300 Win Mag reloading help

[Howa1500]

Hello friends,

I have a 300 Win Mag and 400 rounds of Hornady Custom International Soft Points. Ammo for the 300 Win Mag here in my country is impossible to get, so I was very lucky to even get this. The issue I am having is that the ammo shoots anywhere from 1.5 - 3MOA. I shoot out to 400 yards and this doesn't give me enough confidence to hunt with it.

Do you think that I could improve accuracy by adjusting the powder amount. I have an inertia bullet puller and I could get a Lee Loader to reseat the bullet. I would be willing to do the extra work if it meant I could be shooting 1MOA.

For arguments sake lets say there is 70 grains of powder in it, I could test 3 shots with 68, 68.5, 69, 69.5, 70, 70.5, 71 etc etc. The bullet is 180 grain soft point. I would love to reload and develop my own loads but that is just not possible here as reloading components are not available so I have to make do with what I have.

I am very satisfied that the inaccuracy is from the ammo. The rifle is glass bedded, 100% free floated from the receiver forward. 3 men shot the rifle and got the same results on different days. Another stock was put on it from a rifle that was shooting .5MOA and still shooting 2MOA plus.

Any help is very much appreciated and I wish we had a 2nd Amendment like you guys do. Protect that at all costs.

 

[Walt Krafft]

You could pull 5 or 10 apart and weigh the powder to see how consistent it is and if any improvement there is possible. Factory ammo is probably crimped. That may damage the bullet pulling it, and will need to be removed before you reseat a bullet.

 

[Howa1500]

You could pull 5 or 10 apart and weigh the powder to see how consistent it is and if any improvement there is possible. Factory ammo is probably crimped. That may damage the bullet pulling it, and will need to be removed before you reseat a bullet.

Thanks I have a Hornady G3 1500 Scales, I could try that. This is a picture similar to crimp on the bullets.

Below is a link to the exact ammo.

300 Win Mag 180 GR SP Custom International™ - Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

...

www.hornady.com

 

[Howa1500]

sorry here's the picture. This isn't an exact picture of the actual bullets but is very similar to what I have, if not the same.

 

[smoooth]

Are you sure it's the ammo? Have you fired different ammo and had better results?

Have you checked your scope base and rings to be 100% sure they are ALL tight (ask me how I know)?

 

[wildcatter]

Those are crimped, and if I had to guess, far from the seating depth most rifles would prefer?

Like was said, pulling will be less than the same results you would get with new bullets.

But! I would pull 5, check wieght consistency of your powder charge, then try and reseat the bullets at touch to your rifleing. I would not want more than about .005" from touch to jam in a 300 mag hunting gun.

If that effort didn't shoot as good or better than they shoot now, I would accept what it's giving you as my guess is the bullets being pulled from crimp are being compromised.

Never tried this myself, but this would be how I would handle the situation your handed. Good Luck!

 

[piie]

You say you would love to develop your own loads, but you don't have reloading equipment? How are you going to size the necks down and re-seat the bullets?

 

[smoooth]

Those are crimped, and if I had to guess, far from the seating depth most rifles would prefer?

Like was said, pulling will be less than the same results you would get with new bullets.

But! I would pull 5, check wieght consistency of your powder charge, then try and repeat the bullets at touch to your rifleing. I would not want more than about .005" from touch to jam in a 300 mag hunting gun.

If that effort didn't shoot as good or better than they shoot now, I would accept what it's giving you as my guess is the bullets being pulled from crimp are being compromised.

Never tried this myself, but this would be how I would handle the situation your handed. Good Luck!

Wondering if it would be possible to put a stop in that inertia "tool" to only allow the bullet to move a predetermined amount forward (if it will move at all)? OP would most likely need to pull down 1 round to find the lands first.

We don't know what rifle this is for, need that info as well.

Not sure why folks are recommending pulling apart factory ammo to check powder charge consistency?? Are there issues with Hornady mfg.? Seems foolish, especially given the OP's lack of resources and tools.

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[K22]

In a quality system (rifle / scope / mounts / stock) the 300 Win mag is very capable of 1 moa.

However, this isn't the easiest caliber to shoot off the bench. Also, if the primary use is a hunting rifle, conduct your ammo testing using cold barrel shots, i.e., let the barrel cool between shots.

It sounds like you are not set up with standard reloading equipment, i.e., press, dies, etc. If this is true, then trying to alter factory ammo is not a good idea in my opinion. If you were setup with standard reloading equipment you could do some load development which could significantly reduce group size.

For example, while powder charge can make a difference accuracy wise, in my experience the most significant factor affecting accuracy is bullet selection. Also crimping adds another variable so testing without a crimp might be useful so see if without it group size reduces and determining if it is necessary to prevent bullet movement in the magazine under recoil. The are a whole bunch of other items to test but without standard reloading equipment you cannot conduct meaningful load development work.

Therefore, you may have to adjust your hunting style to a distance where all your shots can be placed in the desired vital area.

 

[Murray Brook]

Unless you have the tools and knowledge about reloading you are going down a dangerous path . I would look else where ,as was mentioned, to improve your accuracy ie bedding, scope, etc.. JMO

 

[wildcatter]

Anytime someone doesn't have experiance reloading accurate ammo, trying to alter factory ammo is probably fugal, let alone possibly dangerous.

