It has been a long while since I have posted here, hope everybody is well. Life has kept me very busy! I have been doing some playing with my M70 338 WM and the 200 ET the last few weeks. I have shot the ET before with RL-19 in this rifle and it shot ok, around 1 MOA. I have been trying to force feed this thing the 225 AB for several years and it has never really liked them. It did however used to shoot he 225 TSX very well. About a month ago SPS had some 200 ET overruns for a great price so I grabbed 150 of them and figured I would give them a shot.
I knew what to expect with RL-19, and I don't have anything that shoots any 4350. I grabbed a can of Ramshot Hunter, and started looking at my notes. I was able to deduce from my RL-19 data that the Max load for the 225 AB would be pretty close to the max load for the 200 ET. To test this theory I loaded up a ladder test with Hunter. I started at 70gr then went up to 71, 72, 73, 74, 74.5, 75gr. The 75gr load gave me a velocity of 3009. It was pretty interesting to see how the ladder test shot. I got a decent group at the lower end of the test, and another at the upper end of the test. I'll attach the target shortly, it is on my phone.
View attachment 2013-06-05_19-50-51_532.jpg
After studying the ladder test target I decided to load up three rounds of 74 gr, 74.5, and 75 gr. I was able to get out this morning and do a little shooting before work. I was pressed for time so I didn't set up the chrony. The first group with 74 grains was about a 3.5" triangle. I must admit the first thing that went through my mind was "here we go again". At this point I was starting to get a little mad. I set that rifle aside and cranked out a 3/8" group with the 22-250. OK, now I'm feeling better. I shot the last two groups. I couldn't tell from 100 yards on 10x how they did, but I knew they were not nearly as bad as the first group. I was pleasantly surprised when I grabbed my target! I pulled the last shot on the 74.5 load, the group was still better than the average 225 AB groups I was getting. I think I'm going to play with the seating depth on the 75 gr load. A 200 ET shooting this good @ 3000 fps should make some good elk/bear medicine. I'm pretty happy that I was able to get my old buddy shooting good. I have had this rifle for 11 years and taken bears, elk, mule deer, and a few yotes with it. It has been my favorite poor shooting rifle for a long time. I'm very excited that I was finally able to get it to shoot decent.
View attachment 2013-06-12_07-06-45_900.jpg
I thought about trying RL-17, but I think I'll stick with what I have.
I knew what to expect with RL-19, and I don't have anything that shoots any 4350. I grabbed a can of Ramshot Hunter, and started looking at my notes. I was able to deduce from my RL-19 data that the Max load for the 225 AB would be pretty close to the max load for the 200 ET. To test this theory I loaded up a ladder test with Hunter. I started at 70gr then went up to 71, 72, 73, 74, 74.5, 75gr. The 75gr load gave me a velocity of 3009. It was pretty interesting to see how the ladder test shot. I got a decent group at the lower end of the test, and another at the upper end of the test. I'll attach the target shortly, it is on my phone.
View attachment 2013-06-05_19-50-51_532.jpg
After studying the ladder test target I decided to load up three rounds of 74 gr, 74.5, and 75 gr. I was able to get out this morning and do a little shooting before work. I was pressed for time so I didn't set up the chrony. The first group with 74 grains was about a 3.5" triangle. I must admit the first thing that went through my mind was "here we go again". At this point I was starting to get a little mad. I set that rifle aside and cranked out a 3/8" group with the 22-250. OK, now I'm feeling better. I shot the last two groups. I couldn't tell from 100 yards on 10x how they did, but I knew they were not nearly as bad as the first group. I was pleasantly surprised when I grabbed my target! I pulled the last shot on the 74.5 load, the group was still better than the average 225 AB groups I was getting. I think I'm going to play with the seating depth on the 75 gr load. A 200 ET shooting this good @ 3000 fps should make some good elk/bear medicine. I'm pretty happy that I was able to get my old buddy shooting good. I have had this rifle for 11 years and taken bears, elk, mule deer, and a few yotes with it. It has been my favorite poor shooting rifle for a long time. I'm very excited that I was finally able to get it to shoot decent.
View attachment 2013-06-12_07-06-45_900.jpg
I thought about trying RL-17, but I think I'll stick with what I have.
