.338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

[Michael Moore]

I have been trying to dial in a a perfect load for my Remington model 700 police, chambered in .338 lapua magnum and have yet to find the perfect combination of powder and bullet. My current load data is this:

Bullet: 300g SMK
Brass: Hornody .338 lapua mag
Primer: CCI magnum 250
Powder: Hogdon H1000

For the powder i have done a ladder test from 81g all the way to 86g and have found better consistancy at 86g, however the group being tight i will still randomly have an outliar. Also on a different note i bought "factory loads" to shoot through my gun to make sure there was nothing wrong with the gun itself and it was just my reloading. I bought Lapua brand 300g bullets from midway.

Upon taking these to the range today, i shot my own loads first at 86g H100 powder 300g SMK bullet. The group was great for the first three shots, a penny can cover all three shots. Best group i have shot since i owned the gun. With that said, this was on a clean barrel, when i shot the Lapua brand bullets they were 6 inches higher and not very consistant.

Today at the range this is the data on the three loads i shot,
Factory Lapua brand 300g: 2711, 2694, 2680, 2641
86g Hogdon H1000, 300g SMK: 2501, 2533, 2509, 2536, 2534, 2524
85g Hogdon H1000, 300g SMK: 2499, 2508, 2469, 2502, 2519, 2514

All in FPS of course.

Also more data on my reloads, the brass is trimmed to 2.68 and the OAL of the bullet is 3.670 I noticed that my rounds and the factory Lapua brand rounds i bought differ in these ways, the OAL on the factory loads is 3.601 on average and has a slightly compressed powder load. Mine is 3.670 and the powder has little room to move around inside.

I use ultra sonic cleaning for case prep, clean the primer pocket, trim the brass, double checked my scales and still have inconsistant groups. It might be the powder but ive read on here of lots of guys shooting H1000 with their remington 700 police .338

Any help with what my problems might be or any advice is more then welcomed, im fairly new to the long range shooting world and need some help. Thanks in advance.

Michael

 

[turbo54]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Both my rifle and my buddy's seemed to like a hot charge of Retumbo - as in 93 or 94gr with the 300.

Mine also likes 76.5gr H4350. Beware, this is a fast powder for that bullet and should be worked up to. My 700 shows no pressure there, but my TRG absolutely shows an ejector mark with it.

Hang on tight with the Retumbo, it hits like a freight train with the original brake.

 

[71firebird400]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Both my rifle and my buddy's seemed to like a hot charge of Retumbo - as in 93 or 94gr with the 300.

Mine also likes 76.5gr H4350. Beware, this is a fast powder for that bullet and should be worked up to. My 700 shows no pressure there, but my TRG absolutely shows an ejector mark with it.

Hang on tight with the Retumbo, it hits like a freight train with the original brake. </div></div>

Same with mine. 94gr of Retumbo behind a 300SMK. Using 215M primers and jumping the bullet .020". Works great, but this is a hot load. I am seeing 2750 FPS with the factory 24" barrel.

 

[Michael Moore]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

What is your OAL? I might give the Retumbo a shot, ive been trying to use H1000.

 

[Michael Moore]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

I think that i am still shooting to light of a load, i'm going to try the Retumbo powder at a higher load ladder (90-94) and i will post results, thanks for you help.

 

[cali_tz]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 71firebird400</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Both my rifle and my buddy's seemed to like a hot charge of Retumbo - as in 93 or 94gr with the 300.

Mine also likes 76.5gr H4350. Beware, this is a fast powder for that bullet and should be worked up to. My 700 shows no pressure there, but my TRG absolutely shows an ejector mark with it.

Hang on tight with the Retumbo, it hits like a freight train with the original brake. </div></div>

Same with mine. 94gr of Retumbo behind a 300SMK. Using 215M primers and jumping the bullet .020". Works great, but this is a hot load. I am seeing 2750 FPS with the factory 24" barrel. </div></div>

Pretty much what I used on my 26" Rem 700 ... this turned out to be my most accurate load. Maybe it was 92gr of Retumbo, but definitely 215M and 0.020 jump, and using a 300 grain Scenar. Much better BC than the SMKs.

edit: I have posted my speeds and loads in detail, search for my posts elsewhere on this forum if you like.

 

[rcamuglia]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Try the Hodgdon US-869 too. I did load development on a Lapua with the 300gr MK.
The Hodgdon site shows the highest velocities with the 300 are going to be with the US-869.

I shot a ladder up to 104 grains and settled on an accurate load at 102.5 at around 2800 fps

 

[Michael Moore]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Has anyone had any luck loading H1000 pushing 300g SMK's?

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

H1000 will work, but you need to increase your powder charges. it will shoot best at higher pressures. 86 grains is a light load, and your velocity results show that. Get the velocity up to about 2650 to 2700 for the 300 grainers, and it will tighten up. R25, H1000, Retumbo, Ramshot Magnum are all good powders for it.

 

[Michael Moore]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

I went to the range today and shot H1000 powder, here are the results.

89g - 2642, 2638, 2643, 2655
90g - 2665, 2647, 2668, 2655
91g - 2693, 2694, 2693, 2694
92g - 2735

My best results were with the 90g powder load, shooting sub MOA at 100 yards. I will be shooting 200 yards soon, i will post those results as i get them. Note- the bullets are 300g SMK's.

 

[71firebird400]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cali_tz</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 71firebird400</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Both my rifle and my buddy's seemed to like a hot charge of Retumbo - as in 93 or 94gr with the 300.

Mine also likes 76.5gr H4350. Beware, this is a fast powder for that bullet and should be worked up to. My 700 shows no pressure there, but my TRG absolutely shows an ejector mark with it.

