Short Mag fps

Long Time Long Ranger

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Thanks Ballistic64 for giving the info on the other thread. Would some others mind giving some good load data on their short mags. Any caliber. I am looking at doing a new backpack rifle on a short light action and would like to see what some good loads do in this line of cartridges over a chronograph. I am sure this thread has been run somewhere and my appologies if it has but this would be some good info for a lot of guys without a lot of experience with these. Ballistic64 opened my eyes a bit with that load of h414. Gives me the idea of a shorter 24" light tube if it does well at that burn rate. Good accuracy in a short lightweight rifle with good velocity is what I am looking for. These short mags were not out when I did all my guns.
 
3040 fps with a 160 gr. accubond,67 grs.7828ssc,fed215m in a7mm wsm. with a 27 inch barrel. Shoots 1/2 moa.
 
Browning Shorttrac .270 WSM - 130 gr Barnes TSX - 63.5 grs RL19 - F215M - Right at 3005 fps - .5 MOA

Remington 700 .270 WSM - 130 gr Barnes Tipped TSX - 63.0 grs RL19 - F215M - 3200 fps - .5 MOA
 
I love the 270 wsm and the 7mm wsm. The 300 is another story. It could be made to be more than a glorified 30-06 if it was custom done with a long throated reamer and a long action but as is from the factory, it is pretty dissapointing.

140 Accubonds will get you 3100-3250 in the 270 WSM and crank gongs well at 1k.
160 Accubonds will go 3000-3100 in a 7 WSM and really hit gongs hard at 1k.

I've had great luck with IMR4831 and IMR4350 in the 270 and Imr 7828ssc works awesome in the 7.

The 300 WSM with 180's or 165's just doesn't hold enough powder if you are seating the bullets to work in any factory length magazine. It gives you a working grain capacity of 62 or 63 grains and that puts the optimum burn rate right in the H414, W760 range which stinks in my opinion. Ball powders are too unpredictable in temps swings to work well for long range in my opinion. IMR4007ssc is the only stick powder that is in this burn rate but it doesn't have the same pressure curves as ball powders, and although it shoots great in the 300 wsm, speeds are barely more than what I can wring from a 30-06.
 
Good accuracy in a short lightweight rifle with good velocity is what I am looking for.

I have a tikka t3 lite 270 wsm with a 24" barrel that's very light, very accurate, and inexpensive. The trigger is great. I don't have a chrono yet but remington says that the 150 accutips I use get 3160 ft/sec. That's what I plug into JBM's ballistic calculator and the given drops are dead on out to 1000 yards. The bullets, which I think are Hornady SST's, have a BC of .525. At my elevation of 5000ft, they still have 1000 ft/lbs at 1000 yards.
Accurate Powder lists a load with a 150 gr bullet that gives 3136 ft/sec with Magpro. http://www.accuratepowder.com/data/PerCaliber2Guide/Rifle/Standarddata(Rifle)/277Cal(7.03mm)/270%20WSM%20Jul%202004%20.pdf That's what I'm going to try when I get a reloader.
 
Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it very much. All the good info helps me make a better decision on a backpack rifle. My only experience has been watching others shoot their new guns over my chronograph giving me a pretty good idea of what the short mags do. But good info from guys who have worked up their loads is what I needed.

I first was looking at doing something in the 30 to 338 caliber range but their doesn't seem to be enough capacity to push those big bullets down the road. I'm looking now in the 7mm range.
 
I own 4 short mags, 2 of them are 300 WSM's . With my 300 WSM's I have found that I get my best results using N550 powder and 165-168 bullets.Using two grains less than the max load listed in the Nosler #6 Manual I can get around 3000 ft/sec out of both guns. I have a Ruger Mark II with a 22 inch barrel and it will shot these bullets at 3000 ft/sec. or better. I bought this gun as my elk gun to be carried in the mts. It is short and light for the power that it produces. I have shot only one factory load in this gun. Federal 180 Nosler solid base bullets and it shot these bullets at 3017 ft/sec. My Winchester Model 70 with a 24 inch barrel shot the same load at 3055 ft/sec.. RL-19 will also work well in the 300 WSM's.
I have yet to see a 30-06 that would come close to 3000 ft/sec with a 180 grain bullet.

I also shoot a Winchester Model 70 in 270 WSM. My favorite load for this gun is 140 grain Accubonds and RL-22 powder. I get 3100 ft/sec with this load. I also have a good load using 140 Barnes TSX's and RL-22. This load will achieve over 3100 also.
 
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I own 4 short mags, 2 of them are 300 WSM's . With my 300 WSM's I have found that I get my best results using N550 powder and 165-168 bullets.Using two grains less than the max load listed in the Nosler #6 Manual I can get around 3000 ft/sec out of both guns. I have a Ruger Mark II with a 22 inch barrel and it will shot these bullets at 3000 ft/sec. or better. I bought this gun as my elk gun to be carried in the mts. It is short and light for the power that it produces. I have shot only one factory load in this gun. Federal 180 Nosler solid base bullets and it shot these bullets at 3017 ft/sec. My Winchester Model 70 with a 24 inch barrel shot the same load at 3055 ft/sec.. RL-19 will also work well in the 300 WSM's.
I have yet to see a 30-06 that would come close to 3000 ft/sec with a 180 grain bullet.

I also shot a Winchester Model 70 in 270 WSM. My favorite load for this gun is 140 grain Accubonds and RL-22 powder. I get 3100 ft/sec with this load. I also have a good load using 140 Barnes TSX's and RL-22. This load will achieve over 3100 also.


Good info but I would like to point out a couple things. N550 achieves 3000 fps with 165's in your gun. I can get that same bullet to 3000 fps with IMR4007ssc and it is much easier on the barrel. But either way, 30-06 can do pretty much the same thing with this bullet. If factory 180's in the WSM go over 3000, why is it we can't get much over 3000 with 165's from handloads? I'll tell you why. Ball powders. Factory ammo is loaded with ball powder and it is dense enough to pack a lot more in than a stick powder and it gives more velocity as a result. Only problem is that for handloading, I don't want to use ball powders. So that puts the expansion ratio of the 300 WSM with 165's or 180's right in the crapper for non-triple based stick powders if you want speed.

Secondly, you are loading ammo for Win model 70's. That is just about the longest box magazine out there for a factory gun. This allows you to move the bullet out of the case a bit and gain some case capacity back. Win's reamer for the WSM's can be longer in the throat because of the magazine. It is really the way all the other companies should have done their WSM's. But Remington, Ruger, and Browning guns basically reduce your capacity to 63 grains max with a big stick powder like RL19 and I have yet to see that give velocities of factory ammo.
 
The major reason that I did not report getting much more than 3000 ft/sec out of my 300 WSM's was not that I haven't achieved more velocity. It was because my most accurate loads were at about 3000 ft/sec.. I have shot 168 grain TSX bulllets at over 3100 ft/sec using IMR4831. So the idea that you can not get this velocity is just not according to facts.

I have loaded for more that one 30-06 and I have yet to see one that shot 180 grain bullets at over 3000 ft/sec.. or 168 grain bullets at over 3100 ft/sec.
 
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