SA284

[284winner]

I shoot a lot of Hornady. As mentioned, they are a more cost effective bullet.
Their Match bullets do well, but i don't get my smallest groups with Hornady's.

Same powder charge, COAL, etc, i get smaller groups with Noslers. But not cost effective.

Sierra GameKings are about as accurate as Hornady Match, from my experience.

For my 7mm-08AI build i'm looking at the Sierra 160gr Tipped MatchKing.

I've had good luck with Berger VLD-H. But have heard that it's hard to get consistent lot to lot accuracy out of them.
Effective as all get out on deer though!

Strictly being a hunter and playing at LR on steel or target, the Hornady is perfect. Berger and Lapua both shoot better in most cases but at a greater cost and no greater success for my needs. Sierra TMKs are very accurate for me as well but again, much more pricy.

 

[std7mag]

When you price them per 100, they aren't as bad as you think.
Still cheaper than Bergers, and almost 1/2 of Nosler.
For 7mm bullets anyways.

 

[Fuj]

I'm not worried about expense, just alternatives. I'm on
relatively new ground here, so I may even give Warner's
Flat line bullets a look. Not a fan of bullets with tips, and
seems that's where things have been headed. Plagues me
that Hornady with their R&D can't come up with a non
tipped bullet to compete with the likes of Berger, or maybe
there's a stigma ?? Ol' Joyce used to say "10 Bullets in the
same hole". Forgot to mention how big the hole was that
was shot at !! Lots of 6mm custom bullet makers out there.
Hard to find ones doing 7mm's, and under 180 grains. There
is this push to go heavier and heavier.

 

[std7mag]

Cutting Edge Bullets??

 

[Ranger188]

From what I've heard about the monolithic bullets is,
at distance more vertical than traditional bullets.
You know people have tried them. If they were that good
the top shooters wouldn't care about the higher price if they won..

 

[DHuffman]

Try some 6.5 Stabal Fun, less volume and pressure but more speed in my 7-08 AI shooting 180s up to 2760 before pressure but the better accuracy was at 2720.

PM sent

 

[ebb]

This is a very worthwhile experiment in my opinion, keep it up! You listed the H2O cap as 60.3, a 30-06 is 68, a straight 284 is 66.2, and a 308 is 56. I know you mentioned you wanted to use off the shelf parts, but could a custom reamer loose some of the taper and get more capacity? 60.3 is a leap over a 308 but a little more may be necessary to make it worthwhile to the masses. Did you consider making a shorter WSM or RSAU? I know they are designed to work in a short action but with long bullets they have problems. Good luck this is going in the right direction.

 

[Sandstorm]

Matrix makes a 168gr 7mm bullet and their 6.5's shoot amazing in my 6.5x47 Lapua Match loads...just my2c
Keep on truckin..I like the innovation Fuj

 

[Fuj]

Matrix makes a 168gr 7mm bullet and their 6.5's shoot amazing in my 6.5x47 Lapua Match loads...just my2c
Keep on truckin..I like the innovation Fuj

I'll get a little reading done on Matrix. I did not think they
were around anymore ??


Well just a short addition, and starting 168 work with H4831sc.
R-16 is back on the shelf. Fellas, I was seeing some of the best
ES and SD's with it but, hit the wall early to get any meaningfull
velocity, and the groups were looking like a Trap Shooters delight.
I just loaded up a few 168's with 50 grains of 4831sc, to see what
my lower floor might look like. Mild kick with lots of smoke !! Lab
was telling me 2730, so I went right out to 300. Must of miscounted
when dialing up but shot me a 1/5 MOA. It's a start. And I think this
is one of those slows barrels. Round count is at 120.

I'll be taking some time off from this project until the heat settles
down. Us northern boy's along the lakes like it a bit cooler.

 

[284winner]

I'll get a little reading done on Matrix. I did not think they
were around anymore ??


Well just a short addition, and starting 168 work with H4831sc.
R-16 is back on the shelf. Fellas, I was seeing some of the best
ES and SD's with it but, hit the wall early to get any meaningfull
velocity, and the groups were looking like a Trap Shooters delight.
I just loaded up a few 168's with 50 grains of 4831sc, to see what
my lower floor might look like. Mild kick with lots of smoke !! Lab
was telling me 2730, so I went right out to 300. Must of miscounted
when dialing up but shot me a 1/5 MOA. It's a start. And I think this
is one of those slows barrels. Round count is at 120.

I'll be taking some time off from this project until the heat settles
down. Us northern boy's along the lakes like it a bit cooler.

Last time I was at the range, this heat made it almost impossible to shoot for accuracy. I decided to shoot for drop data rather than groups. Beyond 100 yards it was like soup looking thru my scope. At 500 yards, the bullseye was moving so much I couldn't follow it. Got some drop data during that time and decided not shooting in this heat again. Maybe lower 80s is in our future.

 

[ebb]

If it liked H4831 try VV165 next. Learned this with 6.5-284 VV165 is a cool burning powder and will be easy on the barrel.

