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why my 1-10" Brux .308 won't shoot 195gr and up?

I've tried to find a load for my new barrel that I bought from bugholes. 33" 1-10 twist. it has 6 grooves which was a surprise to me, if I new it I'd pass. So I started with 200.20X and 195 ELDM in Lapua palma brass. The groups at 500 yards were pretty big. I couldn't cover them with my hand. One day I found a few reloads from 4 years ago with 178 a-max, so I gave them a try and got a 3" group, then I loaded some 185 Juggernauts and got a group that was 1" at 500 yards. My old Broughton 1-11" barrel shot the 200s, 215s and 195s super well.
Thank you!
 
If you haven't, I suggest you measure the twist rate and see if it is really a 10 twist. Even if you checked the stamping when it arrived, it is possible that it was marked incorrectly. As you say, an 11 twist will stabilize the 200 quite easily. Even if it is a twist are issue and you are really under-spun, my experience has been that I had a tough time grouping even on the paper at 100.

Have you tried load development with the heavier bullets or was that just a blind guess? It sounds like the "bad" groups were 1 moa (ish) which isn't bad if those were random loads.
 
The gunsmith and myself measured the twist, and he was correct. The loads were not random. Those are the same loads I used in my previous barrel.
 
Reality is that some barrels just don't like heavier bullets . If we had the answer to that , we would also be rocket scientists , and wealthy . I notice there was no information regarding velocities and powder used . Sometimes the "wrong" powder can cause grouping issues . The powder may be to fast for the heavier bullets , causing the dispersion , but works well for the Mid-weights .

Going to follow this because I have two Brux , 6's in thirty inch , 1 - 10 twist and also a brand new Manson 2013 TR Reamer headed to the Smith soon .
 
I don't have a Brux 6 groove but I do have Lilja 30 cal 6 groove 1-10" twist chambered in 300 RUM that shoots great with Berger 215 and 230 gr Hybrids, multiple 3 shot groups at 1000yds in the 4-6" range.
 
The loads were not random. Those are the same loads I used in my previous barrel.
I don't think you should necessarily expect this barrel to shoot the load your last barrel liked. Some of mine do but more often than not, the load needs a tweak or complete rework with a new barrel. I would do some focused load development before I tried anything else.

Or like BC'z says, shoot the Jugs.
 
Reality is that some barrels just don't like heavier bullets . If we had the answer to that , we would also be rocket scientists , and wealthy . I notice there was no information regarding velocities and powder used . Sometimes the "wrong" powder can cause grouping issues . The powder may be to fast for the heavier bullets , causing the dispersion , but works well for the Mid-weights .

Going to follow this because I have two Brux , 6's in thirty inch , 1 - 10 twist and also a brand new Manson 2013 TR Reamer headed to the Smith soon .
The twist should be fast enough then if it's a 10 twist barrel.

Three things have to work together. Bullets, powder and the barrel. You might not have a barrel problem... it might not like the powder you are using or vice versa etc...

If it shoots other loads just fine.... then you will have to play with the combination.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
 
Grooves aren't gonna make a difference, a good barrel is a good barrel.
I would be looking elsewhere.
3,4,5,and 6 are the norm
For the most part I always said... the style and number of grooves doesn't make a difference when it comes to barrel life and or accuracy.... until Aug. 2022.

A very good test was done with like 12 barrels. 7 of them had spec 6 groove and 5 of them had 5R rifling. I didn't know at the time we made all the barrels for the test that was going to be run.

What they found was interesting. All accuracy was done at 200 yards and the 5R barrels barrel out shot the 6 groove barrels (by a slim margin) but what they found was the bullets out of the 6 groove barrels all had burrs on the sides of the jackets which compromised the bc by 5%. None of the bullets out of the 5R barrels had this happen. So if you take those targets further down range the bc error is going to show up more in terms of the accuracy being off/unpredictable. A total of 320 rounds where fired and every bullet got photographed right after it left the barrel. The burr was as big as a 1/32" of an inch.

This backs up what Hornady and the Army did testing by accident with 6.5mm about 5 years earlier. All accuracy testing was done at 1k and 1200 yards. They shot 4 groove and 5R barrels. They didn't know why all the bullets that where fired out of the 5R barrels flew more consistently and again the testing was done by accident. The test in Aug. 2022 and now with data confirm what Hornady and the Army seen and now we know why.

Obermeyer always claimed the 5R barrels where more accurate as well but never had data as to why or anything to back it up. It wasn't necessarily more accurate but the 5R rifling helped the flight of the bullet.
 
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Frank i dont doudt your testing at all, my point to the O.P is I doudt the problem he has is because its a 6 groove.
I doudt alot of people have the equipment or ability to shoot the difference including me.
As you probably are well aware people wanna blame the barrel first.
 
Same type of problem with 2 Brux 6mm 1-7.5 Dasher Barrels with 105HB.
#2 Rifle shots lights out at 31.8 gr. Varget.
#1 Rifle shots lights out at 30.7 gr. Varget. ???
All Powder etc. same lots, Action Stock, Reamer, Gun Smith same...

That slower Barrel shot a 10x 199 at 600 with Pulled 105 Bullets ??
Not many cases of Identical Twins, my best thought.
 

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