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Long range load development at 100 yards.

I have asked for help myself so here is my take on the seating results.
2.858 seems to me to be all by itself with no adjacent vertical help. 2.864-2.861 & 2.849-2.846 are vertically similar.
My guess is 2.849-2.846 is the range I would choose. I am eagerly awaiting the experienced guys chiming in. I need to learn how to read target properly

Tim
 
Bigg, this is a tough one. 2.858" is the best group, but it's too lonely for comfort. Try 2.858" again and see if it will repeat, if it does, you will have to keep a close eye on seating depth and throat erosion as your window is very narrow. 2.861" looks like it wanted to shoot also, but maybe you pulled the last shot.
For verification, shoot 2.861", 2.858", and 2.855", but this time do 2 - 3 shot groups of each charge.

Good luck.
 
Erik Cortina said:
Bigg, this is a tough one. 2.858" is the best group, but it's too lonely for comfort. Try 2.858" again and see if it will repeat, if it does, you will have to keep a close eye on seating depth and throat erosion as your window is very narrow. 2.861" looks like it wanted to shoot also, but maybe you pulled the last shot.
For verification, shoot 2.861", 2.858", and 2.855", but this time do 2 - 3 shot groups of each charge.

Good luck.


Thanks Erik,

I was hesitant on picking that one too.

seeing how this is a hunting rifle i was really impressed that the 1st shot of the first 4 seating depths was in roughly the same spot. but they didn't pan out. I was thinking i need to rerun the test with my leadsled instead of bipod with bag.

I will load 2 3 shot groups of each as you say and use the lead sled to take me out of the equation. I may have jerked a little on the 2.861 -- there was one i know i jerked on but i forgot to write it down. will report back.
 
308 FTR initial powder test. IMR 4320/Hornady 178BHTP. 100 yards and 3 shots per charge. Went in 0.3gr increments
**last two targets on bottom row were one shot only trying to find max pressure.



Erik what do you see? I am thinking target #6 or between 6/7. Also not so sure I won't try to keep going up in powder and see if I can safely hit the next node
 
nope. That is going to be my next item to get. Is IMR 4320 pretty temp stable?

I was thinking 6 too so I will load em up and do seating depth test and try to get a good depth with consistency

This load doesn't have to be the holy grail just doing this load for practice matches. Saving my Varget/Bergers for the prize matches
 
Hi Erik, could you give me an opinion on these targets. My first time out since last October, had a few pulls.




Also, had some loads of 43 gr. of varget leftover, so I did a test with your tuner.

 
lil evil said:
Hi Erik, could you give me an opinion on these targets. My first time out since last October, had a few pulls.




Also, had some loads of 43 gr. of varget leftover, so I did a test with your tuner.


Between 44.0 and 44.5 look good.

Move tuner in 2 mark increments. 3 is too much, you are skipping over nodes that way. However, from 9 - 12 look good. Test in one mark increment in that area.
3 also looks good, so test from 0 to 3 as well.
 
I wanted to test out some 140 Hybrids in my 260 Rem, so I settle on 46.6grs H4831 using Lapua brass, and Wolf LR primers. Target is missed placed somewhere. However, I did a seating depth test at 110 yards. The wind was not good that day and had a tail wind blowing from 5 o'clock to 11 o'clock with speeds around 5-6 mph. I was there, so I decide to test anyways and used wind flags to help me.

H4831SC seem to do well, and had great ES numbers. Here are my results:

1- .010" off
2- .013"
3- .016"
4- .019"
5- .022"
6- .025"
7- .028"

ebcaa96b-e05b-494c-adaa-bd3880f9a5fa_zps230c0bb5.jpg
 
How about some love. One of the best and informative threads out there!

4064 and then Reloader 15 175 smk's with Lapua brass.

Found a nice load with Varget at 44.4 grains already but now just having fun!

Anyone use BLC-2???
 

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doctordoctor said:
How about some love. One of the best and informative threads out there!

4064 and then Reloader 15 175 smk's with Lapua brass.

Found a nice load with Varget at 44.4 grains already but now just having fun!

Anyone use BLC-2???

42.8 of 4064 looks like a winner. I'd adjust seating depth there.
 
I saw this thread when I started reading Accurate-Shooter in August 2013. It was up to 25 pages back then, and I tried to read it starting with page one, but it was like reading Chinese – I did not understand a lot of the information. Now, nine months later, I started reading the thread again (am up to page 15), and now I can understand most of it.

I wanted to evaluate Remington 9-1/2 primers and 175-gr SMK BTHP bullets on my Savage 12 .308 F-T/R rifle, which has about 1200 rounds. I have been using CCI-250 primers and 168-gr SMK BTHP with satisfactory results since I bought the rifle last August. At one point I could not get the 168-gr bullets, so I bought the 175-gr version of the same. I used to use Fed 210 primers, but lately have been using whatever I can buy; namely CCI-200, CCI-250 (mostly), WLR, and now Rem 9-1/2. Powder always has been Varget.

