New AXIS II in 6mm ARC

[Newmexican]

Picked up the Axis from my FFL yesterday and swapped out the stock for the Boyd's thumbhole. Mounted the EGW rail, Monstrum rings and the Athlon Argos 6-24 X 30 scope and will break in the barrel this weekend. Will order in a set of RCBS Matchmaster dies here shortly.  Have some Berger 95-grain VLDs to play with first.

[grayfox]

I have thought about the thumbhole stocks, that one is a nice color... but I seem to need a higher cheek rise so I've stayed away from them.
Let us know how it shoots.

[Newmexican]

Will do, Grayfox. The comb height on the thumbhole is at least 3/8 inch higher than on the factory stock, but adding the rail and medium rings (I could have used low) pretty much negated the gain. If I draw an antelope tag, I will mount a smaller and much lighter scope in low rings to hunt with.

[Newmexican]

Hope to shoot this tomorrow. I have some factory Hornady 108 ELDs on hand, and loaded my small find of 9 Hornady cases with 30 grains of LVR under the Berger 95s for the shoot-one-clean-one process.

[Newmexican]

Well, I got to shoot the rifle yesterday and am embarrassed to say what it took to shoot these last two three-shot groups.
It has been so long that I sat down at the bench and tried to really snuggle them together that I forgot the amount of effort it takes to shoot one-holers at 100 yards. I plead cheap Caldwell "The Rock" rest, cheap squeeze bag rear, untweaked Accutrigger, much older eyes and nerves.
Next round I will be better prepared. I know the rifle will shoot if I give it a chance.

[r.tenorio671]

...actually, for a 1st time firing that is encouraging, I certainly wouldn't give up based on those.

[Newmexican]

Oh, I won't give up until I have given the rifle a chance. It is minute-of antelope right now and I have faith that it will shoot a lot more accurately than the nut behind the butt.

[BG Shooter]

Sweet little rifle. Decent groups for Factory as well. Once you start load development things are certain to get even better. Lever and something between 28.8 and 29.2 should duplicate velocity numbers and your groups will get smaller. At least that’s what I have noticed in my AR. I suspect and others have reported1 grain higher will give similar results with more velocity for bolt guns. My bolt Gun isn’t finished yet so that’s speculation on my part at this point. 29gr Lever and the 108s do well in my setup and most others I’ve seen are between the range I mentioned. This seems to be a much easier caliber to load for than some others I’ve played with. The 224 Valkyrie was a pain to find good loads for. Found 2 solid loads first outing. I really like the package you put together and plan to follow. Let us know once you find a good recipe.

[Newmexican]

I am trying to get a little more serious about this caliber and this chassis, so bought an RCBS neck turner on the advice of benchrest friends who insist this is where accuracy starts. Uniformed flashholes and primer pockets, chamfered mouths, etc., and running the Berger 95-grain VLD have loaded at 30.0 LVR, 30.5, 31 and 31.3. Will see how she runs this next weekend. Also ordered a Protektor bunny bag rear rest, which should really take some of the "Bill" out of the picture, I hope.

[CZ527 Guy]

Research on the BR form or otherwise the following, Bullets barrels & bedding. That is neck turning has its benefits, though Id start off with the three B's 1st.

[Owyhee6]

Nice set up with the Boyd's stock. I just purchased an Axis II in 6mm Arc and the Hornady factory 108 match ammo shot great. I am working on some loads with LVR for 103x and 105 bthp bullets.