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33 XC Build

rpierce

Well Ive finished my personal lightweight 33 XC. This is going to be my LONG range big game hunting rifle. Joel Russo sent me one of his Terminus Helios actions. I went through it and was very impressed with it. Ignition was very clean and timed up to a Triggertech diamond perfectly right out of the box. Zero cock on close. Action was extremely straight as well. Very smooth cycling 3 lug action. Great job Joel. I took it out last night and decided to do some base pressure testing with IMR 8133 and 300 gr bergers. Did one grain increments starting at 109 gr and went up to 118 gr. 118 gr was 3160 fps and still wasn't a warm load. Case web was a half thou bigger than 116 gr. I saw that there was a node between 115-116 gr. I loaded some up at 115.5 gr and shot a 3 shot group that measured .254" @ 100 and had a velocity of 3087 fps, SD of 3.9 fps, and ES of 8. 300 grain berger at .020 off the lands. After the barrel breaks in and velocity stabilizes I might try some tinkering in the upper 3100 fps range and see whats there. With my titanium cheytac brake on the recoil is very similar to my lighterweight 300 norma improved. Spotting hits isn't a problem. I could let my wife shoot this thing. Brass, dies and reamers are available through David Tubb - Superior Shooting Systems LLC

The rifle has the following:
Terminus Helios w DLC timed to a Triggertech Diamond
Proof Research 30" 1.250 straight contour carbon barrel
Titanium 5 port Magnum "Muscle" Brake, shaved 6 oz off steel version
XLR folding 3.0 element magnesium chassis painted by my buddy Grant Gillespie at Viking Armament
Modular Evolution Bipod
Spuhr Mount
Zero Compromise Optic 5-27 scope.

Rifle is 14.5 lbs with optics and bipod attached.

For comparison sake this rifle has the same amount of energy at 1400 yds as a 6.5 creedmoor with the muzzle pressed against the fur LOL.
86276650_495780054443297_5132101746780274688_n - Copy.jpg 86458496_162552705198572_6894778753377894400_n.jpg 85063526_852833625187973_4017778812614868992_n - Copy.jpg 86489568_483396879238651_3961635116085673984_n.jpg load.jpg
 
Well I decided to try some VV N570 powder in it based on some recommendations from a few guys. WOW. Talk about bringing it to a new level of performance. At 3300 fps with a 300 gr berger there was only a 1/2-3/4 thou more case web expansion than at 3100 fps with IMR 8133 which was a very mild load. At 3300 fps the case web is still about .00125-.0015 smaller than the chamber. Ever so faint ejector mark. There really wasn't a flat spot in velocity till I got to the upper end. I didn't go higher since it was starting to not have much more room for powder. There wasn't a powder crunch but there wasn't much rattling around when Id shake it. I realize this is gonna kill barrel life but its a hunting rifle so even if I get 500 good rounds that will last me 20 years. Im building a much heavier one that will be a switch barrel setup for 33xc and 37xc. I won't be using fast loads in that one since its more or less just for plinking. Energy wise the 300 gr berger has 1500 ft lbs of energy at 2100 yds compared to my 300 norma improved having 1500 ft lbs at 1300 yds LOL. Even at 3300 fps I wouldn't have a problem letting my wife shoot this rifle. My Titanium Magnum 5 port "Muscle" brake kills the recoil as its originally designed for cheytacs etc.

First target is 108-117 gr. The low right shot was the 108 gr charge which was also a clean barrel. The 2nd target is the same but with 118-121.5 added. After 117 gr the impacts went up higher on the target. 119.5-121.5 was the upper right cluster. Im pretty impressed w the overall group since I got off the rifle between each shot and went and loaded another round in the shop. Shot off a modular evolution bipod and game changer rear bag. Im gonna stretch it out and fine tune a load once we get a little bit warmer weather.
N570.jpg 108-117.jpg 118-121.5.jpg
 
