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Trouble with 230 A-tips

I’ve never had so much trouble getting a bullet to shoot good. I’ve had excellent success with the 153’s but these 230’s, man. Working with a new build Curtis valor with an mtu from preferred barrel. I’ve messed with powders, bullet seating, neck tension etc. I was beginning to wonder if I was having a mechanical problem with the rifle itself so I threw a short powder ladder together with 245 bergers and they all shot at least 1 moa with a couple groups inside 1 large hole. The 245’s are just hard to find. I’ve heard some barrels just won’t shoot a particular bullet but this is the first time I’ve ever considered throwing in the towel. Has anyone else had trouble/success with 230’s?
 
I've had some success with the 153 Atips in my 6.5 CM over Staball 6.5 as well, and I have some 230s that I've been waiting to try to find a load with in my 300 WinMag. Hoping I can find something with them.
 
I couldn’t get the 230 a tips to shoot in a 26” 9 twist Krieger either. Shot a really good group one time at 600 yards and rechecked it a couple of times to only be disappointed. Went back to the 225 gr ELDM and was satisfied. I have since heard that the Hornady factory loaded 230 gr ATIP 300 prc ammo has shot very well for some of my friends. Thinking maybe I should have tried 0.100” to 0.150” jump with the 230 trainers now
 
I’ve had a couple promising groups as well only to have them come apart when I’ve tried to proof them. I tried .100 but not .150 I’ve still got a couple hundred left so maybe I’ll jump around.025 and see if something clicks. Time and supplies probably just has me skipping over the sweet spot. Just never fought a bullet this bad before
 
I shoot 230 ATIP in 308 Win 8 twist at 2620 fps..
But have found better accuracy with 225 ELDM at 2675 fps... the Atips are good but getting 5 shots into the .3" with 225 ELDM and more than one rifle likes the ELDM better, including the 9 twist. So I briefly stopped using the 230 Atips but have a fair amount of 250 gr Atips to play with, but they were reserved for the 300RUM. Tried the 250 Atip in 300 blackout to see how they perform there...worse ..mediocre in the 300 blkout 7 twist.. More accurate options that cost less...has been my experience with Atips, after wasting $400 and still haven't given up...still have another $400 to waste... but Atips have never out shot the more conventional commonly used match bullets in any caliber...ever...yet. But I quit ordering them... need to concentrate on a loading them again when the weather is nicer...one more try. Before moving on.
Haven't tried them in the Dasher!? But it loves Berger too much to break up the union...just forgot about the Atips until someone brings them up...so that tells ya alot...but will try em again...later.
 
I definitely can relate to what you’re saying. I think they’re enticing because of the high advertised bc and availability but I’m seeing why they’re always in stock.
 
A few more questions.

What powders and primers have you tried? When you say you have "messed with" different variables, what does that mean? How many different combinations have you tried? Are you changing one thing at a time or changing two or three things at a time in the interest of conserving components?

What distance are you shooting your groups at? What conditions? Were they the same as when you got good groups with your other loads?
 
I tried H 1000 and VV 570 (Similar loads to my best shooting 225 gr ELDM loads) with the 230gr ATIP and got a 3 shot group at 600 yards around 2” but couldn’t get close to .3 MOA again. Very erratic. Probably closer to 1 MOA or bigger. I tried 0.010” off 0.020”, 0.030” 0.050” off and probably a light jam. Out of frustration I quit messing with them. But I read a thread on here around a year ago on here where Tom Mousel said someone he knew had them shooting well once “he finally put them into the lands”. So maybe a good jam will be the answer.
 
I think finding the right seating depth is a lot of it. If I try them again I’m going to try larger.025 jumps from short ( recommended coal) to long at a middle of the road charge. I’ve used h1000, n570 and Lrt. Don’t have anything else in a usable burn rate. Fed215’s. 100 yards, same conditions. Need to get some in between burn rate as the shorter coal is compressing n570,Lrt more than I would like
 
Interesting. I had considered this but curious why the 245’s seem to be ok? I haven’t shot them at distance. I do have an 8 twist barrel on another 300prc I could play with but it already has an established load/bullet and adjusted tuner that shoots so good I hate to mess with it.
 
I have shoot many 250’s and 190’s, and a good number of 110’s. I have not shot 230’s yet, but the similarities exceed the differences.

I have my best results with them with a very significant jump, on the order of half the bullet’s caliber, as a starting point.
 
That seems to be the common theme is the long jump for them. It boggles my mind what makes the long jump more stabilizing. Could it be a more concentric feed vs maybe starting off a little crooked? I do notice they are very soft skinned
 

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