This morning's brain twister

[stagpanther]

now that's using your boom-stop for something besides shooting glasses holder.

It will actually be the smallest of the Weatherby's I've ever owned or shot--and I love Weatherbys--for some odd reason I never have considered it.

[stagpanther]

After removing and examining the barrel as best I could--I couldn't find anything wrong with it (within the limits of my powers of observation) other than the throat is showing signs of wear, which is to be expected with hot 25's. So I put it back together but took it out of the Boyd's stock and put it in an MDT chassis instead. I'm impatient to try out Hornady's 134 gr ELDMs, thinking 7828 or N565 as my first attempts.

[jetinteriorguy]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

After removing and examining the barrel as best I could--I couldn't find anything wrong with it (within the limits of my powers of observation) other than the throat is showing signs of wear, which is to be expected with hot 25's. So I put it back together but took it out of the Boyd's stock and put it in an MDT chassis instead. I'm impatient to try out Hornady's 134 gr ELDMs, thinking 7828 or N565 as my first attempts.

Nice looking rig.

[stagpanther]

Thanks--I'm hoping that it shoots better than I had it in the Boyd's stock. I also saw a bit of wear in the receiver's face and lugs and did a bit of truing on them; it's an old one and been used for several different builds, I need to invest in some new ones--but they are very expensive these days. I keep wanting to commit to a true custom receiver but there always seems to be a hitch which means committing to some kind of major re-investment in over-all "equipment topology" which I just can't seem to get over.

[stagpanther]

My first batch of 134 ELDMs. Formerly I've had my bullets very close to the lands, with these I'm backing them off to see if that makes any difference. I've seen instances of where the ELDs and VLDs occasionally do better with a healthy jump to lands.

[tangolima]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

My first batch of 134 ELDMs. Formerly I've had my bullets very close to the lands, with these I'm backing them off to see if that makes any difference. I've seen instances of where the ELDs and VLDs occasionally do better with a healthy jump to lands.

You can tune the jump for best group. Make sure use small step size(<0.005") though.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[stagpanther]

Overbore cartridges--especially new ones with little prior load development history--can be an expensive proposition to develop loads for. Barrels may not make it to 1000 shot count before being shot-out (and perhaps far short of that if shot hot frequently); and custom made barrels have surpassed the $500 mark which makes it a bit harder to digest as a regular "consumable." Take your average ladder-development bullet/powder testing total round count for just one combination (which might be 100 or more) and you can see how it's much more expensive now than it was even just 4 or 5 years ago. As a rule I never shoot more than a dozen shots at a time when testing new loads these days with cartridges that tend to run hot.

[tangolima]

I use a simplified version of ladder test. For each load I need 35 rounds; 10 for powder charge, 20 for COAL, and 5 for "qualification". You have fixed the powder charge, so 25 rounds will do.

I bring to the range a lee hand press with seating die, and a caliper. Starting with max COAL, fire 2 rounds. Look at the distance between the holes. If it has potential, fire one more round. Still good fire another. 4 rounds max for each COAL. Move to next COAL 2 - 3 thous shorter and repeat process. With 20 rounds I cover 5 to 8 COAL settings. Pick the best and fire 5 more to "qualify". The final "qualification" group will have 7-9 shots.

Not the best method, but it works out for a miserable cheapskate like your truly .

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[stagpanther]

To each their own. Generally speaking, nowadays I try to do most of my testing at 200 yds with a labradar. Optimum stabilization at distance beyond 100 yds "is a real thing" based on my experience for modern high SD bullets. I can't always get out that far and will settle on 100 only if I have to. It's a distinct possibility that by the time you find your unicorn node for your particular barrel--it may be close to shot out. That's a factor I'm much more mindful of when trying out new hot burning cartridges--and high SD .257's are a good example. My 7mm STW is another.

[tangolima]

I am doing the same for the same reason. 150yd is the max at our club, so I test fire there. I have access to 300yd at other place, but it is windier there. I have also noticed long and pointy bullets indeed more time to settle down. Many a time I shoot better moa groups at 150yd than 100yd.

-TL

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[georgehwbush]

heard some one quote "bryan litz, my bullets don't go to sleep until 200 yards" not sure he said that but that was how it was quoted to me.
at any rate, yes i have found greater accuracy at longer distance on several combinations

not the least of which was 105A-Max out of 243-win i could get .75 MoA at 853yds but only about .95 MoA at 100yds.

it was repeatable so i assume it was like the above quote.

[stagpanther]

There's a flip side to the testing at longer distances--it's easy to assume a load tested at 100 yds will be good at longer distances--but I have stumbled on magic unicorn loads at 100 yds that shot cloverleaf bugholes and then went apart not much further out.

[jetinteriorguy]

Years ago when I used to shoot at the base range at Quantico I’d always work up loads at 100 yds. Once I’d dialed a load in I’d shoot clays on the 300yd berm to really dial in my scope. Some loads you couldn’t miss at 300, and some you could burn up 40-50 rounds trying to dial in and still not do better than maybe 50% hits.

[stagpanther]

Anyone notice the slight ring at the base of the neck/shoulder junction that the bushing die didn't quite get?

[stagpanther]

I've been getting some good results with Hornady's 134 eldm. Today there is hardly any wind--5 mph +/- which is exceedingly rare here, so I rushed a batch of cartridges together certain that if I did my part I could group sub .3 MOA. Got all set up at the range excited to get going and--the very first cartridge jammed upon trying to close the bolt. Couldn't figure out why since I thought I was using the same settings on my dies as in the previous days. Turns out when using the 25 WSSM crimp die (which has a different case body shoulder size) I came down a little too far and pushed a ring out at the shoulder/case body junction. I could force the bolt closed on all but one of the cartridges (I prepared 6). Still shot OK--but I know it can do a lot better. Moral of the story--don't rush it--that's when mistakes are made.