So I have my first 300 win... Remington 700 5R 24 inch in a MDT chassis. Under the recommendation of a friend, I started out with RL17 and experimented with Sierra TMK 195s and Hornady Amax / ELD 208s (used both). After a few weeks of ladder tests, 100 yard grouping with a Lab Radar, and long range shooting from 750 yards to 1100 yards, I have my two best loads... the problem is, its the same bullet/powder/brass/oal combo, but just cant decide which primer is "best".
Load data for both of the best are as follows:
FC brass sized on a full length size die
OAL 3.550
Hornady 208 ELD match bullet
69 Gr of RL17
CCI Large Rifle primer
2995 FPS with a 5 shot group, 11.1 SD (usually they are sub 8.0 SD so I will claim ownership on one being off. Previous day testing was 2989 fps with 5 shots and 1.9 SD and a 2nd 5 shot group same load at 5.5 SD)
FC brass sized on a full length size die
OAL 3.550
Hornady 208 ELD match bullet
68.2 Gr of RL17
Federal Gold Medal Match Magnum Rifle Primer
2987 FPS with a 5 shot group, 4.1 SD
No brass issues, no sticky bolts, worst groups at just under an inch unless I pulled one on accident. Cant miss at 1100 yards, wind doesn't phase it, and its ready to push out further when it cools off so I can get steel out there (still 105-110 out every day).
My question here, if im getting near identical results, am I better off just using the magnum primer since it runs less powder, or are there issues doing so? Im new to the magnum game, only been loading 308 for the past couple years for my precision stuff.
Second question involving brass. Ive had this load dialed for a while and just been tweaking it to perfection over the last couple months (I actually started with 68.0 RL17 and magnum primer with 208 amax before I got into testing the 195s, 208 ELDs and different primers, just due to not finding the discontinued amax stuff anymore) and came into about 300 pieces of Norma brass. I lost almost 100 FPS due to the increased case volume and pressure drop. Working back up to previous velocities on the FC brass, I started to get a sticky bolt and was about 1.4 grains higher on powder charge to achieve the same velocities. I ended up stopping around 70 grains because the sticky bolt made me nervous with the CCI LR primer and only hit 2972 fps on a 5 shot group.
With that in mind, while I wanted to keep using the higher quality brass, it seems like either this powder isn't compatible with my combination using the Norma brass, or I will have to accept lower velocities, which didn't group nearly as well as the hotter loaded FC brass since RL17 likes to be on the edge. I had considered playing with OAL as well, but its shooting so well with the FC, should I just leave it as is and stock up on the FC?
Thank you
Load data for both of the best are as follows:
FC brass sized on a full length size die
OAL 3.550
Hornady 208 ELD match bullet
69 Gr of RL17
CCI Large Rifle primer
2995 FPS with a 5 shot group, 11.1 SD (usually they are sub 8.0 SD so I will claim ownership on one being off. Previous day testing was 2989 fps with 5 shots and 1.9 SD and a 2nd 5 shot group same load at 5.5 SD)
FC brass sized on a full length size die
OAL 3.550
Hornady 208 ELD match bullet
68.2 Gr of RL17
Federal Gold Medal Match Magnum Rifle Primer
2987 FPS with a 5 shot group, 4.1 SD
No brass issues, no sticky bolts, worst groups at just under an inch unless I pulled one on accident. Cant miss at 1100 yards, wind doesn't phase it, and its ready to push out further when it cools off so I can get steel out there (still 105-110 out every day).
My question here, if im getting near identical results, am I better off just using the magnum primer since it runs less powder, or are there issues doing so? Im new to the magnum game, only been loading 308 for the past couple years for my precision stuff.
Second question involving brass. Ive had this load dialed for a while and just been tweaking it to perfection over the last couple months (I actually started with 68.0 RL17 and magnum primer with 208 amax before I got into testing the 195s, 208 ELDs and different primers, just due to not finding the discontinued amax stuff anymore) and came into about 300 pieces of Norma brass. I lost almost 100 FPS due to the increased case volume and pressure drop. Working back up to previous velocities on the FC brass, I started to get a sticky bolt and was about 1.4 grains higher on powder charge to achieve the same velocities. I ended up stopping around 70 grains because the sticky bolt made me nervous with the CCI LR primer and only hit 2972 fps on a 5 shot group.
With that in mind, while I wanted to keep using the higher quality brass, it seems like either this powder isn't compatible with my combination using the Norma brass, or I will have to accept lower velocities, which didn't group nearly as well as the hotter loaded FC brass since RL17 likes to be on the edge. I had considered playing with OAL as well, but its shooting so well with the FC, should I just leave it as is and stock up on the FC?
Thank you