 

[Fuj]

Did get out to the range but real early before the heat started
building again. Short 2 shots per charge weight with H4831sc
and that 168 Berger......50.4 grains put 2 in the same hole with
an ES of 6 and SD of 4.3 but only 2630 fps. Things get real
flat with the next 2 groups. 50.7 grains gave an ES of 16 and
SD of 11.1 with a 2653 fps average. At 51 grains, the speed was
nearly identical at 2655 fps, ES at 15, and SD at 10.4 I may have
enough room for only 1 more grain of H4831sc. I'll go up 3/10th
at a time and take a look. Pressure still looks good, but expecting
a spike. Would like to see this combo at 2750, but not looking good.
Re-checked the Lab against my buddies magneto. We were within
3 ft.

 

[Fuj]

Finished up the H4831sc testing with the Berger 168's at 100.
Did break into the 2700 region finally but run out of room in the
case. I'm not going to push it. 52.1 and 52.3 look good, and
with the 9 cases left in the load cycle, I'll take these to 300.

On the advice of Dave Huffman. I'll be trying that new Staball 6.5
I know he was working with this one for his 7-08 AI. Powder Valley
had an 8 pounder in stock, and I snagged it. Not a bad price at
$185. Actually $219 to my door with HAZ and freight. So this
powder coupled with the 171gr Barnes Match burners coming in
will keep me busy.....I like beating in some new paths !!

 

[Fuj]

Took the last 9 test loads out to 300 yds.

52.2 grains H4831sc / BR2 primer / 168 Berger .015 off lands.

Decided to split it up unto 3 separate targets to account for me
and the squeeze bag I decided to use. Had one shot showing
low velocity, and skewing the numbers, but for just testing, the
3 targets averaged .6 MOA

2704 fps avg.
ES-31
SD-10

Next test session may be a week or more out. Waiting on the
Brown truck, Fedex, and USPS.

As a little side note.....Barrel is now at 150 rounds. Did a major
cleaning of it this morning. Last step was to push a mop soaked
in Sweets 308, let sit for 5 minutes, then patch out. Just a very
light hint of green.

 

[Fuj]

Try some 6.5 Stabal Fun, less volume and pressure but more speed in my 7-08 AI shooting 180s up to 2760 before pressure but the better accuracy was at 2720.

Well with Dave's good advice, and components that have
arrived, I put this project back on track.....

WW Staball, and Barnes 171 grain Match Burners. I will note
that the Match Burners have been a really ugly sort. I took
5 out of the outer piles loaded with a starter load of 49 grains
of Staball, and shot a 1/2 MOA at 100. Now 49 grains in this
shortend 284 case had a bit of concern. The fill was well below
the shoulder. sometimes a short fill can be bad !! Lab said 2651
fps, so I started a batch going up 3/10 th's at a time for 3 shots.

49.3 / 2703 fps
49.6 / 2707 fps (very flat spot)
49.9 / 2753 fps ( big spike)

After seeing this spike I went to 2/10 th's at a time.

50.1 / 2775 fps
50.3 / 2790 fps
50.5 / 2802 fps (slight hard bolt)
50.7 / 2811 fps ( hard bolt, light swipe)

Stopped there......

Pic loaded shows good groups from 50.1 to 50.5
Target #5 and #6 indeed has 3 shots.....I've loaded
a few in between #5 and #6 (50.4 grains) and will
take them out to 500 yards this evening. Supposed
to be dead calm and low humidity.

In the mean time; I have some Ramshot Hunter coming
in for another session. It's supposed to be Staball's
kissing cousin, and between the burn rate of Staball and
H4831sc.....With a high of 50.7 grains of Staball, I still
have a ton of room in my case. Ramshot may close that
gap up.

 

[Fuj]

Finished up my current testing with Staball and the Match
Burners..... Loaded a few at 50.1 and a few at 50.4 and
shot them at 100. 50.4 won out so I took 5 out to 500.
First two shots were right there. Third shot was a "my bad"
pull. 4th shot, I have no clue !! 5th shot was right back where
I wanted it. With some tweaking, this 50.4 load will be archived.

Next on the agenda is with the Ramshot Hunter, whenever it
gets here. In the meantime, Rardoin sent me 536 new Norma
284 cases. I will be busy doing some brass forming.

 

[std7mag]

When i had my 7mm-08AI, i got my highest velocities with RL17. Close to 48gr if i remember correctly. Was 2,916fps out of a 22" barrel.
My most accurate powder tested was Alliant PP2000MR. 2,832fps, ES-6/SD-2 over a 10 shot string.

Mayhaps some Alliant PP4000 may do well for you. Probably won't set any velocity records, but i've been seeing promising results in my straight 284 for accuracy.

 

[wbm]

Plagues me that Hornady with their R&D can't come up with a non tipped bullet to compete with the likes of Berger

Yeah it does.

 

[284winner]

Yeah it does.

They compete, it's just not much of a competition.

 

[Ranger188]

Hornady could, but sometimes in a crowded market different sells.
Amax, ELD-M, A-tips. They feel like if they tip everything, it's suppose to be better.
It's worked for them in some ways. Except, the tips were melting or bullets blowing up.
Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Look at what's winning.
Regular old bullets!