200gr LRX and "fliers"

[jammer300]

I have noticed every time I shoot a three shot group with the 200gr LRX out of my 300 win mag I get one "flier" that is about 1.5 " lower than the other two rounds. I'm shooting 100 yards for load development and the first two rounds will be touching each other on target and the third is low. I took my first shot and then pulled out my magazine and noticed that the round in the bottom ( which would be my third shot) has flattened out the polymer tip from the recoil. I'm thinking that this flattened tip is what is throwing off my group. Am I on the right track or could it be something else I'm not noticing?

 

[Engineering101]

I think it more likely that you are not on a node and need to keep working with the load/seating depth. I saw the same thing last Friday with Barnes LRXs out of my 270 WSM. I checked the barrel timing with QuickLoad and sure enough - miles from the nearest node. In my case I have to slow them down since I can't get to the next faster node without going way too hot. Good luck.

 

[mountainman56]

I think it more likely that you are not on a node and need to keep working with the load/seating depth. Good luck.

+1 I have had very good luck with this bullet in the 300 win mag.

 

[16Bore]

I think it more likely that you are not on a node and need to keep working with the load/seating depth. I saw the same thing last Friday with Barnes LRXs out of my 270 WSM. I checked the barrel timing with QuickLoad and sure enough - miles from the nearest node. In my case I have to slow them down since I can't get to the next faster node without going way too hot. Good luck.

Can you explain this?

 

[jammer300]

thanks for the response guys and I am trying to fine tune my powder charge and if that don't work I will then try different seating depths to see if that helps. I cant help but think that the flattened out tip on that LRX bullet does affect its aerodynamics. Am I wrong in thinking this? next time I shoot I am going to load them 1 at a time to avoid this happening.

 

[Engineering101]

16Bore

When you say "explain this" I assume you are talking about nodes. Actually there is a paper out on the web at the location below that explains it way better than I could. Check it out.

Optimal Barrel Time Paper

 

[16Bore]

That's deep and requires coffee. It only took me 3 reads of "The Secrets of the Houston Warehouse" to get the jist of it....

But in the meantime, Quickload can calculate harmonics?

Interesting.

 

[Engineering101]

16Bore

If you want to know more about QuickLoad check this out.

QuickLOAD Review & User's Guide

 

[16Bore]

Good grief. For a fella that spends the better part of the day with his face buried in Excel, this is like crack.......


Must look away.

 

[Laelkhunter]

If you are concerned about the damaged tip of the 3rd cartridge, try loading them one at a time before firing. That way, none of them will have a damaged tip.

 

[Mike 338]

I shot some 338, 225 gr ttsx the other day. I loaded powder about 2% down from recommended book max. load. Shot 4 rounds at maximum magazine length and got about a 1-1/2" group. Seated next 4 shots .030" deeper and group shrank to 1-1/4". Shot 4 more .020" deeper still (which was about as deep as I could seat that bullet) and was a 3/4" group. Not really extensive testing but I've found that assuming the longest seating depth is seldom automatically the most accurate. Before I do extensive powder charge work-up, I now find a "rough seating depth" that bullet likes and then I work up powder charges in about 1% increments. You can fine tune both seating depth and powder after that. Generally I'll try to find a preferred rough seating depth in .030 or .040 thousandths increments first before I start looking for that magic powder charge. Since my rifles are for hunting I mostly need to load from the magazine so I mostly start at maximum magazine length but if your gun allows, you may want to start .015" off the lands and seat in deeper (shorter C.O.L.) increments until you find what your looking for. Which ever way you do it, one group should be noticeably better.

Note: When I say I start at about 2% below recommended book max charge, I make sure that charge is safe to shoot first by starting lower and working up.