DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 36,903
- 5,067
I had a load workup for a customer. That usually means that I get to take a few of my own rifles with me. Among those accompanying me to the range today was my new 358 Norma Magnum. It is built on a Springfield 03-A3 action with a 24 inch Bevan King barrel. It is topped with a VX3 4.5-14X50 Long Range. Unfortunately, I didn't pull the trigger on this rifle today. There was too much going on otherwise. Next week?
I did do some work with my 7mm WSM, however.
I was shooting 160 grain Combined Technology Fail Safe bullets. One load showed promise, delivering a 0.86 inch group at 2967 +/- 14 fps. I'll play with OAL and give this another look at some point in the future. I have a lot of the Fail Safe bullets floating around and a bit of the Rottweil 905 which I was using up for this workup. I had a set of loads that showed a lot of promise. These were built with 150 grain E-Tips charged with WXR. All showed single digit standard deviations and good velocity to 3148 fps. Unfortunately, the targets were all spoiled and unrecoverable. The group with the highest velocity was sub-MOA. Oh, yes, despite the gnashing of teeth and sardonic grimace I will be doing this workup again. One other load built with 150 grain E-Tips charged with Retumbo delivered ~3100 fps and a group size of 0.93 inches. I have some other 150 grain E-Tip sets already loaded and ready to go. I just ran out of time today.
I also had my 325WSM with me. This rifle has become a good friend, having accounted for several moose, elk, mule deer and whitetails over the past several years.
The loads slapped me around pretty good today, but delivered some valuable information. I have several loads built with 200 grain Barnes TSX and N560 knocking at 3000 fps. Ballistic data is very promising, but accuracy isn't very comforting. I also worked up two sets of loads built with 180 grain Barnes TSX--one with N560 and one with A2700. These loads topped out at ~3050. Accuracy ranged from MOA to 1.5 MOA. Standard deviations were single digits. Oh, yes, this will be revisited. This is a sampling of groups from these sets. They aren't spectacular; but they are promising.
Then, there was the 35 Whelen. From the git go it put a grin on my chin.
I began my shooting with this rifle testing the hunting load I developed this past year. It launches a 225 grain Sierra Game King charged with 56.0 grains of IMR 8208 XBR at 2630 +/- 5 fps. This load has stood me in good stead in the past, and I have no doubt that it would do for the future.
However, being an inveterate tinkerer (erstwhile scientist), I could not leave well enough alone. I had to go messing around. I built a couple of sets of tests with 225 grain Game Kings and either RL17 or RL15. Now, I'm dissatisfied with my previous workup and willing to jettison all that I've built for this August just so I can shooting something else. Well, here is the 225 grain Game King charged with RL17. It gives a pretty good punch for this old duffer; and I think it would punch a moose right smartly as well.
The same bullet charged with a stiff dose of RL15 is just as accurate (and punches just as smartly).
After several weeks of editing television programming and attending to the usual demands of a growing pastorate, it felt good to get to the range. Temperatures in the early morning were 19 C, rising to 24 C by 4:30. The wind was blowing at about 90 degrees at ~4 km/hr.
The 243 Win for my customer was less satisfying. He brought the rifle to me because he couldn't get it to shoot. I can get reasonable groups, but they aren't spectacular. He wants to drop the occasional elk and mule deer with this rifle, and 1.5 MOA is about all I could get today with 90 grain AB and 90 grain E-Tip. I got somewhat better results with 80 grain TTSX (MOA) and with 62 grain Varmint Grenades (~0.75). I need to check the twist on this rifle. I have some work to do over the next several weeks.
I did do some work with my 7mm WSM, however.
I was shooting 160 grain Combined Technology Fail Safe bullets. One load showed promise, delivering a 0.86 inch group at 2967 +/- 14 fps. I'll play with OAL and give this another look at some point in the future. I have a lot of the Fail Safe bullets floating around and a bit of the Rottweil 905 which I was using up for this workup. I had a set of loads that showed a lot of promise. These were built with 150 grain E-Tips charged with WXR. All showed single digit standard deviations and good velocity to 3148 fps. Unfortunately, the targets were all spoiled and unrecoverable. The group with the highest velocity was sub-MOA. Oh, yes, despite the gnashing of teeth and sardonic grimace I will be doing this workup again. One other load built with 150 grain E-Tips charged with Retumbo delivered ~3100 fps and a group size of 0.93 inches. I have some other 150 grain E-Tip sets already loaded and ready to go. I just ran out of time today.
I also had my 325WSM with me. This rifle has become a good friend, having accounted for several moose, elk, mule deer and whitetails over the past several years.
The loads slapped me around pretty good today, but delivered some valuable information. I have several loads built with 200 grain Barnes TSX and N560 knocking at 3000 fps. Ballistic data is very promising, but accuracy isn't very comforting. I also worked up two sets of loads built with 180 grain Barnes TSX--one with N560 and one with A2700. These loads topped out at ~3050. Accuracy ranged from MOA to 1.5 MOA. Standard deviations were single digits. Oh, yes, this will be revisited. This is a sampling of groups from these sets. They aren't spectacular; but they are promising.
Then, there was the 35 Whelen. From the git go it put a grin on my chin.
I began my shooting with this rifle testing the hunting load I developed this past year. It launches a 225 grain Sierra Game King charged with 56.0 grains of IMR 8208 XBR at 2630 +/- 5 fps. This load has stood me in good stead in the past, and I have no doubt that it would do for the future.
However, being an inveterate tinkerer (erstwhile scientist), I could not leave well enough alone. I had to go messing around. I built a couple of sets of tests with 225 grain Game Kings and either RL17 or RL15. Now, I'm dissatisfied with my previous workup and willing to jettison all that I've built for this August just so I can shooting something else. Well, here is the 225 grain Game King charged with RL17. It gives a pretty good punch for this old duffer; and I think it would punch a moose right smartly as well.
The same bullet charged with a stiff dose of RL15 is just as accurate (and punches just as smartly).
After several weeks of editing television programming and attending to the usual demands of a growing pastorate, it felt good to get to the range. Temperatures in the early morning were 19 C, rising to 24 C by 4:30. The wind was blowing at about 90 degrees at ~4 km/hr.
The 243 Win for my customer was less satisfying. He brought the rifle to me because he couldn't get it to shoot. I can get reasonable groups, but they aren't spectacular. He wants to drop the occasional elk and mule deer with this rifle, and 1.5 MOA is about all I could get today with 90 grain AB and 90 grain E-Tip. I got somewhat better results with 80 grain TTSX (MOA) and with 62 grain Varmint Grenades (~0.75). I need to check the twist on this rifle. I have some work to do over the next several weeks.