168 Grain Bullets – Opinions?
After firing four fouling rounds and adjusting the scope (from 600Y), I fired 21 rounds waiting ten minutes after six rounds and after 15 rounds. Note: I pulled the trigger at the wrong time and knew that Round No.16 (45.0) would be off. BTW, I have been using the 45.0-gr charge for a while now and it appears to be OK, but could another charge be better?
2014-05-10TARGET045B.jpg


175 Grain Bullets – Disaster!
After waiting 10 minutes following the 21 rounds with the 168-gr bullets, I started a similar test with 175-gr bullets. The POI was low about 1-1/2”, so I fired the first 3-round group without making any adjustments, and then added 1-1/4 MOA UP elevation. After the elevation correction, I fired the remaining rounds and all were off to the left by as much as two inches, and none grouped nicely. What a mess.
2014-05-10TARGET047B.jpg

I don’t know enough to tell why the 175-gr bullets were so different in windage from the 168-gr bullets, so I did not attempt to adjust the scope to compensate. When done with the 175-gr firing, I fired three more 3-round groups at a separate target (three bulls) to make sure that the rifle was OK.

First, I fired three rounds with 168-gr bullets and 44.2 Varget, with the proper elevation set on the scope. The POI was fine – so the rifle was fine. (Sigh of relief.) I then changed the elevation for the 175-gr bullets, attached my MagnetoSpeed, and fired three rounds with 45.0 Varget. The POI of the group was about 3/4" high and 2” to the left. Then I fired again the 168-gr bullets but with 45.4 Varget AND the MagnetoSpeed attached BUT forgot to correct for elevation. The group was high but still OK.
2014-05-10TARGET046B.jpg


The chronograph results were:
175-gr SMK, 45.0-gr Varget: 2886, 2871, 2875 FPS

168-gr SMK, 45.4-gr Varget: 2905, 2922, 2922 FPS

My Observations:
I bought the 175-gr bullets (1000) because I could not buy the 168-gr in the 500 quantities. Shortly afterwards, I found the 168-gr again, bought 1000, and half of them are gone now. The Savage 308 F-T/R has 1 in 12 twist rate, which appears to be fine for the 168-gr bullets, but as I learned just a few days ago and now understand, the 175-gr bullets ‘like’ a faster rate, close to 1 in 11. If I had started using the 175-gr bullets when I bought the Savage, I would have been very disillusioned.

Would it be worth trying to pursue the 175-gr bullets any further, or just stick with the 168-gr? All the shooting (matches) I envision for this year are at 600 yards. Perhaps next year I will be ready for 1000 yards and a new rifle?

Thank you for your help!

Nando
 
Looks like the 168's are the bullet of choice for you. 44.0 gr should be a good load for you, as well as 45.2
 
Erik Cortina said:
Looks like the 168's are the bullet of choice for you. 44.0 gr should be a good load for you, as well as 45.2

Erik,

I'll try 44.0 and 45.2 next, and will let you know. (I should probably find a new home/owner for the 175-gr SMK HPBT, of which I have close to 1000.)

Thx!

Nando
 
hi guys 1st time poster here ::)
i read most of this thread awhile ago and thought id recheck my load development using this test as i just looked for groups the 1st time
but i think i need your help
ok rifle is a weatherby vanguard 243 , 27inch 1;8 twist TSE heavy varmint barrel, 1.5lb rifle basix trigger in a XLR industry chassis
im using berger 105gr hunting VLD's with ADI 2213sc powder
this was my load test result all done at .010 off the lands and at 100m (little bit of wind around)
top ones left to right are 38gr, 38.5gr, 39gr, 39.5gr (i missed them on the pic)



after what i read it looked like 40gr and 40.5gr is where i'm at
i loaded a heap at 40.3gr
and here is my result



now i should of done .3gr increments from .010 jammed to .000 (i also think i pulled the one at .000 as i rushed it i think but i only had 3 rounds of it)

ok now i'm lost as to me there is nothing jumping out ..now 2.283 or .005 jammed into lands was a .2 group and 2.263 0r .015 off lands was a .3 group most of the rest were .6 to .5 inch groups with the odd one at an inch . but i really cant see much happening ??? should i go farther off the lands and see if anything happens or should o do .010 into lands in .003 increments to touching the lands .000

oh this is for my target rounds not hunting rounds

what are your thoughts

or should i try ADI 2209 and see what happens
 
2.283" look good. Test in .002" increments around it to see how wide the window is. You can also test in .1 gr increments around your powder charge to isolate node.
 
Erik Cortina said:
2.283" look good. Test in .002" increments around it to see how wide the window is. You can also test in .1 gr increments around your powder charge to isolate node.

thank you very much Erik you are a champ that was the direction i was hoping for
cheers mate

let you know how it goes
 
Does not look too good.
Seat between group #2 & #3 and do powder testing in .1 gr increments .5 gr on each side of your load to see if the groups tighten up.
 

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