[Mattitude]

I've been running my Hunter sans muzzle device pretty much since I got it mainly because of the longer threads and not having any type of jamb nut on hand to properly install a brake or FH. The long front end is so light and unbalanced that it made accurate shooting a real challenge and there is nothing to help tune any barrel harmonics or whip. For some reason I had a Strike Cookie Cutter comp lying around and I came across a 300BLK barrel that had a thread protector and just so happened to be the perfect length to use as a jamb nut on my Hunter. The Cookie Cutter is pretty big & obnoxious and now makes my Hunter look like an artillery piece, but right now I don't care as I've had the best repeatable results yet.

Also I had a spare scope lying around that came in a night vision set from Apex that I got for Father's Day. The night vision scope is great but the day optic up to this point has been untested as well. It's a fixed 4 power Enosa that was made on Hensoldt equipment (the black Enosa's are made by Hensoldt) with an elevation drum that when sighted in (via small screwdrivers) each graduated click = 1 MIL for a total of 12 MILS of elevation. It's on a STANAG mount so I have it mounted on an ARMS #19 QD mount as that was my only option as it was the only STANAG compatible mount I have.

With the massive Cookie Cutter threaded on & Enosa scope sighted in, I hit the range just before noon with the handload that I did up for my RFB that typically would print 1-1.5 MOA 5-shot groups consistently, but I really had to work for it. The Cookie Cutter added the perfect amount of muzzle weight to finally balance out my rifle and also tame some of the harmonics and every group I shot was well under 1 MOA and my best 5-shot group was .586" center-to-center (.894" - .308") and my 3 other groups were barely larger than this one. The scope also works great but I don't know how much the 4x will limit me as this is my other hunting rifle (I also use a 300BLK) until I take it out a few times and see how it does with both low light performance and also game ID'ing & shot placement out to at least 400 yards.

I was pretty successful last season with a nice 9-point buck (100yd shot) and my longest kill shot (doe @ 352yds) so I'll have to see how things work out with the optic...I may have to put on something with a bit more power if I'm going to be reaching out past 300yds as I really don't like to put a projectile in just a "general area" because of distance + low powered optic.






I also brought along my FG42 & G43 to have some fun with while waiting for the RFB to cool down between strings. I had to adjust the iron sights on the FG42 and I've been working up a load for the G43. I found an original late war dow coded ZF-4 scope that is holding up great.

 

[Evil_Edie]

nice, almost makes her look like an AT rifle

 

[BlakeHanson]

The Cookie Cutter is pretty big & obnoxious and now makes my Hunter look like an artillery piece, but right now I don't care as I've had the best repeatable results yet.

I think it looks like a bathroom plunger.
...and I like it.
Because it yields good results.
I don't care as much about cosmetics as I do accuracy and performance.
I never shot my Hunter without a muzzle brake. Screwed on a SI brake before the first shot.
I like the SI because you can shoot prone without getting covered with dirt.
That also means that I don't know how much the brake detracts from its accuracy (and how much is the shooter).

Of course, everybody around me is diving for cover because of the concussive blast coming off of the sides of the brake.
... aaaand I don't care. The recoil is like a 20-gauge shotgun

If only they had a "recoil-o-meter" like a chrony that could give good numbers for 'perceived recoil punishment'.

Also you didn't mention what your handload ammo consists of, that you shot that group with.:brickwall:

 

[BlakeHanson]

Recoil can make a difference....
Follow-up shot accuracy?
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmM33I4PlFk"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmM33I4PlFk[/ame]
"Got Brake?"

 

[Mattitude]

Also you didn't mention what your handload ammo consists of, that you shot that group with.:brickwall:

Ah, how rude of me. 168gr AMAX projectile, Fed 210M primer, 40.2gr IMR3031, Lee factory crimp die w/medium crimp, .308 brass (not 7.62 NATO) & loaded to 2.785" COAL.

Funny that I've never thought it looks like a toilet plunger, but yes...yes it does. I usually shoot at the range during the day when other people are usually at work (I don't work so my day is pretty much wide open) so I don't have to worry about irate shooters on a bench on either side of me, but even so if I was there first then it's on them to move if the concussion bothers them. The Cookie Cutter does put out some serious blast but the upside is that the recoil impulse is nothing more than the force of the bolt reciprocating so there is a little bump but not a shove or smack like when shooting a bolt action. Very, very pleasant to shoot and I went through 45 rounds before I knew it.

I'm a bit of an accuracy snob and for the first time I'm actually happy with my RFB as it's now consistent and much easier to shoot. Next week (Wednesday-Sunday) I'll be on a Freedom Alliance disabled veteran's deer & hog hunt down in SC so the RFB will be tagging along. The lodge also has a 600yd rifle range with steel from 200-600yds so I'll be putting it through its paces to see how consistent it will be as well as how well the optic will perform at extended ranges AND as well as MIL graduated elevation drum. If there's any interest then I'll try and take some pics.

