300 Winchester Magnum load road bump

[kujuak]

I have load with Remington Brass, Hornady InterLock 180gr BTSP that shoots 0.7" 4 shot groups at 100yds, velocity 2984fps avg., using H4350
Best so far with Nosler 180gr Accubond , 3 shots , 0.5" group at 100yds BUT velocity 2854fps. This is with Reloader 22. I tried H1000 and H4350 and could not come near to this performance.

Rifle will be used for deer,elk,moose, black bear.500yd shots are a possibility as country recently logged. Hunting from my hunting cabin, So relaxed low $ hunting (if I ignore property tax and insurance costs ), so no pressure to try stupid hail Mary shots.
I am leaning toward buying some more cheap Hornady bulletrs, practice alot and save my Accubonds for special hunt down the road (draw Bison tag or Roosevelt elk tag.......both really unlikely after trying for 30+ years).

 

[Ryan66]

The BC improvement of the accubond at .507 vs the Hornady’s .452 … even though 50fps slower at the muzzle may prove to be the better load at 500yd distances you mention.
I know the accubonds are more $$ but shooting something that has proven to be the most accurate and potentially have the best terminal effect at 500yds may be worth your time to use an and practice with?

 

[kujuak]

The BC improvement of the accubond at .507 vs the Hornady’s .452 … even though 50fps slower at the muzzle may prove to be the better load at 500yd distances you mention.
I know the accubonds are more $$ but shooting something that has proven to be the most accurate and potentially have the best terminal effect at 500yds may be worth your time to use an and practice with?

Thanks, never looked at it that way. I wonder if maybe you might have given me a shovel with a longer handle so i can dig myself a deeper hole .
I think I'm going to get some Lapua brass before i go any further. My Remington brass is too inconsistent in many parameters to invest all the time/effort to make good loads.

Seriously though, thanks for the insight. As a retired professional man it is strange to be one of the less bright students in freshman accurate load development class!

Cheers good sir!

 

[kujuak]

The BC improvement of the accubond at .507 vs the Hornady’s .452 … even though 50fps slower at the muzzle may prove to be the better load at 500yd distances you mention.
I know the accubonds are more $$ but shooting something that has proven to be the most accurate and potentially have the best terminal effect at 500yds may be worth your time to use an and practice with?

One question though. The Accubond load is not 50fps slower, it is 130fps slower. Would not that velocity advantage not make up for any BC advantage? I am more of an accuracy over bullet construction fellow (within reason). I have taken half a dozen 6pt elk with plain Remington CoreLokt bullets, no problem. Maybe we have dumb elk here in British Columbia who haven't got the memo about cup&core bullets not working.

 

[Ryan66]

Ahhh - my bad. I think my brain wasn’t working that late at night or my eyes were working too fast when I incorrectly said 50fps … when in reality it’s 130fps. That’s quite a bit.
With that large of a velocity difference, the drop/wind drift/energy on target advantage to the better BC bullet barely shows up at 600+ yards which may be no value to you.

I have seen a few elk fall to others using 180 accubonds and everyone I know who uses it seems to be satisfied. However, you have put down quite a few elk with cup and core bullets like that Hornady and I think can do well with it at reasonable hunting distances.
If your Hornady load is know and consistent and produces 0.7” groups out of an elk hunting rifle it sounds like it should serve you well!

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I would shoot the Hornady bullets at 500 yards, see if they hold groups and expected trajectory path. If they do you can/could be finished. If they don't than try the Noslers, one of the two should perform.

 

[koger]

I have had great luck with H 4831 and Sierrat 180 gr BTSPs for the .300 win mag. I have built several Sporter barrel rifles over the years that would shoot 1/2" 3 shot groups at 100 and 1" give or take slightly at 200 yds with this load, and have seen elk taken cleanly at 375 yds, broke the entry shoulder and lodged in the off shoulder. Elk just stood there, could not move, the second one 4" from the first one dropped him, a nice 5x5.

 

[Murray Brook]

Best load I have ever used in my 300 Win mag is the 175 gr Barnes LRX over 76.5 grs of RL-26 in a Rem case lit with a CCI 250. Vel from my 24" barrel is 3225 ft/sec with 3/4 MOA. Tried several other powders and never came close to 3225 ft/sec with such good accuracy. I know RL-26 is very hard to find but worth the search if you can source some. JME