Sand Man
Well-Known Member
Backstory: A little over a year ago I wanted a magnum caliber for an elk hunt I was going on in Colorado. After some research and Berger making the 195gr in .284 I landed on the 28 Nosler. I didn't have enough time to build a custom gun, so I ran across a Christensen Mesa Long Range in 28 Nosler. During load development the fastest we could push the 195s without pressure issues was 2850 if my memory is correct. I just wasn't happy with this. By all my research, I should have been able to push the 195s at or over 3000fps. I felt like I was handicapping myself with the Christensen, so this past off season I sold the gun and started purchasing parts for a custom build.
I decided to go with a Zermatt formally Bighorn action, Bartlein #3 1-8 twist wave fluted and finished at 26", Iota Kremlin stock since McMillian and Manners had long lead times, H-S precision bottom metal, Timney Calvin Elite trigger, and Harrell muzzle brake. I had Tony from ZG Customs here in Texas chamber the barrel, bed the stock, and cerakote in olive drab to match my stock. I went with a March-F 3-24X42 FFP scope with mil reticle. Pics of the rifle:
Right, wrong, or indifferent for load development I decided to do a ladder test until I found pressure, back off the pressure in a node I was comfortable with, load 3 rounds in 0.1 grain increments in the node to shoot for accuracy, and once I found the most accurate charge adjust seating depth to see if I could tighten up the groups.
Since there was no published data on the powder I could find avaliable and the 195gr Bergers we started conservative on the initial charge and worked our way up.
Here are the 1st 5 shots out of the gun to foul it, break in, and zero scope:
Better than any group I ever got with the Christensen, so I was happy with the rifle from the 1st trigger pull.
Initial ladder test:
Even though the rifle showed great accuracy, I didn't build it to land at 2800ish fps with the 195s. I never saw pressure signs at 79.0 grains, so I decided to start there with another ladder test.
Here are the results of the 2nd ladder test:
At 85.0gr of powder and 3129fps, I was just starting to see signs of pressure. I decided that was good enough.
After looking at the results, we decided to go load in the 9, 10, and 11 node. 3 shot groups in 0.1gr increments. Here are those results:
Next up was adjusting seating depth. My initial load I think was a thousandth off the lands and shot 3/8" @ 100 yards, but I wanted to see if I could do better. I went down .004" at a time and would shoot 2 or 3 shots depending on if the 1st two touched. I ended up shooting a 1/4" group, but in full disclosure I could not get it to duplicate. Here's the group:
I decided to go with a Zermatt formally Bighorn action, Bartlein #3 1-8 twist wave fluted and finished at 26", Iota Kremlin stock since McMillian and Manners had long lead times, H-S precision bottom metal, Timney Calvin Elite trigger, and Harrell muzzle brake. I had Tony from ZG Customs here in Texas chamber the barrel, bed the stock, and cerakote in olive drab to match my stock. I went with a March-F 3-24X42 FFP scope with mil reticle. Pics of the rifle:
Right, wrong, or indifferent for load development I decided to do a ladder test until I found pressure, back off the pressure in a node I was comfortable with, load 3 rounds in 0.1 grain increments in the node to shoot for accuracy, and once I found the most accurate charge adjust seating depth to see if I could tighten up the groups.
Since there was no published data on the powder I could find avaliable and the 195gr Bergers we started conservative on the initial charge and worked our way up.
Here are the 1st 5 shots out of the gun to foul it, break in, and zero scope:
Better than any group I ever got with the Christensen, so I was happy with the rifle from the 1st trigger pull.
Initial ladder test:
Even though the rifle showed great accuracy, I didn't build it to land at 2800ish fps with the 195s. I never saw pressure signs at 79.0 grains, so I decided to start there with another ladder test.
Here are the results of the 2nd ladder test:
At 85.0gr of powder and 3129fps, I was just starting to see signs of pressure. I decided that was good enough.
After looking at the results, we decided to go load in the 9, 10, and 11 node. 3 shot groups in 0.1gr increments. Here are those results:
Next up was adjusting seating depth. My initial load I think was a thousandth off the lands and shot 3/8" @ 100 yards, but I wanted to see if I could do better. I went down .004" at a time and would shoot 2 or 3 shots depending on if the 1st two touched. I ended up shooting a 1/4" group, but in full disclosure I could not get it to duplicate. Here's the group:
