Calvin45
Well-Known Member
i posted this elsewhere but realized the thread title may have looked like I was looking for input and not sharing my findings so I'm sharing them here as well.
I've found a winner for my savage 111 long range hunter in .300 win mag.
Winchester brass. Federal 215M primers. Imr 8133. Hornady 225 eld Match, hex boron nitride treated.
Cartridge overall length 3.56". Does not fit in the magazine. Don't care . Any shorter and my cheap lee seating die was deforming the tips on these lawn darts. The charge is compressed heavily at this length anyway. To help alleviate any seating inconsistencies I seat my bullets part ways then rotate the cartridge before finishing to help even things out if somethings not square (don't know if it actually helps, based on my results it certainly doesn't hurt).
In working up the load I found a node of sorts, in that there was a steady increase in velocity up to 78.5 grains, then only 30 more FPS going up to 80.0 which was very compressed. There were still no pressure signs at 80. I might try a faster burn rate but I'll probably just stay with this, not fixing what clearly is not broken. I settled on 79.0 grains of imr 8133. No drop tube or anything like that. I did not sort brass by weight or anything either, just by headstamp .
79 grains gave an average velocity of 2760 FPS. At first I was disappointed but then i ran the numbers and that's right at 3800 foot pounds, and no pressure signs, which is indeed full .300 win mag performance. I didn't get enough over the chrono to provide meaningful es numbers. 24 inch barrel, 26 but the last two are muzzle brake.
I've taken it out to 400 yards today, it's hitting where it's supposed to.
But I was most encouraged and surprised by the 3 shot group it did at around 80 paces or so which I've attached here. For some this would be nothing special but for me it is. This is the first rifle I've owned and the first loads I've done up that I've gotten one hole groups out of and it's addicting as all get out.
At 150 yards they were touching each other. At 400 they were all within about 3 inches of each other. For me this is great!
I've found a winner for my savage 111 long range hunter in .300 win mag.
Winchester brass. Federal 215M primers. Imr 8133. Hornady 225 eld Match, hex boron nitride treated.
Cartridge overall length 3.56". Does not fit in the magazine. Don't care . Any shorter and my cheap lee seating die was deforming the tips on these lawn darts. The charge is compressed heavily at this length anyway. To help alleviate any seating inconsistencies I seat my bullets part ways then rotate the cartridge before finishing to help even things out if somethings not square (don't know if it actually helps, based on my results it certainly doesn't hurt).
In working up the load I found a node of sorts, in that there was a steady increase in velocity up to 78.5 grains, then only 30 more FPS going up to 80.0 which was very compressed. There were still no pressure signs at 80. I might try a faster burn rate but I'll probably just stay with this, not fixing what clearly is not broken. I settled on 79.0 grains of imr 8133. No drop tube or anything like that. I did not sort brass by weight or anything either, just by headstamp .
79 grains gave an average velocity of 2760 FPS. At first I was disappointed but then i ran the numbers and that's right at 3800 foot pounds, and no pressure signs, which is indeed full .300 win mag performance. I didn't get enough over the chrono to provide meaningful es numbers. 24 inch barrel, 26 but the last two are muzzle brake.
I've taken it out to 400 yards today, it's hitting where it's supposed to.
But I was most encouraged and surprised by the 3 shot group it did at around 80 paces or so which I've attached here. For some this would be nothing special but for me it is. This is the first rifle I've owned and the first loads I've done up that I've gotten one hole groups out of and it's addicting as all get out.
At 150 yards they were touching each other. At 400 they were all within about 3 inches of each other. For me this is great!