Range trip....question

[onlybrowning]

My friend is trying to find a load using the 210 grain Nosler Partition in his .338 Federal Ruger M77 Hawkeye. We have tried numerous primers, COAL's, a couple powders, and different charge weights and have found nothing.

The best I have seen this gun shoot is 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards with any load.

Anyone have any ideas or experience with this cartridge. He is getting just about 2600 fps out of the Partitions at his currently most accurate load with the 210's.

The best load so far is: Nosler Partition 210 grain, WLR primer, RP brass, 47.0 grains H4895, and a COAL of 2.820".

 

[Big Squeeze]

My friend is trying to find a load using the 210 grain Nosler Partition in his .338 Federal Ruger M77 Hawkeye. We have tried numerous primers, COAL's, a couple powders, and different charge weights and have found nothing.

The best I have seen this gun shoot is 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards with any load.

Anyone have any ideas or experience with this cartridge. He is getting just about 2600 fps out of the Partitions at his currently most accurate load with the 210's.

The best load so far is: Nosler Partition 210 grain, WLR primer, RP brass, 47.0 grains H4895, and a COAL of 2.820".

..................I have read in the past, that shooters have had problems with certain bullets in certain rifles, no matter what they did to improve their groups.

Some bullets, will simply not group as well in certain rifles, no matter what!

A 1 1/2" grouping is not a bad group size for a hunting load, even though its nice to get an inch or less.

You may need to try a different bullet or try more variations with the 210 gr. Partition.

Are you letting the barrel cool down at least 2-3 minutes between shots?

An alternative and a little trick that I did with my 300 WSM Ruger Frontier, which helped me and does work, was to buy a rubber barrel de-resonator, which simply slides down on the barrel close to the forearm of the stock. It`s designed to cut down on barrel resonance, vibration or writhe as some call it. I`ve seen group sizes cut down from 2" + to an inch or below with this little rubber gizmo using the same loadings.

You can drive yourself nuts with all the different combos of powders, bullets, COL`s, primers, brass, etc. etc. Alot of experimentation is very time consuming and is more expensive to find that perfect combo for each bullet weight in any individual rifle.

IF IT WORKS, I prefer the quicker artificial short cut!! The bottom line is,,,tighter groups,,,by artificial means or otherwise!

Chances are, he`ll be able to take his best group so far at 1 1/2" and cut that down to an inch or under with a rubber de-resonator.

You`ll always see one on Guy Eastman`s Wby. rifle barrel when watching his hunting shows on TV.

Try one. They cost about $20. If I remember correctly, it`s a Limbsaver product! You`ll spend alot more in dollars and in time, by continuing to buy different components, while searching for the right combos that work best in his particular rifle.............

 

[FOTIS]

Try another bullet. Try an AccuBond just to see.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

This is a common problem with the 210gr Partition.
Try the AccuBond, or the 200gr BST, with either H4831, or H4350. :wink:

 

[onlybrowning]

This is a common problem with the 210gr Partition.
Try the AccuBond, or the 200gr BST, with either H4831, or H4350. :wink:

I have been trying to convince him to get the Accubonds, but the 210 grain Partition's that he is using are seconds. We are both waiting for more AccuBond seconds as I need them in 8mm as well.

H4350 and H4831 are much too slow for the .338 federal. He has tried Varget and H4895 so far. He wants to stick to these two powders if possible.

Rob

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Oops, I stand corrected on the powders, I was thinking 338 Win Mag.
H4895/Varget would be much better choices for the smaller Federal case.

 

[corbin9191]

Another little trick that I have seen done is if you have a bolt right in front of the trigger guard (action bolt) you can lossen that up a little bit about a quarter turn each time you shoot 3 shots and see if that helps tighten your groups.

 

[onlybrowning]

Another little trick that I have seen done is if you have a bolt right in front of the trigger guard (action bolt) you can lossen that up a little bit about a quarter turn each time you shoot 3 shots and see if that helps tighten your groups.

Hmmm...interesting. Never heard that before. Thanks.