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300 win mag and 225 eld-m

Jskmtd

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Minuteman
Jan 26, 2013
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Rigby, Id
Has anyone loaded the 225 eld-m in their 300 win mag? If so what is your load, including seating depth, powder and charge, primer, brass, coal, accuracy, and velocity. Just wanting to see if there is an advantage other than cost to the 215 berger.
Thanks,
Jon
 
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Currently doing some load work ups with them, settled on 74.7gr H1000, CCI 250, Hornady Brass, coal of 3.615", approximately 0.04" off the lands. Charges of 74.6 and 74.8 went into 0.5 MOA with the 74.7 going into 0.33 MOA.

Velocity is estimated to be around 2880 fps, I only tested it suppressed which was 2910 fps so I'd guess approximately 30 fps gain from the suppressor. Rifle is a LA Mausingfield with a 30" Pac-Nor Heavy Palma barrel.

NOTE: These loads are on the edge of max, primers are flattened with faint ejector marks showing at 75.1gr. As always start low and work up in your own rifle to ensure safe pressure.
 
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Can do, just tested the 225s again today and got almost identical results with the 74.7gr H1000 so I'm going to keep that load. In August I should get a chance to stretch them out to around 600 or so yards so I'll report back on my findings.

If the rifle is to be used for hunting I would also take a look at the 212 ELDX as I have had great accuracy and speed with that bullet. I originally started with the 215 Berger but for whatever reason they would hover between 0.5 and 0.75 MOA and only occasionally shoot smaller. I ran a long range shooting class with them and shot shillouettes out to 1000 so it worked well enough.

However I thought the rifle could shoot better so I switched to the 212 ELDX and now routinely get into the 0.2s. I believe it has to do with the jump, I'm only jumping the 212s approximately .015" where as the Bergers were closer to .05".

What are the specs on the rifle you are running?
 
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I do use the rifle for hunting so maybe I will give the 212 eld-x a try.
The rifle is a savage long action, mcmillan game scout stock with cdi bottom metal, benchmark barrel with brake, and 6-24x50 sightron scope. It shoots the 215 berger in the .3-.4 range I just wanted to try something different and the 225 eld-m has a great BC, also they are less expensive for shooting steel and rocks.
​​
 
That's a quality set up right there and you can't go wrong with .3 MOA groups. Being a CRF guy I don't have any Savage rifles though I have thought about building a .223 or .204 on a Savage action. What barrel length are you running and what kind of velocity do you get?

Also I have found in several of my rifles that the Hornady's shoot better than the Berger's. Midway has the Hornady's on sale now for 10% off so you can get the bullets for like $36 and Hornady brass for $56 per 100.

Due to a change of plans I will get to test the BC of both the 212gr ELDX and the 225 ELDM. Instead of going to my buddies place I ended up getting into a long range shooting class so I will be taking 250 of the 212gr rounds and over 100 of the 225's and testing them to 1000yds. I struggled with the smaller targets last year with the 215's so hopefully the increased accuracy will help me this time around. I'll report how close the BC's are compared to their .334 and .391 claims.
 
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At the class now, so far the 212s have been tracking perfectly with BallisticsARC. The 225gr have been as well but I've only gotten a chance to shoot 3 so I'll get more data when we are free to shoot the range.

The data has been accurate enough for me that I got me a first round hit on a 4" target at 400yds to win a shootout for a hat.
 
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So the data tracked pretty much dead on out to 800 yards with only minor corrections. However at 900 and 1000 yards things got odd, I had to come up 3/4 MOA at 900 and an extra 1 MOA at 1000 with the the 212gr ELD-X. However the 225gr ELD needed 0.5 MOA less at 900 and 1.5 MOA more adjustment at 1000 than the calculations called for.

Not entirely sure why that was the case but I will analyze the data a bit further to determine why. Accuracy was repeatable and still sub MOA as I was able to go 5 for 5 on a 10" tall head target at 1000. Unfortunelty I don't have access to 1000 yard shots so I won't be able to get updated data for quite some time.
 
