300 Norma load development

[Justinmac13]

I now have about 80 rounds on an elk gun for this year. Ran the first ladder with N568

88.1-2975
88.4-2983
88.7-2995
89-3011
89.3-3038
89.6-3038
89.9-3037
90.1-3045
90.3-3077

230 Berger hybrids


Does all this look legit ?

 

[JasonT]

Based on my experience, it looks like the range of 89.3-90.1 is a fairly broad tuning window with little change to velocity to mess up your drop calculations. If you go at 89.6-89.7, you’ve got plenty of wiggle room on either side for inaccurate throws.

The real test is on target, but with these data and assuming your group sizes are somewhat correlated with your velocity node there, that’s what I’d use. That’s a bold assumption until you test it, but at least the load will be forgiving with weather changes while hunting.

What I would do, is go with 89.6-89.7 and tune your seating depth to minimize group size, then call it a day for a hunting rifle. Do groups of 3 at .010, .020, .030, and .040 off the lands and pick the best. You can obviously go nuts dialing it in perfectly, but with that much powder in a .30-cal, the throat will move quickly anyway, so close is close enough for a hunting gun, in my opinion.

Please someone correct me if I’m off base here.

 

[Justinmac13]

Based on my experience, it looks like the range of 89.3-90.1 is a fairly broad tuning window with little change to velocity to mess up your drop calculations. If you go at 89.6-89.7, you’ve got plenty of wiggle room on either side for inaccurate throws.

The real test is on target, but with these data and assuming your group sizes are somewhat correlated with your velocity node there, that’s what I’d use. That’s a bold assumption until you test it, but at least the load will be forgiving with weather changes while hunting.

What I would do, is go with 89.6-89.7 and tune your seating depth to minimize group size, then call it a day for a hunting rifle. Do groups of 3 at .010, .020, .030, and .040 off the lands and pick the best. You can obviously go nuts dialing it in perfectly, but with that much powder in a .30-cal, the throat will move quickly anyway, so close is close enough for a hunting gun, in my opinion.

Please someone correct me if I’m off base here.

Thanks for the reply, that is what my next move was going to be is start shooting groups with different seating depths. Like you said I don’t want to go too crazy shooting it and burning out my barrel but once the load is found it shouldn’t have many rounds on it after that.

 

[ACard]

I just went down this path but with H1000 if you plan to use it at some point I have some data with 230 berger HT

 

[Justinmac13]

I just went down this path but with H1000 if you plan to use it at some point I have some data with 230 berger HT

I did pick up two pounds recently to try but have not gotten around to trying it yet as speeds seemed good with 568. Of you don’t mind though can you pm me your data. I may throw something together if n568 proves to not be accurate in my gun.

 

[Kurz]

My apologies for shifting your topic slightly.

I'm curious as to why you chose the Berger 230 grain bullets over some of the other bullets available?

I have been enjoying the .300 Norma Mag. since it was released. While I don't shy away from those heavy for caliber bullets under some circumstances, I do wonder about their use in elk hunting?

Thanks!

 

[ACard]

I did pick up two pounds recently to try but have not gotten around to trying it yet as speeds seemed good with 568. Of you don’t mind though can you pm me your data. I may throw something together if n568 proves to not be accurate in my gun.

I ran a couple tests with H1000 before settling on my load. I initilly ranged from 81-86 grains of powder looking to isolate the high end of a safe charge weight. My rifle (terminus zeus action and benchmark full thread barrel) did not show pressure until 85 gns and only very slight there, the 86 were enough that I opted to stay below that charge. So happens I had to good nodes per se at, 81 gns and 84. Neither had any vertical dispersion and were very small with the 84 edging out at 0.084 moa with 3 rds at 100, as calculated by Ballistic x. I then loaded up another run of 83.5-85 grains in 0.4 increments. The even 84 fell between and was still apparently the most optimal. At this point I loaded 30 rds at 84 gns and ran all through the magnetospeed for data. Avg velocity was 2926, SD was 4.8. While a little slower than most like to run it, I am very satisfied with those numbers and decided if it is not broken then no need to fix it. I do not have my CBTO measurement handy but can look it up later though your chamber is different so somewhat moot.

The rifle is an absolute hammer, I have been able to get out to 1350 yards and it performs amazingly well. Beyond my expectations to be honest.

 

[ACard]

My apologies for shifting your topic slightly.

I'm curious as to why you chose the Berger 230 grain bullets over some of the other bullets available?

I have been enjoying the .300 Norma Mag. since it was released. While I don't shy away from those heavy for caliber bullets under some circumstances, I do wonder about their use in elk hunting?

Thanks!

The 230's I am shooting are the hybrid tactical and while they would likely perform well I would opt for a dedicated hunting bullet for elk. My 0.02 Fwiw, as I have not hunted for years and can offer no reasonable info

 

[Justinmac13]

My apologies for shifting your topic slightly.

I'm curious as to why you chose the Berger 230 grain bullets over some of the other bullets available?

I have been enjoying the .300 Norma Mag. since it was released. While I don't shy away from those heavy for caliber bullets under some circumstances, I do wonder about their use in elk hunting?

Thanks!

Well now I’m rethinking, another local guy here shot a few with them and they both dropped within feet of where they were standing, I figured if they worked for him on 2 out of 2 then why differ. I’ll look into some of the hammer options as well.

 

[R.Morehouse]

If that was the first 80 rounds on the barrel, it is just about in the " sweet spot" for load development IMHO. If the 80 rounds fired were with new brass then they are ready to go as well. With it being a hunting gun you really don't have to be TO concerned about your barrel life. If for whatever reason, you feel like you have to use a different bullet, I would suggest the Berger 210VLD Hunting, I am not a hunter and my suggestion comes from using them as an extremely effective target bullet in LR-BR in my 300WSM.......Happy Hunting...

Regards
Rick

 

[Kurz]

.30 Caliber cartridges have the benefit of the broadest selection of bullet styles, weights and construction. The .300 Norma Mag. is probably my favorite cartridge currently.

For elk, I've used everything from 6.5 mm Swede up to and including a .338-378 Weatherby Mag. for an especially long range hunt. Most shots, except for the .338-378 WBY were made with the Nosler 180 gr. Partition and their E-Tip bullets. None ran away but generally dropped where shot. I don't use the Bergers since I've found that the consistency of the Noslers and now the Badlands Precision fill my needs.

The Badlands Precision 195 gr. Super Bulldozer2 is an exceptional long range bullet and will stabilize in the 1:10" twist or faster. I've used them in my .300 Win. Mag. after I modified the chamber a little... They also make a 205 gr. as well.

Enjoy the process!