Well, I was able to get out today and do some shooting. I have really been trying to get my 264 dialed in the last few times out to the range and so far, I have came up really lacking. I just could not put my finger on it. I even took it back outta the stock and resanded/finished the barrel channel. I am going to try and explain this as best I can, but I am not a writer..
First off, I need to give you all some back story, when I got this rifle, I also got a bunch of Nosler 2nds 125 PT's Trophy Grade Ammo from a fellow member her. I was stoked, 40 loaded rounds to get me started and figure out what the rifle is doing...
Well, I shot them all up and used them foulers during load work, but I was having all kinds of issues with the rifle shooting REALLY good one weekend with a given powder charge at nearly a 100* degrees during the summer and the SAME EXACT LOAD the next time out would lock the rifle up.. Weird huh. I mean, everything was exactly the same, or so I thought... I even weighed water fill and used that data in order to produce QL data. Sometimes it was on, others it was WAY off.. Again, nothing was really clicking in my little head. Well, today I think I found the culprit...
I had narrowed the charge down on previous range sessions to 66.5-67.1 Somewhere in there was my sweet spot for a powder charge, so I reshot today with the same 140 AB's I have been using for awhile. I am using Retumbo, CCI250's and Nosler Brass....
66.5 Retumbo (3102, 3091, 3118, 3109)
Nothing really out of the ordinary, but 1 of the cases has a different headstamp than the other three.. Different mark, on it. Tried taking a picture, but you'll have to trust me, the brass is different.
66.8 Retumbo (3162, 3185, 3251, 3124)
Okay, you can see that 3251 in the target. Again, three cases were the same and 1 was not. Different headstamping... All Nosler brass, but made differently
67.1 Retumbo (3180, 3175, 3252, 3248)
Now, on this one, there were two case with different headstamps and it showed HUGE in the chrono. Those ones that go into the 3250's have ejector marks and were all stiff to lift outta the chamber, not hard but really scratchy.
Anyhow, I have since throw out all of the NOT matching headstamped stuff. All of this is what has been giving me headaches. Just never dawned on me. So, just be careful when you mix two different lots of brass, even from the same maker. It could be enlightening. I probably should have picked up on this a year ago. I know the rifle shoots, and now that I have some good places to start, I will reshoot those loads in the same cases.. Should be able to finish up this load work for the AB's and load some of the new 140 BT's up for practice!
Here are the two different case heads. I am not really sure you will be able to tell the difference from the picture, but it is there.
First off, I need to give you all some back story, when I got this rifle, I also got a bunch of Nosler 2nds 125 PT's Trophy Grade Ammo from a fellow member her. I was stoked, 40 loaded rounds to get me started and figure out what the rifle is doing...
Well, I shot them all up and used them foulers during load work, but I was having all kinds of issues with the rifle shooting REALLY good one weekend with a given powder charge at nearly a 100* degrees during the summer and the SAME EXACT LOAD the next time out would lock the rifle up.. Weird huh. I mean, everything was exactly the same, or so I thought... I even weighed water fill and used that data in order to produce QL data. Sometimes it was on, others it was WAY off.. Again, nothing was really clicking in my little head. Well, today I think I found the culprit...
I had narrowed the charge down on previous range sessions to 66.5-67.1 Somewhere in there was my sweet spot for a powder charge, so I reshot today with the same 140 AB's I have been using for awhile. I am using Retumbo, CCI250's and Nosler Brass....
66.5 Retumbo (3102, 3091, 3118, 3109)
Nothing really out of the ordinary, but 1 of the cases has a different headstamp than the other three.. Different mark, on it. Tried taking a picture, but you'll have to trust me, the brass is different.
66.8 Retumbo (3162, 3185, 3251, 3124)
Okay, you can see that 3251 in the target. Again, three cases were the same and 1 was not. Different headstamping... All Nosler brass, but made differently
67.1 Retumbo (3180, 3175, 3252, 3248)
Now, on this one, there were two case with different headstamps and it showed HUGE in the chrono. Those ones that go into the 3250's have ejector marks and were all stiff to lift outta the chamber, not hard but really scratchy.
Anyhow, I have since throw out all of the NOT matching headstamped stuff. All of this is what has been giving me headaches. Just never dawned on me. So, just be careful when you mix two different lots of brass, even from the same maker. It could be enlightening. I probably should have picked up on this a year ago. I know the rifle shoots, and now that I have some good places to start, I will reshoot those loads in the same cases.. Should be able to finish up this load work for the AB's and load some of the new 140 BT's up for practice!
Here are the two different case heads. I am not really sure you will be able to tell the difference from the picture, but it is there.