I tested the hornady 225 eld's the other day at 600 yards. I want to see how they shot next to the Berger hybrid 215. Windage I'd say they are pretty even. Elevation I had to give them a quarter to half up. I was very happy with the way they shot. The load is 76.5 of H1000 with the bullet 30 off. This is a long chamber with the c.o.a.l of 2.965 off the o-jive. The velocity with them at 600 was 2149. S.D. of 6 or 7. Vertical was about 2.5 inches. I was just shooting off a Harris bipod and a small rear bag. If I bagged it better, I may have gotten less vertical. I would guess they are going 2800-2810 from the muzzle. I have to test this next. I see no pressure and no hard bolt lift. They are being shot from a full custom rig, with a 28 inch gain twist barrel.
 
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My 215 hybrid load is going 2860 with single digit SD's. This load shoots great. I had it out to 1200 about 2 months ago, it held 2-4 inches of elevation. At that range they are going just over 1600 fps. And I'm not killing my brass with these loads.
 
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I'm running the 225gr ELD-M with H1000, WLR, and Norma brass. 3.616" coal is a .010" jam into the rifling. 26" factory Remington barrel. I used Hodgdon h1000 data w/ the 230gr Berger to start, max is listed as 76gr.

my first ladder test from 69-76gr was nothing particularly spectacular. Some decent groups on the low end but the velocity wasn't there for me.

2nd ladder test was 75-79gr. 79gr was 2888fps with flatter primers, very light ejector marks, and a little stickier bolt lift. I wouldn't go any higher than this.

I found a good grouping with 76.6, 77, and 77.6gr. 2814, 2820, 2826fps respectively.

i think I'll settle on 77gr and play with seating depth. I've heard hornady recommends .020-.030" of jump, so we'll see.

ETA: Stuck with 77gr of h1000. Played with seating depth today, .010 jam was about .7" at 100 yards, at the lands was about an inch, .010 jump was 1-1/4", and .020 jump was a frisky .483" I think I found my load. ES/SD to come.

the 225 eld-m really seems to like the .020-.030 jump
 
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I got to do more testing with the hornady 225 eld match. I dumped 2 rounds first, before I fired them through the chrono. I got 2840, 2834, 2842, 2838 and 2832. I was very happy to see that. Next I shot them at 1000. They held 3-4 inches of elevation. With a velocity at the target of 1745 fps and SD of 6. My berger 215 hybrids are going 1785 fps at that range. I had to add 3/4 MOA up with the hornady 225 to match the elevation of the bergers at that distance. I had to give the 225 about a 1/4 MOA more of windage to the 215. Then we went to 600. The 225 today were going 2155 with 2 inches of elevations and SD of 7. I have to add maybe a 1/4 MOA elevation up compared to the 215. Windage I'd say they are the same. The hornady 225 eld match shoot very close to the berger 215. If you can't find any berger 215 and need a bullet. I would pick the 225 up in a heart beat. I'm very happy with the way they shoot and they are cheaper then the bergers.
 
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I got to do a little playing around with the hornady 225 eld match. I found when I put in a G7 of 363 the drop is pretty much right there. Something I forgot to mention with the Berger 215 is, I point them. After pointing the G7 is 370. The hornady sits in the middle of the Berger 215 BC of 354 and 230 BC of 368 if you don't point them. But if you do point them the BC does jump about 4% from what I have found. I have run both bullets through a ballistics calculator, using the BC numbers above. They are normally plus or minus a 1/4 MOA for elevation the farther distance you go. And I have shot them and found that to be true.
 
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Man you guys are making me sad, I've only gotten to put 3 rounds down range since the beginning of August. Looking back over my data from the class most of my drops matched using the .391 G7 BC however my 1000 did not so I would have to do more testing to confirm the numbers.

Any of you guys plan on using them come hunting season? I would be interested to know how they confirm on game compared to the 212gr ELD-X.
 
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What twist barrels and elevation are you guys at? I have a Bartlein gain twist 9.5 to 9. I plan on shooting them more at 1200 plus yards, when I get done with the nationals. So far the 363 BC that I have gotten matches up with everything inside of 1000 yards. I'm no professional. I'm going off the numbers that the chrono and targets give me. I'm very happy with this bullet. Accuracy is great. I can get a good velocity out of them, and they are 15 to 20 cheaper then the bergers. I plan on using them next year on pronghorn. I'm sure they won't disappoint. They ring steel nicely at 1000 yards.
 
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I typically shoot long range between 850 and 1000 ft, barrel is 10 twist PAC-NOR. I'm shooting both the 212 and the 225 with similar accuracy but heard the jacket on the 225 is a bit tougher which would theoretically allow it to hold up better at higher velocities.

I know the couple of 212's i dug out of the dirt at 1000 expanded pretty well.
 
