185 vlds from awful to awesome t

[Wjesswheel]

14 months ago I loaded up 2 sets of 15 vlds 185 grains bullets with varget 42.6, 42.3, 42.0 all were jambed .010. They were shot off a front and rear bag that usually shoots 168 grain smk really well. It was 92 degees not real windy and tested at 100 yards. And they shot awful 3 inch groups with no consistency. They shot so bad with a rifle that will usually shoot around .5 Moa with smk 168. They were so bad I didn't even shoot the second group to test. So I threw then in the corner of one of my ammo boxes and they have been there ever since.

So Sunday I took my son out we've been shooting some short range benchrest and I got a new bald eagle rest I wanted him to get use to operating. So we were shooting 20 rounds of168 hornady a for him to get use to the rest and we shot them up and he wanted to do a little more shooting and the only thing I had left was the 15 rounds of the vlds from a year ago, so I told him we can shoot these they will probably not shoot as well as the 168's. So he about 6 or 7 rounds into and he's like theseare pretty much one holing and he shoot the 7 left and he seriously has just one big hole with no fliers. The temp Sunday was about 72 degrees, not windy. I realize the bald eagle rest probably made a little difference but the groups he was shooting with the 168 was comparable to what he shoots of the bags. The question I have is any ideas on why they shot so bad a year ago and so good Sunday. Was it the 18 degree in tempature. Was it the powder settling and why that would have made such a difference. Just can't figure out how they went from so bad to really decent. They shot better then the 168's. I took the 1 round left home and measured it, it was still at .010 jamb.

 

[joshb]

Some powder ages like a fine wine.
Neck to bullet bonded. Ya just needed a little more grip on the bullet.
That rest is really nice.
Your sons a better shot than you are!

Pick any two.

 

[vmaxpro]

Was it a new barrel or anything like that? Copper fouled?

 

[Ned Ludd]

More consistent neck tension after sitting so long, settling of the powder resulting in more even burning, and the ambient temperature differential, may have all contributed to the improvement. Now that you know the potential with that bullet, it will be up to you to isolate each parameter and determine the relative contribution (or lack thereof) of each. I would suggest revisiting charge weight optimization first, followed by a rigorous seating depth test to see if you can reproduce your recent results in newly loaded rounds. You might even pick a charge weight and do the seating depth test first, just to see if a specific seating depth(s) will tighten up the grouping similar to what letting them sit a while appears to have done.

 

[Big Mc]

14 months ago I loaded up 2 sets of 15 vlds 185 grains bullets with varget 42.6, 42.3, 42.0 all were jambed .010. They were shot off a front and rear bag that usually shoots 168 grain smk really well. It was 92 degees not real windy and tested at 100 yards. And they shot awful 3 inch groups with no consistency. They shot so bad with a rifle that will usually shoot around .5 Moa with smk 168. They were so bad I didn't even shoot the second group to test. So I threw then in the corner of one of my ammo boxes and they have been there ever since.

So Sunday I took my son out we've been shooting some short range benchrest and I got a new bald eagle rest I wanted him to get use to operating. So we were shooting 20 rounds of168 hornady a for him to get use to the rest and we shot them up and he wanted to do a little more shooting and the only thing I had left was the 15 rounds of the vlds from a year ago, so I told him we can shoot these they will probably not shoot as well as the 168's. So he about 6 or 7 rounds into and he's like theseare pretty much one holing and he shoot the 7 left and he seriously has just one big hole with no fliers. The temp Sunday was about 72 degrees, not windy. I realize the bald eagle rest probably made a little difference but the groups he was shooting with the 168 was comparable to what he shoots of the bags. The question I have is any ideas on why they shot so bad a year ago and so good Sunday. Was it the 18 degree in tempature. Was it the powder settling and why that would have made such a difference. Just can't figure out how they went from so bad to really decent. They shot better then the 168's. I took the 1 round left home and measured it, it was still at .010 jamb.

When I pre load anything I add 0.005 to my Col. Reset The Die and re seat to get rid of the cold weld. Just my two cents.. Tommy Mc..

 

[Shaggy357]

Only three things not on the common denominator list, the son, the temperature, and the rest.

If my son out-shot me I would be looking for that "other" factor also....

Kidding aside, temperature does play a significant role.....at 100 yards, can't see change in rest making that big of a difference.

Steve

 

[dkhunt14]

Only three things not on the common denominator list, the son, the temperature, and the rest.

If my son out-shot me I would be looking for that "other" factor also....

Kidding aside, temperature does play a significant role.....at 100 yards, can't see change in rest making that big of a difference.

Steve

If the rest was much more solid and fit the gun better it could of made a big difference. Every time i made a bigger, more solid rest my group aggregates got smaller.

Different shooter also could of made the difference.. More tension on the bullets from setting or more even from setting could have done it also. I use more tension then most people and my targets show it helps a lot in some guns.

The difference of 20 degrees might have changed the tune. Some guns are touchy on this. Matt

 

[r bose]

I just can't imagine powder settling, a few degrees temp difference, cold welding, etc. would make that much of a difference. The only thing that might, is if you scrubbed your barrel to a point the night before, it needed 10-15 shots to resettle and you didn't give it enough fouling shots before you shot for groups. Or, it was very dirty and copper fouled and didn't shoot well before, or perhaps, you just had an off day that day.

I find when a gun isn't shooting well, instead of blaming equipment, I look at my technique. That's where problems are found.

 

[M14AMU]

When I pre load anything I add 0.005 to my Col. Reset The Die and re seat to get rid of the cold weld. Just my two cents.. Tommy Mc..

+100

I add 0.010"

 

[Mudder]

Isn't this assuming that 42, 42.3, or 42.6 are the correct load for your gun? Whenever I've done that I've been wrong.