rpierce said:
Well Ive finished my personal lightweight 33 XC. This is going to be my LONG range big game hunting rifle. Joel Russo sent me one of his Terminus Helios actions. I went through it and was very impressed with it. Ignition was very clean and timed up to a Triggertech diamond perfectly right out of the box. Zero cock on close. Action was extremely straight as well. Very smooth cycling 3 lug action. Great job Joel. I took it out last night and decided to do some base pressure testing with IMR 8133 and 300 gr bergers. Did one grain increments starting at 109 gr and went up to 118 gr. 118 gr was 3160 fps and still wasn't a warm load. Case web was a half thou bigger than 116 gr. I saw that there was a node between 115-116 gr. I loaded some up at 115.5 gr and shot a 3 shot group that measured .254" @ 100 and had a velocity of 3087 fps, SD of 3.9 fps, and ES of 8. 300 grain berger at .020 off the lands. After the barrel breaks in and velocity stabilizes I might try some tinkering in the upper 3100 fps range and see whats there. With my titanium cheytac brake on the recoil is very similar to my lighterweight 300 norma improved. Spotting hits isn't a problem. I could let my wife shoot this thing. Brass, dies and reamers are available through David Tubb - Superior Shooting Systems LLC

The rifle has the following:
Terminus Helios w DLC timed to a Triggertech Diamond
Proof Research 30" 1.250 straight contour carbon barrel
Titanium 5 port Magnum "Muscle" Brake, shaved 6 oz off steel version
XLR folding 3.0 element magnesium chassis painted by my buddy Grant Gillespie at Viking Armament
Modular Evolution Bipod
Spuhr Mount
Zero Compromise Optic 5-27 scope.

Rifle is 14.5 lbs with optics and bipod attached.

For comparison sake this rifle has the same amount of energy at 1400 yds as a 6.5 creedmoor with the muzzle pressed against the fur LOL.
View attachment 1157819 View attachment 1157820 View attachment 1157822 View attachment 1157823 View attachment 1157824
Click to expand...


Where on tubbs website does he list reamers?
 
rpierce said:
Well I decided to try some VV N570 powder in it based on some recommendations from a few guys. WOW. Talk about bringing it to a new level of performance. At 3300 fps with a 300 gr berger there was only a 1/2-3/4 thou more case web expansion than at 3100 fps with IMR 8133 which was a very mild load. At 3300 fps the case web is still about .00125-.0015 smaller than the chamber. Ever so faint ejector mark. There really wasn't a flat spot in velocity till I got to the upper end. I didn't go higher since it was starting to not have much more room for powder. There wasn't a powder crunch but there wasn't much rattling around when Id shake it. I realize this is gonna kill barrel life but its a hunting rifle so even if I get 500 good rounds that will last me 20 years. Im building a much heavier one that will be a switch barrel setup for 33xc and 37xc. I won't be using fast loads in that one since its more or less just for plinking. Energy wise the 300 gr berger has 1500 ft lbs of energy at 2100 yds compared to my 300 norma improved having 1500 ft lbs at 1300 yds LOL. Even at 3300 fps I wouldn't have a problem letting my wife shoot this rifle. My Titanium Magnum 5 port "Muscle" brake kills the recoil as its originally designed for cheytacs etc.

First target is 108-117 gr. The low right shot was the 108 gr charge which was also a clean barrel. The 2nd target is the same but with 118-121.5 added. After 117 gr the impacts went up higher on the target. 119.5-121.5 was the upper right cluster. Im pretty impressed w the overall group since I got off the rifle between each shot and went and loaded another round in the shop. Shot off a modular evolution bipod and game changer rear bag. Im gonna stretch it out and fine tune a load once we get a little bit warmer weather.
View attachment 1158152 View attachment 1158153 View attachment 1158154
Click to expand...

I saw your post on Facebook. Man, that is smokin.... Is this the new Vit powder that is temp stable?
 
Well I got to try a few seating depths last weekend with the 33xc, N570, and 300 gr bergers. It definitely liked .038 off the lands. Roughly a 1.035"/.17 moa 3 shot group at 580 yds. Velocity was 3280 fps and a ES of 9. 10 shots later the barrel sped up again. I loaded the rest of the new brass up with h50bmg to finish breaking the barrel and brass in while being easy on the throat. Now that all the brass is shot and barrel is done speeding up Ill go back and do a ladder test at that node.
580 yds.jpg
 
Well I got the 33XC dialed in. Barrel sped up and brass is formed. I backed it down a hair from the 3280 fps node. Re did the ladder and it showed a wide node at 3225 fps. Figured out that she needed .004 neck tension and .070+ off the lands to shoot consistent at 1000. Shot this group yesterday at 1000 yds. Any seating depth closer than .070 off the lands was a group that was flat and wide. Drops are verified out to 1000. I need to shoot at 1500 to verify. Im also gonna test to see how wide the seating depth node is but shes pretty much ready to kill stuff.
33xc at 1000.jpg
 
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