 

[BlakeHanson]

I also brought along my FG42 & G43 to have some fun with while waiting for the RFB to cool down between strings. I had to adjust the iron sights on the FG42 and I've been working up a load for the G43.

That FG 42 is a fascinating weapon and story.
A German paratrooper machine gun that was:

Considered one of the most advanced weapon designs of World War II, the FG 42 influenced post-war small arms development, and most of its design was copied by the US Army when they developed the M60 machine gun.

We didn't steal their design to make the M60, Shirley Not!
Yeah we did:

 

[Mattitude]

Actually what the Army did was mate a MG42 top cover & feed system to the left side of a FG42 and turned it into a belt fed LMG and that was the initial concept for the M60. The biggest takeaway from the FG was the gas system which is nearly identical.

 

[Junkie]

I really wish the FG42 was readily available... especially if Hughes hadn't passed. The real ones are so cool firing open bolt for FA and closed bolt for SA. The replicas are cool too, but I don't think they're $5000 cool to me right now.

 

[Mattitude]

Well, now that we are completely recovered from Matthew (hurricane), I can at least now report on how my RFB fared during the Freedom Alliance hunt down in Estill, SC. During the 2 days of hunting I only had a shot at a very small doe and at 2-100# or so hogs. I saw the 2 hogs on the farming road that skirts a large cotton field (230yds x 650yds) and I was up in a ladder stand. It was getting very close to dusk and I was able to range the pair of hogs at just under 300 yards and were moving from the road to the field edge. I was still using the 4x Enosa military scope and at that distance it looked like 2 deer turds and I added 1 click (1 MIL) of elevation. The only way I knew which way they were facing was when they would move and once I determined which end was the head from the hams I lined up the vertical post where I thought the shoulder was and touched off the shot. The hog went straight down and its twin took off into the woods. I made it out to the hog and ranged the stand from the downed hog and came out to 287yds. Shot was right in the front part of the leg and straight through the throat.

IMO I've proved, to myself at least, that the Cookie Cutter compensator has held the accuracy in my RFB to a high consistency and now I feel very comfortable making longer shots on game. What I did do was replace the Enosa scope with my Bushnell ERS w/H59 reticle to take advantage of the rifle's accuracy and also for much better game identification at longer ranges.

 

[Steve912]

That FG 42 is a fascinating weapon and story.
A German paratrooper machine gun that was:

We didn't steal their design to make the M60, Shirley Not!
Yeah we did:

Yeah...dunno if the US goofed on the copy, or the German design was
junky to start with--the 60 was not one of the better US machinegun
designs.

 

[BlakeHanson]

..IMO I've proved, to myself at least, that the Cookie Cutter compensator has held the accuracy in my RFB to a high consistency and now I feel very comfortable making longer shots on game. What I did do was replace the Enosa scope with my Bushnell ERS w/H59 reticle to take advantage of the rifle's accuracy and also for much better game identification at longer ranges.

Making that shot at 280 yards with a 4x scope would be better than I could do. Doing it with the 3x9 on my Hunter wouldn't be easy.
As the guy in the movie "Jaws" said: "We're gonna need a bigger scope".
Hopefully none of the other guys laughed at the "bathroom-plunger" muzzle brake.
If they did, I'd have to slap them with a slab of bacon:yummy:.

 

[Mattitude]

Making that shot at 280 yards with a 4x scope would be better than I could do. Doing it with the 3x9 on my Hunter wouldn't be easy.
As the guy in the movie "Jaws" said: "We're gonna need a bigger scope".
Hopefully none of the other guys laughed at the "bathroom-plunger" muzzle brake.
If they did, I'd have to slap them with a slab of bacon:yummy:.

Actually no one said anything about the ginormous brake...but they were happy to get half of my hog. 2 guys came down from Alaska and wanted a hog to bring back for a shop cookout so I was more than happy to make sure they had some wild pork to bring back home. One of them shot a deer but they weren't allowed to take it on the plane.

 

[BlakeHanson]

...but they were happy to get half of my hog.

Pork slapped!
The .308 definitely did it's job on that one. (it's not your grandma's .223)
SP, HP, or ball round?

You should hook up with Cyberscoper, he's retired AF and hunts hogs with RFB's too.
He uses suppressors because they have more to "dispose" of.

 

[Mattitude]

You should hook up with Cyberscoper, he's retired AF and hunts hogs with RFB's too.
He uses suppressors because they have more to "dispose" of.

After the pork slap comment I really don't know how to answer about "hooking up" with Cyber But yea I'm all about slaying feral hogs, and doing that with a fellow AF brother then all the better. I don't have a centerfire suppressor but I do have night vision and have used it to great effect.

As for the round, it's my usual RFB reload recipe w/168gr AMAX.