For the past year+, I have shot nothing but 6mms and 6.5mms at ALL ranges in F-Open. I chose this route because as I age, recoil becomes less desirable. However, losing matches due to light bullets being blown about, especially at 1000 yards, is even less desirable! So I decided to change directions. I built a .300 WSM to shoot either Berger 215 Hybrids or 210 JLKs..
Out here in the west where the wind is an ever present factor, I wanted something that would cut thru the wind considerably better than 105s and 140s. I have had several "Straight" .284s and Shehanes, which are excellent rounds in their own right. I have had 2 SAUMS which, personally, I think is a better long-range round than the .284 variants. I wanted something that entertains: 1.) decent barrel life; 2.) ease of tuning and 3.) ballistics the NEAR equal of the SAUM. After doing some research and questioning shooters I tend to trust, I settled on the .300 WSM.
A friend of mine who is an excellent shot as well as a TOP flight loader, decided we were going to capture this round's inherent abilities. John Farraggio, a.k.a. Cognac Jack on this forum, lives near some Arizona BLM land and has set up a 100, 300, 600 and 1000 yard range in the flat desert, complete with a "Shot Marker" target donning "his range".. Since John's "range" is just 5 minutes away from his house he agreed to go back and load after extrapolating loads from what was transpiring on paper.
Prior to going to John's, I loaded up an initial 30 rounds with VV N165 and some 210 JLKs to get some rounds down the barrel and get the rifle sighted in. We did this at 100 yards. I went from 64.5 to 66.5. The velocities were very low indeed. From about 2730 to 2750! Mind you that is 2 FULL GRAINS of powder and only a 20 ft./ sec. increase in velocity! However, virtually all the groups were "one hole", with the exception of the 66.5 which was 4 shots / 1 hole with 1 right next to the group. I KNEW this rifle was going to be a shooter. BUT>> at what velocity?? I scrubbed the barrel down and started with the 215s and H4831sc using Fed 210 primers. I also was using a seating depth of 20 thousandths OFF the lands. I went from 63.8 to 65.0 grs. This testing was done at 300 yards. At 63.8grs it was going about 2755, however, you could tell we were now in the throes of "Barrel Speed-Up" mode. This load shot very well, however, at a very unacceptable velocity. Up at 65.0grs. we were running at about 2830. Not "up there yet" but accuracy was decent. NOTE: the wind was running about 5m.p.h. which is fine, however, the heat-waves were so bad that even at 300 yards on 42 power, the 1" florescent dots were obliterated! I had to turn the power down to 20! John went back and loaded up 25 more, this time from 65.3 to 66.2grs. At 65.3 we were at 2870 and up at 66.2 we were near 2950. Now we were where we needed to be! The best group was at 65.8 at about 2910. Even in horrifying heat waves and down at 20 power, it grouped a horizontally shaped 1 hole group about 5/8th inch! Vertical was only about 1.5 bullet diameters tall!
Next John went back and loaded up 2 groups of 10 each at 65.8 and 65.9. These we did with two seating depths. One group each at 20 off and one group each at 25 off. The 65.8 at 20 off was just a shade better. Next we loaded up 2 groups of 15 shots each at 65.6 and 65.8 and "split the difference" and seated them at 22 off. These were shot at 600 yards. The 65.8 was about 3" high vertical and about 3.5 inch horizontal. Not real good IF you just looked at the groups. However, taking into consideration a 5-7m.p.h. wind, horrifying heat waves and a scope set at 20 power, I did not think they were bad for those conditions.
NEXT: Since I thought the barrel was "pretty much" settled down from speed-up mode, and we had a "decent" load, albeit with a "higher than I care for" e.s. (about 17ft. spread), I decided to drop one tenth of a grain and load up with MAGNUM primers and go shoot a 1000 yard match at Ben Avery Sunday. First match: Fed 215GMs, second match CCI 250s and the last match Win. LRMs.
OBSERVATION: Match 1 >> For the "sighters" and first 10 rounds, I was still in a little speed up mode. However, from shots 11 thru 20 and ALL matches thereafter, the barrel completely settled down! The first match I lost 4 points, 3 from "speed-up" velocity spikes and on the second half of the match I lost one to a wind call. No more velocity spikes! The second half of the match held a very tight water line! The Fed 215s worked very well. SECOND match: I dropped 5 points and used the entire 10 ring! The CCI 250s were not up to par with the Fed 215s. THIRD match, Scott Harris wanted to coach my wind reading to see just how the .300WSM would perform under his direction: Well the waterline was as flat as a pancake, we lost only 1 point and according to Scott, ended up with a "Boat Load" of "Xs"! His statement at the end of the match was "That thing is a FREAKING laser beam"!
