Chapuis Brousse 470 NE Range Report

[Aussie_Hunter]

So I managed to get to the range a couple of days earlier than I expected, testing 4 different loads. I still want to work up some loads with RL15 and RL19 when I get a chance, but the loads tested today are more than good enough and I have plenty of AR2209, Bertram bullets and Woodleighs on hand to keep this rifle fed for a couple of years. The load with Bertram bullets is purely for range work only as they are fairly cheap cup and core bullets, but I thought while I had the chrono and the shooting sticks out I might as well test velocity and accuracy of that load as well.

The rifle has already proven to be very accurate as you will see from the loads tested below. The irons on this rifle might just be the best iron sights I have ever used, the notch in the rear express sight really makes it much easier to hold a consistent sight picture. The front trigger almost feels perfect, has a very crisp break but the back trigger has quite a bit of creep before it breaks, not that it feels like a bad trigger it just feels quite a bit different to the front trigger so might take a bit of getting used to.

Felt recoil seems to be significantly less for me than the Merkel 470 I owned, both the Merkel and the Chapuis have 1" decelerator pads on them and are similar in weight so all I can put it down to is the Chapuis just fits me better and I must say it's a pleasant surprise. I fired 25 rounds today, mostly from the sitting position off sticks and all though I was wearing a 1" sissy pad my shoulder is not sore at all. I remember doing the same with the Merkel I had, and it was absolute murder on my shoulder.

The rifles action out of the box was extremely tight, before taking it to the range I disassembled the rifle and gave everything a good lubing. After making sure all wear points are well lubricated and firing the 25 shots today it is already much easier to open and close the action. Ejectors work well as expected and actually don't make too much noise. LOP to the first trigger is a little bit of a stretch for me but not something I can't get used to or something that will impact the way I hold and/or use the rifle. Weight of the rifle unloaded is right on 10.4lbs it seems to soak up the recoil just fine, as I said above the felt recoil is much less than I expected.

I know it's only early days but overall, so far, I literally can't point out one fault with this rifle, I am very very happy with it. I think it's definitely going to be one I hold onto forever. I have ordered a weaver style rail from Chapuis and I have a Aimpoint Micro H-2 red dot already for it as well which I will try when the rail turns up but I will be surprised if I don't just end up sticking to the iron sights.


All loads used Norma brass, Federal primers and an open cell foam case filler.

500 Grain Woodleigh soft
97 grains of AR2209
Averaged 2152fps
1.2" group at 50 yards

500 Grain Woodleigh soft
99 grains of AR2209
Averaged 2218fps
0.9" group at 50 yards

500 Grain Woodleigh soft
95.5 grains of RL17
Averaged 2130fps
1.4" group at 50 yards

500 Grain Bertram soft
97 grains of AR2209
Averaged 2140fps
1.2" group at 50 yards

0.9" at 50 yards

1.2" at 50 yards

1.4" at 50 yards

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

So I ran some new 450 Rigby rounds over my Chrono yesterday and the readings I was getting didn't seem right just based on the load data I was using. I have had this happen once before and then when I changed the battery in my chrono it seemed to right itself. Based on this previous experience I changed the battery in my chrono and instantly started to get what I considered not only more accurate but more consistent results, no more errors no more big differences in velocity. I then realised I could have also had inaccurate readings from all these loads I tested in the double rifle a couple of days earlier which I posted above.

I loaded up some more rounds with the same powder charges originally used plus some new charge weights and yep sure enough, the results were quite different not to mention I then realised the loads mentioned above with Woodleighs and 99 & 97 grains of 2209 was actually crossing at 50 metres. When I tested load velocities again, the load with 99 grains of 2209 came in about the same but slightly quicker at 2225fps, 98 grains came in at 2199fps also just crossing at 50 metres, 97 grains came in at 2183fps (quite a bit quicker than originally tested) and again were only just crossing they were virtually the same POI but still a slight cross, and 96 grains came in at 2174fps and finally to my shoulders relief 96 grains proved to be the sweet spot.

96 grains of 2209, Norma Brass, Federal primers and 500 grain Woodleigh softs at 2174fps put them between 0.7-0.9 inches apart at 50 metres. I definitely made sure of triple checking this by highlighting each hole in the target after each shot and firing 3 different groups. One group came in at 0.9", one at 0.8" and one at 0.7" (I actually got 2 bullets through one hole from the left barrel). When I checked this load over the chrono I actually got a duplicate reading from both barrels of 2174fps with one of the groups I shot. First time I have ever seen this happen not just with a double but bolt guns as well, when the reading came up on my chrono I had to read the owners manual to figure out what duo01 meant. I can't remember what the exact velocities of the other 2 groups shot were but I think they averaged out at 2170fps, I was so impressed with the duplicate reading of 2174fps, the other rounds tested were so close to this same velocity and I was so happy I finally found the almost perfect load, I called this load at 2174fps.

I must say I am a little embarrassed I didn't realise the 0.9" group I originally shot with the 99 grains of 2209 was crossing. I know the original group I shot at 1.2" with 97 grains of 2209 didn't cross because I definitely checked that one. Having said that, it must not have crossed purely because of poor shooting on my behalf because I tested 3 groups at this charge weight again yesterday and they definitely all crossed. Again, with the 97 grains originally not crossing even though it's my fault I think it made it easier for me to assume the original 99 grain load wasn't crossing.

All this is a really good example that extra testing, being consistent and not being hasty etc is important to make sure your data is accurate. To anyone that read all this, apologies for the long read and explanation but since the original results I posted were not accurate I felt I definitely needed to post the correct results and admit my mistake. But at the end of the day I'm super happy, as most of you already know 0.7-0.9 inches at 50 metres is exceptional accuracy for a double.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Good work! Did you use a filler with the AR2209? And do you know what Hodgdon powder is equivalent to the AR2209?

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

Good work! Did you use a filler with the AR2209? And do you know what Hodgdon powder is equivalent to the AR2209?

Yep sure did use the open cell foam filler again with the 2209, I believe the Hodgdon powder is H4350.