First handloads and Range Report, Rem. 700 LTR

[spamassassian]

I am still new to precision shooting and have tons to learn... so thanks for all the great info on this site!

I purchased this rifle used last fall and have been learning to shoot it in the past months. I also got my dad to haul out his old reloading equipment that hadn't been used since the mid-'70s as far as I know. He recently had bought a new set of RCBS .308 dies for me, since he doesn't have anything chambered for .308. We got set up a few weeks ago and did some reloading of the Federal brass I had shot (I've only shot the GMM 168 BTHP factory stuff through the LTR thus far).

After doing some reading here and elsewhere about people's attempts to duplicate the Federal loads, I opted for RL15 powder. Varying opinions pointed to mostly a 42.0 grain load, but some people also suggested as much as 42.8 grains.

We ended up loading 60 rounds, 15 each at 42.0, 42.2, 42.4 and 42.6 grains. My goal was to shoot 3 five-round groups of each load, including the FGMM and see which came the closest to the factory loads.

I went out last Sunday and.... it was quite a bit of work and took some time to shoot 75 rounds through the LTR. I shot only five rounds at a time (slowly) then waited for the next relay at the range. This way, I thought, the barrel would cool down to close to ambient temp. It ended up taking from 9am to 3pm for this process to be complete. Had some good conversations with guys who came & went while I was patiently doing my shooting.

Of all the loads, the FGGM still shot the lowest average group size of .650" at 100 yards then the next closest was the 42.6 grain loads at .654". My smallest group, though, was .350" shot with the FGMM factory loads. Pretty happy with that one!!

My average across all 75 rounds was .814", and my right shoulder is still just a bit tender.

I may go through a similar exercise again, but with the target at 200 yds and see if there is any appreciable difference in drop between the loads.

 

[tigerfan_9]

Re: First handloads and Range Report, Rem. 700 LTR

nice shooting.....getting sub 3/4 moa from a factory LTR is nice.

 

[JGorski]

Re: First handloads and Range Report, Rem. 700 LTR

Try 43grs RE15, its very accurate in my 700 with 168AMAXs. 200yd group here.

 

[spamassassian]

Re: First handloads and Range Report, Rem. 700 LTR

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JGorski</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Try 43grs RE15, its very accurate in my 700 with 168AMAXs. 200yd group here.

</div></div>

Will do. That's a nice group for 200 yds!

 

[jipper74]

Re: First handloads and Range Report, Rem. 700 LTR

Looks like you are off to a good start. Have you seen any signs of high pressure, yet? Heavy bolt lift, flattened primer edges, etc.? If I understand your targets correctly you haven't matched the muzzle velocity of FGMM ammo yet. The POI of the FMGG looks to be about 3/4 of minutes higher than the 42.6 gr reloads.

Assuming you haven't hit any high pressure signs, then you might try more powder, in steps, to see what happens when your reloads match the POI of FGMM.

Also, are seating the bullet to the same depth?

 

[spamassassian]

Re: First handloads and Range Report, Rem. 700 LTR

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jpr260</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looks like you are off to a good start. Have you seen any signs of high pressure, yet? Heavy bolt lift, flattened primer edges, etc.? If I understand your targets correctly you haven't matched the muzzle velocity of FGMM ammo yet. The POI of the FMGG looks to be about 3/4 of minutes higher than the 42.6 gr reloads.

Assuming you haven't hit any high pressure signs, then you might try more powder, in steps, to see what happens when your reloads match the POI of FGMM.

Also, are seating the bullet to the same depth?</div></div>

Thanks for your comments. I figured someone might be observant and notice the POI difference!

I actually adjusted my sight down by 3/10 mil after the first few groups because I could see that I was hitting consistently high. From there on, every group was vertically dead on center, regardless of load. From my observations, at 100 yds, the POI was the same or very nearly the same for all loads.

Of course, changing the scope setting then invalidated any real comparison of POI, so I knew then that I'd need to go back out and do a test just for that - that's why I mentioned going out to 200 to get a better feel for POI/drop, anyway. I'm not sure there would be much difference observable at 100.

No signs of over pressure on the casings or primers, but I've put all the empties back in the same slots in the box and my dad and I are going to inspect them carefully. The bolt operated fine - I didn't notice anything strange.