Range report

wisconsinteacher · May 30, 2011

Well it has been a while since I shot and it was a blast to get out and shoot. I had 4 rifles I wanted to shoot. The 6.5 Grendel shot great and my best 5 shot group at 100 yards with fireform loads was .743". I have only put 50 rounds throught this rifle and really enjoy shooting it. Another rifle I wanted to shoot was my M1 Garand. I just wanted to shoot it and it shot great with all rounds hitting the 6" target from the prone position at 50 yards. The last two rifles were the 30-06 that I made up some test rounds for and my 22-250 that I am starting over with.

All shots were at 100 yards off of a bench with sandbags. 3 shot groups

30-06, 165 AB, H4350, 2.708" at the ogive (I need to shorten the OAL to fit in mag better)

56gr=2.991"
56.5gr=2.300"
57=1.768"
57.5=1.453"
58=1.551"
58.5=2.240"

22-250, 55 VMax, Varget, 2.015" at ogive

34gr=1.751"
34.5=0.538"
35=1.322"
35.5=0.733"
36=1.499"
36.5=1.066"

Both rifles were cleaned before going out and were fired twice to dirty the barrel. Between each test batch, I ran a bore snake through the gun. I also let the barrel cool a bit before each group.

Where do I go from here? I would like to get 1" groups out of both rifles.
Thanks for the help you guys provide. I would be lost without it.

corbin9191 · May 30, 2011

The 34.5 grains in the 22-250 looks like it would be a promising load. Try to tune with the OAL to get the sweet spot.

SJB358 · May 30, 2011

I would load from 34.5-35.5 again and retest. Seems like you have a winner in that group somewhere. I would bet you will find something in that area that will shoot under an inch pretty easily.

Your 30-06 seems to want to shoot in the 57.5-58gr's so I would retest in that area. After you see what charge it likes, then I would tweek the OAL. Seems like the 30-06 will come around. Looks like you are well on your way. Scotty

6mm Remington · May 30, 2011

beretzs":2v67vk26 said:
Your 30-06 seems to want to shoot in the 57.5-58gr's so I would retest in that area. After you see what charge it likes, then I would tweek the OAL. Seems like the 30-06 will come around. Looks like you are well on your way. Scotty

I agree with Scotty. Change up the seating depth on that load. If you have some IMR4350 around, that's another super one to use. Sometimes those tiny little changes make a huge difference. Sound like you need to seat them a little deeper for your magazine length anyway. Try going .010 deeper and .020 deeper than what you have them currently loaded at.

257 Ackley · May 30, 2011

I would suggest trying a couple other powders that have similar burn rates to Varget as well. H380, IMR4895, Vit.N140 and R15 would be good choices that have similar burn rates. I know you might not want to buy all of them to try, but try a couple different ones to see if it helps.