FX .177 Long Range performance

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jps2486

jps2486

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Apr 20, 2015
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Onalaska, WI, United States
After much experimentation with FX Dreamlines and other Crowns with ho-hum accuracy, I finally got some really promising results with my FX Crown MKII Saber Tactical. I had a .177 600 mm barrel that I tried in another Crown that didn't seem to work well for me, so I put it in the Saber model that I was using for 100 yard shooting in 22 cal. I left the reg setting the same (140) and installed a Huma dual transfer port. I was able to squeeze 1020 fps from JSB 13.4 KO slugs and over 1100 fps with 10.3 slugs. I also tried NSA 12.5 and 15.0 gr slugs. The KO 13.4 gr worked the best when I turned the power wheel from Max to the next lower setting achieving 985 fps. The other slugs were not too good. At 100 yards, methinks this works pretty well for a .177 rifle. I can't wait to try some ZAN 13 grainers too.

FX Crown MKII .177 at 100 yd.jpg
 
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I think you will see a improvement with the 13 gr Zans, at least that is how it work in my Maverick, also you might want to drop a little more speed too.

I was supposed to go shooting today, but in the last moment the wind flip / flopped on me, so my new scope remain untested, i now have my hopes up for Sunday. ( 4 MPH average winds forecast )
My Maverick do not like cold, i can set it up in the comfort of my living room to have a fairly flat shot string, then getting out into the cold, and the shot string is all over the GD place, and worst of all when cold i cant seem to find a place where it is better.

My REG is brand new too, so i will not blame it, not least as it work fine in my warm living room.
 
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SorenDrost said:
The JSB KO 13.43 gn and the Zan 13 gn both shoot great in my rifles with LW barrels (y) :)🎯
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Yes, and you don't need 985 fps. I've shot them in a 500mm Dreamline at 945 fps and they are as accurate as shown above... I've also shot them from my FT gun, a Pulsar, at 20 FPE or around 800 fps, and they were accurate at that speed. Don't assume slugs need speed! A good stable slug design in a good barrel with adequate twist will be accurate at all speeds...
 
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Centercut said:
Don't assume slugs need speed
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Indeed, i am actually going to revisit heavier slugs, and go for slower speeds, CUZ i think when i tried and failed with 16 and 20 grain it was all over 900 FPS, so i am thinking maybe i missed a pot of accuracy gold at lower speeds.
Anyway i will have to buy more heavy slugs if i get another new rifle CUZ i of course also what to try that there.

Also i want to do a face to face comparison with my regular and heavy FX barrels with the 13 grain that work well in both, to see if the minute improvement i feel there was getting the heavy is true or i just never really found the sweet spot with the regular barrel.

985 also seem a bit " hot " to me, the 13 gr zan run best around 960 in my heavy barrel, +/- a little, +1000 FPS for sure was too much and i got inconsistent groups like picture above also indicate ( 4 good grouped shots and the rest departed from that )

When i shot hot i got 3-4 good shots, then POI shifted about 3/4 - 1 " to the left, then i got some OK grouping shots there, and then POI shifted back to where i started.
So shooting hot it was pretty impossible for me to shoot a good 5 shot group
 
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Centercut said:
Yes, and you don't need 985 fps. I've shot them in a 500mm Dreamline at 945 fps and they are as accurate as shown above... I've also shot them from my FT gun, a Pulsar, at 20 FPE or around 800 fps, and they were accurate at that speed. Don't assume slugs need speed! A good stable slug design in a good barrel with adequate twist will be accurate at all speeds...
Click to expand...

