Recent content by Tikka300man

I only have one rifle that I passed on and really regret today. About 35 years ago I saw a brand new Savage Model 99 chambered in 308 Winchester, selling at a gun store for just under $600. I passed because at that time, $600 was a lot of money for a rifle. I regret it now.

I would mostly agree with you as the 7mm Weatherby is a truly great round and if taken care of properly, should have almost double the barrel life of the 7mm STW and at least triple or better than the 7mm RUM. And I would agree that it is what the 7mm Rem Mag could have been but never will be...

There are a lot of good choices for whitetail however you didn't specify the range (open country vs. woods hunting). If you can get them, the Hornady 162-gr ELD-X is a great all-around choice. Another great choice would be the Speer Grand Slam; a bullet with few peers. Go with either the 160-gr...

The one thing I can promise you is that it is not caused by 'overspinning' the bullets. That is a myth that has been promulgated for many decades. To over-spin a bullet, you would need an extreme twist rate, much faster than your 1:8" and you wouldn't notice it at anything under 400 yards even...

If it had at least a 1:9.5" or faster twist rate, I would go for a 7mm Weatherby mag. Same case capacity as a 7mm Rem mag but beats it by at least 100+ fps velocity. Truly underrated. My second choice would be a 280 Ackley. Very underrated as well. The one problem with the magnums is short...

Try these loads, velocity given is the maximum you can hope for. The RL 22 data is from Alliant, the rest are from Hornady COAL is 2.840" WLRM primers except RL 22 Superformance 64.6 to 69.6 grains 3100 fps RL 22 63.0 to 67.0 grains 3000 fps (Fed 210 primers) RL 17 60.0 to 64.0 grains 3000...

The 308 Winchester is a great choice and you should look at the Ruger American rifle; I have several and love them; they are inexpensive and available in 308 or 30-06. But the 308 is light, handy and low recoil but hard hitting. The 7mm-08 is a great choice too but it's somewhat limited in rifle...

IMR 7828 is a great powder for the 300 Wby and I've found that A 3100 shoots lights out in every rifle I have although it doesn't give top velocity. Perhaps my favorite powder is RL 22 though, great combination of accuracy and velocity and after all, velocity is a big part of the draw for that...

Honestly I think the 7mm Weatherby Mag is the best, all things considered. With it's long neck and throat, it can propel long bullets to high velocities but it doesn't generate the recoil of the 7mm STW, 28 Nosler or 7mm RUM, plus your barrel will last about 3 times longer than the 7mm RUM...

I would try the new Hornady 162-grain ELD-X bullet (not the "M" match bullet though) My load uses Winchester magnum primers with Reloder 26 powder. Some rifles take up to 69.0 grains, but others top off at 68.5 gr RL 26 as the maximum. Start at 65.0 grains and work up. 68.5 grains gets me 3050...

Did you ever get any load data for your 178 grain ELD-X bullets? Hornady has load data for it; they show the bullet @ 2.840" OAL, ignited by the WLRM primers and Superformance powder; ranging from 64.9 grains to a maximum of 69.6 grains giving 3100 fps from a 24 inch barrel.

Like everyone else, I was taken aback by the '44 grain' difference statement; I wonder if you meant 4.4 grains instead. Could you clarify your statement for us?

I do not see where you specify if you're using standard or magnum primers. With that said, Hodgdon shows a maximum of 58.0 gr of IMR 4831 with a 140-gr Ballistic Tip using the WLR primer. They got top velocity using a maximum of 57.0 gr of Hybrid 100V. Both of these were loaded to 3.330" OAL...

Case head separation is a sign of poor head spacing. You are probably pushing the shoulder a little too far back when resizing. This causes the case to be too short in the chamber then it stretches upon firing. You will need to adjust your dies so they don't push the shoulder back so far. There...