Shot my .284 for the first time today. And have ???

[BigDMT]

Oh! A fellow Savage fan I see : ) I have a couple myself and love 'em. So easy to customize. Like workin' with legos : ) Hahaha.

How do you like the Savage Target action? I've often thought of building a long range varmint rifle on one. Perhaps a 22 Daher with a 1 in 8" or 1 in 7" twist barrel.

I have a custom 6.5 Remington Magnum built on the Savage 116 long action that is my number one tool for hunting. Also have a Custom 20 VarTarg built on the Savage 10 short action. Both are extremely accurate for hunting and varmint rifles. So being a Savage fan to a certain extent, I've often wondered just how much better the target action really is?

Here's a couple pics of my 6.5 Rem Mag and 20 VarTarg.

6.5 Rem Mag

6.5 Rem Mag accuracy at 200 yards

20 VarTarg

20 VT Accuracy at 100 yards

 

[Nomad47]

Nice rifles. Is that a Richards stock on the Var Targ? I'm selling two 243 WSSMs with Richards stocks on them.

 

[BigDMT]

Thank you Nomad47. I enjoy my Savage rifles very much : ) Your rifle is a really good lookin' Savage as well.

The stock on the 20 VT is a Richard's. Bought it brand new in unfinished condition (as they all are) and did all the finer detailed inletting, glass bedding, and finishing work myself. They're nice for the price, but take a lot of work. I'm sure you know what I mean if you did your Richard's stocks yourself as well.

 

[jsimonh]

Just a quick update on my .284. I've been shooting the Hybrids a lot here lately with my finished load of 55.5gr 4831sc w/bullets seated .020 off, and been having a good time at 600yds. I've also been trying other bullets and just today was finally able to shoot some 175 SMK's. I loaded some at .015 off and .030 off as a starter with 56gr 4831sc. Both groups were right at 1/2moa with the .030 load putting 4 into a .319 ctc group and the 5th shot opened it up some. I think it was me and not the load, but I'll be testing this same load more soon. Overall I'm very happy with them, and believe I'll be using this bullet a lot more in the future!

 

[Nomad47]

jsimonh, what was the velocity of the 55.5 gr H4831 Hybrid load? If its not too much trouble. My 55.4 load is running 2874 MV. But my H4831sc is probably 4 or 5 years old. I'm wondering if I should get some fresh stuff.

 

[MDM]

I've been watching this thread to see how the Criterion's turned out for you guys. I'm stongly considering one of Jim's Rem/Age Criterion barrels for a 700 BDL. I'll have to single load, but I do that 99% of the time any way. Are you guys using Lapua brass or Win? Would there be any touble with using H4350 for the 162s and 180's?

 

[jsimonh]

jsimonh, what was the velocity of the 55.5 gr H4831 Hybrid load? If its not too much trouble. My 55.4 load is running 2874 MV. But my H4831sc is probably 4 or 5 years old. I'm wondering if I should get some fresh stuff.

I think my barrel has sped up some here latley with all the rounds being fired. The last round that I ran over the chonograph was right at a 2840fps average, so you are getting more velocity than I could reach. I shot a few tenths of a grain of powder on either side of 55.5 and the velocity had no notable change.
Maybe the older powder being a different lot has something to do with it. I wonder what would happen if you backed down your charge until you got in the 2820-2840fps range?

 

[jsimonh]

I've been watching this thread to see how the Criterion's turned out for you guys. I'm stongly considering one of Jim's Rem/Age Criterion barrels for a 700 BDL. I'll have to single load, but I do that 99% of the time any way. Are you guys using Lapua brass or Win? Would there be any touble with using H4350 for the 162s and 180's?

We are both using win brass. When I tested the 162's I setteld on 54grs 4350 as the best load for my rifle. When I tried the Hybrids with 4350, the results were decent, but I couldn't get over 2800fps without accuracy getting worse. I've used 4831sc with the 162's also, it took alot of crunching to get the same speed I was getting with 4350.

I tried the Criterion barrel just for kicks, and I'm glad I did. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.

 

[Nomad47]

I was wondering the same thing. My lower two loads I just loaded should bracket 2850 fps. That was the speed where RL-17 looked best for me.

 

[jsimonh]

Shot some 175's today, had really good luck again.

The first shot on the left is the one that is high and to the left. I had to come up 3 MOA to get on paper. I shot it then 4 more. Then the 3 shot group on the right was shot. My ES was 25 this time, but I had 5 duplicates of 2861, 3 at 2879, and 1 high one that threw it off a little.

Here is the target and my rifle as it sits right now.

 

[Nomad47]

Nice groups. If I can remember all your groups, that Savage/Criterion likes everything you have fed it. 162s, 175s, and 180s.
Good looking rig. Sightron?

 

[jsimonh]

Thanks Nomad. It has liked everything pretty well except I didn't have much luck with the 180 SMK's. I believe I'm gonna stick with the 175's unless shooting them at 600 & 800 yds tells me something different! I don't think I'm gonna have any problems though.

The scope is a Sightron SIII LRMOA 8-32x56 with tactical knobs. Its the best scope I've ever owned.

 

[Nomad47]

I don't know if you have seen any of my other posts, but I'm cutting back to two rifles to carry around in my motorhome. I'm also selling three 8-32x56 SIIIs and putting two 10-50x60 SIIIs on my two "keeper" rifles.

 

[Nomad47]

Jsimonh, I think I figured out why my H4831sc load (55.5 grains) was faster than yours along with more pressure. I believe you were using CCI-BR-2s and I used Fed 215Ms.
Read this article by Chris Long. http://www.the-long-family.com/primer_study.htm
Different cartridge and bullet in his tests, but when he compared the two primers we used with H4831sc in his rig, velocity and pressure was higher with the 215Ms.

 

[jsimonh]

That was a good read. I'm not sure how that will translate into the 284 case, but it may be worth a look.

Which primers are you going to be using? I've got a 1000 215M's that I had bought just before I got rid of my 7 mag that I may need to try.

56gr 4831sc w/175 SMK's has proven to be a good load for me, but ES and SD were not where I wanted. I've got 58.8 and 56.2 loaded to try, and if they show better numbers I'll stick with the br's. If SD doesn't improve I may give the 215M's a try.

 

[TonyR]

I did a round robin comparison early on with my 284 Shehane using BR-2s, 210Ms and Russian LRMs and the Br-2s gave noticably better vertical in every string. I also did the same thing with an 7mm RSAUM comparing the BR-2 to the CCI-250 LRMs and the BR-2s were again the best.

 

[Nomad47]

TonyR, I wish you had tried 215Ms in your testing.

Jsimonh, I think I'm going to stick with the 215Ms, at least for now. I had two fantastic groups with them even though I had the ejector marks on the cases. It looks like I will get the same velocities with 215Ms as you had with BR-2s but with .5 to 1 grain less powder. I'll be trying the backed off charges as soon as my new SIII 10-50x60 arrives and I get it mounted.
BTW, did my check arrive?

 

[jsimonh]

Not yet, but I haven't been home to check the mail today.

 

[TonyR]

Bill. I actually did try them early on but did observe a speed difference that would have required retuning the powder load to do a comparison. The three I tested gave me the same average velocity for the same load, just slightly different vertical dispersion. I didn't see the point in retuning everything just to test one primer. I still have most of a box of1000 of the 215Ms. I use them to load for a friend's 416 Rem Mag and they work very well. maybe I'll get something big someday and need them.