Lets try this again!

[CanusLatransSnpr]

Alright, I'll be clearer this time on what I'm looking for! I'm shooting a Savage action with a McGowen 12 twist barrel 26" in length chambered in .243 Win. I'm trying to work up a load for the 87gr. VMax with H4350 and WLR primers. My initial load was 42.0gr. of H4350 jumping the bullet .005". This load shot a 1.045" group @ 200 yds but, shot poorer @ 100 yds. The 200 yd group was my first, making me think this load had promise! Why is this happening? Also, the boat tail of the bullet sits below the neck shoulder junction. Is this a problem? I intend to use the H4350 for this load, not necessarily looking for a different powder to use for this application. Just wondering why my group got poorer at a closer range is all and if the boat tail sitting below the neck shoulder junction is problematic!! Thanks!

Mike

 

[Terry]

Some bullets don't stabilize at shorter ranges, giving better groups further out.

 

[CJ6]

If you can SAFELY up the FPS try that. I have a Factory 270Win that does the same with 150 NBT's and 4320. Was gonna pull the bullets but I had a target set @ 200 so I burned on that (Glad I did, it's the best load I have for that particular Win 270).

 

[BoydAllen]

A couple of things....
Your 12" twist may be a little slow for that bullet. The issue is bullet length not weight. With the addition of the plastic tip and the additional length per weight of a BT you may be marginal. Another issue is how you work up a load. How did you arrive at the seating depth? did you try others? I do all my serious load work loading at the range, shooting over some sort of wind indicator. I have flags, but in the past sticks with surveyor's ribbon attached worked well enough to make a big difference. I always tell fellows that you can never tell a rifle what to like. It seems to me that you have made up you mind. Perhaps you should listen to what it is telling you. In the past, I have had more luck seating bullets from .006 to .010 longer than hard touch. (heavy thumb pressure on Sinclair tool rod) Of course this will increase pressure over the slight jump that you are now using. I have not looked at a manual, but if you are near the top, if you make this change, you should drop back and rework your load. If you are in the middle, the extra 5-6,000 PSI shouldn't be critical.

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

Terry and CJ thank you! I thought that maybe they hadn't settled down at 100 yds but, were calm at 200. I can safely up the FPS beings that 42.0gr. of H4350 is Hodgdon's starting charge. What about the boat tail of the bullet being below the neck shoulder junction? Is there any problem with that? And Boyd, the bullet appears to be stabilizing, no yawing or keyholing in the paper. This is the starting load in Hodgdon manual, as far as powder charge and the .005" jump is where I always start with a load. If the throat is short enough to allow it. I haven't tried any other loads since the 42.0gr. load showed so much promise at 200. Maybe I'll just have to do all my load work up with this bullet at 200 yds? I would really like to use H4350 beings it is the slowest powder that I have. Thanks again!

Mike

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

Oh yeah, I arrived at my seating depth using Hornady OAL gauge, modified case, and my Sinclair comparator body and 6mm bullet comparator. I found where the bullet was touching the lands and seate it .005" deeper in the case.

 

[Terry]

" What about the boat tail of the bullet being below the neck shoulder junction?"

This should not be a problem unless you develop a donut there.

If you full length size you may not encounter this.

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

More than likely I will encounter a donut there because I'm using a Redding Type S bushing neck sizing die. Haven't full length sized anything yet as I'm working on the second firing of these cases. Thanks!

Mike

 

[6BRinNZ]

Mike - I developed a good load with 88 Berger's in my 6BR....subsequent trips to the range I could never get the load to shoot quite as well...repeated loadings of the brass I started to get really inconsistent seating depth, eventually 1 trip to the range I popped primers.

I eventually traced it all to the long 88 seating into the donut. (I use a redding FLS every time. )

With my reloading methods the donut turns up for sure about the 4th firing and is real bad by the 6th.

So far as stability is concerned it may pay to crunch the numbers to see what sort of stability factor you are running with. If marginal you may find the load sucks when you get past 200 as well.

Just an FYI - Hornady v-max bullets (and 105 A-max to a lesser degree) I have struggled to maintain agg consistency, where as when I switched to the Berger match bullets I have had no problem maintaining consistency by my standards. I was always disappointed with my 6br until I used a true match bullet.

I only mention the last bit due to your "first group" comment.

Good luck.

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

6BR, thanks for the insight. I'm working on my second loading on this batch of brass so it should be a while before I see the donut. I have a good shooting load now but, I have some slight pressure issues so I need to back it down a bit. Hopefully this group will hold up over several testings. After I get passed this pressure issue, I'm going to try it @ 300yds. and see how it shoots. If it maintains consistent MOA @ 300, that will be fine for coyotes ! Thanks again!

Mike