March 20, 2018, 07:24 PM | #26 |
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Finally got a day where the wind wasn't blowing so bad--only 10 to 15 mph today. Went out and did my first ladder of test cartridges--162 eld x's driven by H4350--one of the better powders. Originally I had only loaded 3 cartridges for each charge weight--but then added a 4th to each group after I got some new winchester cases and determined that I could go longer with the bullet seating--so in each group 3 cartridges were 2.78 and 1 was 2.804. Might have made a difference in the grouping--though I was not shooting especially well today, I wasn't calling the shots but I could tell when I budged and made a bad one. I didn't call--I cursed.
Since I'm still breaking the barrel in, it also is a bit tedious to stop every few shots to break down and clean the bore out. The rifle I believe can shoot way ahead of how I'm shooting--at least today. 4350 I've heard is one of the top go-to powders for the 284 win--it does seem to do well. Here are a couple of the better groups (interesting how they are spaced almost identically).
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March 22, 2018, 06:32 PM | #27 |
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Fresh batch of 284 win--starting to adjust case mouth tension to see if that makes any difference. New Winchester brass and hornady 162 eld x driven H4350. Going to have to wait for the latest snowstorm to clear before I can get out again.
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March 23, 2018, 05:35 PM | #28 |
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Went out today to attempt to shoot those handsome cartridges above--had a bit of trouble getting through the snow but managed to set up in a level spot 111 yds out. Discovered that I had forgotten my gloves--yup the man with a million excuses--but tried to shoot anyway. I only made it half way through before I bagged it, I just wasn't able to shoot well enough, even though I got a couple of good groups out of the first charge weights. I can tell how good this gun is by how readily it let's me know how bad I'm shooting!
These are two of the same low-end charges I tried the other day, they both featured a couple of shots that almost went through the same hole. I'm still stopping between groups to clean the bore--almost done with barrel break-in.
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March 24, 2018, 06:18 AM | #29 |
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Not much to add but I am wondering what kind of velocity you're getting from those 162s. What length is the barrel?
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March 24, 2018, 06:38 AM | #30 |
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The lower-end loads above are in the 2500 fps range out of the 22" barrel. I'm going to get through breaking the barrel in before I start running warmer top-end loads. I still haven't found a reference factory load to baseline a pressure gage on--I guess I'll have to make my own and send it off for testing.
post edit: My velocities seem to be consistently under what QL and reload manual say I should be getting by 75 fps +/- --I'm attributing that to the extra friction/start pressure by the crimped bullet--also the winchester brass has some kind of weird fluting/reamer chatter in the inside of the neck which is uneven in tension---I hope after a few firings I'll get more consistency out of the brass.
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March 26, 2018, 05:57 AM | #31 |
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What configuration is the bolt ? Are you able to run a standard 7.62 AR10 bolt configuration ?
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March 26, 2018, 06:18 AM | #32 | |
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Quote:
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May 28, 2018, 10:38 AM | #33 |
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While I'm waiting on parts for other projects to come in--thought I'd spend a little time with my 284 win project which has been side-lined for a while. Biggest problem is that most bullet's ogives go into the neck--so I needed a way to get a longer seating.
The DPMS steel mag was up to the task of being cut out--I'll test with live fire soon. This enables me to get a COL to 2.912. The chamber allows seating way beyond that from what I've been able to measure--but this is still a major improvement.
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May 28, 2018, 11:43 AM | #34 |
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Extra length definitely makes a difference--these 162 ELDX hunter's base of ogive now clear with room to spare. Very windy out--but what the hey--back in a bit.
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May 28, 2018, 12:38 PM | #35 |
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The COL looks different on all of them.
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May 28, 2018, 03:39 PM | #36 | |
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May 28, 2018, 03:55 PM | #37 |
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Unfortunately the lengthened cartridge created a new problem while being cycled under live fire--the bullet meplat was smacking into and glancing off the chamber face on feed by the bolt--so that obviously had an effect on the cycling and accuracy since the tips were being crushed and deformed. I didn't figure this out until I got to the last charge weights of 47 grs, whereupon I switched to single-feeding by hand. Results were OK--but I;ll have to jigger the mag some more to get a (hopefully) damage-free feed. Try shortening the COL as well (though I hate giving up that space).
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May 28, 2018, 06:57 PM | #38 |
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Have you considered a shorted case neck length? This is what they do with pointed 45-70 loads.
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May 28, 2018, 07:41 PM | #39 | |
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May 29, 2018, 02:31 PM | #40 |
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Did a little work on the feed lips and backed the COL off a bit to 2.905--still more than enough room to keep the base of ogives of all my bullets out of the case neck. Mission accomplished, shot a ladder of 140 accubonds without a hitch today....well, almost without a hitch--there is still a slight bit of abrasion damage being done to the bullet jackets by the extension lugs on the way in to the chamber. I'm not wild about stoning down extension lugs--used to do it a lot but I suspect that might possibly contribute to early onset of headspace issues.
My results were once again inconclusive--I was either pulling my shots--as evidenced by the horizontal string below--or I would get a few really close together but choked on one shot. I figure the bullet damage might be accounting for about .1 MOA inaccuracy--my poor technique maybe another .4 MOA or so. I'll need to retest.
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May 29, 2018, 06:55 PM | #41 |
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Question for Stag. What made you favor the 284 over a 7mm-08?
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May 29, 2018, 07:06 PM | #42 | |
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Was also intrigued by the fact that it is the parent of the 6.5 284 norma. You often read the differences between cartridges are simply in terms of velocity--which there isn't much of a difference between the 7-08 and 284 win. But there might be other subtle differences--maybe I'll find them out.
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May 29, 2018, 08:02 PM | #43 | |
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May 29, 2018, 08:28 PM | #44 |
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New Winchester brass is poorly finished--but once-fired is pretty nice. Only game in town so I guess I can't complain.
PS--I had room to spare for more powder at 2.905--but using even the max charge recommended for a COL of 2.8 I was getting over 2900 fps out of my 22" McGowen barrel.
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May 29, 2018, 11:08 PM | #45 |
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How's that NF glass working out?
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May 30, 2018, 06:41 AM | #46 | |
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