300 Norma Improved. Load testing, info, and builds

[rpierce]

So I got some Warner dies in for my 300 norma magnum improved. Ive never seen brass sized that consistently before. Runout on sized brass is under a half thou. Very preliminary testing showed a wide and accurate node at a mild 3145 fps with a 215 berger and 92 gr of n570. I loaded up 91.4-92.6 gr in .2 grain increments. For the ladder test I set the target at 1000 yards and hooked up my Target Vision camera. I started at the higher charge and worked my way down. I didn't let the barrel cool long enough for the 92.2 gr shot. After that I let the Riflekuhl stay in the chamber for 2 minutes between shots. Minus the flier at 92.2 gr there was 3.712" vertical for 6 shots at 1000 yards. 5 out of 7 shots in this ladder test had .877" vertical/ .083 moa. They landed in that tight of a spread with a 20 fps Extreme Spread for a 1.2 gr window of powder. 91.4 and 91.6 gr were .456" apart. Ill be testing 91.5 as soon as we get another cool and calm day.

I used my lightweight 300 norma improved that's under 8lbs without optics. Kelbly action, manners EH1 stock, proof carbon sendero barrel, self timing 5 port, Hawkins bottom metal, Triggertech diamond trigger, Kahles K525i, Modular Evolution bipod w spikes. I had no problem watching the vapor trail as the reticle barely left the 1000 yd target during recoil and always went right back onto the target. I was back in the bulleseye by the time the bullet was halfway to the target.

Rifles are instock and ready to ship.

www.piercisionrifles.com

 

[rpierce]

I did a seating depth test and shot a 3.08" group at 1000 with 91.5 gr of n570 and a 215 berger .020 off the lands. It didn't like .017 off or .023 off. So I have about a .003 window which is about 100 rounds worth of throat erosion. I got some official highpower wind flags also that Im going to put up in the backyard 1000 yd range. I have a shooting tower about 50 yds from the shop that lets me hit 580 yds also.

Side Note: Rifles are instock and ready to ship.

 

[rpierce]

I went back and looked at my notes. For some reason my velocity was about 7 fps slower than it should of been. I got to thinking about how that would be possible considering id shot it a couple days ago and had a different velocity. N570 is extremely temp stable. Like .1 fps per degree. I got to thinking about it and realized that i had left my powder in the powder dispenser for a few days. So to test my theory I opened a fresh jug of N570 and dumped a bunch of powder into my pan and put it on my Sartorious Entris Scale. It is a crazy accurate scale. I can cut a kernel of powder into several pieces and it will pick up the cut kernel. Two days later my 118.484 powder charge weighs 118.338 gr. About .15 gr difference just from sitting in the pan. That's roughly the equivalant of 6-7 fps. That difference isn't from the scale drifting. I took the charge out of the pan and weighed the pan and it was perfectly zeroed. Put the charge back in the pan and it weighed 118.338 gr of powder. My only thoughts as to how this happened is that maybe a coating or something dried off from sitting in the pan for a few days. Ill go and try a load of 91.7 gr and see if that brings me back into the sub inch vertical at 1000 yd node.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Man, you sure are watching things close. Nice rifle, excellent shooting.

 

[rpierce]

Thank you. Ya. The layout of this range is really perfect for fine tuning a rifle. The surrounding landscape blocks a lot of the wind. Also seeing as that its at my house I can test ammo when conditions are perfect. When I head out to the shop at 5am and the winds not moving the leaves at all I know itll be a good morning to test ammo. Ill grab my stuff and start shooting before the sun is up all the way. Zero mirage and zero wind at that point. Its like shooting in a tunnel. I was able to get my 30-28 nosler dialed in perfect as well because of this. .945" at 580 yds for 4 shots. 215 berger at 3050 fps.

 

[snox801]

Man I've had my eye on a 300 Norma improved for a while.

 

[DJ Fergus]

Nice shooting, I bought a kelbly action from you for my 300 norma. Super fast shipping from you, thanks. Ive been shooting 225 eld's & 230 otm with n570. I never shoot more than two rounds back to back and I don't do that often. I usually take about 30 minutes for three shots in hopes of maintaining barrel life. What kind of barrel life would you expect shooting in the fashion that I mentioned?

 

[ANARCHIST]

That land is really nice to shoot not a thing in my area you can see that far, maybe 700yds cross two hills and the wind would not be at all even.

