Sako TRG M10

I had a change to shoot the new Sako TRG M10 in .308 WIN caliber. A few years ago I shot the preproduction model in .338 Lapua Magnum, so this allowed for comparison between the two caliber setups.

The civilian model of M10 comes in two caliber choices, 308 WIN and .338 LM. The .308 WIN has two barrel lengths available, 509,5 mm and 656 mm, and the .338 LM has a 689 mm long barrel.

The rear stock is fully adjustable without tools and it also folds. Rifle's aluminum chassis has a full length 30 MOA picatinny rail and positions on side and bottom for accessories. 

The trigger set is adjustable and barrel change can be done without gunsmith tools in minutes.

The test rifle had a Steiner Military 5-25x56 MSR scope on it, which is one of the best scopes on the market today. The reticle is designed by Finnish snipers, and it allows fine range estimation and corrections for second shot.

As the rifle is designed around .338 LM caliber, it's not at it's best when in .308 configuration. The bolt movement is long and the magazines are comically large. The rifle is quite heavy, around 6 kg without optics. Magazine release and safety switch can easily be operated on both sides. Barrel has a muzzle thread, which allows installation of muzzle break or suppressor.

The rifle is really nice, but for non-military personnel it might not be the best choice. Sako TRG-42 or TRG-22 are less than half the cost of TRG M10, and they perform on the range as well as the M10. But for military operations the M10 is the ideal sniper rifle.

Long range .22 LR shooting

I visited my parents this weekend and had a chance to shoot my father's old trusty rimfire rifle. It's an old Baikal Toz-17, made in Soviet Russia. I put a Pilad 4x32 "mildot" scope on it, using Sako Optilock bases and rings. I had some trouble zeroing it, as the dovetail wasn't centered over the rifle's receiver. Fine Russian craftmanship indeed!

After zeroing the rifle, I used a chronograph to measure  muzzle velocity. Then I added the velocity and bullet information to Applied Ballistics software on my tablet. After tapping in the atmospheric conditions, it gave out a range table.

The Pilad scope isn't a true mildot scope, as the dots aren't 1 mrad (mils) apart from eachother. In reality, they are 3 mrad apart. So I had to do little calculation the get the range table right for the scope.

I went out to a nearby field, where I set up a few 30 cm x 20 cm metal targets at ranges 100 m, 160 m and 210 m. 100 meters was easy, first shot hit. 160 meters was bit more difficult, my wind call was a bit off, so after correction I got a second shot hit. 210 meters was quite hard, as the magnification of the scope wasn't high enough to see splashes at that range on muddy ground. I got a few lucky hits, but nothing consistent.

The ammunition I was using was Remington Thunderbolt, which isn't the best choice for long range shooting. That's because it's muzzle velocity is supersonic, which causes it to fly at transsonic speed at one point, which lowers accuracy at longer ranges.
But shooting the Baikal was fun, it made me start planning on building my own long range rimfire rifle. Cheap to shoot and good training.

Ruska's first birthday

My dog had it's first birthday this week. Here are some photos starting from the day she came to my house.

 First toy in the new home.

Tiny tail!

Getting used to car rides.

First time in the woods.

Ruska with her great-grandmother Ronja.

Blueberries as a snack.

 

First kill.

Ruska's best buddy, Rötkö-Pötkö.

Little problem with eyes.

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Winter hunting.

 

 

Enjoying Easter-leftovers.

 

Gotta keep eye on the ducks.

 

 Getting ready for training time with a dead hazel grouse.

 

 

 Damn rabbits!

Bubble level and angle cosine indicator for long range shooting

To be more consistent with long range shots, deleting small errors is the key. I've participated a few sniper competitions and what I have learned from them, is that when adrenaline is pumping and there's a tight time limit for taking your shot, it's easy to cant your rifle. As a rule of thumb, 1° cant will move your point of impact 0,02 mrad for every 100 meters.
So, if cant your rifle 4°, and the target is at 800 meters, you'll miss by 4 * 0,02 mrad * 8 = 0,64 mrad. From the center of the target 0,64 mrad at 800 meter is a miss by 0,512 meters. For a human size target, what is most commonly used in competitions, thats clearly too much.
Here's a good article about cant: http://www.riflescopelevel.com/cant_errors.html

A solution for cant problems is a bubble level for your scope. Here you can see a bubble level combined with an angle cosine indicator.

 

Angle cosine indicator is used for shots that are pointed upwards or downwards. As an example, if you are shooting uphill and your slant range to target is 400 meters, it's not the range you should use for your elevation correction. As strange as it sounds, you would miss high of your target. Here's an "Improved Rifleman's Rule", which is simple and accurate enough for use in the field.

1. Measure the inclination angle of the target above or below the horizontal direction.
2. Measure the slant range distance to the target.
3. Take the Bullet Path (or come-up or come-down) from the level trajectory at a horizontal distance equal to the slant range distance, and multiply that parameter by the cosine of the inclination angle.
4. Use the result of this calculation to adjust the aim of the gun at the inclined target.

