Springfield Armory Waypoint Rifle

Shooting/Testing

For factory fodder, I had two Hornady loads, the first being Hornady Outfitter ammo using their 190-grain CX bullet. The second was their Precision Hunter brand using Hornady’s 212-grain ELD-X bullet.

My handloads consisted of using Alliant Reloader 25 powder. I obtained this powder last year from a friend whose neighbor died and the wife wanted to discard it. I’ve saved this highly-sought-after commodity for just the right project. There’s a lesson here. Bullets used were Hornady 212-grain ELS-X. Loads were assembled using Hornady custom dies on a Lee Classic Turret press.

Shooting was done from the bench, using sandbags for both forearm and buttstock of the rifle. Initial testing was at 100 yards. Over the course of a few days, I fired 5 groups of 3 of each load. Targets were fluorescent orange 2″ squares, which I turned 90 degrees to provide a diamond-shape target. This allows me to align the reticle with each corner of the diamond shape, ensuring a dead-center hold.

I’d shoot until I noticed groups opening up due to the barrel heating up, then let it cool down. When igniting 80 +/- grains of powder per shot, most barrels get hot after 3-4 shots. With the carbon fiber wrapped barrel, this was extended to around a dozen shots. Barrel cool down also seemed quicker than solid steel barrels by about half the time.

Velocities were as follows — My handloads using 80 grains of ReLoader 25 averaged 2,944 FPS. Accuracy was great, averaging 0.453″. The Hornady Outfitter ammo featuring the 190-grain CX bullet averaged 2,997 FPS with groups averaging 0.462″. Lastly was the Hornady Precision Hunter using the 212-grain ELD-X bullet. Velocity averaged 2,867 with groups averaging 0.582″.

I was very impressed with the accuracy of the rifle, especially since Springfield Armory “only” guarantees 0.75″ groups. I know a lot of variables are at play for making an accurate rifle, but Springfield Armory did an outstanding job with this one. The action is very smooth, feeding, extraction and ejection very reliabl