Because the Black Hills .223 50-grain V-Max load did so well from the machine-rest, Rick fired it in one of his favorite coyote rifles based on a Mini Mark-X barreled action. The rifle put five shots into 1.25 inches with four of the shots measuring 0.6 inch.

If you're shooting factory ammo and do not have the ability to tweak a load as a handloader does, one option is to simply try different factory loads until you find one that is compatible and shoots to your desired standards with your individual firearm. During this process of trying to find a good-shooting load, you will often find that in any given firearm some over-the-counter loads shoot terribly.

For an ammo manufacturer the trick is to produce ammo that is likely to shoot well. Even if every load does not shoot well in any one firearm, at least one loading should shoot well. As a test, a person could either fire a single loading in a lot of different firearms or he could shoot a lot of different loadings in a single firearm. Since most of us have only one firearm of a given caliber and type, I used the latter approach in shooting the Black Hills ammo. I simply used a second barrel to keep the firearm reasonably compatible with the bullet weights used.

To get a good average, I fired three 10-shot strings with each of 13 different Black Hills .223 loadings. Some of the loadings may have been the same with the exception of using a new case or a once-fired case. You can see the results of all this shooting in the accompanying chart. New cases are indicated by a "BHA" (for Black Hills Ammunition). Once-fired and remanufactured military cases are indicated by an "LC" in the chart; LC is also the headstamp on these cases, indicating Lake City Arsenal, where the brass originated.

Getting a good 10-shot group with no alibis is tough to do. There are stories of a single bullet that for no explained reason flies out of what might have been a tight cluster. This often occurs with a three-shot string and many times with a five-shot string. If you're lucky enough to fire a group without a flier, you can end up with a very tight group. However, usually what happens if another five or seven shots are fired to complete a 10-shot string, other bullets fill in the space between the main group and the flier to make a reasonably rounded group. Ten shots are a more reliable indicator when it comes to predicting what a load is likely to do in the future.

The problem with 10-shot groups is that when you report them, everyone thinks you aren't shooting very well or that the ammunition is not good because the group sizes are so much larger than three- or five-shot groups. Also, when we're firing three- or five-shot groups with a flier, it is only natural to assume that it was caused by a flinch or "pulling" the shot. Therefore, since the flier was our own fault, the tendency is to eliminate it from any reporting of group size.

This is one of the advantages of using a machine rest and the Oehler acoustic target system. The machine rest reduces the human element, and the Oehler target system precludes any fudging of group measurement. All shots are shown, groups are what they are, and alibis are not part of the system.

Test-firing the Black Hills .223 ammunition from a machine rest proved that it is capable of incredible accuracy.

Evaluating The Test Results
After using this machine rest for several years, I have determined that a 1.5-inch 10-shot group at 100 yards or a 3.25-inch group at 200 yards is a good one. As you can see in the charts, I fired 41 10-shot groups with Black Hills ammo of all bullet weights. The ammo incorporated both new and remanufactured ammunition. Of these 41 10-shot groups, 36 of them were smaller than three inches at 200 yards; 31 of the clusters were 2.5 inches or less at 200; and 11 of them were less than two inches. Perhaps most impressive was the fact that five of the 10-shot groups were under 1.5 inches at 200 yards!

One of the groups fired with the 50-grain V-Max and new cases measured 1.4 inches. If I were inclined to eliminate a flier, I could eliminate a single shot and the group would measure 0.9 inch for the remaining nine shots. Another 10-shot string with the remanufactured 68-grain hollowpoint loading measured 1.3 inches. Eliminate the second shot from the group, and it measures 0.8 inch.

