Purchased a variety of factory match ammo to see how my crusader likes them and included was some Hornady Superformance Match 178gr. I had just finished up load development and ended up using 45.6 Gr of Varget with 175 SMKs, with no pressure signs at all, including test shots over 46.0 Gr. I had heard people get signs with the Superformance ammo, but decided to test it out anyways...
Conditions:
-Temp: 70 increasing to 85 by the time i finished up
-PA: 400 Ft
- Usual Southern Alabama Weather [img:left][/img]
Rifle:
-GA Precision Crusader 308
Results:
I Fire the first round and the first thing I notice is the recoil... It wasn't excessive, but it sure was a noticeable increase. While working the bolt I bring it all the way back and then... no brass comes out. FTE... that doesn't happen in a bolt action gun! I then pull the bolt all the way out, tap the round on the table, and a primer falls into my lap. Temp was about 70.
I then finish up the group of 5 and resume shooting my hand loads, then I want to see how the 178s will do at 300 (range max). Load up another 5 and let 'em rip. Temp was up to about 80. The group was uncharacteristic of my Crusader, and about 3'' (1 Moa) which had been grouping 168SMKs @ 1.5
Deciding to give them 1 more shot, at the end of my range session i had a target up at 100. The temperature was up to 85 and the sun had risen enough that i was now in direct sunlight. I sighted in on a 2" Shoot n See and pulled the trigger. With a good grasp on my rifle, the recoil knocked the wind out of me enough to make me cough. Each of the 5 that i took did the same thing, each with a corresponding primer falling out onto the ground. BTW The group was ~1.25 @ 100, which is abysmal for "match" Ammo.
Who knows, maybe just my lot were ultra-mega-superformance, but they ended up blowing primers out of ~50% of total rounds fired and 100% of rounds fired @ 85 degrees. I think ill just leave the other 80 i have in the closet until winter rolls around and give them another shot.
Monty
Conditions:
-Temp: 70 increasing to 85 by the time i finished up
-PA: 400 Ft
- Usual Southern Alabama Weather [img:left][/img]
Rifle:
-GA Precision Crusader 308
Results:
I Fire the first round and the first thing I notice is the recoil... It wasn't excessive, but it sure was a noticeable increase. While working the bolt I bring it all the way back and then... no brass comes out. FTE... that doesn't happen in a bolt action gun! I then pull the bolt all the way out, tap the round on the table, and a primer falls into my lap. Temp was about 70.
I then finish up the group of 5 and resume shooting my hand loads, then I want to see how the 178s will do at 300 (range max). Load up another 5 and let 'em rip. Temp was up to about 80. The group was uncharacteristic of my Crusader, and about 3'' (1 Moa) which had been grouping 168SMKs @ 1.5
Deciding to give them 1 more shot, at the end of my range session i had a target up at 100. The temperature was up to 85 and the sun had risen enough that i was now in direct sunlight. I sighted in on a 2" Shoot n See and pulled the trigger. With a good grasp on my rifle, the recoil knocked the wind out of me enough to make me cough. Each of the 5 that i took did the same thing, each with a corresponding primer falling out onto the ground. BTW The group was ~1.25 @ 100, which is abysmal for "match" Ammo.
Who knows, maybe just my lot were ultra-mega-superformance, but they ended up blowing primers out of ~50% of total rounds fired and 100% of rounds fired @ 85 degrees. I think ill just leave the other 80 i have in the closet until winter rolls around and give them another shot.
Monty
