Accubonds coming together, FINALLY!

[SJB358]

Well, my last few range sessions have been to try and get my 300 WSM with 200 AB's and also my old 7mm Rem Mag with the 160AB's. I have been having a heckuva time getting the 300 to do anything consistent with the 200 AB's. All of my groups at the 200 yard range have been pretty big, in the 3+ inch range. Sorting through some targets, they have been getting smaller as the COAL has been reduced, but I wasn't sure if they would come together enough...

I started about .010" off the rifling and have been working back, .030" at a time.

Here are some of the loads I started with, all shooting was at 200 yards.

2.995



2.975



2.955



2.935



I could see it starting to wanna shoot, just nothing awesome just yet.

Well, I dropped down to 2.900 and this is what I got



I was pretty happy with that group and feel like I am getting somewhere now..

Here is 2.860"



Then, when I went to 2.830", it started to open back up, but I think I found my load now.



Anyhow, I am very much, a much happier shooter now. I am not sure how far off the lands I am, but I am thinking I am about .130 or so. I will measure it just to get an idea, but this reaffirms, the AB's wanna jump, at least in my experience. So, don't give up on the AB's if they aren't shooting well for you, drive them back in decent sized increments, as it seems they have a wide band of where they will shoot well at, you just gotta find that node.

Oh, and I here is my average speed for the 200's, using RL19. Cases look excellent and I gotta think this will be an excellent load..

2938FPS

 

[OU812]

That looks like a great stopping point to me Scotty, good shooting.

 

[FOTIS]

Pretty good load. And most think the 180 gr is the cat's meow in the shorties.

 

[338 Ultra]

Smokes man that is some serious velocity out of the 300 short what is your barrel length? I am not getting that out of my regular 300 win mag with the same bullet and I am burning more powder. I am jealous, perhaps I might just have to take a real hard look at a 300 short well if the wife lets me that is :mrgreen:

good on you for staying with it to find the sweet spot

 

[DrMike]

Well, that is pretty exciting, Scotty. That is what I'm talkin' 'bout! That would be enough to put a permanent smile on the face of even a full bird colonel.

 

[SJB358]

Well, that is pretty exciting, Scotty. That is what I'm talkin' 'bout! That would be enough to put a permanent smile on the face of even a full bird colonel.

Yeah Mike, I'm very happy right now. I've got a decent 180 load but I wanted a 200 grain load and really wanted to see the little 300 push it. Very easy shooting load. Your right though, it was a struggle to get to this point.

2900 with the 200 is really looking to be a good load. It would play first string this Fall if it wasn't for the 338 waiting for its turn.

 

[Guy Miner]

Thanks for the test Scotty. I've got to try that.

My .300 WSM shoots very well with Berger VLD bullets, but I've been having a tough time getting satisfactory groups with the 200 Nosler Accubonds. And I REALLY want the rifle to shoot those bullets well.

Perhaps it's time for me to seat them a little deeper... I'll give it a try.

Guy

 

[Guest]

Scotty,
Looks like you have the load, great shooting.

Don

 

[Vince]

You have given me hope and for that I thank you.

 

[EOD Diver]

Scotty,
Nice work bud. A 200 AB at around 2900 FPS is gonna be one bad dude on anything you point it at!
Joe

 

[SJB358]

Thanks guys, I can't say how happy I am to finally have this load doing what I want. It really started to come together once I got off the rifling. I was worried that I would have an ultra compressed load, seated back that far, but everything looks pretty good.

You aren't kidding Joe. Pretty sure it'll be a great combo. Since I have a bunch of 200's, I am going to run them this year I think.

Guy, give them a whirl, I would bet it'll perk once you get them backed up some. It was another case of me overthinking the process. Instead of going to where the rifle wanted to shoot, I kept thinking it should shoot better closer to the rifling, while it kept telling me to go deeper. Once I found the node, it began printing nice triangular looking groups, and even continued it as they got bigger once I passed the node.. They seem to have a decent node as well, once you find that spot.

 

[Hegland]

A long, sleek 200 AB at 2900+... yep, that'll carry the mail. Good job!

And I also should add, thanks for posting results of tinkering. This kind of visibility helps me learn a ton.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Good job Scotty!

I'm impressed on the speed myself, accuracy is more then adequate to.

I worked them up couple years ago for my uncles REM 700 300 win w/24" bbl and seeing same accuracy but only at 2850fps with RL22. Killed his spike at 900 yards couple months after I did the work up and sighting in. AB went through both shoulders and was in the skin on the far side. They'll get the job done that's fore sure

 

[Woodycreek]

Great job! Not far behind my 300 RUM using the 200 ABs. That 300 WSM would make for a way better mountain carry rifle!

 

[257 Ackley]

Nice work Scott! It is not surprising that you ended up having quite a jump with the 200 after most tests in my hunting rifles as well. Must have something to do with the design and engineering of the profile. The same situation happened with my 6.5 WSM on load testing with the 140's. Good thing it is a Winchester action that gives you a little more length to work with :wink: .

 

[SJB358]

Good job Scotty!

I'm impressed on the speed myself, accuracy is more then adequate to.

I worked them up couple years ago for my uncles REM 700 300 win w/24" bbl and seeing same accuracy but only at 2850fps with RL22. Killed his spike at 900 yards couple months after I did the work up and sighting in. AB went through both shoulders and was in the skin on the far side. They'll get the job done that's fore sure

It seems to be pretty decent Jorey, I was shooting for anywhere between 2850-2900 and this is sorta where I ended up at. I think it'll work just fine and the rifle is pretty awesome to carry. I am thinking it'll get some time on Mt. Emily this year as well.

Great job! Not far behind my 300 RUM using the 200 ABs. That 300 WSM would make for a way better mountain carry rifle!

Yeah, it should be a slick rifle to hump the hills with. Going to try a similar load in Shauns EW. If it doesn't take too much tweaking, it would make a nice all arounder for his rifle as well.

 

[pre6422hornet]

Man that will hit like a truck Scotty!!

It is amazing how the Accubonds are so finicky to C.O.L. I was really surprised how just a .005 difference could really open up the groups.

 

[joelkdouglas]

Nice work!

It's interesting how many guys say bullets shoot best just off the lands to 0.030 off; my rifles typically prefer a much larger jump.

 

[Oldtrader3]

My Accubonds certainly shoot better with a little more gap. However, Partitions seem to shoot better right at COAL (3.340) or 0.010 inches shorter for .270Win and .30-06.

 

[ElmerThud]

Looks like a really good bit of work there Scotty. Some very sweet shooting pics. The loads in my .25-06 work best with AB's .045" off the lands, so that's where I'm at. I finally got them working at around 3,197fps MV.
Stay well, cheers.