Curious about a .243 load

[rick3]

I'm curious about a .243 load that seems to work very accurately in my gun:
Savage Axis, .243, 22" barrel
100gr, no-name "seconds" that I purchased from Midway (spire point, flat bottom)
33.5gr, IMR 4064, in Federal brass, 2.6" OAL

I've done some testing with 4064 from 33.0 gr to 36.0 gr, in .2gr steps, and none of the other loads seem to be as accurate in this rifle.

I don't have QuickLoad (yet), but I'm curious...does this load info correspond to an accuracy "node" as defined in the OBT charts that I've seen? Did I just hit a "node" by accident?
For 22" barrels, those nodes would be at: .7502, .8235, .9386, 1.0126, 1.1270, 1.2018, and 1.3153

Rick3

 

[Webster]

Don't worry about numbers generated by a computer. Just shoot and enjoy.

 

[rick3]

Not worried at all. This particular load shoots very nicely in my rifle.

Just curious to see if my real world experience matches what's "supposed" to happen...

 

[jonbearman]

You could try IMR4831,H4831 sc, or h4350. I never had real good luck with 4064 myself. I would also consider the hornady 87 grain boatail. The other one that shined for me in a factory rifle is the 75 grain hpbt and the 85 grain sierras if you want to really tighten up the groups even more.

 

[rick3]

Yes, I figured I would get better accuracy with "brand-name" bullets, but since I'm a relatively new shooter with a bolt action, I'm going to get all the basics down (good cheek weld, proper eye relief, etc.) with the rest of these "no-name" bullets.

I've read many posts about people getting really good results with 4350, but I have another 3 lbs of 4064 left...

My biggest challange now is compensating for my macular degeneration. Getting a good sight picture thru the scope is a constant problem, but if I can keep getting 4 shot groups from .4" to .7" at 100 yds, I'm a happy camper!

 

[HangAR-15]

That puts you very close to the 1.3xxxx node. It is a very mild load, only 42000 psi according to QL.

 

[rick3]

That puts you very close to the 1.3xxxx node. It is a very mild load, only 42000 psi according to QL.

HangAR-15,

Thanks! It's good to know that my real world experience matches the calculated expectation. I figured it must be pretty mild, since the "start load" on the IMR website for this combo is 33.0 grains.