Hornady 30cal 208 ELD flyers
- Thread starter rebel107
- Start date
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
Thought the ELD was supposed to 'fix' that...
More details would be useful for a better diagnosis. Lots of things can cause 9s at 1000 yards. At 300 yards, there are fewer possibilities.
Assuming you are at 1000 yards, I'd start by chronographing a long shot string (20-40 shots) to understand the distribution of velocities. If you can do it while shooting 1000 yards, and the occasional high shot corresponds with a high velocity, then you have solid evidence for an answer.
You can also learn a lot from shooting a few matches or simulated matches at 300 yards. If more flyers occur at 1000 yards, then they may be ascribed to some cause related to distance. Most horizontal 9s are due to missed wind calls at longer ranges. One way to diagnose these is to video the most important wind flags during the match and see what they were doing when the 9s were fired. I've also shot at a couple ranges where unusual wind effects could cause vertical 9s.
It's hard to be sure of attributing the issue to the bullet itself unless you can pick another bullet and make it go away. Most shooters find recoil of 200+ grain bullets harder to manage and will shoot more 9s with them due to that. Here, a video of the rifle and shooter can sometimes spot a variation in technique or a difference in the hop of the rifle when fired.
Diagnosing dropped points is a tricky business, and most shooters have short lists of suspected issues that are usually too short and methods of differential diagnosis that are too simple.
Assuming you are at 1000 yards, I'd start by chronographing a long shot string (20-40 shots) to understand the distribution of velocities. If you can do it while shooting 1000 yards, and the occasional high shot corresponds with a high velocity, then you have solid evidence for an answer.
You can also learn a lot from shooting a few matches or simulated matches at 300 yards. If more flyers occur at 1000 yards, then they may be ascribed to some cause related to distance. Most horizontal 9s are due to missed wind calls at longer ranges. One way to diagnose these is to video the most important wind flags during the match and see what they were doing when the 9s were fired. I've also shot at a couple ranges where unusual wind effects could cause vertical 9s.
It's hard to be sure of attributing the issue to the bullet itself unless you can pick another bullet and make it go away. Most shooters find recoil of 200+ grain bullets harder to manage and will shoot more 9s with them due to that. Here, a video of the rifle and shooter can sometimes spot a variation in technique or a difference in the hop of the rifle when fired.
Diagnosing dropped points is a tricky business, and most shooters have short lists of suspected issues that are usually too short and methods of differential diagnosis that are too simple.
MMM I'm using FED Gold medal match & haven't tried other primers yet. Also have some Jacks to try & compare. Range I used the 208's was 800yds. In saying that, I was using a Labradar and the high ones did correspond with a 20fps increase. Not sure why as powder is weighed on a good scale to .02gn so I'm thinking of other reasons than powder issues.
There's a theory I've come across that says that during a long(er) string with heaver bullets carbon builds up in the bore until a shot clears it, at which time you get a velocity change. I've never pursued it, just worried about keeping any elevation movements controlled by judicious sight adjustments.
Having shot those bullets at 300-400fps faster it's not velocity. Also not the tips with the new Heat Shield tip. Even with the old tips it didn't effect accuracy but lowered BC slightly.
I would look elsewhere in the reloading set up or rifle. Check neck tension. You anneal? Your powder charge seems to be measured fine enough. What brass are you using? What is your jump to lands?
Lots of things can impact muzzle velocity at the level of 20 fps, especially in a .30 cal with a long bearing surface. It's not just the powder weight, it's barrel temp, bearing surface, neck tension, ignition details, barrel condition, etc. Getting tight extreme spreads is a complex combination of art and science that has the best shooters paying attention to lots of minutia that need not be considered much at mid-range. Confounding factors like recoil management have lots of shooters chasing their tails as they try and get over this hump.
I'd keep using the LabRadar to diagnose and make one change at a time until you shrink those spreads. I prefer the Palma brass and small CCI BR primers with Varget, H4350, or H4895 (Hodgdon Extreme powders) to reduce effects of barrel temperature. I also try and keep the "cooking time" between closing the bolt and firing about the same. Shots that cook for longer go faster and hit higher.
Others prefer to jump to improvements in brass prep like neck turning and annealing case necks.
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