It has always been stated on here that the .300 WSM is easy to tune.. It took exactly 1 day to find a load and 1 day at a match to settle on a "final" load after testing at 1000 yards! To say I am pleased is a gross understatement! My thanks to John Farraggio and Scott Harris for their indispensable help on this project!
Out here in the west where the wind is an ever present factor, I wanted something that would cut thru the wind considerably better than 105s and 140s. I have had several "Straight" .284s and Shehanes, which are excellent rounds in their own right. I have had 2 SAUMS which, personally, I think is a better long-range round than the .284 variants. I wanted something that entertains: 1.) decent barrel life; 2.) ease of tuning and 3.) ballistics the NEAR equal of the SAUM. After doing some research and questioning shooters I tend to trust, I settled on the .300 WSM.
A friend of mine who is an excellent shot as well as a TOP flight loader, decided we were going to capture this round's inherent abilities. John Farraggio, a.k.a. Cognac Jack on this forum, lives near some Arizona BLM land and has set up a 100, 300, 600 and 1000 yard range in the flat desert, complete with a "Shot Marker" target donning "his range".. Since John's "range" is just 5 minutes away from his house he agreed to go back and load after extrapolating loads from what was transpiring on paper.
Prior to going to John's, I loaded up an initial 30 rounds with VV N165 and some 210 JLKs to get some rounds down the barrel and get the rifle sighted in. We did this at 100 yards. I went from 64.5 to 66.5. The velocities were very low indeed. From about 2730 to 2750! Mind you that is 2 FULL GRAINS of powder and only a 20 ft./ sec. increase in velocity! However, virtually all the groups were "one hole", with the exception of the 66.5 which was 4 shots / 1 hole with 1 right next to the group. I KNEW this rifle was going to be a shooter. BUT>> at what velocity?? I scrubbed the barrel down and started with the 215s and H4831sc using Fed 210 primers. I also was using a seating depth of 20 thousandths OFF the lands. I went from 63.8 to 65.0 grs. This testing was done at 300 yards. At 63.8grs it was going about 2755, however, you could tell we were now in the throes of "Barrel Speed-Up" mode. This load shot very well, however, at a very unacceptable velocity. Up at 65.0grs. we were running at about 2830. Not "up there yet" but accuracy was decent. NOTE: the wind was running about 5m.p.h. which is fine, however, the heat-waves were so bad that even at 300 yards on 42 power, the 1" florescent dots were obliterated! I had to turn the power down to 20! John went back and loaded up 25 more, this time from 65.3 to 66.2grs. At 65.3 we were at 2870 and up at 66.2 we were near 2950. Now we were where we needed to be! The best group was at 65.8 at about 2910. Even in horrifying heat waves and down at 20 power, it grouped a horizontally shaped 1 hole group about 5/8th inch! Vertical was only about 1.5 bullet diameters tall!
Next John went back and loaded up 2 groups of 10 each at 65.8 and 65.9. These we did with two seating depths. One group each at 20 off and one group each at 25 off. The 65.8 at 20 off was just a shade better. Next we loaded up 2 groups of 15 shots each at 65.6 and 65.8 and "split the difference" and seated them at 22 off. These were shot at 600 yards. The 65.8 was about 3" high vertical and about 3.5 inch horizontal. Not real good IF you just looked at the groups. However, taking into consideration a 5-7m.p.h. wind, horrifying heat waves and a scope set at 20 power, I did not think they were bad for those conditions.
NEXT: Since I thought the barrel was "pretty much" settled down from speed-up mode, and we had a "decent" load, albeit with a "higher than I care for" e.s. (about 17ft. spread), I decided to drop one tenth of a grain and load up with MAGNUM primers and go shoot a 1000 yard match at Ben Avery Sunday. First match: Fed 215GMs, second match CCI 250s and the last match Win. LRMs.
OBSERVATION: Match 1 >> For the "sighters" and first 10 rounds, I was still in a little speed up mode. However, from shots 11 thru 20 and ALL matches thereafter, the barrel completely settled down! The first match I lost 4 points, 3 from "speed-up" velocity spikes and on the second half of the match I lost one to a wind call. No more velocity spikes! The second half of the match held a very tight water line! The Fed 215s worked very well. SECOND match: I dropped 5 points and used the entire 10 ring! The CCI 250s were not up to par with the Fed 215s. THIRD match, Scott Harris wanted to coach my wind reading to see just how the .300WSM would perform under his direction: Well the waterline was as flat as a pancake, we lost only 1 point and according to Scott, ended up with a "Boat Load" of "Xs"! His statement at the end of the match was "That thing is a FREAKING laser beam"!
It has always been stated on here that the .300 WSM is easy to tune.. It took exactly 1 day to find a load and 1 day at a match to settle on a "final" load after testing at 1000 yards! To say I am pleased is a gross understatement! My thanks to John Farraggio and Scott Harris for their indispensable help on this project!
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