SHOOTING BLACK HILLS .223 AMMUNITION
BULLET	CASE	OVERALL CARTRIDGE LENGTH (inches)	MUZZLE VELOCITY (fps)	STANDARD DEVIATION (fps)	BALLISTIC COEFFICIENT	200-YARD ACCURACY (inches)
Wiseman 24-inch Barrel, 1:12-inch Twist
50-gr. V-Max	BHA	2.250	3339	18	.234	1.40
50-gr. V-Max	BHA	2.250	3344	17	.235	1.40
50-gr. V-Max	BHA	2.250	3361	46	.233	1.70
50-gr. V-Max	LC	2.247	3305	22	.233	1.40
50-gr. V-Max	LC	2.247	3309	23	.233	2.10
50-gr. V-Max	LC	2.247	3322	30	.232	2.30
52-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.190	3229	19	.203	2.40
52-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.190	3255	25	.203	2.20
52-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.190	3234	12	.203	1.90
52-gr. Match HP	LC	2.208	3330	18	.209	2.50
52-gr. Match HP	LC	2.208	3327	17	.209	2.40
52-gr. Match HP	LC	2.208	3325	26	.208	3.60
60-gr. SP	BHA	2.181	3072	25	.204	3.40
60-gr. SP	BHA	2.181	3038	11	.204	2.90
60-gr. SP	BHA	2.181	3047	34	.205	2.20
60-gr. SP	LC	2.189	3086	44	.206	5.40
60-gr. SP	LC	2.189	3079	25	.208	2.80
60-gr. SP	LC	2.189	3075	33	.208	2.60
Krieger 24-inch Barrel, 1:8-inch Twist
60-gr. SP	BHA	2.176	3020	13	.208	3.60
60-gr. SP	LC	2.188	3049	33	.210	2.60
68-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.211	2894	15	.271	1.60
68-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.211	2883	13	.273	2.10
68-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.211	2873	37	.271	2.40
68-gr. Match HP	LC	2.224	2907	21	.272	1.30
68-gr. Match HP	LC	2.224	2898	25	.271	2.80
68-gr. Match HP	LC	2.224	2897	35	.272	2.00
75-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.247	2827	14	.348	2.30
75-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.247	2834	17	.354	4.10
75-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.247	2826	13	.355	2.50
75-gr. Match HP	LC	2.242	2752	12	.350	2.50
75-gr. Match HP	LC	2.242	2744	13	.354	1.80
75-gr. Match HP	LC	2.242	2748	12	.356	1.50
77-gr. HP	BHA	2.249	2749	23	.340	2.50
77-gr. HP	BHA	2.249	2745	22	.342	1.90
77-gr. HP	BHA	2.249	2768	15	.335	2.20
77-gr. HP	LC	2.240	2782	19	.340	2.30
77-gr. HP	LC	2.240	2773	20	.345	2.40
77-gr. HP	LC	2.240	2778	16	.342	2.30
80-gr. Match HP AMU	BHA	2.499	2879	9	.380	2.30
80-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.499	2863	12	.390	1.20
80-gr. Match HP	BHA	2.499	2866	13	.390	2.20
NOTES: Each line represents the average for 10 shots fired from a test barrel with the Oehler Model 43 PBL using Model 57 infrared screens on a 20-foot spacing. Velocities are instrumental at 15 feet from the muzzle. Group sizes are for 10 shots at 200 yards. Groups were recorded with an Oehler acoustic target. All remanufactured ammunition was with Lake City Arsenal brass as indicated by "LC." Newly manufactured ammunition is indicated by "BHA."

The Black Hills 50-grain V-Max loading shot so well from the machine rest that I wanted to shoot it in one of my favorite custom-stocked coyote rifles. This rifle began as an Interarms Mini Mark X. I fitted it with a Timney trigger, Dakota bolt shroud, and three-position safety. The rifle has a Dakota steel grip cap and a Neidner-style checkered steel buttplate. The sling studs are also from Dakota. The metal and stock work were done in my shop by Brad Elder. Larry Brace checkered the stock and rust-blued the barreled action. The rifle is topped with a Leupold 3-9X scope on a Redfield base and sports a 20-inch barrel. These basic actions and barreled actions are made in Europe and are currently imported by Charles Daly.

A five-shot group from the coyote rifle measured 1.25 inches with four of the five shots in 0.6 inch. I knew exactly when the shot went out of the group and called it. It was my fault, but even with the flier the group is plenty good for any coyote rifle and ammo. Instrumental velocity for the 20-inch barrel was 3211 fps at 15 feet from the muzzle.

Black Hills loads ammunition in a variety of calibers and bullet styles, both handgun and rifle, in red box new, blue box remanufactured, or top-of-the-line black box Gold rifle ammunition. Black Hills also has a great line of cowboy ammunition in appropriate calibers.