300 PRC load data

[Ledd Slinger]

it would be my luck to happen to me either way.
came across a bad rem primer in factory core lokt ammo 30 yrs ago. cost my buddy a buck.
it does happen rarely. i took that round apart. no primer compound at all. not sure how it happened, but...

I’ve had Fed GM 215M fail to fire in the field before. It’s rare, but it happens. Luckily that particular instance was when I had already downed the buck and he wasn’t going anywhere, the round failed to fire when up close trying to put him out of his misery so no big deal. Never happened before and never happened again. Just a bad primer.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

This is off topic, but have you tested 7828ssc for temperature stability @Alex Wheeler ?

Not directly. Most powders do good enough in cooler weather. It's hot weather they seem to change more. I think hunters worry too much about this. The rifle should be tuned for the conditions just like the drop charts.

 

[moondog]

Just got 300 pieces of Lapua 300PRC Brass. I will say the necks were WAY tight. I ran a mandrel through all of them. Hopefully my go to load for the 215 Bergers and 225 ELDs will be close. I'm going to try some 220 Bergers while I'm at it. I never was able to get A-tips to group well enough for me to pursue them further. I have a good supply of Retumbo, H-1000, Reloder 33. Sold the Reloder 26 as I was getting hangfires with it. Tried every primer made and no bueno. My buddy had the same issue with 26 in his 300WM. Others have gotten good results with it, just not me. Excited to finally have the Lapua for it, not Excited to start over.

 

[moondog]

Going to try and test this weekend if it ever dries up. Epic wet spring is making it hard to get out to my range. Even though it's 10 minutes away. I hate mud most of all! The Rancher who's property I use doesn't like the 2 track road getting torn up.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Let us know how much different the volume is between Lapua and ADG if you can. Thanks

 

[moondog]

I was using the Hornady stuff so can't compare. Mine did ok after a lot of prep.
6 firings before I had to toss it.

 

[B23]

Let us know how much different the volume is between Lapua and ADG if you can. Thanks

It'll be interesting to see where the Lapua stuff comes in at with regard to case capacity compared to the others.

Any guesses? Largest to smallest, Hornady, Lapua, ADG??

 

[moondog]

I never really measured h20 in any of my stuff. I'm more interested in seeing how it compares accuracy wise to the Hornady loads I worked up. My experience with the Hornady stuff wasn't bad after a bunch of prep. 30% had a flap? Inside of the flash hole. The necks needed cleaned up. It grew more than I liked. But, I torture tested 50 rounds and got 6 firings before it got thin at the web. Primer pockets held up fine. Accuracy was decent. I wasn't pushing it real hard though. 215s @ 2975fps es of 9
With Retumbo. H-1000 with 225s. Were decent too. I'll get some preliminary feedback this weekend. I'm going to try some Berger 220s also. Only have a couple hundred of em so like the A-tips, I kinda hope they don't shoot.

 

[Yote Hunter]

I never really measured h20 in any of my stuff. I'm more interested in seeing how it compares accuracy wise to the Hornady loads I worked up. My experience with the Hornady stuff wasn't bad after a bunch of prep. 30% had a flap? Inside of the flash hole. The necks needed cleaned up. It grew more than I liked. But, I torture tested 50 rounds and got 6 firings before it got thin at the web. Primer pockets held up fine. Accuracy was decent. I wasn't pushing it real hard though. 215s @ 2975fps es of 9
With Retumbo. H-1000 with 225s. Were decent too. I'll get some preliminary feedback this weekend. I'm going to try some Berger 220s also. Only have a couple hundred of em so like the A-tips, I kinda hope they don't shoot.

Looking forward to your range data. Working on loads for a guys 300 PRC using 220 gr Berger Hybrids and 230 gr ATIP. So far experience with VV 565 at 607 yards was fairly disappointing. Smallest 3 shot group was 3.9”. Will try Retumbo and possibly (my precious) H 1000 next

 

[moondog]

Out of all the testing I did early on, in order of accuracy at 1200 yards, 215 Bergers, 225 ELDmatch, 200 grain Sierras, last place 230 A-tips. I just got some of the 220 Bergers and want to see how they group.
Mine is a Kelbly's Black Bear, Bartlein 9 twist at 29", Jewell trigger, running a TBAC 338 can. I ran a APA Fat Bastard but was not making any friends. Lowest es I got was with CCI 200s (a suggestion from Frank Green) which helped get em lower. Mine likes Retumbo but shoots well with H-1000 also. Your results will probably be different. Hopefully I won't regret selling all my Hornady Brass.

 

[Kratos]

It'll be interesting to see where the Lapua stuff comes in at with regard to case capacity compared to the others.

Any guesses? Largest to smallest, Hornady, Lapua, ADG??

