300 SAUM Bullet/Ballistic Suggestions

[blksno]

I've just loaded up the last of my 210 VLD's and I'm heading out to shoot them sometime this week.

Rifle specs are as follows.

Armalite AR10 in 300 SAUM
Berger 210 VLDs at an OAL to the <span style="text-decoration: underline">ogive</span> of 2.170
Rem Brass trimmed to 2.004"
Fed Gold Medal Match 215 primers
56.7 of RL17 yields roughly 2715
I had an equally accurate load much hotter, but chewed up brass.

I have faster, more accurate loads with 185 and 190 VLDs but only had a dozen of each and no chrono when I tested them. Both more accurate, but just barely.

185 and 190s are an estimation....
185 VLD at 3000
190 VLD at 2900
210 VLD at 2715

With these numbers and my DA, my graph (via Shooter) predicts less than 1 MOA difference in Wind drift at 1760 yds.

At 1760yds with 10mph at 3:00
185 VLD.....73.0 MOA Drop.....11.5MOA Drift
190 VLD.....76.3 MOA Drop.....11.4 MOA Drift
210 VLD.....80.6 MOA Drop.....10.8 MOA Drift

Now, I've have data for a .4 MOA group at 100 and two more .5 MOA groups at 100 with <span style="font-weight: bold">185 VLD</span>s

I've got 2 different .4 MOA groups at 100 with <span style="font-weight: bold">190 VLD</span>s and another .5 MOA

Best I've gotten with 210's is .55 and another at about .625. They are a bit touchy to get into the mag due to the extreme stretch I'm running to hover in my "land window"

I decided to use the 210s simply because I knew they would drift less in the wind...but at the range I shoot. (1200 so far) I'm not sure it's worth it. Especially when it's less than 1 MOA difference out to a mile and I barely have that much elevation available if I dial AND use hold over.
Now that I'm out of pills...should I go for more, or just drop down to 190s and start testing all over?...(and if I go with 190s...maybe even go with 185s)

I'm getting more barrel life with the 210's for sure, but I don't know if I shoot far enough to warrant the bullet choice, especially when I have to seat them so long with mag length always being a concern.

What say you?
Stick with 210's or test with 185-190s?
I'd consider the hybrid or OTMs but I'm more interested in keeping a dedicated Hunting bullet

(I found it interesting that at my DA and this distance...it would be roughly 8 seconds before hearing an impact on steel.
3.3 seconds of flight time and 4.7 seconds for the sound to return.)

 

[jbailey]

Re: 300 SAUM Bullet/Ballistic Suggestions

do you shoot UKD? If so, try the lighter bullets. If not, stick with the heavier, less wind impacted heavier bullet.

 

[blksno]

Re: 300 SAUM Bullet/Ballistic Suggestions

Not very often, My Bushnell Fusion haven't prevented me from ranging anything I intended to shoot so far.

 

[T J]

Re: 300 SAUM Bullet/Ballistic Suggestions

c_bass, How do the three different bullets actually group at range? Say 500 yards? If I missed it in your post my bad, but I only recall accuracy testing @ 100yds. With as close as the external ballistics are, I would let the long range grouping determine the victor.

Cheers,

 

[blksno]

Re: 300 SAUM Bullet/Ballistic Suggestions

I didn't get a chance to test. I found an open box of 210 VLDs online so I snagged them up for cheap but to have something to test them against, I ordered a dozen 185's and a dozen 190's from BulletProofSamples with only a dozen of each, I didn't get a chance to push them any farther than 100.

I don't believe that a .4 MOA group at 100 yds goes to shit at 500 yds though. If something is causing problems at medium distance, it's probably the shooter.

All the good 100 yd loads I've had with other rifles, are capable of equal (or very near) accuracy out to as far as I've taken them.

I suppose the safe thing to do would be to get another dozen 185s and 190s and choro them with the loads that shot well before...and send them to 800 to check actual accuracy at distance. That's probably the easiest...since I already have data for more than one .5 MOA load with each bullet...might as well just send em long and get a true velocity before dropping $$ on a box of 100 (or 500)

 

[T J]

Re: 300 SAUM Bullet/Ballistic Suggestions

BulletProof samples is a great way to dabble w/o spending a ton. I was wondering if the 210 would group better (MOA wise) at extended ranges after it had a little more time to "go to sleep".

I do have tinkeritis, so I tend to fart around a little more than most