Two weeks ago the new guy in the shop picked up a used 700 BDL in .223 Rem. Heavy 26" inch barrel with 6-20X40 Leupold. Pristine condition and appears to have lightly fired.
Kevin has been working at the shop for about two months, a Marine with two tours of Iraq and very knowledgable about weapons, but he has never reloaded.
First trip to range he tried some rounds that I had loaded for my AR. The length was only 2.29" COL and only produced 1.25" three shot groups.
A couple of days later I measured his maximum chamber length and loaded some at .005" off the lands. They would not feed through the magazine. Backed them off to .007" and they fed fine.
Loaded up a small batch with 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips, Federal Gold Medal 205 Match primers and 25.0, 25.5, 26.0, and 26.5 grains of Benchmark.
Last week on my day off he was able to go downstairs to our 100 yards underground indoor climate controlled range and give them a test drive.
Results: 26.0 grains = 0.10" inch three shot group with average 3377 FPS velocity. The SD was 7. And yes, you read correctly, 1/10th of one inch with witnesses and photos.
Jerry 919
Bend, Oregon
Kevin has been working at the shop for about two months, a Marine with two tours of Iraq and very knowledgable about weapons, but he has never reloaded.
First trip to range he tried some rounds that I had loaded for my AR. The length was only 2.29" COL and only produced 1.25" three shot groups.
A couple of days later I measured his maximum chamber length and loaded some at .005" off the lands. They would not feed through the magazine. Backed them off to .007" and they fed fine.
Loaded up a small batch with 50 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips, Federal Gold Medal 205 Match primers and 25.0, 25.5, 26.0, and 26.5 grains of Benchmark.
Last week on my day off he was able to go downstairs to our 100 yards underground indoor climate controlled range and give them a test drive.
Results: 26.0 grains = 0.10" inch three shot group with average 3377 FPS velocity. The SD was 7. And yes, you read correctly, 1/10th of one inch with witnesses and photos.
Jerry 919
Bend, Oregon
