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Old October 14, 2013, 05:15 PM   #1
wachtelhund1
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Join Date: January 4, 2007
Location: pelican lake, WI
Posts: 413
Valmet 412S 12ga & .223 Rem Sight In

Last year I purchased this Valmet combination gun for coyote hunting. This gun was last made in 1985. Mine was new, unfired in the box, still had cosmoline on the barrels. An advantage of the Valmet 412 system is the ability to adjust the rifle barrel to hit at the same point of impact (POI) of the shotgun barrel. The shotgun barrel is 23” 3” IM. Windage is adjusted at the end of the rifle barrel and elevation is adjusted under the forearm. I’ve been shooting it the last year with a Burris Signature 1.5 to 5 scope. The .223 barrel shoots under one inch groups with my reloads: 52 grain Sierra HP and 28 grains of CFE .223. I use this load for four different .223 rifles.

I also load my own 12 gauge buckshot shells, using a published Hodgon 1 1/8 ounce lead load. Federal Gold Metal 2 ¾” hulls, 38.1 grains of Longshot powder, Win 209 primers, Fed. 12S3 wads, 10,600 PSI, Vel. 1585 fps. In this load, I load 50 BBB lead pellets which average 6 to 7 grains under the 1 1/8 ounce weight, plus a shot over card. Powder and shot are individually weighed on an electronic scale. The wad is rolled in mica powder which adds 10 to 15 FPS, a BPI recommendation. Wad and crimps hit the 90 index mark on the MEC reloader. Crimps are very tight and uniform.

This last weekend I decided to pattern the shotgun barrel and see how close the rifle barrel and shotgun barrel POIs where. I was shooting off a bench and rest. Saturday, I tried firing 2 ¾” saboted slugs at 75 yards, 15 total. Recoil was heavy but less than expected due to the stock shape. The scope was already zeroed for the .223 barrel. The slugs were hitting about 12 to 13” high. I zeroed the scope for the slugs and then fired the .223 barrel. As expected it hit 12 to 13” low and several inches to the left. The rifle barrel POI was raised by numerous very small adjustments moving the barrel band under the forearm forward.

Sunday was the real test with my buckshot loads. I taped together some brown wrapping paper and taped a 200 yard NRA target in the center. From the center I drew a 40” circle around the target. I fired at this from 25 yards as I wanted to center the pattern using the scope.

First shot, patterned 3 to 4” inches to the right and several inches low. Forty-one pellets were inside the 40” circle, several hit to the right outside the circle. Hits where patched with black tape. I adjusted the scope 64 clicks to the left.

Second shot, patterned 3 to 4” to the left with 42 pellets hitting inside the circle and several hitting outside on the left. Hits patched with blue tape. Hum, I think the scope is ½” adjustments. So, I corrected the scope back 32 clicks to the right.

Third shot, the pattern was fairly centered with 45 pellets hitting inside the circle. Hits where patched with silver tape. Standing back and looking at the patterns, it looked like the pattern was still 2” to the left. So the scope was adjusted 12 clicks to the right. In all three shots the pattern appeared to hit a couple inches low. So the scope was adjusted 10 clicks up.

Forth shot, centered the pattern with 48 pellets hitting in side the 40” circle. I was satisfied with the scope setting for the shotgun barrel. Now to tweak the rifle barrel to hit where the scope aimed at 100 yards.

First two .223 shots hit 22” high and 3” to the left. Wasn’t sure if the rifle barrel POI could be adjusted this much. I started with sliding the barrel band under the forearm to the rear, moving it about a 1/64” at a time. Each adjustment moved the POI down about 1.5 to 2”. About 10 adjustments and shots moved the POI down to the correct elevation. Two small adjustments to the right about 1/64” at the end of the barrel centered the POI. The last three shot group all hit inside a one inch orange dot pasted to the center of the 200 yard NRA target.

I hunt in Northern Wisconsin in mostly wood terrain and few large openings. I now feel confident using this gun.
wachtelhund1 is offline  
Old October 14, 2013, 09:19 PM   #2
Been there
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Join Date: October 1, 2013
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 110
Valmet make some wonderful weapons, a friend has the 412S & my father had a Hunter in .223, the AK based rifle is still the finest made on this desgn.
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