So using the ACI, you get a cosine of 0,8 for the inclination angle. For my rifle and cartridge, elevation for 400 meters is roughly 2,4 mrad. The get the hold for a shot uphill, I must hold 0,8 * 2,4 mrad = 1,92 mrad.
There are other methods too for figuring out holds for inclined fire, here's a good article about that.
http://www.exteriorballistics.com/ebexplained/article1.html

Here I'm setting up the bubble level. This is the first phase, getting it roughly level with the scope. For fine tuning, you should hang a 1 inch or thicker rope with a weight at 100 meters or so, to get it to point directly to ground. Then with good sand bag support, align your scopes vertical line to the rope. When the vertical line follows the rope nicely, check your bubble level. If it isn't level, loosen the screws and adjust.

Reposaaren Linnakepuisto, an old coastal fortification

I decided to pay a visit to Reposaari, which is an island near Pori. It's connected to main land by road, so it's not complicated to get there. I made my way to a place called Reposaaren Linnakepuisto, which is an old coastal fortification system.

Fortification was built few years before Winter War, by the volunteers of White Guard and it was funded by a businessman Werner Hacklin. It's purpose was to protect the city of Pori and Port of Pori.

Initially there were two 125 mm cannons bought from Britannia, but when the Winter War started, Finnish Defense Forces took control of the fortification and improved it by building better fortifications and installed more cannons.

The cannons were meant to be used for anti-ship fire against Soviets, but they also managed to shoot down Soviet bombers during the wars.

The fortification saw action to the year 1944, but then the cannons were moved elsewhere because of peace treaty. FDF maintained the fortification to 1960s, and then it was given back to city of Pori.

It was partly renovated in 90s and again in 2007.

Fortification around cannon platform.

Ammunition bunker.

Observation tower.

 Bunker for coastal artillery observers.

I also went to the beach near the fortification to see old engravings on the smooth shore rocks. Engravings are made by sailors and other visitors, the oldest one I found was made in 1891.

Reloading with Lee Classic Loader

This time I'm going to give you an example on how I use the Lee Classic Loader.

The Classic Loader is ideal for people who just want try out reloading and don't want to spend lots of money on fancy reloading equipment. In it's most basic form, you only need the Classic Loader kit, a mallet, shell casings, primers, gun powder and bullets. For you doomsday preppers, this is the reloading kit you want. The reloading process with this kit is quite noisy, so it might not be suitable for people living in apartment houses.

This is what comes in the package. On the left is a priming rod, next is a loader body and a priming chamber, then a powder dipper and a depriming chamber, and finally a depriming rod.

The first step in reloading is to deprime the fired brass. Remember to check that the brass you are using is not damaged in any way.

Take out the brass, depriming rod, depriming chamber and a mallet.

 Put the brass into the depriming chamber and insert the rod in the brass.

Give the rod couple of taps with the mallet, so that the spent primer pops out.
Repeat this process until you have enough deprimed casings for your reloading needs.

Next step is cleaning the brass. I like to use an ultrasound washer, as it cleans the primer pocket and flash hole better than a tumbler. I simply pour hot water and some dish washing liquid into the washer and put the deprimed casings in. It takes about 30 minutes for the ultrasound washer to clean the brass. After washing the brass must be rinsed in running water and then dried.

When the brass is clean and shiny, it's time for neck sizing. For this you need clean casing, the loader's body and a mallet.

Put the brass into the loader.

Using a mallet drive the brass completely inside the loader. The neck is now resized.

To get the resized brass out of the loader, you need depriming chamber, priming rod (which I'm not using for priming at all) and of course a mallet.

Put the brass and loader combination on the depriming chamber and insert the priming rod in the loader.

With a few whacks from the mallet on the rod, the brass drops out of the loader. At this point it is wise to check the dimensions of the brass with a caliper. Do the neck sizing for all the casings.

After all the casings have been neck sized, it's time for priming. I use a hand priming tool, as I don't like the idea about hammering the primer in.

Remember to check that the new primer isn't inserted too deep or too high.

After all the casings have been primed, it's time for gun powder and bullets. First measure the desired amount of gun powder.

 Then put the prepared case in depriming chamber and pour the gun powder in it using a funnel.

Next you need is the loader body, priming chamber (I'm not using it for priming), a mallet and a bullet.

Put the loader body on the filled case and drop the bullet in the loader.

 

Put the rod of the priming chamber on top of the bullet and hit it with the mallet until the chamber meets a stop collar. Make sure there is no debris or anything in the depriming chamber that could strike the primer while hammering!

Take off the priming chamber and loader body. The cartridge is now finished. It takes a bit of trial and error to get the depth of the bullet right, you can adjust it by the locking nut on the loader body.

 Check the overall length of the cartridge to ensure everything is by the book.

This is how I use the Lee Classic Loader. I think my way is a bit safer and more accurate than the traditional way, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeEl9wZyabc

Happy reloading!