Brux. First experience with Brux. Holy freakin cow.

I just got one of my rifles back from the smith yesterday. 28" Brux, fluted, 7mm, 9x four groove. I cleaned the copper and powder fouling out from the single test shot from the smith. Took it to the range and fired one shot for a foul/sighter after bore sighting it. With where it landed I adjusted. I fired one 3 shot group with 58.0 of RETUMBO under 162 AMAXs lit by BR2 primers wrapped up in Nosler 280AI cases. It shot a nice and tidy triangle group. Not real tight but not real big. For the first group though, it was very promising. Then I shot another group with 59.0 grains (after a more fine tuned adjustment) and shot a beautiful clover leaf. I actually haven't measured it but its probably .38-.410ish. Then it got very interesting. I decided to do a velocity work up starting with a single round at 59.0, then 59.5 and so on all the way up to 63.0 grains. There were nine shots total in this work up in .5 grain increments spanned over 4 grains. These carved a hole at 108 yards that measured .591" center to center. All I can say is wow and holy crap. The first five or six carved out in the .4MOA area. The first three was sub .375". 63.0 has me at 2920'sec. The Hodgdon site shows 2831'sec for 63.0 with the 168 SMK in a 24" barrel. Add roughly 80'sec for the extra 4" I have and it is right in line. Should be able to run a hair faster with a 162 AMAX. What do you think? 2950-2970? First time playing with a 280AI. Not sure what to expect for velocity.

I decided not to do a formal break in. Time is a premium in my life right now and life is too short for shoot one, clean one. Barrels are too expensive for shoot one, clean one. Powder and bullets aren't cheap either and they can be hard to find at times. Why waste them? I've done it both ways and I just don't see any difference.

THANK YOU BRUX!!

Regards,

M

I just built a 300wsm with a #5 Brux. The first time out it shot 2 groups under 1/2" and the smaller of the 2 was .280" (it shot a couple more in the .6's and .7's too. It was experiment with R-26 powder so I wasn't disappointed). I've since dropped the load down and last Friday it shot 2 groups, also under 1/2", with the smallest right around .280" again.

I have another one that I finished the chamber work on but still have to bed the stock. It was a Sendero contour I turned down slightly to make it closer to a #5. It's also a Brux barrel chambered in 300wm. It will be interesting to see how it does.

BTW I don't waste my time breaking in barrel anymore either. I still haven't cleaned my 300wsm and it has about 35 rounds through it. The last 3 were the .280" group.

I have two Brux barrels and both work very well.

I recently received my custom back that has a Brux.

Fired it 38 times over 2 weeks, haven't cleaned it 1 time, didn't break it in.

First 3 shots were to zero, shots 4,5, and 6 went into a .9" hole at 200 yds.

Very pleased and starting to wonder why I ever broke a barrel in....

Have always had good luck with Brux. Never seen a bad one. I don't have a lot of experience with the 280AI, but I get 2880 fps with a 168 Berger classic hunter. This is in a 24 inch barreled Cooper using H4831SC.

That rifle sure shoots! I have seen loads over 3000fps with a 160gr bullet using faster powders. Retumbo is working great for you, but if you want a little more speed, give something like IMR 7828ssc a try or the new IMR 7977.

I like the 280Imp round and have one that will push a 175 X at 3100fps accurately with RL26.

Frank7mm said:

I like the 280Imp round and have one that will push a 175 X at 3100fps accurately with RL26.

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Holy crap that's smoking. Is that normal or do you have a fast barrel?

I have a 30" barrel and throated for a 3.5" coal. I was quite happy with it. QL predicts 2800fps from a 22" barrel. It is the magnum in a non-magnum case. LOL

RL-26 is magic in a 280 AI.. basically turns it into a 7 rem mag velocity wise. I've played with it a little bit to find pressure/velocity. With a 168 VLD and 210M primers, I had extractor marks at ~3,150 fps. I could easily run around 3k with no pressure issues.
With a 175 ELD-X and CCI 250's I had extractor marks at 2,980 fps. I don't have my data book in front of me, so can't quote charge weights for the above velocities. Velocities measured with a Magnetospeed

This is with a 25" Bartlein barrel.

The load I've ran prior to playing with RL-26 is 61.5 gr. of Retumbo, 210M, Nosler Brass, and 168 H-VLD's. they run right at 2,875 fps. I worked up to 63 or 63.5 grains, but didn't gain much velocity (was 2925 or something like that).

My chamber has .100" free bore, so able to load a bit longer.

Ive had rifles made using Brux barrels....I sure like them. Lately have gone with Mullerworks. Another fine barrel maker that will get you what you ask for ON TIME!