LONGRANGE 6.5-284

[Fergus Bailey]

Len

The sorting process I use centres around ogive measuring. I use a tool made by my gunsmith from a scrap piece of barrel and a throating reamer. Using the tool and a digital vernier, I sort bullets to within .001 or .002. Most boxes of 100 bullets give me two or three batches of bullets after sorting. All these bullets can be shot, the important thing is to only shoot bullets that will sit consistantly in/off the lands. I sometimes get one or two that are nowhere near the others – these are reserved for load development of fire forming.

This all came about after a range session where I could put 4 bullets in a one hole group of about 0.3”, with a flier opening the group to about 1” total. I did not feel I was missing a condition change, but shot several 4 and 1 groups. Back home, I ran through the remainder of the box with the ogive tool and was very surprised by the extent of the variation. Measuring off the ogive, I ended up with two batches, some at 1.45” and the others at 1.55”. This is a BIG variation! Once batched, these bullets shot very well and the fliers went away. I now batch all commercial bullets, Amax, Sierras, Lapua, etc.

My ideal is to use a Vern Junky or ICC. My friend has one and I have used his before. These are excellent tools and well worth the money in my opinion. They will pick up a lot of errors that other sorting will not identify. I hope to buy one of these in the next few months.

Fergus

[Charles A]

SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET BACK,BUT I HAVE HAD A LOT OF WORK TO DO.THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLY'S. STEVE PLEASE E-MAIL ALL INFORMATION YOU HAVE,ASLO INFO ON THE GUNSMITH IF YOU WOULDNT MIND.


THANKS!!!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Charles A]

SHOULD I GO WITH A LONG OR SHORT ACTION?ALSO IF POSSIBLE I WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE MY OWN HITS,I'M THINKING MUZZLE BRAKE,BUT WOULD IT DEGRADE ACCURCY AT ALL.IF NOT WHAT KIND OF BRAKE WOULD WORK BEST. [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[No Fear in Accuracy]

SealSniper

I was told that 6.5-284 suits better on long action. As for muzzle brake, choose well-known muzzle brake companies like Answer, KDF or Vais. They are all good.

[Ultraman]

Fergus,
I am very interested in what you are doing on your bullet sorting but confused. If one is measuring all of his finished loads, with a comparator, which is working off the ogive(I think),what inconsistency other than overall length of the bullet itself, is being missed?
Or is that the whole point, that they are a different overall length?
I would really be interested in understanding your method as I have suffered from the same flier syndrom.
Also, what weight differences have you found with your two batches of bullets? Thank you
P.S. The main bullet I run is the 220 MK oif that makes any diference.

[PrimeTime]

A short action is normally used for target work. It works well as a single shot, you cannot however, use the magazine unless you go to long action.
I don't like the muzzlebrake myself as it forces you to wear hearing protection in the field. Your spotter should tell you where the shots are going.
Also, if you are looking for a good gunsmith, shoot me an email. There is a guy here in Pennsylvania that has built many of them and his rifles are really tearing up the 1,000 yard matches.

[Fergus Bailey]

August

Whilst it is possible to ogive gauge loaded rounds, I much prefer to gauge the bullets before they are loaded. I use a digital calliper and the ogive tool to measure from the bullet base to the ogive. The length from bullet base to ogive is the important measurement in this process. The more bullets you can measure at once, the better in my view. I try to batch several boxes of 100 in one session as a minimum.

There are many things this method will not pick up, such as a fold in the bullet jacket or a problem with core seating. This where a Vern Junkey would really help. At this stage, I have done no sorting by weight.