Just rn the first test run of the 225s yesterday. Norma brass, CCI M primers, H1000, jump .020. Ran from 73.4 thru 77.0. Some definite areas to experiment with. Started to get consistent ejector swipe at 76.2, with what I would call "moderate" imprints at 77.0. I continued the rest of the test stopping at 75.8. I think this is the highest I want to push this combination right now. Hopefully get decent speed out of it without trashing the brass. Previous owner of rifle pushed the 230gr Bergers at 77.3 of H1000 with excellent accuracy, but not-so-good brass life out of Hornady cases.


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What length barrel are you using? I know every gun is different, but try CCI 200 primers. I tested both and the CCI 200 cut my SD in half over the CCI 250 primers. The CCI 250's did add about 12 fps, but my SD's were double digits. I'm running 76.5 of H1000. The brass has 3 firings on them and the primer pockets still feel really good.
 
Its a 26" Bartlien via LongRifles. There is another winmag thread in the Reloading Forum with a similar discussion. Im also finishing a workup using a supply of the discontinued 208amax. Still using the H1000 but running Fed210's in that with good results. Theres a bit of info "out there" on using standard primers in the winmag and resulting lower SDs. Im just at the point now where I will be running them over the chrony. We'll see then.
 
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Its a 26" Bartlien via LongRifles. There is another winmag thread in the Reloading Forum with a similar discussion. Im also finishing a workup using a supply of the discontinued 208amax. Still using the H1000 but running Fed210's in that with good results. Theres a bit of info "out there" on using standard primers in the winmag and resulting lower SDs. Im just at the point now where I will be running them over the chrony. We'll see then.

Any updates on the primer testing you did? I've always ran 210m primers in my .300wm loads with great results.

Never had a reason to run 215m primers because this load shoots so well, but my curiosity factor is high...
 
I’ll 2nd the non magnum primers having lower velocity spreads. Last part of load development I tested Winchester non mag vs mag, and the non mags were ~15fps slower, with half the SD and ES of the mag primers.
 
I've been getting single digit ES and SD with the CCI 250 so I haven't seen any reason to change what works. Additionally as I'm in PA the temp can drop into the teens during deer season so I prefer the hotter primers.
 

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I got to do some more testing of the hornady 225 eld match. We only shot today at 1000 and 1200 yards. It was a good day to see how they drifted in the wind. We have winds 15-20 mph. Not ideal, but what is. I had the chrono set up for a little bit, until the wind for a second time blew it over. I have some numbers from the muzzle and at the target. I shot the 225 eld's first. They shot great. Holding about 4-6 of vertical in bad wind conditions. At the chrono I got an average of 2848 and at 1000 average of 1758. SD of 5.6. That was with a 15 shot string. Then I shot some berger 215. I only got 9 rounds off, when the wind blew over my chrono for the second time. Thats when I put that away. Elevation I had to maybe give the hornady 225 a quarter up compared to the berger 215. Wind I'd say they are the same. I couldn't see much difference nor could my buddy. So we went to 1200. I typed in everything into the computer, put the come up on the scope and let it fire. Perfect elevation but just a little wide in the 9 ring. As I got about 6 or 7 rounds in this string, I had to give it a click up. No big deal. Still shot really good. 5-7 inches of elevation I was getting. It was holding about 3, then the wind started to blow in our face and I should of stopped. I fired 2 shots and they went low. Kind of killed my elevation. At 1200 I got an average speed of 1561 and S.D of 7. Very happy to see that. Now with shooting at this range and having the chrono at 1000, I see a little jump in the BC number. It was good with 363, but now 367 looks like the number for me. I used the 367 when we moved back to 1200 and it was right on. As I shoot this barrel more my velocity are going up a little. Pretty normal. Keep in mind the berger 215 that I'm shooting are pointed. With that their BC is 370 not the 354 they have listed. But having the chrono and targets giving me velocities really helps in figuring out the BC of this bullet. Over all I really like this bullet. Shoots great at all ranges, cheaper then the bergers and almost no difference compared to the berger. And the hornady 225, hits steel pretty hard still at 1200.
 
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Finally had the chance to put distance on them today...possible mixed results

While they were just slightly less accurate than the 208s in close, I was getting unpredictable numbers toward 1K. Its been suggested that my 1:10 may not be the best at distance for it...in other words, the BC my be dropping off much more rapidly.

