Recent content by Carey Farmer

You might want to try MDT or Accurate-Mag magazines without the front binder plate. That will give you another 0.07" or so of COAL. Ditto magazines from Knight's Armament. Their magazines are really nicely constructed, TIG welded, but are set up only for .308 case size though.

I would like to hunt a whale with a harpoon cannon. When I lived in AK I tried for 20 years to get on a whaling crew out of Barrow. Never was successful.

26 Nosler. With 88 gr of US869 powder the muzzle blast was unbelievable. I rebarreled to 28 Nosler and am much happier with that chambering.

Exactly. Neck tension is a function of how much cold-working you do after annealing. Brass is pretty ductile, so it takes quite a bit - something like 30% - of deformation to develop full hardness. But brass also work-hardens remarkably well. Fully annealed cartridge brass has yield strength...

Yep. Backwards from the way I started out annealing, too. But seems to give a little lower muzzle velocity Es.

Yes, I size and clean (in a vibratory tumbler) before annealing. That makes sure there isn't any lube left inside the case neck when I seat the bullet.

My brass after annealing only has about .0015" spring back after bullet seating. So any "tension" (that is, case neck sizing down below bullet diameter) over .0015" in my annealed brass adds little gripping force - just a little extra yield strength from extra work hardening. Before annealing...

Agreed. Given a bore size, case capacity and bullet weight, you'll get the best speed with a powder that is slow enough that you can fill the case up, but fast enough that a case full of powder will hit your pressure limit. My point wasn't that you should use fast powder in short barrels...

For me, it all comes back to the burn rate of the powder I plan to use. Slow powders need long barrels. Fast powders don't. In general I use 22" barrels for Varget, 26" for H4350, 28" for H4831sc, 30" for H1000, and 32" for Retumbo. The more overbore the case (and the heavier-for-caliber the...

This is a great way to approach this question. I feel the same as Mikecr about muzzle blast. I hunted for many years with a 338 Winchester Magnum, 25" barrel. Then I bought a 300 Weatherby Magnum, 24" barrel. Couldn't believe the muzzle blast. Now when I build rifles chambered with big cases...

Not sure I'd ever want to be without a 28 Nosler. But if you have the 4" version of Wyatt's box magazine, a 300 RUM would be a significant velocity and energy upgrade compared to your 300 PRC.

Definitely 28 Nosler. 7 STW cases are 1/4" longer than 28 Nosler - you will have a hard time fitting them in standard magazines if you shoot copper mono's.

I can push a 160 grain bullet to 3300+ with a 28 Nosler loaded with Retumbo, but that's with a 32" barrel. I couldn't hit that speed with a 26" barrel. Maybe 3150. Nosler load data shows a 160 grain bullet will go 3275 fps with 84 grains of Retumbo and a 26 inch barrel, but that would be...

In my HS Precision stocks for Savage and Remington rifles, the aluminum bar stops just forward of the sling stud. I added a pic rail by using the sling stud hole for the forward screw of the pic rail, and then drilled and tapped a hole for the aft screw. The HS Precision sling studs in my...

I shoot 28 Noslers as well. Based on my experience I would say that you need to start out with at least 0.200" of clearance in your magazine. That will allow to keep optimal jump as the lands retreat (as the barrel wears), and also allow for a little slop between the case shoulder and the...