Hi Dosh, yea I guess I had better respond.
Allen,
There is a possibility the freebore and throat angle may be why the VLD won't work for you.
Dosh mentioned me because my friend Dan and I had a custom reamer made with shorter freebore with bullets seated .070" to .100" from lands and a 1 1/2 degree throat specifically for the 115 VLD. That reamer has made 7 barrels to date and all shoot the 115 VLD. All barrels used were 3 groove Liljas. lengths varied from 26" to 28"
All rifles use Norma brass and Fed 215 primers
You asked what powders? The pet load is 72-74 of RL-25 with. (We worked up to max load listed for 115 BT shown in Nosler loading manual which is 72 grs. The Berger VLD with is minimal bearing surface can work with more powder than the BT. Add moly and you can go even higher) All rifles are using moly coated 115 VLD bullets. The 74 gr loads were worked up in 85 degree temps. Outstanding accuracy in all these rifles.
One rifle is using H-1000 which doesn't yield the higher velocity but is very stable in extreme temperatures.
Current barrel on my 257 is using RL-33.
When my first barrel started chewing up VLDs I switched to a moly coated 110 Accubond. Used 84 gr of RL-33 with THIS RIFLE. It was severely worn in the throat area which I believe would have lessened pressures. Got close to 3700 fps with it before it began to foul terribly and took forever to clean. Required 4 foulers then had only 5-8 good shots and it would open up. At that point I rebarreled.
That first barrel was used to learn what bullets other than the 115 VLD would work and with a variety of powders.
Second barrel only uses moly coated 115 VLDs with 83 gr of RL-33. Barrel is 27 1/4", velocity is a stunning 3685 fps. If anyone were to try RL-33 with a 115 best to start around 77-78 grains and work up. Case will be quite full at 83 grs.
Other powders and bullet loads from 28" lilja 3 groove:
100 gr nos bt moly RL-22 69 gr 3600 ave vel
100 TSX moly RL-22 69.5 gr best 3660 ave
I just looked at Nosler's load data and see they list IMR 7828 and H-1000 edging out RL-25 with 115 gr bullets. 7828 is fastest for 110 accubond as well.
If you cannot get the 115 VLD to shoot I would suggest you try the 110 accubond as your first alternative.
Good luck with your new rifle.