More testing.

It liked the lower of the 2 nodes I shot though...very tight on the speeds.

i just dont know if its worth chasing it when I can get nearly the same from the 215 Berger or the 208 amax.
 
Any updates on the primer testing you did? I've always ran 210m primers in my .300wm loads with great results.

Never had a reason to run 215m primers because this load shoots so well, but my curiosity factor is high...


I ran the 208s out to about 980yds today with exceptional results. Very tight velocity spreads and insignificant vertical all the way out. Temps were in the low 30s. Absolutely NO issues on the primers. Will try again when it hits 0F and let you know....

 
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Finally got out to run a ladder/pressure test with the 225s. I ran from 73.8 all the way up to 77.3gr of H1000 in Norma brass. I had some light ejector marks showing up around 76.8, but still acceptable all the way up to 77.3. Easy bolt lift, and primers looked good on all charge weights.

I found two nodes. The middle of the low node (74.3gr) ran at 2843, and the middle of the high node (76.8gr) ran 2908.

Atmospherics being the same, the 225 at 2908 fps needs .6mil less elevation and .8mil less windage (20mph wind) at 1650 than my 208 ELDM load running 2980fps.
 

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Thanks for the update. Your lower 74.3 node was the exact same number I got using the H1000/Norma/215M. My numbers were about 30fps slower than yours though. I had noticable heavy ejector swipe starting at about 76.0gr as I stated an an earlier post. Ran my preliminary numbers after I read your above post and came up with about a .6moa differance at 600yds given equal DA, the 208gr being flatter. The 225gr starts to pull ahead at about 1300yds. I need warmer weather again to nail the 225gr numbers down a bit more. Just too damn cold to be laying out in a pasture. I’m still suspect of the numbers tho, as according to the book, I am margainally stable running them out of my 1:10.
As an additional update to my above post, I recently did some testing on the Federal 210 primers in sub zero temps. No issues on ignition or groupings down to about -10F with the ammo exposed for hours at temps down to about -20F. Got to love winter in the upper midwest.
 
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I have 15 rounds loaded up to double check the accuracy and speed before I load up 300 for a shooting class. Load is 74.7gr H1000 in Hornady brass with the 225gr ELD, load was giving me .3 MOA at 2910 fps previously when the temp was in the 80s so it will be interesting to see how much the temps change the velocity.
 
I have 15 rounds loaded up to double check the accuracy and speed before I load up 300 for a shooting class. Load is 74.7gr H1000 in Hornady brass with the 225gr ELD, load was giving me .3 MOA at 2910 fps previously when the temp was in the 80s so it will be interesting to see how much the temps change the velocity.

Please post your results as I’m pretty curious. That seems fast, although entirely possible I’m sure. I got 2805fps out of the Norma brass and 74.2gr. This was at 35F and a DA IIRC about 500ft. I’m really hoping these will fly well at distance as it will allow me to squeeze a bit more out. According to the Miller Chart, I’m “margianally stable” and have an actuall BC of about .749 (vs .777). That number improves with the higher temps and DAs.

The Hornady bullet I’m hoping, will be a good alternative to the 230gr Berger load previously worked up. That one works well, but is pretty rough on brass and is walking on the edge. (77.3gr@2930fps). If I can get close to the same results with the more efficient ELD, while backing off the gas a bit, I’ll be happy.

 
I haven't tried the 215s yet, but still working up loads on the 225s. I just hit 2900 fps from a 27 inch bartlein barreled AXMC and I may have to verify that my lab radar is reading correctly because they fly MUCH better than my shooting apps say they should. I have a 1:8 twist barrel so im using the higher BC from Hornady, but I had to dial down .5 mils at 800 and 1000m when my SD was sub 4.0 on them.

As far as primers go, I did back to back testing with FGMM LR and Magnum LR primers, the difference was .8 grains of powder less with the standard LR to achieve identical velocity, and it was running sub 5.0 SDs and no pressure signs either way, so ive stuck with the magnum stuff and conserve powder.

Where im playing now is OAL and brass. My FC brass took quite a bit of resizing at the bump to fit in this chamber since it was previously fired through a Remington, so I switched to new Norma brass, and the extra capacity really dropped velocity and pressure a ton. Right now im about .020 off the lands at 2900 fps with not even a faint ejector mark, and slightly protruding primer around the firing pin hit, but not flat or excessive. When I go out next week im going to try and push for 2925-2950 and see if I get any pressure signs, but as for now, it seems to really like it.
 