After reading the op again, 1.5 to 4.0 it's obvious you misunderstand what a gun is capable with using one load.

This equates to a load that is giving 2 3/4" groups. In this case I doubt it would ever be altered to be usable beyond 150 to 200 yards.

I doubt trying cold shot groups would show enough change to be useful from a properly bedded rifle with a free floated barrel?

Like others have said, it may be the shooters, or the gun. But whatever it is trying to improve the ammo in my opinion taking in the variables would be useless.

 

[Doug Casner]

If I shot mine very much with 180s I would be running from it. Doug

 

[Skeetman59]

Hello friends,

I have a 300 Win Mag and 400 rounds of Hornady Custom International Soft Points. Ammo for the 300 Win Mag here in my country is impossible to get, so I was very lucky to even get this. The issue I am having is that the ammo shoots anywhere from 1.5 - 3MOA. I shoot out to 400 yards and this doesn't give me enough confidence to hunt with it.

Do you think that I could improve accuracy by adjusting the powder amount. I have an inertia bullet puller and I could get a Lee Loader to reseat the bullet. I would be willing to do the extra work if it meant I could be shooting 1MOA.

For arguments sake lets say there is 70 grains of powder in it, I could test 3 shots with 68, 68.5, 69, 69.5, 70, 70.5, 71 etc etc. The bullet is 180 grain soft point. I would love to reload and develop my own loads but that is just not possible here as reloading components are not available so I have to make do with what I have.

I am very satisfied that the inaccuracy is from the ammo. The rifle is glass bedded, 100% free floated from the receiver forward. 3 men shot the rifle and got the same results on different days. Another stock was put on it from a rifle that was shooting .5MOA and still shooting 2MOA plus.

Any help is very much appreciated and I wish we had a 2nd Amendment like you guys do. Protect that at all costs.

My pet load for my 300 Win Mag was 230 grain Berger Hybrids over H1000 powder and fired by Federal GMM 215 primers b

 

[wildcatter]

In my opinion the best hunting loads in a 300 Win Mag range from 180 grain to 200 grain. Elk to Moose I found in mine the 180 grain Nosler Partition was quite efficient, and capable of 3/4" moa for 5 shot groups.

If 180 grains is as light as I would go, any lighter might as well use a 308 Win. This guy is hunting, not trying to shoot continually to finish a match,,,, huge differance! Another reason I wouldn't recamend over 200 grains in this cartridge! Need to understand the game available where this guy is hunting as well,,,,,,,

 

[K22]

Unless you have the tools and knowledge about reloading you are going down a dangerous path . I would look else where ,as was mentioned, to improve your accuracy ie bedding, scope, etc.. JMO

This is very excellent advice - this could save you an eyeball or more.

 

[Howa1500]

Are you sure it's the ammo? Have you fired different ammo and had better results?

Have you checked your scope base and rings to be 100% sure they are ALL tight (ask me how I know)?

That's the problem, getting ammo here is impossible. I have tried 2 scopes and checked the base, rings and everything else 10 times.

 

[Howa1500]

You say you would love to develop your own loads, but you don't have reloading equipment? How are you going to size the necks down and re-seat the bullets?

we don't have access to primers or powder here. As I said in the post I can get a Lee Loader

 

[smoooth]

we don't have access to primers or powder here. As I said in the post I can get a Lee Loader

You still haven’t stated what rifle you’re using, nor if it’s new or used??
Have you cleaned the barrel?
How many rounds are on the barrel?
What does the crown look like?
Throat condition?
Suppressed or not?
Muzzle brake?
Barrel profile?
Fluted or not?
Cut, button, or hammer forged rifling?
There is a lot of missing information that needs to be addressed.

If you’re running suppressed like civilized people, it’s quite likely the can or the extra weight messing with the barrel harmonics.

If unsuppressed, try adding something like a Limbsaver to the barrel. https://limbsaver.com/products/sharpshooter-x-ring-barrel-dampener

 

[Howa1500]

You still haven’t stated what rifle you’re using, nor if it’s new or used??
Have you cleaned the barrel?
How many rounds are on the barrel?

There is a lot of missing information that needs to be addressed.

Sure,

Rifle is a brand new Howa 1500 in 300 Win Mag.

100 rounds through it and I used the Howa barrel break in procedure.

I shot 50 rounds through it after the break in method, same results so I lightly cleaned it with brass brush and patches.

I can shoot .5MOA with my .270 Win. At one stage I took the stock and scope from my .5MOA .270 and put them on the 300 and still had the same results of 2 - 3MOA.

 

[smoooth]

Sure,

Rifle is a brand new Howa 1500 in 300 Win Mag.

100 rounds through it and I used the Howa barrel break in procedure.

I shot 50 rounds through it after the break in method, same results so I lightly cleaned it with brass brush and patches.

I can shoot .5MOA with my .270 Win. At one stage I took the stock and scope from my .5MOA .270 and put them on the 300 and still had the same results of 2 - 3MOA.

So, it has consistently shot poorly since sighting in?
How heavy is the trigger pull? Is it adjustable / same as your .270?

Have you tried contacting Howa?