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A Max headaches

Ksmirk

Fella's have any of you run into a bullet you just can't get to shoot? I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if my rifles just don't like the bullets which I'm starting to wonder! I can't seem to get the A Maxes shoot in my 308 and just started working with them with my 243. Is there some crazy magical thing that I'm missing? I've loaded from the lands to jumping .040 gone thru different powder charges, tried different brands of primers and powders. This weekend breaking in my 243 barrel I had some 87r Hornady SP's that I thought I would use to break in the barrel and was nothing to get 1/2" groups... the A Maxes well hovered around 1.00 to 1.25, the SMK's well back to the half inch area???? I really want to shoot the A Max bullets but the way it's looking I'm going to be spinning my wheels.

Is there some trick that doesn't involve chicken feathers and chants to get these to shoot cause I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure these out. A little background, the barrel is a Bartlein 7.5 twist on a Savage 10 action bedded in a BC Medalist stock. It's funny as my 7mm loved the A Max bullets and little brothers 260 loves them as well :( any help or direction would be appreciated! Later,

Kirk
 
Ksmirk said:
Fella's have any of you run into a bullet you just can't get to shoot? I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if my rifles just don't like the bullets which I'm starting to wonder! I can't seem to get the A Maxes shoot in my 308 and just started working with them with my 243. Is there some crazy magical thing that I'm missing? I've loaded from the lands to jumping .040 gone thru different powder charges, tried different brands of primers and powders. This weekend breaking in my 243 barrel I had some 87r Hornady SP's that I thought I would use to break in the barrel and was nothing to get 1/2" groups... the A Maxes well hovered around 1.00 to 1.25, the SMK's well back to the half inch area???? I really want to shoot the A Max bullets but the way it's looking I'm going to be spinning my wheels.

Is there some trick that doesn't involve chicken feathers and chants to get these to shoot cause I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure these out. A little background, the barrel is a Bartlein 7.5 twist on a Savage 10 action bedded in a BC Medalist stock. It's funny as my 7mm loved the A Max bullets and little brothers 260 loves them as well :( any help or direction would be appreciated! Later,

Kirk
Click to expand...
Were they the old bullets could be melting the tips . Larry
 
Didn't think about that! I bought them middle of last year when I was loading for the Fat Rat but while I could be totally off base I wouldn't have thought 3K FPS would have been that hard on them but looking at the target the slower velocities were better groupings.... Larry you may be onto something! thanks for bringing that up. Later,

Kirk
 
Ksmirk said:
Didn't think about that! I bought them middle of last year when I was loading for the Fat Rat but while I could be totally off base I wouldn't have thought 3K FPS would have been that hard on them but looking at the target the slower velocities were better groupings.... Larry you may be onto something! thanks for bringing that up. Later,

Kirk
Click to expand...
Have a good one . Larry
 
It's not the tips melting. You are talking about groups at 100 yards and the melting problem doesn't start to manifest unless you are shooting at longer ranges ... ie. out to 1000 yards. The bullet needs time and air friction to create heat in order to melt the tips.

It's either that you aren't at a good node for that bullet and you need to experiment further (sounds like you already have done that), or that your gun just doesn't like the bullet.

I'm guessing it's just that your gun doesn't like the bullet.

Personally the 162 Amax shot well in my 7mm, but my 308 didn't like them.
 
My 6BR shoots the 105 fairly well, better than the 107 Sierra. My 7mm Mag shoots 150 NBT under 1/2 inch, but the AMax is awful in it. My 22's all shoot the vamx ok, but don't shoot the 53 AMX as well, except my 220 Swift, which likes it.

Could be just your gun don't like em
 
Sheldon N said:
It's not the tips melting. You are talking about groups at 100 yards and the melting problem doesn't start to manifest unless you are shooting at longer ranges ... ie. out to 1000 yards. The bullet needs time and air friction to create heat in order to melt the tips.

It's either that you aren't at a good node for that bullet and you need to experiment further (sounds like you already have done that), or that your gun just doesn't like the bullet.

I'm guessing it's just that your gun doesn't like the bullet.

Personally the 162 Amax shot well in my 7mm, but my 308 didn't like them.
Click to expand...
Have someone else try them would be my best answer . I learn along time ago if it don't work for me and it don't work for someone else it's the product . Larry
 
Ksmirk said:
Fella's have any of you run into a bullet you just can't get to shoot? I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if my rifles just don't like the bullets which I'm starting to wonder! I can't seem to get the A Maxes shoot in my 308 and just started working with them with my 243. Is there some crazy magical thing that I'm missing? I've loaded from the lands to jumping .040 gone thru different powder charges, tried different brands of primers and powders. This weekend breaking in my 243 barrel I had some 87r Hornady SP's that I thought I would use to break in the barrel and was nothing to get 1/2" groups... the A Maxes well hovered around 1.00 to 1.25, the SMK's well back to the half inch area???? I really want to shoot the A Max bullets but the way it's looking I'm going to be spinning my wheels.

Is there some trick that doesn't involve chicken feathers and chants to get these to shoot cause I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure these out. A little background, the barrel is a Bartlein 7.5 twist on a Savage 10 action bedded in a BC Medalist stock. It's funny as my 7mm loved the A Max bullets and little brothers 260 loves them as well :( any help or direction would be appreciated! Later,

Kirk
Click to expand...


they also did not shoot all that well in my 1 in 10, Criterion .308 barrel. Bergers, Nosler Custom Comps, and SMK's are the ticket for me.
 
Well I've got some Berger to try and already have a couple pounds of 107 SMK's but hey it would be nice if they would shoot to save a penny or two on bullets, haven't got into the 115's yet but last weekend was the first real time to the range with this rifle. I appreciate the comments fellas and good to know I'm not the only one who's had problems. Later,

Kirk
 
I don't think I've ever found one brand of bullets to shoot well in all rifles. Sierra and Berger come the closest.

After adjusting powder charge and seating depth, I try another bullet. Life's too short to spend too much time trying to get one bullet to shoot. If you've got a quality rifle, the next match bullet you try will most likely shoot well if the first one doesn't.
 
The 155 grain A-max shoots lights out in my 10 twist Savage BVSS 308....The 168's shoot pretty good too but not as well as the 155's. My 8 twist Criterion barreled Savage 6XC really likes the 105 A-max's. I must be lucky, the A-max's have never let me down.....Keep in mind that I'm a casual target shooter so I'm happy to be anywhere near 1/2"....Most of the guys on this forum shoot much better than I.

The main reason I use the A-max bullets is I can't afford the "premium" brands. For my needs I just can't justify the expense of the Bergers or Lapua's.
 
Ksmirk,

Don't let yourself get sucked into the abyss of trying to get the Hornady bullets to shoot. Before you know it, you'll use up a large percentage of barrel life on your .243 trying to make a bullet shoot in your gun. Yeah, ask me how I know!

Any of the Bergers in 105 & 108 grains or the 107 Sierras should shoot. Should only take about 20 rounds with any bullet to tell you whether it has the right stuff for your gun, OR NOT.

Good shooting,
Jerry
 
There are just some rifles that won't shoot a particular bullet while other rifles shoot just about everything. For example, the 87 grain Vmax shoots great in three of my 243's in the 1/2 to 5/8" moa range whereas my Tikka struggles to group 1 moa. Go figure.

However this is one of the big advantages to reloading, you can tuned the load to a specific rifle. Have you tried IMR 4350 in the 243? I have found that this powder works very well in all my 243's. Another good choice is IMR 4064 for bullet 85 grain and lighter.
 
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