I had essentially identical measurements for Hornady and Lapua once fired, both right at 96 grains. I have not been part of the privileged elite who can obtain ADG brass.

 

[moondog]

Shot a ladder this morning with the virgin Lapua brass, no prep other than running a mandrel through the necks. I will say the ES in every load was at least half of the Hornady stuff. My go to Retumbo load ran 40fps slower but with an ES of 4! 215 Bergers @ 2940. I ran some H-1000 to see where I got pressure. Slight ejector marks at 79 grains running 2980. I stopped there. The 220 Bergers show promises. I just don't have a lot to test besides not being able to get more if they do work well. As before, the 215s shot the tightest at 500.
I'll go back out tomorrow to fine tune it and run them out to 1200. I'll also re check the 220s with a bit of tweaking and see how they do at distance. So far, happy with the Lapua brass. 28" Bartlein 9 twist, Black Bear, Jewell, 7×35, CCI 200s, All shot off a LRA Bipod and rear bag so not a bench rest set up for sure.

 

[moondog]

Finished getting a load for the Lapua brass this morning. Brought my press out and did a seating test to tighten up the horizontal.
215 Bergers -.045 @ 2945 es of 3. Nice easy load. I know I'll have to tweak it once I fire it all, but this will work. Went from +.010 in .010 increments. Perfect morning virtually no wind, overcast. Amazing how the horizontal tightened up. All shot at 500 yards.

 

[Earnhardt]

For anyone interested in the 33 cal version of the PRC/375 Ruger, the 250gr Bergers prefer mid burn rates. I get excellent speed and accuracy with good ladders using H4350 and RL16 which are basically identical burn rate. Slower powders like 7828, H1K, RL26, and even Retumbo work well for speed also but I seem to get better ladders, accuracy, and speed consistency with the mid burn rates. 33 cal on the PRC/375R case will easily push 250gr Bergers up to, and even slightly over, 3K fps in a 26” long barrel which is significantly faster than any 338 Lapua 250gr factory ammunition offerings of 2850-2900 fps.

Ever shoot Berger 300’s in your 338/375R?
Powder?
Velocities?
Thanks

 

[moondog]

I shoot the 300 grain Bergers in my 338 LM
Imp. @3075 with Reloder 33

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have them going just under 3000 with N570 in my 338 LM imp. 33 was faster but had a tendency to shoot horizontal. N570 cured that in this barrel. A few of us had better accuracy with N570 vs 33, not that 33 was that bad. Worth a try if you can find it. About 4 grains less than your 33 load is a good bet.

 

[moondog]

Thanks

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Ever shoot Berger 300’s in your 338/375R?
Powder?
Velocities?
Thanks

No haven’t tried the 300. My barrel is a 10” twist which would work for the 300 at my elevation but might be a hair slow. I also prefer the lesser recoil, velocity advantage and therefore flatter trajectory of the 250s for any range I am willing to take a shot at a game animal.

To put the two bullets in perspective, the windage drift between the 250 and 300 with a 160 fps speed advantage of the 250 is basically the same out to 1000 yards and the 250 shoots flatter than the 300 out to 1400 yards. The 250 starts to go transonic around 1700 yards with my muzzle velocity of 2980 fps calculated at 0 feet of elevation. The 300 calculated at a muzzle velocity of 2820 fps and 0 feet elevation goes into the transonic zone at around 1900 yards. Of course my shooting elevation is closer to 4000 feet so those transonic ranges would probably be extended.

I did however get my hands on some ADG 300 PRC brass and necked it up to 338 cal to make cases for my 338-375R. My reamer design is what I suppose you could call a “33 PRC Improved”. The shoulder angle is the same as the PRC but the location of the shoulder is significantly further forward on my 338-375R. See photo below of a virgin ADG 300 PRC case necked up to 338 cal on the left, and my 338-375R case Fireformed from that brass on the right.





I recently put a new stock, full length bedding job, scope, bedded Seekins rings, and muzzle brake on the rifle as well as acquiring the ADG brass for a new round of load development. Went out and shot some rounds the other weekend to fireform ADG cases with loads I know the rifle liked before with Hornady brass. I shot the group in the photo below at 871 yards using 76gr of H4350 and virgin ADG brass. Also dialed in and took aim on a rock a little bigger than a softball at the same range before shooting this group and disintegrated the rock so there’s a lot of energy there. I still need to prove this load and do some new ladder testing after making so many changes to the rifle so nothing is fully proven yet, but it’s looking pretty good for a starting point

 

[Orr89rocz]

When sticking to 3.6-3.7” max oal, do you think the 30 nosler or 30-28 nosler would be better choice with the 210-230 berger Or hornady eld range of bullets? They seem pretty close but i know the nosler case has received some praise for its capabilities and tuneability.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Splitting hairs at this point. I wouldnt say one was better than the other.