In the original 600 mm LW barrel the slugs perform very well at 920-930 FPS 👍🙂🎯

In the prototype 711 mm slug barrel they perform the best at a higher velocity 👍 970 FPS for Zan 13 and 1003 FPS for JSB KO 13.43 🎯🙂
 
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SorenDrost said:
In the original 600 mm LW barrel the slugs perform very well at 920-930 FPS 👍🙂🎯

In the prototype 711 mm slug barrel they perform the best at a higher velocity 👍 970 FPS for Zan 13 and 1003 FPS for JSB KO 13.43 🎯🙂
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Interesting. In the 17-inch cut rifled LW barrel in the .177 Pulsar, shooting under 20 FPE, they were as accurate out to 75 yards (furthest I shot), and that was the 13.4 JSB KOs around 800 fps. And then just for fun, I jacked up the .177 Dreamline Classic 500mm with Superior liner to around 940-ish FPS and they were as accurate as I've seen your posts on here at the higher speeds out to 100 yards. I am a firm believer in good slug, good barrel, good tune, all work to obviate any speed sensitivity... IMHO.
 
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Centercut said:
Yes, and you don't need 985 fps. I've shot them in a 500mm Dreamline at 945 fps and they are as accurate as shown above... I've also shot them from my FT gun, a Pulsar, at 20 FPE or around 800 fps, and they were accurate at that speed. Don't assume slugs need speed! A good stable slug design in a good barrel with adequate twist will be accurate at all speeds...
Click to expand...
You mwy be right, but I’m shootong 100 yd EBR in very windy turbulent conditions. I think the faster the slug gets there the better.
 
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jps2486 said:
You mwy be right, but I’m shootong 100 yd EBR in very windy turbulent conditions. I think the faster the slug gets there the better.
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Thats what seems logical. Unfortunately, it's not true... There have been many posts on here, mostly by @Ballisticboy explaining the relationship between wind drift ballistics and speed. In a nutshell, it's not HOW FAST the slug is going, its HOW FAST IT SLOWS DOWN that directly affects wind drift.
 
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Centercut said:
Interesting. In the 17-inch cut rifled LW barrel in the .177 Pulsar, shooting under 20 FPE, they were as accurate out to 75 yards (furthest I shot), and that was the 13.4 JSB KOs around 800 fps. And then just for fun, I jacked up the .177 Dreamline Classic 500mm with Superior liner to around 940-ish FPS and they were as accurate as I've seen your posts on here at the higher speeds out to 100 yards. I am a firm believer in good slug, good barrel, good tune, all work to obviate any speed sensitivity... IMHO.
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Shooting accurate with 20grain ZANs @ 14 ft/ibs in a Daystate Revere.

CmZQA70h.jpg

MUTXKwUh.jpg


And 22grain solids
71TEX2Dh.jpg

jkdYEGFh.jpg
 
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Centercut said:
Thats what seems logical. Unfortunately, it's not true... There have been many posts on here, mostly by @Ballisticboy explaining the relationship between wind drift ballistics and speed. In a nutshell, it's not HOW FAST the slug is going, its HOW FAST IT SLOWS DOWN that directly affects wind drift.
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Very true, but also if the speeds get too high, the slug drag increases rapidly and the wind drift will increase with the drag. The speed at which you get a fast increase in drag will vary according to the slug design but will be less than 1000 ft/sec for many current slug designs.

The other thing to remember is that as slug speeds get well over 1000 ft/sec, the gyroscopic stability will begin to decrease. Depending on the gyroscopic stability at slower speeds, the change in stability may be a good thing or a bad thing. It will all depend on the slug design and the barrel twist rate.
 
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jps2486 said:
After much experimentation with FX Dreamlines and other Crowns with ho-hum accuracy, I finally got some really promising results with my FX Crown MKII Saber Tactical. I had a .177 600 mm barrel that I tried in another Crown that didn't seem to work well for me, so I put it in the Saber model that I was using for 100 yard shooting in 22 cal. I left the reg setting the same (140) and installed a Huma dual transfer port. I was able to squeeze 1020 fps from JSB 13.4 KO slugs and over 1100 fps with 10.3 slugs. I also tried NSA 12.5 and 15.0 gr slugs. The KO 13.4 gr worked the best when I turned the power wheel from Max to the next lower setting achieving 985 fps. The other slugs were not too good. At 100 yards, methinks this works pretty well for a .177 rifle. I can't wait to try some ZAN 13 grainers too.

View attachment 445267
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impressive
 
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