loading nosler BT in 22-250 with lee dies

hundmeister · Oct 9, 2013

Reloaded ballistic tip 50 grain in win. brass br2 primers varget powder in 22-250. Loaded from 33.5 to 35.5 first time out and found a nice group at 35.5 Second time out i loaded 35.5 grains in various coal. {photos}. My question is is it normal to have erratic results like this with different coal. First range trip i had a coal of 2.350 and 35.5g grouped around 3/8 of an inch, the rest of the groups from 33.5g to 35.5g were a lot like the rest of what i have going on here. Also could the lee dies have something to do with it i get the odd flier going out except on number 2 which is what I'm going for, 3 shots inside .273 consistently and i'd be very happy. This is also not my best shooting tried prone for first time and had a mirage going on, however still gives me a good idea. Rifle is a tikka t3 varmint in 22-250 rem with a viper vortex 6.5-20X44

NYDAN · Oct 10, 2013

Yes, in my experience, different COALs can result in widely different group sizes. In some situations even a .010" difference in seating depth can have a large effect on group size. I suggest you try to repeat your best results and go from there.

DrMike · Oct 10, 2013

I don't imagine that the Lee dies are a cause for concern. I've made some very fine ammunition with Lee dies (and with Lyman, RCBS, Redding, Forster, C&H, etc.). What is more critical is consistency in all measurements, ensuring that the pull of the ram is consistent and watching to avoid runout. The difference in accuracy with COAL can be quite pronounced. I've actually had a couple of loads that moved from ~2 inch groups to ~0.15 inch groups with 0.005 inches of adjustment. I don't normally use such exaggerated loads as it would be difficult, especially for the owners of those rifles, to duplicate the results. However, the observation is reproducible. The more common observation is a change in accuracy of 0.5 inches or so with 0.010 inch adjustment of COAL. It looks as if you are finding one of the major nodes on your rifle with that load around 2.360 inches.

hundmeister · Oct 10, 2013

I was out with bergers today 50g bullets and my tikka seems to love them. based on earlier observations from a different range trip i tried again in different coals. only problem is berger discontinued them and there flat based and a pain to load unless i find a way to load them thats easier. I can get some bullets but i wonder if its worth it if there discontinued. I can get 52g varmint as well thats in current production. or sierra matching, i'll see how i feel.

DrMike · Oct 10, 2013

It might be worth your while to communicate with Berger to see what they recommend.

hundmeister · Oct 10, 2013

One thing I did notice was with the ballistic tips at 33.5 was a good group initially. I chose to go with 35.5 because of velocity. Berger groups at 34g maybe I missed with the ballistic tips at 33.5g. I think I'll try that, harmonics might work at that speed or pressure. The initial group I tried had I hole out of 4 a bit low otherwise the other 3 were in 1 hole.