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260 with Lapua Brass, H4831sc and Berger Hybrid 140's -- Anyone??

Wildwillalaska

Wildwillalaska

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Minuteman
Jul 7, 2010
492
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Kenai, Alaska
Thanks in advance for any helpful input, but not looking for debate over what brass, boolits or powder, just hoping for insight from someone with specific experience with the above combination. Found a good load in H4350 and the Bergers, and my 260 appears crazy and hates Amax 140's, so saving those for the 6.5 Creed.

A couple folks suggested in my last thread to give H4831sc a try and I did this past weekend. Tried 44.5, 45, and 45.5 grains. On the 45.5 I got a tiny bit of crunching sound seating the 140 Hybrids to mag length which gives me about .022" jump. I initially planned to load up some in 46.0 and 46.5 grains, but stopped as I got the crunching sound and admit I shoot compressed loads infrequently, so always overly cautious when I get to capacity. The 45.5 grains shot without any signs of pressure, but were still a little slow, right around 2700 fps, when I am getting 2790 with 42.9grs of H4350.

So, my question, anyone have experience with the specific combination of H4831sc in Lapua brass with the Berger Hybrid 140's? If so, what was the max powder charge you were able to fit, and at what case overall length. I need to do a bit of reading on compressed loads to help ease my discomfort. Would like to try and increase the loading a bit more before I abandon the powder for this gun and settle on H4350--it will be one of those questions tickling my brain if I don't.

Thanks fellers,

Will
 
I could not get the Bergers to shoot for me. I went with 142 SMK's. With h4831SC velocity was a tad slow, but overall the rifle shot well. I have never been able to get the velocities with 140's others have achieved so I moved on.
 
Compressed loads are not inherently any less safe than uncompressed loads.
Some combinations of powder/case/bullet/throat length will result in compressed loads that yield acceptable chamber pressures and shoot accurately with good velocity.
With a compressed load, you never have to worry about any variation resulting from how the powder lays in the case... there's no way for voids to form around the primer hole.
I shoot a $hitload of very compressed loads in my .308 gas gun ammo, using up less than ideal (IMR 4007SSC and Hodgdon H100V) powders purchased for cheap during this drought.
Huge crunch when I seat the bullet, but judging from the brass and primers afterwards, the pressures are right where the book says they should be.

Using a drop tube to fill the cases make what was a compressed load fit with no crunch, too.
 
Right on. Have heard of others finding a sweet spot around 46.5 or 46.6 grains in Lapua brass, but not with the Bergers. Just concerned with how deep I am seating them did not want to over compress. Looking at the brass, I would certainly think I still have quite a margin, maybe I'll pull out the good ol' drop tube to lessen the annoying crunch.

Thanks guys.
 
I've been using 45 gr H4831sc, Lapua brass, and 140 Amax's with very good results. Tikka T3, 5 rnds, ragged hole, w/occasional flyer. Sandbags.
 
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For what it's worth, I was seeing slower velocities using H4831SC pushing 142-SMK's in Rem, Fed, and Nosler brass.
 
The 45 and 45.5 shot so good I still want to play with it. I loaded up another baby step forward, 45.7, 45.9, and 46.1 so will see. Certainly won't be a screamer.

Imagine this is a waste of time considering 42.9gr of H4350 shot well and put me just shy of 2800fps. So admits asking myself why I was still tinkering--
 
H4350 is what my rifle likes too with berger 140s.. seating depth is paramount... I wouldn't waste time on 4831sc for a 260..
 
I doubt your wasting time per say, your just exploring other options. I wanted desperately to use H4350 in my new 260 build but it was no-go. I had the barrel throated specifically for 140 AMax and it actually took a long time to find the right powder, 5 different ones in all until H4831sc @ 46.0gr nailed it. Yes it is compressed but not much and certainly NOT at max P. I don't worry about compressed loads unless I have trouble getting a consistent seating depth or if my rounds have sat for a while and the bullets have creep out of the case, that indicates too much compression. To the ojive they measure 2.177" using a Sinclair Insert Style Bullet Comparator. H4831sc is NOT a waste of time especially given the fact that powder can be difficult to obtain. Why not have 1 load to fall back on?

No it's not as fast as I would have liked it but if velocity was my primary goal, I would have built an Ackley!

Back to your question, the throat on my barrel is such that to the lands with the 140 Hybrid the overall length is 3.065". Even with Accurate mags and their internal length of 3.05", if I had to chase the lands as the throat erodes I will have to single feed. My previous experience with Bergers is limited to the 185gr LRBT and it liked .005" jump the best in my gun. I would start at 44.0gr charge and work up to 46.5 but stop as soon as I started to see pressure.
 
I would think H4831SC would be too slow for 260s if you're chasing speed. I shoot 140 Hybrids in my 6.5x55 with 4831SC but I have a lot more case to work with. Whereas H4350 is too fast for me the guys I shoot with all use that in their 260s/6.5Cs with the 140s and have great results. Although they have to push hard to get to where I can coast comfortably. :) H4350 seems to be the go to for 260s/6.5Cs.

Compressed loads aren't a problem as stated earlier and preferred by many. You'd have a hard time getting enough 4831SC into a 260 case to do any damage.

L
 
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I use 7828ssc which has a comparable burn rate. I get 2800fps with Lapua 136L and 46.0gr. Very accurate with low ES and SD.
 
For what it's worth.45.6 4831sc 140 Bergers in a 26" Chanlynn. Gives me 2900.
A little tough on the brass. But, I get 4.5" vertical at 1000.
 
Also for reference:

47.0gr H4831
139 Scenar (2.279" ogive & 0.015" jump)
210m
2x WW708

half MOA at 300 yards with less than 1" of vertical.
Up 1Mil from 100yZ tells me it's around 2750fps from my 22" barrel.







I'll be curious to hear where you end up with the Bergers. They're next on my list.
 
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