Hang on tight with the Retumbo, it hits like a freight train with the original brake. </div></div>

Same with mine. 94gr of Retumbo behind a 300SMK. Using 215M primers and jumping the bullet .020". Works great, but this is a hot load. I am seeing 2750 FPS with the factory 24" barrel. </div></div>

Pretty much what I used on my 26" Rem 700 ... this turned out to be my most accurate load. Maybe it was 92gr of Retumbo, but definitely 215M and 0.020 jump, and using a 300 grain Scenar. Much better BC than the SMKs.

edit: I have posted my speeds and loads in detail, search for my posts elsewhere on this forum if you like. </div></div>

Not sure that 300gr Scenars have an advantage over the 300 SMK's. Lapua advertises the Scenars as having a .736 G1 BC and a .368 G7 BC. I believe Bryan Litz lists the 300 SMK as having a .381 G7 BC and Sierra lists the G1 as .768.

I'd just use whatever one shoots better in your gun. The SMK's are quite a bit cheaper.

 

[ertlonggun]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

I have had good luck using RL-25, it was much faster than the Retumbo that my friend was using with less powder, and wasn't as hard on the cases. I switched to the Berger 300 gr and been very happy.

RL-25
Federal Gold Medal Match Magnum Primers
Lapua Cases
Berger 300 gr

I can tell you at around 2600 fps I wasn't very happy with the group size. I worked up to 2900 fps and the groups are sub inch, and no case damage. At approximately 2950 fps I was getting hard bolt lift, and went back to 2900 fps.

I have two weeks and my new 30" SS fluted Pac-Nor barrel will be her, the 24" is just not cutting it for me.

 

[Michael Moore]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Nice! I didn't know the Berger 300g's were out yet. Where are you getting those from currently? I use midway mostly.

 

[fireguyty]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Mine DTA SRS likes 89.9 of H1000 with 300 Scenars. Shoots sub .5 MOA. My partner Buddy32 shot a group at 100 yards that was all through the same hole and measured .1". He did it with my rifle......kinda pissed me off......

Also, I tried Hornday 338 brass. Was great new, 1st reload made the bolt sticky, 2nd showed major pressure signs. I gave the Hornday up and am now using Lapua with zero issues. $250 lessons suck......

 

[ertlonggun]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Powder Valley on the Bergers, and I have a buddy with a gun shop that got me my last batch. 1 st run had some issues but were mostly in excess of 3000 fps, they have fixed the issue I believe.

 

[Michael Moore]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Nice, my Remington 700 .338 lapua also likes right at 90g of H1000 pushing the 300g SMK's. Also right at a .5 MOA group @ 100yards. I will be shooting 200 yards soon and hope the group tightens up a litte.

 

[Beale338]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Just finished my load development yesterday.
Timberwolf action with 28" Krieger barrel settled on 88.5 grains Retumbo, 300SMK at 2720fps. I start to see pressure signs at 91gr with Retumbo.

 

[cali_tz]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Interesting about the Retumbo... I am trying VV N570 and it seems to be a bit easier on the cases than Retumbo as well. I have been using Hornady cases and they're on reload #4 with no problems seen yet. And some of them were definitely pressed hard in some hot loads I was testing. Just did a full length resizing each time I load.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ertsniper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have had good luck using RL-25, it was much faster than the Retumbo that my friend was using with less powder, and wasn't as hard on the cases. I switched to the Berger 300 gr and been very happy.

RL-25
Federal Gold Medal Match Magnum Primers
Lapua Cases
Berger 300 gr

I can tell you at around 2600 fps I wasn't very happy with the group size. I worked up to 2900 fps and the groups are sub inch, and no case damage. At approximately 2950 fps I was getting hard bolt lift, and went back to 2900 fps.

I have two weeks and my new 30" SS fluted Pac-Nor barrel will be her, the 24" is just not cutting it for me. </div></div>

 

[aussiegolf89]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ertsniper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have had good luck using RL-25, it was much faster than the Retumbo that my friend was using with less powder, and wasn't as hard on the cases. I switched to the Berger 300 gr and been very happy.

RL-25
Federal Gold Medal Match Magnum Primers
Lapua Cases
Berger 300 gr

I can tell you at around 2600 fps I wasn't very happy with the group size. I worked up to 2900 fps and the groups are sub inch, and no case damage. At approximately 2950 fps I was getting hard bolt lift, and went back to 2900 fps.

I have two weeks and my new 30" SS fluted Pac-Nor barrel will be her, the 24" is just not cutting it for me.</div></div>

what was your load weight with rl 25 and what was your coal??

 

[Da-Law-Dawg]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

I haven't had the chance to work with the 300 SMK's much, just tinkered around with them a bit. I am favoring the 300gr Berger Hybrids and fixing to start load work-up with them in the near future.

I have almost exclusively ran 250 SMK's over 88.0gr of RL-19 with excellent results. Accuracy is sub-half MOA in my rifle and is a super consistent load (SD of 12, ES of 5).

Ran this load to 1525 yards this last weekend at the RSCS Shoot at Rockcastle. Load was on at 1525 with a 49 MOA come-up from my 100 yard zero. Came in at 1100 with a 27 MOA come-up.

Barreled action is factory save for adding an FTE brake and an aftermarket bolt knob. Sits in an XLR chassis running AICS CIP length mags. Loads are seated to 2.920" at the ogive (3.685" COAL).

 

[D_TROS]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

Which of the powders mentioned above, H1000-Rotumbo-RL-etc, would be the least sensitive to temperature changes?

Thanks,
DT

 

[DeauxJoe]

Re: .338 Lapua Magnum, Remington 700 Police Reloading

New to reloading so just a terminology question.

Pressure sighns such as ejector marks and ect. Is there a litle somewhere of all pressure signs you can see on spent brass? Also which one indicate lowest overpressure to highest?