Sunday was the perfect day to go shooting. It was 60 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and not a breath of wind. I have been working on my 338 WM for a while trying to get it to shoot 225 AB. I spent alot of time messing with IMR 4350 with no results. I even got some firsts that didn't have the crimp ring to see if they shot any different (it didn't make a difference). So I loaded some up with RL 19 and RL 22 to try. If these didn't work I was just going to have to settle with my stand by load of 225 TTSX and RL-19.
I started off with RL-22. I had a few groups that looked like I might be able to get to shoot if I messed with the OAL, but I was hoping to find one that I didn't have to mess with any more. I started at 74gr. and worked up to 76 gr. I never got any pressure signs, and was getting 2845 from the 76gr. load, but not the groups I was looking for.
Next up was RL-19. I started at 73 gr and worked up to 74. 73.5gr. gave me this group. I'm done, this load shoots under half inch and has pretty low ES and SD. 3.378" is as long as I can go and I'm still .105" off the lands!
Inbetween shooting the 338 WM I tried some 105 Nosler Custom Comps. out of my Savage .243. I have the 105 A-max shooting good with 46.5 gr. RL-25 so I started with that charge. Last week I shot this load .005" into the lands, at the lands, .005" off the lands and .020" off. The .020" load shot the best but needed some tweaking. So I screwed them in a bit more. This time I tried 46 gr, 46.5, and 47 gr. all at the shorter lenght. This was the best group I got. I havn't retested it again yet but it is on my list of things to do tomorrow during lunch. Pretty sure this load will do better than this pick with a good clean barrel and me doing my part. This load has GREAT ES and SD. Should work great for the new 1K gong we're working on!
Gotta love it when you have a day like this!
I started off with RL-22. I had a few groups that looked like I might be able to get to shoot if I messed with the OAL, but I was hoping to find one that I didn't have to mess with any more. I started at 74gr. and worked up to 76 gr. I never got any pressure signs, and was getting 2845 from the 76gr. load, but not the groups I was looking for.
Next up was RL-19. I started at 73 gr and worked up to 74. 73.5gr. gave me this group. I'm done, this load shoots under half inch and has pretty low ES and SD. 3.378" is as long as I can go and I'm still .105" off the lands!
Inbetween shooting the 338 WM I tried some 105 Nosler Custom Comps. out of my Savage .243. I have the 105 A-max shooting good with 46.5 gr. RL-25 so I started with that charge. Last week I shot this load .005" into the lands, at the lands, .005" off the lands and .020" off. The .020" load shot the best but needed some tweaking. So I screwed them in a bit more. This time I tried 46 gr, 46.5, and 47 gr. all at the shorter lenght. This was the best group I got. I havn't retested it again yet but it is on my list of things to do tomorrow during lunch. Pretty sure this load will do better than this pick with a good clean barrel and me doing my part. This load has GREAT ES and SD. Should work great for the new 1K gong we're working on!
Gotta love it when you have a day like this!
