There are plenty of excuses why I have had this rifle for several months now and really haven't shot it much, none of them are very good excuses. I finally have the load I plan to use. I say finally but it really didn't take too long.
The first loads I tried were with H4350, 208AMax and 175SMKs, Lapua brass and BR-2 primers. There was only one real stand out group so I moved on to H4831SC. It was too dark to chronograph due to a T-Storm skirting the range so no numbers.
I had the chance to shoot my H4831SC loads last Saturday working with 180SMK's, Lapua brass, and BR-2 primers and using fireformed brass. I had 2 loads that stood out by the numbers. At 57.5gr I had 2710fps av with ES of 17 and SD of 7.02 then again at 59.5gr I had 2705fps av with ES of 8 and a SD of 3.16. The groups were .417" and .506" repectively. I did not take pics as It got too dark. I ran a couple loads accross the chrony with 190SMKs but a couple shots at each step in the ladder told my they were not the numbers I was expecting and certainly didn't come close to what I had already seen from the 180's.
Today I revisited that magic load with some different brass and different components to put it to a torture test of sorts. I have some good Lake City brass attached to some remanufatured M2 ball pull downs so I loaded up some I had pulled. I did not size them, although I probably should have. I did pop the primers out of ten cases and replace with BR-2 primers. The primers that reside in the M2 ball are obviously CCI but I don't know if they are magnum or standard.
All rounds were loaded up with 59.5gr of H4831SC and 180SMK seated .010 off the lands. Each string was 10 shots except the Lapua brass group. Someone had left a shootnsee sight in target up with the diamonds in each corner with a 3/8" dot in each, I simply could not resist and yes I hit it dead nuts, so C is actually 9 shots. I know I should have taken a pic of that with the cell phone too.
Some wierd things happened. First the LC cases I switched to BR-2 primers had the highest SD of the three and the largest group was the second best SD using the primers of unknown origin. Actually I have seen all that before but it is mildly entertaining. There was a flier in group B that very nearly doubled the size of the group, probably me maybe not, it was in the middle of the string and it felt fine.
Group A:As pulled LC Group B: LC with BR-2 Group C:Lapua w/BR-2
A:.877" SD 9.12 B:.824" SD 16.8 C:.564" SD 8.9
The Build:
Remington 700 BDL action, trued
PTG Bolt handle
#18 Fluted Krieger 1-10tw finished 27"
A2 McMillan stock painted OD Alumahide
Action and barrel KG Guncote flat black
Floorplate magazine extension, 7rds
Near 20MOA rail
Med MK4 rings, steel
Leupold Mark 4 16x M1, mildot reticle
Complete build by Apache Machine and Custom
The first loads I tried were with H4350, 208AMax and 175SMKs, Lapua brass and BR-2 primers. There was only one real stand out group so I moved on to H4831SC. It was too dark to chronograph due to a T-Storm skirting the range so no numbers.
I had the chance to shoot my H4831SC loads last Saturday working with 180SMK's, Lapua brass, and BR-2 primers and using fireformed brass. I had 2 loads that stood out by the numbers. At 57.5gr I had 2710fps av with ES of 17 and SD of 7.02 then again at 59.5gr I had 2705fps av with ES of 8 and a SD of 3.16. The groups were .417" and .506" repectively. I did not take pics as It got too dark. I ran a couple loads accross the chrony with 190SMKs but a couple shots at each step in the ladder told my they were not the numbers I was expecting and certainly didn't come close to what I had already seen from the 180's.
Today I revisited that magic load with some different brass and different components to put it to a torture test of sorts. I have some good Lake City brass attached to some remanufatured M2 ball pull downs so I loaded up some I had pulled. I did not size them, although I probably should have. I did pop the primers out of ten cases and replace with BR-2 primers. The primers that reside in the M2 ball are obviously CCI but I don't know if they are magnum or standard.
All rounds were loaded up with 59.5gr of H4831SC and 180SMK seated .010 off the lands. Each string was 10 shots except the Lapua brass group. Someone had left a shootnsee sight in target up with the diamonds in each corner with a 3/8" dot in each, I simply could not resist and yes I hit it dead nuts, so C is actually 9 shots. I know I should have taken a pic of that with the cell phone too.
Some wierd things happened. First the LC cases I switched to BR-2 primers had the highest SD of the three and the largest group was the second best SD using the primers of unknown origin. Actually I have seen all that before but it is mildly entertaining. There was a flier in group B that very nearly doubled the size of the group, probably me maybe not, it was in the middle of the string and it felt fine.
Group A:As pulled LC Group B: LC with BR-2 Group C:Lapua w/BR-2
A:.877" SD 9.12 B:.824" SD 16.8 C:.564" SD 8.9
The Build:
Remington 700 BDL action, trued
PTG Bolt handle
#18 Fluted Krieger 1-10tw finished 27"
A2 McMillan stock painted OD Alumahide
Action and barrel KG Guncote flat black
Floorplate magazine extension, 7rds
Near 20MOA rail
Med MK4 rings, steel
Leupold Mark 4 16x M1, mildot reticle
Complete build by Apache Machine and Custom
