BD14 impressions after one year of owning it

[Excessexpress]

Wish you hadn't gone and told us all that, I've fallen off the wagon again.....

[stokesrj]

Wish you hadn't gone and told us all that, I've fallen off the wagon again.....

It is my pleasure to help.

[9.3x64]

Wish you hadn't gone and told us all that, I've fallen off the wagon again.....

Ha!
I know the feeling.

[stokesrj]

Spent a little more time with my BD14 this weekend at the Manatee range seeing just how good it would do at a little longer range. The Barnes TTSX load that I developed shot to a little bit different point of aim than the previous 130 TSX load that I had come up with, so I needed to fine tune the regulation between the .222 and 30-06 barrels. That was a snap and now the groups are overlapping at 100 yards. Here is a pic of a three shot group from the 30-06 using the Zeiss 3-12X56 HT.

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I also wanted to use the ASV+ feature of the scope at 400 yards to verify the point of impact was as the Zeiss ballistic calculator said it should be. The calculator suggested that I should go up 15 clicks from my 100 yard zero and that the nearest ballistic ring was the 001 which takes it up 14 clicks. So, I dialed in 15 clicks and shot five shots at the 400 yard line. The winds where gusting 18-20 mph with reversals, pretty tough conditions but I did my best to dope the winds holding up to 3 minutes off and got caught in one let up that the wind went from blowing hard left to right to a dead stop as I broke the shot.
I know the BD14 is intended for traditional distances inside 200 yards/meters but I like to see what my gun, sight, load combination is capable of anyway. I was pleasantly surprised to find the five shots landed within a vertical band only 3.24" high or about .75 MOA. I can't fault the horizontal spread on the equipment, it's all on me and the poor job of doping the wind.

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Before I moved to the 400 yard line I mounted the aimpoint H1 micro and fired two 30-06 and two .222 rounds to confirm zero. I'm always surprised at the accuracy of the red dot sight. The dot is the same size as the target paster and they all went well inside the edges of the paster. It's reassuring to know the bullet will land within the dot.

[mchughcb]

Thats pretty good accuracy from a drilling.

[9.3x64]

Thats very impressive shooting Bob.
Especially out of a Bock drilling.

[mchughcb]

I think its time to see some clay busting with the shottie barrel?

[Dom]

Great report Bob, sounds like the BD14 is almost as good as the ol BD880 it replaced, lol.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[stokesrj]

I really like the BD14 a lot. It fits me really well, and therefore points really well, the triggers break smoothly at 1.5 lbs, It carries nicely and regulated to a common point of aim for all three barrels. With it I can take care of just about any hunting opportunity I might encounter.

For driven hunts with the aimpoint H1 mounted and the barrel selector in the up position the front trigger fires the 30-06 and the rear trigger fires a 20 gauge slug for lighting fast shots. If a roe deer or a fox hops out, I can simply push the selector down and take it with the rear trigger firing the .222.

For stalks or from a Hochsitz with the Zeiss 3-12X56 HT on top it is a solid 300 yard gun with the 30-06 or can take a fox or hare with the .222 or 20 gauge with a shot load of #4s as appropriate.

It really is a versatile and enjoyable gun.

[stokesrj]

I did a little more refinement of the 30-06 load for the BD14, I was still getting a little stickiness when opening the action with the load I posted above at 54.5 grains of H4895 so I backed off to 54.0 grains and gave it a try. I also wanted to try seating the bullet a little deeper and crimping in the front groove with a Lee Factory Crimp Die.

Dropping the powder charge down opened up the groups to about 1.25" at 100 yards but got rid of the stickiness. But then when I tried the shorter COAL and crimped loads I regained the accuracy lost and got rid of the sticky opening of the action.

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[chalky]

You found a good load there Bob, couldn't really ask for much more from a hunting round.

[stokesrj]

Agreed, It is better than I expected. I still haven't found the ultimate load for the .222 barrel. Plenty that shoot one MOA or so but I would like better. The shotgun barrel just loves the cheap Winchester Super X slugs and will shot 2" groups at 50 yards reliably and to the same point of aim as the rifle barrels. It's a killer set up.

[O4ak95]

Great accuracy Bob. It's always nice to see little groups that come from a rifle built for hunting.

Tim

[mchughcb]

Im resisting with all my might. Hunting deer in Victoria with a drilling is not allowed and hence my rational to stick with the BBF. Drats!

[stokesrj]

There are other places to hunt deer other than Victoria, you do know this don't you?