Scope:Leupold VX5HD, 3x15x44
Rifle: 2024 FN Portuguese Model 70 SuperGrade
Bullets: 130 Grain Accubonds Nosler and 140 Grain North Fork
Distance: 100 yards
Chronograph: Magnetospeed
Killed one possum

I kind of had a hard day. Nothing was working. I kept getting error readings. My bench broke. So, I was shooting semi supported. I threw that lead sled down the hill. Then I went and had to go get the thing after dark. I used fertilizer bags and my hands to do the shooting. I did manage to get some data.

I shot a 7 shot group w the 130 Accubonds.
I did get 3 velo readings of 3126, 3178, 3152. Average 3,152. I yelled, cussed, prayed but could not get a 4 or 5 shot to read a velo. That would be w a 200 yard zero 17.1 inches low at 400 and 1666 foot pounds

The 7 shot group w my wobbly hold and excitable disposition is 1.685 inches. 5 shots are within .7215 inches. That is pretty good in my book.

The 140 grain load was much more difficult. I shot 15x to get 3 velo readings. The average was 3,106.5 fps.
The is almost the same trajectory out to 400 w a 200 yard zero. 400 yard drop is 18.4 inches.
The foot pounds of energy is 1613 at 400 yards, but I consider the North Fork to be a much better option of one we’re going to press this rifle into elk service. I do not plan too.

The 15 shot group was 2.125 inches.

Neither the 130 nor 140 grain group is really representative of accuracy beyond my ability to shoot. That said, I like that shooting on my part.

Oh, one possum came across the lower field. He got vaporized with an 130 grain accubond. He won’t be raiding any turkey nest. I cannot wait for my Garmin to get back here from Indiana.

I'm assuming that these were handloads? If so, what powder and charge?

IMR 7828 SSC

those lead sleds are pretty good for installing scopes and cleaning barrels.
that's about it though.

That is exactly what I was using.

The adjustment dial stopped working.

I broke two big bores with my Lead sled, I used hard sponge packing in the butt and seem to have cured the problem, no problem for the last10 plus years even with my 470 NE Searcy...Will keep ya,ll posted. BTW no weights in the tray, but belted the barrel down loosely to keep the gun in the rest when fired.

Yeah, I never put any weight on it. It is a newer one that does not use the weights.

I've never used anything when bench-shooting like the Lead Sled and am curious about why they tend to lead to broken rifles. I've read of this in several sources. Is it that there is no give or cushioning at the butt?

You put weights (power lifting weights) in a sled under the frame. This weight deadens recoil.

The problem is the weight keeps the thing from moving, so the rifle is recoiling back into the metal frame that holds buttock, and the non-moving sled causes the stock to fracture.

The problem is not the inertia of the "Lead Sled", but its design. The rubber feet grip the surface of the bench to prevent the sled from moving (particularly if weighted additionally). This concentrates the recoil of the gun into a shorter time span/less movement of the gun, which regrettably sometimes cracks the stock, usually at the tang.

I fashioned my own bench device which is allowed to slide backwards under recoil instead of "sticking" to the bench, thus cushioning the energy absorbed by the gunstock. Never had a stock damaged, and the rifle's zero is unchanged from shooting over conventional sandbags.

I know a gentleman who shot 458 Lott all the time in a led sled. The key is not to put on too much weight. I have not split a stock, but never used weights.

Mine just stopped working. The front adjustment dial stripped out.