How many bullets do you try in new rifle?

I recently shot a bunch of the 147 ELD-M bullets in the Creed, PRC and 6.5x284. I've never had one not make it to the target intact. All the rifles have an 8 twist. They are certainly worth a try.
Yeah those were early reports when they had that happen. Also it might have been due to 3-4 groove rifling. This new stock might not have any issues.
 
Yes, for a small town (population was 60,442 for the city and 84 414 for the county according to the 2020 census), we are blessed with Scheel's and North 40.

Small town? Wow... Small here is <3,500

Even at 3,500, weirdos find their way. Can't get small enough to lose the weirdos, it seems.
 
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I think I may have a problem. I just can't stop trying new bullets and probably will burn a barrel out before testing is complete. The wise and experienced person would probably focus on tried and true bullets and leave well enough alone. I do know that sometimes a particular rifle/barrel has preferences that shoot well and others that just don't. I shoot more .284 bullets than any other in my rifles. I got lucky in my .308's and found a bullet that met expectations early in load development. So how many do you test in a new rifle.

Here is the current line up for my 280AI.
View attachment 484772
I did the exact same thing with my 28 Nosler. I tried ELDX, Accubonds, and Bergers before I finally settled on 177g Hammers. All of them shot well but the Hammer was lights out. I'd still try a lighter Hammer, but I'm done burning barrel life on a bug hole shooter.
 
If you are in Missoula you are really going to pay. They find new ways to spent money. I generally have a bullet weight in mind. So accuratic and velocity is what I am looking at. I generally use only Hodgdon powders, and only that aren't very temp sensitive. Main reason behind that is my hunting can take from 110+ to -20 degrees from hot to cold. I have had very good luck with Noslers BT or AB bullets. The latest rifle I have increase the twist rate. So I will using Hammer bullets, they look the best for me to use. I have tried other all copper bullets in the past. Found hard to drive and poor grouping.
I find I have a number of things to work out with my reloads. Case Pre, Primers, powder & max load, seating, neck tension to name a few. So it's puzzle that needs to be put together. Some items are standard and other take care in finding the right combination or pieces to make it work.
 
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Most often Hornady's then based on application, then considering twist rate. Light & zippy or long & pointy - I can always get some Hornady bullet to work.

I plan to spend my Montana $675 property tax rebate on federal income tax estimated quarterly payments - Form 1040 ES.

Democrat politicians are the curse of the middle class.

Shot out barrels, especially stainless, are good to drive thru railroad ties for low retaining walls, drill holes then pound them in with a sledgehammer.
 
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Eld's and vld's have always work in my custom barrels for long range and once a load fits a rifle ,that load stays with that rifle til barrel is disassembled stored in greenhouse for the following tomato season!
for a target rifle , the bullet i try goes through 3-4 powders before moving on to different bullet choice and it does stop til i reach the grouping goal .
i buy good bullets and have less trouble finding a fit.
i have triied seconds a couple of times in my varmit rigs triing to save some money but been disappointed with bigger groups and prairie dogs are small . So i refuse to buy them after that.

property taxes here have gone up 75%since covid !
property selling prices are what drives the property value up,
Assesor says legistration for a tax formula change takes 2 yrs !
its been 3 yrs …… no change in sight . there are 4 houses within 7 miles of us that were sold for 3 times they're value bought by people in CA ,WA, and other non res are buying land . they have been empty since the sale , bought for a bugout house is my opinion . Now the residents here are forced with higher taxes to stay here .
park county wy is the richest co in wy now .
dont get me wrong i still love it here but it sucks that a virus can change the world based on fear.
 
I'll usually start with the bullet that I want to shoot. Like my 28 Nosler, I wanted to shoot the 195s out of it. So I bought a bunch of those. Then I heard about Hammers so I bought a box of those then I looked at some ballistics of the 180gr ELD-M out of 28 Nosler speeds and got intrigued, so now I have 300 of those to try. That's typically the way things go for me. I want to use a bullet so I try that first, if it doesn't work or I can't find it I'll try something close and go from there. So one is my answer then that grows if I can't find a load or discover something that might result is something better.
 
When I purchased my Weatherby Mark V Ultra-Light rifle, used, I wanted to start right off testing the 130 Grn. Nosler Ballistic Tips, for my 270 Win. I had seen how they work on deer while on a hunting trip years earlier. The Ballistic Tips worked very well with both H 4831SC and also IMR 4350 powder. In my rifle which has a 24-inch barrel. 4831SC produced so many ragged one-hole groups, so that combo of powder and bullet became my number 1 choice for whitetail deer hunting. I also use the same 130 grn Ballistic Tips, with IMR 4350 for my friends Model 70 featherweight, also a 270 Win, with a 22-inch barrel. His rifle likes that powder with that 130 grn bullet. The approximate velocity from my rifle is 3000/3025 fps . The bullet is accurate in my rife and devastating on Whitetail Deer!! Several one-shot kills. I don't know how it could be any better!!! That rifle is my "go-to " deer rifle . No further bullet testing required for that rifle, or my friends Model 70 . Sometimes you get lucky. For Target and Comp guns, the testing never ends.
 
I burn up .224 and .243 barrels "testing" all the time lol my hunting rifles I usually go into them with a certain bullet in mind, if I can't get that bullet to meet my standards I move onto bullet B. Once it's shooting how I like, I'll stick with it until the barrel comes off, or the rifle goes down the road.
 
To be honest, I used to only shoot Nosler AB's and Berger CH in .284 and .308. Tried Sierra GK's and Nosler Ballistic Tips and they were meh in my rifles. I tried Hammers and they were super easy to get good results. Hornady AMAX shot amazing in my .308, but I questioned their terminal performance on deer sized game. Now I'm attempting to develop different loads for different bullets and weights. Couple that with a cabinet full of different powders, and the experiments are seemingly endless. I really could not care less about burning out a barrel. A new barrel would only restart my mad science experiments.
 

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