lightly turned neck. My load consisted of Alexander Arms 6.5 Gredel Brass (lapua), Winchester primers and 28.5 grains of HBM behind the BIB 88 Grain 257 bullet. in past tests I have gotten between 3000 and 3050 FPS from this load depending on the weather. I can actually load that bullet up to about 30 grains of HBM with out any trouble but it doesn't seem to help much. Hows that for a match report? PS I won all my entry fee back. What a day!

Congrats on your shooting Ted....and thanks for the detailed report, I enjoyed it!......;>)

-H

Here is a picture of the 257TED next to a 6PPC. The bullet pictured is a Fowler 85.

Ted, thank you for the pic and the detailed report. In that company, and conditions, your score makes the 25 caliber deal look interesting. But don't forget to look in the mirror and pat yourself on the back - equipment can't funcion that well without a pilot! ;) I should be getting my [Borden] RimRock action back from 'Humble Henry" on Monday - he installed a PacNor 25 Cal., 1:12" twist, using my 25BR reamer, AND a Bartlein 1:18" twist thirty Cal., using my 30 BR reamer: the 25 will be used for the LV platform, while the 30 BR will share HV duty with my old reliable Time-Precision ALV (made reliable via "truing" by Jim Borden) - I can hardly wait! This will be my first new rig in the last 8 years ! :)

I will also be rebarreling my Borden/Nesika actioned Hunter rifle, using a Rock 1:10" twist (5R) 25 Cal. barrel - this one will be a 25x46 , based on the Lapua 6.5x47 case - really nothing new, just a preformed, pre-necked 30x47 HBR ! In addition, I hope to "adapt" a couple of barrels from [the late] Dan Hackett's estate to fit one of my Hunter rigs - these are chambered for Dan's 25 Hunter design, by Jim Borden. Jim was kind enough to sell me the reamers he purchased to chamber those barrels for Dan. :)  Hopefully, I'll get time to tune one or more of them before the season is over!

At risk of blowing my horn and fluffing this into a blatant advertisement - During the January "cull" hunt, the .257 "hard-cored" BIB 100 Gr. bullets proved thier worth ! :)  Steve went 17 for 17 (all one shot kills) at ranges of 35 - 350 yards. All of the victims were mature does: having been shot, none traveled more then 20 yards. Only a single bullet failed to exit - not a bad run. The platform was a 250 Ackley, clocked at 3100 FPS. So, it appears that the 25s are going to deliver what we are looking for: BR precision and, on deer and antelope sized critters, excellent terminal performance . With this die-set, Bill Niemi struck - again! :) RG

Randy and Ted,

 I have enjoyed this thread very much..... Having been a ".257 fan" for years, my experience with the .25's have been in hunting calibers only.... in particular, the .250 Savage,.257 Roberts and the 25-06 Remington. All three have proven to be good hunting rounds and capable of being accurate with good bullets but the past problem has been getting .257 bullets that provided both accuracy and good performance on game..... bullets that perform equally well "at ranges from 35 - 350 yards" are rare in my opinion and "speaks" highly of your bullets Randy...... To pile on more "blatant advertisement" or "endorsment" in my case, the .257 BIB 100 gr."hard core" also performed well on Kentucky Whitetail, being used in a "Roberts", the velocity is very close to the same as in the 250  Ackley that Steve used.....this bullet provided the same quick "one shot kill" performance and is really accurate to boot!....... I hope the .257's continue to fare as well in the competitve arena and I eargerly await reports on the .257TED, .25x47 (why not .25x47?) and the .25BR....

-H