bobinpa
Gold $$ Contributor
I thought I would share my experience since there seems to be a need for info on this cartridge. Maybe it will help someone someday.
First the gun: It's a BAT VR, single shot, Jewell trigger with a Krieger 8 twist HV at 28" and a brake sitting in an HS Precision stock and wearing a Leupold VX3 8.5-25x50 with a varmint hunter reticle and a 3x booster.
The brass: I started with 12 pcs of brass. I didn't want to do 50 or 100 just in case I didn't get it right. I would rather junk 12 than 50.
I necked them down using a FL bushing die, in just 2 steps because that's the bushings I had. New brass was .287 - .288. So I went .268 and .252. Using a FL bushing die worked good.
Next I ran them over an expander, chamfered, trimmed etc and took a skim cut off the necks to get an 80% clean up. This brought the necks down to .0145 - .0146 and a loaded round at .252.
The load: I started with H4350 based on guidance from ALF, CCI 450s and 80gr SMKs .010 off the lands.
I loaded 3 - 38 gr, 3 - 38.5, 3 - 39 and 3 - 39.5.
Since I was breaking in the barrel, I shot 1 and cleaned for the first 3 (38gr) shots. The third cleaning was done in 7-8 patches.
My cleaning method was 2 wet patches of Butches. Let it sit 5 minutes. 5-6 strokes with a brush then a wet patch or 2. A dry patch then a patch with denatured alcohol on it. Let it sit a couple minutes then a dry patch and lastly a patch with a little Kroil on it. Shoot the next shot and repeat.
The first 2 shots were right next to each other and the third was about 1/2" low (must have been me)
. Since the barrel was cleaning so good I shot the next 3 (38.5 gr)without cleaning in between shots. That 3 shot group measures .472 overall. This load was flattening the primers a little but the bolt lift was fine. Then I cleaned. I shot one more round (39gr) and the bolt lift was a little stiff with an ejector mark on the head of the case, so I stopped. It looks like the load will be around 38.5 or maybe 38.6. I think I'm going to pull the last 5 and make some more up around the 38.5 - 38.6 range .... no need to run hot with this one. I'll post more as it progresses.
First the gun: It's a BAT VR, single shot, Jewell trigger with a Krieger 8 twist HV at 28" and a brake sitting in an HS Precision stock and wearing a Leupold VX3 8.5-25x50 with a varmint hunter reticle and a 3x booster.
The brass: I started with 12 pcs of brass. I didn't want to do 50 or 100 just in case I didn't get it right. I would rather junk 12 than 50.
I necked them down using a FL bushing die, in just 2 steps because that's the bushings I had. New brass was .287 - .288. So I went .268 and .252. Using a FL bushing die worked good.
Next I ran them over an expander, chamfered, trimmed etc and took a skim cut off the necks to get an 80% clean up. This brought the necks down to .0145 - .0146 and a loaded round at .252.
The load: I started with H4350 based on guidance from ALF, CCI 450s and 80gr SMKs .010 off the lands.
I loaded 3 - 38 gr, 3 - 38.5, 3 - 39 and 3 - 39.5.
Since I was breaking in the barrel, I shot 1 and cleaned for the first 3 (38gr) shots. The third cleaning was done in 7-8 patches.
My cleaning method was 2 wet patches of Butches. Let it sit 5 minutes. 5-6 strokes with a brush then a wet patch or 2. A dry patch then a patch with denatured alcohol on it. Let it sit a couple minutes then a dry patch and lastly a patch with a little Kroil on it. Shoot the next shot and repeat.
The first 2 shots were right next to each other and the third was about 1/2" low (must have been me)
. Since the barrel was cleaning so good I shot the next 3 (38.5 gr)without cleaning in between shots. That 3 shot group measures .472 overall. This load was flattening the primers a little but the bolt lift was fine. Then I cleaned. I shot one more round (39gr) and the bolt lift was a little stiff with an ejector mark on the head of the case, so I stopped. It looks like the load will be around 38.5 or maybe 38.6. I think I'm going to pull the last 5 and make some more up around the 38.5 - 38.6 range .... no need to run hot with this one. I'll post more as it progresses.
: 4 of six BAT actions had only 0.048"" pin protrusion: misfires and inconsistency galore until he identified, & corrected the problem. Stuff happens. RG
RG
