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300 Lapua Improved

Alex Wheeler

Alex Wheeler

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This project stated because I have had such good results with my 338 Lapua Imp and 300 Norma imp that I wanted to see if the big 300 was a gain over the Norma imp or if it finally got to the point of no returns. We shoot a 2000 yd match in Townsen Mt. once a year, its mainly a fun match at this point but we do put 3 5 shot groups on an F-class target for group and score. The 300 Norma imp and 338 Lapua imp are about 100 fps shy of getting to the target super sonic and we fight vertical because of that. So thats another reason for trying this. My action was taking so long and I was excited to see what this could do so I chambered my barrel for the Glenn so we could get going. Its a 9tw Bartlien 5r at 30". I setup the throat to work with 230 hybrids and 245s. You can push a bullet fast, but because of the nature of what we do I also expect small groups on a consistent basis. A finicky cartridge that is always going out of tune is of no use to me. So here are initial results. I dont have the early powder ladder pictures as those were shot a while back and we are just getting back into big gun season. But this thing shot as consistent across multiple powder charges as any big 30 I have seen. Im impressed as hell actually. And it will fit a CFE 9 box in a Bat Hr if you wanted the baddest 30 in a repeater.



N570 and 245s pressure ladder

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RL33 and 245s

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230s and N570 at 1000yds this morning

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Nice. Are those groups all same point of aim? Size is consistent for sure.

Pretty cool but not seeing much improvement with speed. 230gr Berger at 3200 fps is fast. Is that around max or just below? The NMI can push a 220gr with the same BC and similar wind deflection at 3200 fps from a shorter 26” barrel using almost 10gr less powder. Of course that would be close to max pressure depending on groove size.

Have you ran up a NMI with the same 30”barrel? I thought you hated 5R...oh the irony. Lol
 
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Yes, consistent aim point for the first 3 groups then we went down and looked he adjust back to the right for the last 2. There was some light wind this morning so there was some movement. It maxed out around 3350 with the 230. There is likely another node up from this one. I pushed the 230 3100 in my last 300 NMI with a 26" barrel. That was a fast barrel though, not every one can do it. Im running 230s 3000 out of a 28" 300 PRC right now with 82 grains but there are always diminishing returns as we go bigger. I dont mind burning powder so long as the accuracy is consistent.

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That’s really fast.

It will be interesting to see how long the consistency will last from the throat erosion burning that much powder and pushing the bullets that fast. Running throttled down around 3200 will help I’m sure. I suppose a seating depth ladder might shed a little light on that answer as well.

Either way, gotta love that N570 in the big 30s! Shoots so good
 
Yeah it’s not so much the cost of barrels that bothers me, rather the hassle and time it takes to rebarrel, break it in, and having to do all the load development over again.

But 800 rounds would be plenty of barrel life to last a long time only shooting one 2k competition per year and maybe some long range hunting. Probably worth it for that level of performance.
 
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Alex Wheeler said:
The throat is moving about half what a 28 Nosler does so far. I dont expect more than 700-800 out of a barrel for good accuracy. Barrels are cheap in the big scheme of things though. Im thinking this will be the next one I play with.
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Are you full size bumping your brass .004?

Why .004 vs say .002?

Thanks
John
 
Nice 3 shot group on 98gr.

If this rifle is intended to compete in the 2K competition, shouldn’t you guys be ripping off 5 shot groups since that’s what is required in the 2K shoot?

Be interesting to see how the barrel reacts to the heat of two extra rounds fired quickly to stay in the same wind conditions
 
Yes and no, this action is also bedded to a McMillan A5 and is going elk hunting soon. But, once you get at tune then you want to see some 5 shot groups. This is just tuning, less than 200 rounds on the barrel and 50 where fireforming and he has found two good areas with two bullets. Its actually coming along fast especially for what it is. Heat shortens barrel life by a lot. Tuning with 3 vs 5 will be noticeable. Now, I tune every rifle I have owned with 3s. Im confident in them, but I dont look at just one group on one day.
 
do you prefernce barrels that are cut with new tooling or cutters, or do you have that option..just wondering about that. or how is that gauged..is there a prefence is it smoother or do you like barrels cut with 2nd use tooling..it's something I always comtemplated, does it make a diff...
 
Alex Wheeler said:
Yes and no, this action is also bedded to a McMillan A5 and is going elk hunting soon. But, once you get at tune then you want to see some 5 shot groups. This is just tuning, less than 200 rounds on the barrel and 50 where fireforming and he has found two good areas with two bullets. Its actually coming along fast especially for what it is. Heat shortens barrel life by a lot. Tuning with 3 vs 5 will be noticeable. Now, I tune every rifle I have owned with 3s. Im confident in them, but I dont look at just one group on one day.
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I haven’t seen anything significantly different from one day to the next using N570. That powder is very good across a wide range of weather and temperatures. But of course every barrel can be a little different.

I was just curious to see how it reacts to the extra heat of a 5 shot group when burning that much powder down a 30 cal bore since you will need to do it for competition anyhow.

Keep us posted on how the 245s perform on big game if he has a successful hunt.
 
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Alex Wheeler said:
Yes, consistent aim point for the first 3 groups then we went down and looked he adjust back to the right for the last 2. There was some light wind this morning so there was some movement. It maxed out around 3350 with the 230. There is likely another node up from this one. I pushed the 230 3100 in my last 300 NMI with a 26" barrel. That was a fast barrel though, not every one can do it. Im running 230s 3000 out of a 28" 300 PRC right now with 82 grains but there are always diminishing returns as we go bigger. I dont mind burning powder so long as the accuracy is consistent.

View attachment 1274959
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Alex,
Not to hijack this thread, but what's the COAL of your 300PRC with Berger 230s ?
 
6MMsteve said:
do you prefernce barrels that are cut with new tooling or cutters, or do you have that option..just wondering about that. or how is that gauged..is there a prefence is it smoother or do you like barrels cut with 2nd use tooling..it's something I always comtemplated, does it make a diff...
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Are you talking about the reamer or tooling the barrel is made with? This is just an off the shelf Bartlien 5r barrel.
 
Ledd Slinger said:
I haven’t seen anything significantly different from one day to the next using N570. That powder is very good across a wide range of weather and temperatures. But of course every barrel can be a little different.

I was just curious to see how it reacts to the extra heat of a 5 shot group when burning that much powder down a 30 cal bore since you will need to do it for competition anyhow.

Keep us posted on how the 245s perform on big game if he has a successful hunt.
Click to expand...
Ya N570 is pretty good stuff. The ladders were shot with up to 6 shots at a time and looked fine but the throat does move faster. The new steel from Bartlien is probably going to be a good choice here, I have a few coming for others.
 
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