Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
There are always so many threads about
"what powder to use with such and such cartridge" or "what bullets is best for this and that"
Although there seems to be some certain powders that do actually work quite well with certain rounds, I have always told folks to try as many powders and bullets as they can that will fit the rifle's application. This ensures the best accuracy is not accidentally overlooked.
It is well known to most folks that a primer change in a load can have a massive effect on accuracy as well and I have witnessed this many times personally in the past. But to be brutally honest with myself, I have always had a strong bias towards ONLY using Federal primers in my rifles. I have always carried many different primer brands on the shelf for testing just in case I couldnt find a load using Federal, but didnt use them extensively because Federal always worked out in the end.
Well I decided to start doing initial load testing a little different this time with my new 300 NMI hunting rifle. Just to put a spin on things if nothing else.
I loaded all the starting recipes like i normally would using Federal GM215M primers, but then I loaded another set of rounds with the same exact recipe save for changing the primer to a Remington 9 1/2 Magnum. The results were astonishing...
These are only 100 yard groups and only a couple I've tried so far, but the difference is night and day.
In the first photo, I probably would have completely dismissed playing with the 90gr charge of RL33 had I only tried the GM215M primer, but look what happened when all i did different was use a Rem 9 1/2M in the same recipe. The accuracy changed from about a 1.5+" group to a sub 1/4" group.
I then fired another 3 shot confirmation group at a different target using the same recipe with the Rem 9 1/2M to ensure the first group wasnt a fluke. I think this group was even smaller.
The next test was using the same two primers in a load using an identical charge of N570. In this instance, the GM215M performed better. The difference wasnt as drastic, but most definitely noticeable on the paper.
I suppose the point of the topic is to recommend people pay as much attention to testing different primers in a load as they would any other component. As this test confirmed (along with my other past experiences), a primer change can have a massive effect on how a rifle shoots. The primer changes shown above took bad groups and gave them acceptable accuracy. So where I normally may have moved on to the next load due to poor accuracy, the differences made me stop and think, "wait a second, I DO have something to really work with using this powder".
"what powder to use with such and such cartridge" or "what bullets is best for this and that"
Although there seems to be some certain powders that do actually work quite well with certain rounds, I have always told folks to try as many powders and bullets as they can that will fit the rifle's application. This ensures the best accuracy is not accidentally overlooked.
It is well known to most folks that a primer change in a load can have a massive effect on accuracy as well and I have witnessed this many times personally in the past. But to be brutally honest with myself, I have always had a strong bias towards ONLY using Federal primers in my rifles. I have always carried many different primer brands on the shelf for testing just in case I couldnt find a load using Federal, but didnt use them extensively because Federal always worked out in the end.
Well I decided to start doing initial load testing a little different this time with my new 300 NMI hunting rifle. Just to put a spin on things if nothing else.
I loaded all the starting recipes like i normally would using Federal GM215M primers, but then I loaded another set of rounds with the same exact recipe save for changing the primer to a Remington 9 1/2 Magnum. The results were astonishing...
These are only 100 yard groups and only a couple I've tried so far, but the difference is night and day.
In the first photo, I probably would have completely dismissed playing with the 90gr charge of RL33 had I only tried the GM215M primer, but look what happened when all i did different was use a Rem 9 1/2M in the same recipe. The accuracy changed from about a 1.5+" group to a sub 1/4" group.
I then fired another 3 shot confirmation group at a different target using the same recipe with the Rem 9 1/2M to ensure the first group wasnt a fluke. I think this group was even smaller.
The next test was using the same two primers in a load using an identical charge of N570. In this instance, the GM215M performed better. The difference wasnt as drastic, but most definitely noticeable on the paper.
I suppose the point of the topic is to recommend people pay as much attention to testing different primers in a load as they would any other component. As this test confirmed (along with my other past experiences), a primer change can have a massive effect on how a rifle shoots. The primer changes shown above took bad groups and gave them acceptable accuracy. So where I normally may have moved on to the next load due to poor accuracy, the differences made me stop and think, "wait a second, I DO have something to really work with using this powder".
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