COAL restriction due to mag length....

[chet]

Well fellas......... this gun did not like the ballistic tips at all!
Velocity was right where i was hoping (2780 ave)
But around a 4" group...... now as a side note, I don't feel like I was a spectacular trigger puller either... so I think I'll try them again.
I did adjust the trigger afterwards.... took it down to 28 oz
so.... what should I do first?
seat them deeper?
or change powder weight?
No pressure signs on the brass, but the bolt did seem a tad heavy...

 

[6mm Remington]

Maybe for whatever reason, your rifle JUST DOES NOT LIKE the ballistic tips. It does happen. I think the AccuBond is a much better bullet than the ballistic tip, and I would try them in your rifle. Just a suggestion. You just have to work with different powders and charge weights sometimes to find the sweet spot. In my friends 300 WSM I tried IMR4350, H4350, H4831SC, IMR4831, W760, and H100V. It was grouping around 1inch to 3 inches with the different loads and charge weights. Now one inch is not bad, but I'll be the first to say that I am anal, and I want THE BEST ACCURACY I can get, so I kept at it.

I found two loads that worked and gave just over 1/4" 3 shot group for one, and just under 1/2" 3 shot group on the other! :grin: It took a lot of experimenting and shooting different loads. :? Some rifles will shoot everything fairly well, and some you have to just get them dialed in perfectly. If you are not using a chronograph when you are shooting your loads, I would suggest it. It allows you to see what velocities you are getting. In your 308 I would use 1/2 grain increments on my load work for that size of case. Say you get 25-35 fps per 1/2 grain more powder, and then all of a sudden you get a jump with 1/2 grain more powder and it registers 100 fps faster. You have just hit a pressure spike and you need to back down off of that load.

The chronograph also allows you to see what kind of extreme spreads you are getting with your loads, and how consistant they are. Usually, BUT NOT ALWAYS, the more accurate loads will also be the ones that are more consistant. Sometimes they will show a high to low extreme of only a few fps.

Keep at it and try some more loads and different powders. (Try the AccuBond). If you get one that shoots right at an inch or maybe a bit less, try changing seating depth both out and in a bit and see if that does anything. If your load is towards the warm side of the pressure spectrum, you should probably back down a bit and work up again with that powder if you change primers just to be safe. :wink: You might also try Federal Match primers if you have not already. Good luck Chet!!

 

[chet]

6mm,
thanks for your time

I have been wanting to try some 180gr AB's in my 300 winny.... maybe Ill buy some now and throw a few down the tube of this 84m just to see

 

[Polaris]

How do your rifles group with factory ammo or a favorite reload? I usually try to establish a "standard" load in all my rifles to use as a benchmark for improving performance with my handloads. In .308 I use the 150 grain Rem SP seated to the cannelure over 46 gr BL-C2. It's well off the lands but shoots OK.

In 7.5 swiss I use the GP 11 military load and in 7.62X54R I use Czech military '63 lot.

For .223 I might suggest a box of Rem "green box" varmint with a 50-55 grain bullet as a decent benchmark. It's cheap and relatively good stuff in most rifles.

I've found this approach to be helpful in knowing how well I am doing. Not all rifles, even good ones, will group sub-moa, even with all the tricks you can throw at them.

If yours are definately sensitive to freebore, you might have to go with a low-bc bullet such as a 180 round nose or Speer Mag tip in the .308. I've got a 762 Nato mauser with a worn out throat and it's amazing what a round nose seated out a bit will do in that rifle. Turns buckshot groups into clusters.