Fotis, JD338, and all of the other Mods do a great job here. It's been so long since I joined this forum I had to go look. WOW, it's been 15 years :shock: . Learned lots of stuff here in those 15 years.
With my load development, I'll choose a powder that'll potentially give me beat velocity and fill as close to 100%. Then I'll find the most accurate powder charge. Next, depending on if I need to, I'll play with the seating depth to see if it can make it even more accurate.
I usually start at .020 of the lands, if I'm limited by magazine length, I'll start out by what will fit and function in the magazine with no jamming.
Seating depth for my Rem Ultra Mags are limited by the magazine. I found that 3.67" is what will fit and function in the RUM magazine, so I...
I don't remember which RUM has the Jewel trigger and the Rifle Basix trigger. Either way my 338RUM and my 7MMRum both got new triggers. The gunsmith friend in Lompoc, CA did the swap and set them to 2 3/4lbs. They are nice.
A Winchester M70 "Walmart combination special" was my first rifle I purchased in late 2003. It's been a great rifle. Between my 30-06 and 270WSM, my girlfriend chose it to use in her first hunt ever in 2017. I've taken quite a few CA hogs and blacktail deer and a couple of cow elk here in Idaho...
Most of my hunting rifles are shooting Accubonds. I've found that for me, they have liked very little jump. For instance, my 30-06 has an OAL of 3.39" vs. the Nosler listed SAMMI OACL of 3.34 and their own load data OACL of 3.30.
When I can afford it, rifles chambered for 28 & 33 Nosler are on the list. Thinking about the 28 from Browning or Christensen. Haven't decided what brand to get the 33 from. I already have a Nosler M48 Heritage (26) and the M48 Liberty (30).
Although Nosler loaded ammo, the 129 ABLR out of a 6.5 Creedmoor performed great on my girlfriend's first cow elk last year. The shot was 320 yds (yeah, she got a bit lucky).
Last year I scored a cow elk with my 30 Nosler using 180ABs, so, this year I took out my 26 Nosler using 140ABs to hunt mule deer and antlered elk. I got very lucky and got a 4x4 buck on the second evening of deer season, 11 Oct. So after sitting around for 3 days after getting my buck dealt...
I use Fed GM210M primers in my Weatherby Vanguard Sporter 30-06.
Here's my load info:
180AB
Nosler brass trimmed to 2.48"
55.5gn of H414
COL: 3.390"
Muzzle velocity is around 2823 FPS
180ET
Nosler brass trimmed to 2.48"
53.5gn H4350
COL: 3.390"
180AB target (3 shots)
180ET target (3 shots)
I was impressed with the 6.5 Creed I bought for my girlfriend. She got her first cow elk with it last fall. The shot was around 310 yds. We are using Nosler ammo with the 129 ABLR. The rifle is a Savage Axys II hardwood model.
Shooter's Pro Shop has Trophy Grade 26 Nosler 140AB ammo in stock and they have a 4th of July sale going on. MidwayUSA also has Trophy Grade 26 Nosler 140AB ammo in stock.
FWIW, my Nosler Heritage 26 Nosler does really well with the 140AB Trophy Grade ammo. Mine is sporting a Leupold VX-5HD 3x15-44
The 225AB has worked well for me out of my 338WM. My load isn't the fastest, but it is accurate out of my Browning A-bolt with the BOSS.
Edit: The average velocity I get is 2784 fps.
Since my 300RUM shoots the 200AB so well, I don't feel the need to mess with it. That being said, here's my load data:
Rifle: Rem 700, 26" barrel in a laminate thumb-hole stock
200AB
95gn Retumbo
Rem brass trimmed to 2.83
Fed GM215M primers
COL(base to bullet tip): 3.635
Avg 6 shot velocity...