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Please post your results as I’m pretty curious. That seems fast, although entirely possible I’m sure. I got 2805fps out of the Norma brass and 74.2gr.

My rifle has a 30" barrel 1-10 twist and I was shooting through a suppressor which adds 30 to 40 fps. The Hornady brass seems to have a bit less capacity than the Norma brass, if I remember correctly it's like 92.5gr H2O to 95gr. With the 212 ELD I was using almost a grain less powder and getting the same velocity though the pressure seemed to get higher quicker. With the Hornady brass roughly $0.57 a case at midway it's hard to spend double on Norma to load the case 6 times instead of 4 while using more powder.
 
In Bryan's new Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets. He has the Hornady 225 ELD-M G7 at .385. It was a lot higher BC then the one I got. He is the professional and has more tech and understanding about bullet flight then what I do. Either way, the Berger and Hornady bullets are all great. Pick one shoot it and learn off of it.
 
Why not try Sigs new 300 win mag brass? Its about 75 dollars a 100. I know people that use it. Not in 300 win mag. They say its really good stuff. I personally don't know much about their brass. Cabelas up here has some in stock. Maybe well have to buy a bag and test it next to the Norma. If its as consistent as the Norma and get a good amount of reloads out of it, may be time to use that.
 
Well it appears that I will be bumping the class back to September so in the mean time I will be doing some rifle work. With 1400ish hot handloads through it I figure now is as good a time to get a new barrel spun up and keep this one for messing around.

I played it safe the first time with a 5 groove 10 twist but since I plan on only shooting the heavies I want to switch to either an 8 or 9 twist though I'm leaning more towards the 8. Also wondering if there would be any benefit to switching rifling to a 4 or 6 groove or trying something else like a 5R or Pac-nor polygonal.

Also for the barrel length I'm wondering if I should stay at 30" reduce to 28" or maybe even increase to 32". The rifle is pretty much for long range targets only so I won't be walking with it but I do suppress it and I don't know if 32" might be getting to long to make use of. I've had great luck with this Pac-Nor but I'm wondering if I should stay with them or try another manufacturer for a pre-fit.

Any input you guys give would be greatly appreciated.
 
CMP land and grove count don't matter just get a quality barrel and have a good gunsmith put it on, I have had the following barrels on my 300wm Schneider 6 land and a Schneider 5P, Hart 6 land, Mike Rock 5R, Obermeyer 5R a Lilja 3 land, Kreiger 4 land and lastly a Pac-Nor Poly they only one that didn't shoot well was the Pac-Nor poly barrel, the barrel that went 3000 rounds was the Schneider 6 land the barrel that went out in 900 rounds was the Hart 6 land, so out of all the different barrel makers and land & grove comb's I have went threw I have found there is no real difference between land and grove count's just get a good barrel my next barrel will be a Bartlein 5R.

Montrose
 
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Thank you for the info, in that case the poly barrel is out. I plan on using the prefits with the BarLoc so I'm limited to companies that produce prefits. How about the twist rate, Ive pretty much settled solely on the 225 as my go to bullet in this gun so I'm going with a twist faster than 10 the question is just how much faster.

Also for the length, with a heavy Palma contour would there be any downside to going from 30" to a 32" or would the velocity gain be negligible. Additionally would the weight of a suppressor on the end of it cause any issues? Currently I'm only getting maybe a 1MOA down shift but I shoot almost exclusively suppressed so it's not much of an issue.

Any info would be appreciated.
 
What is your intent to do with the rifle? Ringing steel inside of 1000 yds, or shooting 1400 plus yds? The 10 twist I'm sure would work just fine. I would say get a 9 twist if your planning on shooting 1400 plus more often. The 9 twist well help keep that 225 spinning and on course, when you start to lose velocity at the longer ranges. Are you set on a heavy palma barrel? Maybe look at a beefier barrel. Heavy target or heavy varmint. The extra barrel beef well help with heat and add rigidity. I would stick with a 30, if thats what you want. The 32 inch barrel well probably only add 30 to 50 fps. I would just rather just add a couple clicks of elevation to the scope. Your position and follow through with a 32 inch barrel well have to be very good. I know its only milliseconds. But a little bit of movement, before and after the shot well show a lot of err at longer ranges. You may think it is rock solid but that longer barrel may say otherwise.
 
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