2nd trip to range with hand loads... mucho bettero!

WWWJD · April 4, 2012, 08:09 PM

Twas a rainy day at the range this evening....

Last post, I had noted that my case runout was out of control, and while I did manage to pull off a .362" group, I wasn't satisfied that I was seeing what I needed to see because of the runout problem. After running some more rounds using a collet neck sizing die... oh my! Now I can see what's going on here. Anything at or above 44 gr didn't improve anything other than the amount of recoil. It did start to tighten back up at 46, and while I didn't see any overpressure signs... I ain't going down that road.

For kicks, I bumped my seating depth out 0.05" to 2.85 COAL. #200 CCI primer, Varget powder, once fired Federal Brass, 168gr SMK .308. The increase in cartridge length has pushed my sweet spot up to a higher powder charge, thus getting me a little flatter trajectory (assumption)... which is what I was secretly hoping for.

43 grains of powder really woke this man up!! That's another 5 shot 3/8"'ish group that appeared out of the 7 groups shot, from 39 to 46gr powder charge. Now... I can go back to perform a ladder test centered at 43gr... figure I'll do 42.4 to 43.6 in .3 increments... see what happens.

I'm a happy boy!!

Kayser · April 4, 2012, 09:02 PM

Looks great!

Out of curiosity, how much better are these reloads than your typical outing with factory stuff? Is that a 700 vs?

WWWJD · April 4, 2012, 09:20 PM

The best group I ever shot with factory ammo was a 1" group at 200 yards using Federal gold medal match... That was not something I was able to do again despite my efforts through a couple hundred rounds. These first two batches of reloads have well exceeded my expectations. The worst groups here are typical of what I was getting with the GMM stuff. Next best shooting factory ammo turned out to be Federal 150 gr Nosler ballistic tip with similar group sizes.

It's a SPS 20".

April 4, 2012, 08:09 PM	#1
WWWJD Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2011 Location: Central KY Posts: 552	2nd trip to range with hand loads... mucho bettero! Twas a rainy day at the range this evening.... Last post, I had noted that my case runout was out of control, and while I did manage to pull off a .362" group, I wasn't satisfied that I was seeing what I needed to see because of the runout problem. After running some more rounds using a collet neck sizing die... oh my! Now I can see what's going on here. Anything at or above 44 gr didn't improve anything other than the amount of recoil. It did start to tighten back up at 46, and while I didn't see any overpressure signs... I ain't going down that road. For kicks, I bumped my seating depth out 0.05" to 2.85 COAL. #200 CCI primer, Varget powder, once fired Federal Brass, 168gr SMK .308. The increase in cartridge length has pushed my sweet spot up to a higher powder charge, thus getting me a little flatter trajectory (assumption)... which is what I was secretly hoping for. 43 grains of powder really woke this man up!! That's another 5 shot 3/8"'ish group that appeared out of the 7 groups shot, from 39 to 46gr powder charge. Now... I can go back to perform a ladder test centered at 43gr... figure I'll do 42.4 to 43.6 in .3 increments... see what happens. I'm a happy boy!! __________________ *~Mark* NRA Endowment FTW Last edited by WWWJD; April 4, 2012 at 08:23 PM.

April 4, 2012, 09:20 PM	#3
WWWJD Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2011 Location: Central KY Posts: 552	The best group I ever shot with factory ammo was a 1" group at 200 yards using Federal gold medal match... That was not something I was able to do again despite my efforts through a couple hundred rounds. These first two batches of reloads have well exceeded my expectations. The worst groups here are typical of what I was getting with the GMM stuff. Next best shooting factory ammo turned out to be Federal 150 gr Nosler ballistic tip with similar group sizes. It's a SPS 20". __________________ *~Mark* NRA Endowment FTW

April 4, 2012, 09:02 PM	#2
Kayser Senior Member Join Date: May 29, 2002 Location: Illinois :( Posts: 550	Looks great! Out of curiosity, how much better are these reloads than your typical outing with factory stuff? Is that a 700 vs? __________________ ----------------- Box Of Truth Afficionado!