Neck Tension with 215g Hybrid

[paulT]

Anyone shooting the 215g Hybrid for FTR able to share their findings with what amount of neck Tension works best with this bullet in .308 at 1000y also has anyone found a good alternative powder as Varget almost as rare as hens teeth at the moment, have tried H4350 which is to slow re-17 seems to run well any other suggestions, thanks.

 

[ShootDots]

In response to the second part of your question, I do not shoot F-T/R.. However, if I were going to shoot the 215's, and wanted speed, I would get the "Palma Brass". It can withstand considerably more pressure than regular brass AND I would go after VV N550. It should get you the highest velocities possible. It is clean burning and it should produce excellent accuracy to boot. However, your barrel life expectancy will be diminished somewhat. But if you are in this game to win, barrels are an expendable commodity!

 

[jonbearman]

Powdervalley has N550 right now.

 

[Cburlette]

I've had good luck with IMR 4451. Runs about the same as R17 but supposed to be temp stable. I also am running a very light .002 neck tension, but I am going to test .003 tension as I had one come apart in the gun.

Craig

 

[Down South]

When i ran 215s i used H4350 and had fairly good results running the node that most other guys were running using Varget etc......Gotta use a long drop tube to get enough in the case and have the bullet seated long.......I was running .0015 to .002 tension.......As for N550 and 215s, i think Wade (XTR) may have tried that combo but i could be wrong, maybe he'll chime in.

 

[paulT]

Thanks for replies guys, Has anyone found much of a difference with verticals and group size at 1000y with Light to heavy neck Tension with their 215g loads and palma brass, Reason i ask is apart from the slight velocity gains with 3-4 thou neck tension over lighter neck tension some shooters have found better results with fairly tight neck tension with the heavy 215g hybrid at 900-1000y.

 

[jsthntn247]

Thanks for replies guys, Has anyone found much of a difference with verticals and group size at 1000y with Light to heavy neck Tension with their 215g loads and palma brass, Reason i ask is apart from the slight velocity gains with 3-4 thou neck tension over lighter neck tension some shooters have found better results with fairly tight neck tension with the heavy 215g hybrid at 900-1000y.

That's something your going to have to test yourself to find out. I soft seated the 215's with a 1/2 thou of neck tension when I used them.

 

[paulT]

What was your vertical at 1000y with Light NT also what velocity was your 215g Load, there seems to be good node in 2.550 fps range and another at 2650fps range.

 

[Canadian bushman]

48gns of h4350 and .001 of neck tension with .005 jam easily puts me over 2600.
Current batch of ns brass is hitting avg 2667
I would not call 4350 too slow.

Like shootdots said
Palma brass and n550 is probably gonna be a hard combo to beat. I would definitely use palma brass if i started over. Lol and a 9 twist.

 

[barefooter56]

paulT,
How much vertical do you get with the heavier neck tension ? Does your rifle like the velocity node there?

 

[XTR]

I never got to experimenting too much with neck tension. I run about 1.5 or 2 thou and don't dither with it after I get it set up with the brass and die combo that I'm using.

If you are unable to get enough 4350 in the case then you don't have your throated nearly as long as mine when I was experimenting with 215s (2.420 base to ogive with my Hornady tool on my calipers) I hit max pressure long before I maxed the capacity with H4350, 2000MR or N550. I started getting a clicky bold soemwhere north of 47 grains.

My best loads were with H4350. I gave up because I couldn't control the recoil. Over the course of a match my groups opened up compared to 185 Juggs so I went back to them.

Shooting 215s in Palma brass with N550 you can in fact blow the primers pockets in one (1) shot, as in use once and throw away 60 cases. You are really in uncharted territory running these combos in a 308. Be careful.

 

[paulT]

paulT,
How much vertical do you get with the heavier neck tension ? Does your rifle like the velocity node there?

currently running with 0.02 neck tension and 2640fps with varget vertical is 3 inches at 1000y also working up Re-17 load.

 

[paulT]

Hi XTR, with H4350 i could reach 2,550 fps with 49.5g which is nice node however i was hoping to hit next higher node which seems to be in 2650 fps range which i reached with varget which although has a very fast burn rate for heavy 30 cal bullets seems to work very well, will also try re-17 & n550 also heard good results with H4895 & 215g.

 

[Down South]

paulT,
How much vertical do you get with the heavier neck tension ? Does your rifle like the velocity node there?

currently running with 0.02 neck tension and 2640fps with varget vertical is 3 inches at 1000y also working up Re-17 load.

If you only have 3 inches of vertical at 1000 yards running 215s @ 2640 there is no need to test anything else.