280 Rem - New Bartlein Barrel - Range Report

[Gus McCrae]

Got to the range this morning to run some rounds through the new barrel. I loaded up 20 rds with a medium charge of R22 (54.5 gr.) with some TSX's to sight in the scope. It only took 5 rounds and I was dead on at 100 yds. I put 5 rounds through the same target of my test loads to check for pressure (TTSX's & 54-56 gr. of R-22). After seeing what the first 10 rounds did...I was pretty happy with the new toy.

The next 6 pictures are test loads shot at 200 yards from a sandbag.

140 TTSX's / 56.0-57.0 gr. R-22 / 0.080'' to 0.100'' off lands / barrel cooled between each shot

There are 1 or 2 loads that show a little promise, but nothing to write home about. I think this barrel will be a shooter once I get a load dialed in and barrel broke in more. I was starting to get a little twitchy towards the end, so that might've had a little to do with the not-so-great groups.

Anyway...if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

 

[Gus McCrae]

Instead of starting another thread, I'll reply to this one with a problem I may have.

I measured a couple of cases, from the loads I shot today, with a Hornady Cartridge Headspace Gauge. The unfired cases measured 2.087'' - fired cases 2.100'' for a difference of 0.013''. This sounds pretty excessive too me.

What is the best way to remedy this? I have quite a bit of brass that's all been fired in either a completely different rifle or this rifle but different barrel/chamber. Do I need load all of these cases with a low-middle powder charge and fire form all of my cases before stepping up the dose?

I had one primer that looked flattened, but the rest of them looked ok (edges still rounded).

Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: I went through all of my 280 brass and measured 4-5 out of each batch (varied from 2-4 fired brass from the previous 2 rifles). Those all measured right at 2.094'' (+/- 0.002''). I have one batch of virgin brass that has been full length sized and it measured 2.097''. It looks like I screwed my FL die down too far and bumped the shoulders back way too much on the batch I shot today. I'm not sure what to do with the 28 rounds I didn't shoot today. I'm thinking tear them down, back off the powder charge a grain or 2 and fire form them.

 

[Shortmagman]

Gus,

I have had great luck with my Remington 700 in 280 Rem and Barnes TTSX bullets. My shooting has been at 100 yard most of the time and my stock gun will shoot three bullets in less than 1/2. When I load Barnes bullets I start at 50thousand off the lands, as stated by Barnes. Many times I do not have to make an adjustment from this. I choose a powder such as RL-22, N165, or H4831 and from the starting powder charge I work up one grain at a time with the bullets all at the same distance off the lands. I look for the best group.
When I find one that looks promising I may move the bullet 20 thousands either closer or further from the lands. I usually move it further from the lands as a first move.

I am sure that your gun will out shoot my stock gun, you will have to develop a great load for it. First I would start with new brass. Using brass from one or two different guns will not produce the best results. I have Remington, Nosler, and Norma brass, but I usually use Remington because in this gun I have not been able to see any advantage using the others.

 

[Gus McCrae]

This is the 4th gun I've loaded with TSX's (or TTSX's) and I too have found they like a heavy powder charge and seated pretty deep. The good loads I've found have all been at least 0.100'' off of the rifling.

Since I can't find any Remington or Winchester brass, I just ordered 100 pieces of Norma brass. It hurts a little to pay a $1 per piece but hopefully the quality will make up for it, but Norma & Nosler are about the only 2 brands available right now.

I've got quite a bit of 3 to 5 fired brass from my previous two 280's and with this headspace problem I've discovered, it might be worth it to send those to the scrap heap.

 

[safarihunter]

I started using 7828 SSC for my 280 and have been getting excellent results. Great accuracy and single digit standard deviation

 

[Gus McCrae]

I started using 7828 SSC for my 280 and have been getting excellent results. Great accuracy and single digit standard deviation

What bullet?