Really nice thanks for sharing.

 

[Killertraylor]

Super helpful info, Ryan. Just checked the load that I settled on for my Piercision .300 Norma Improved you built and I'm running 92.5 of N-570 with the 215 Berger at 3175 fps verified by my labradar. It routinely plunks 5 into the same hole at 100 yards. Most repetitively accurate rifle I've ever shot. Huge accuracy node too - I can slow it down 100 fps and it's still a one hole rifle at 100.

Interesting about the powder drying out - I totally believe it. Before I lucked into a case of N-570, I had a buddy on the east coast load some already fired primer ammo with a pound of it and ship it to me since he couldn't legally ship powder, just ammo. I pulled the bullets and legally had a pound of N-570 to play with. When you dump it from the case, it sticks together in clumps. It definitely has some moisture or something in it so makes sense it would dry up some if left out. Sweet range you have there - not nearly that easy to find a place to shoot 1000 yards for most of us.

 

[DJ Fergus]

So I got some Warner dies in for my 300 norma magnum improved. Ive never seen brass sized that consistently before. Runout on sized brass is under a half thou. Very preliminary testing showed a wide and accurate node at a mild 3145 fps with a 215 berger and 92 gr of n570. I loaded up 91.4-92.6 gr in .2 grain increments. For the ladder test I set the target at 1000 yards and hooked up my Target Vision camera. I started at the higher charge and worked my way down. I didn't let the barrel cool long enough for the 92.2 gr shot. After that I let the Riflekuhl stay in the chamber for 2 minutes between shots. Minus the flier at 92.2 gr there was 3.712" vertical for 6 shots at 1000 yards. 5 out of 7 shots in this ladder test had .877" vertical/ .083 moa. They landed in that tight of a spread with a 20 fps Extreme Spread for a 1.2 gr window of powder. 91.4 and 91.6 gr were .456" apart. Ill be testing 91.5 as soon as we get another cool and calm day.

I used my lightweight 300 norma improved that's under 8lbs without optics. Kelbly action, manners EH1 stock, proof carbon sendero barrel, self timing 5 port, Hawkins bottom metal, Triggertech diamond trigger, Kahles K525i, Modular Evolution bipod w spikes. I had no problem watching the vapor trail as the reticle barely left the 1000 yd target during recoil and always went right back onto the target. I was back in the bulleseye by the time the bullet was halfway to the target.

Rifles are instock and ready to ship.

www.piercisionrifles.com

View attachment 154617 View attachment 154618 View attachment 154619 View attachment 154620

How much twist do you have on this barrel?

 

[CA48]

I went back and looked at my notes. For some reason my velocity was about 7 fps slower than it should of been. I got to thinking about how that would be possible considering id shot it a couple days ago and had a different velocity. N570 is extremely temp stable. Like .1 fps per degree. I got to thinking about it and realized that i had left my powder in the powder dispenser for a few days. So to test my theory I opened a fresh jug of N570 and dumped a bunch of powder into my pan and put it on my Sartorious Entris Scale. It is a crazy accurate scale. I can cut a kernel of powder into several pieces and it will pick up the cut kernel. Two days later my 118.484 powder charge weighs 118.338 gr. About .15 gr difference just from sitting in the pan. That's roughly the equivalant of 6-7 fps. That difference isn't from the scale drifting. I took the charge out of the pan and weighed the pan and it was perfectly zeroed. Put the charge back in the pan and it weighed 118.338 gr of powder. My only thoughts as to how this happened is that maybe a coating or something dried off from sitting in the pan for a few days. Ill go and try a load of 91.7 gr and see if that brings me back into the sub inch vertical at 1000 yd node.

I recently had a similar experience with my 338AM. Haven't shot it in a year or 2 and I keep some powder in an old fridge in the garage that I vented. That's where I happened to have my H50BMG, all same lot#. I live in a dry desert climate with huge temp swings through out the seasons. When I went to shoot my standard 142gr load velocity was 100 fps less than usual. I ended up bringing the charge up 3grs to 145gr now to get things back the way they were. Powder has a certain amount of moisture content and mine had no doubt dryed out somewhat. I'm bringing everything inside now where the temperature is more stable year round.

Excellent shooting and thanks for sharing. The Norma Mag IMP case is something special!

 

[rpierce]

Nice shooting, I bought a kelbly action from you for my 300 norma. Super fast shipping from you, thanks. Ive been shooting 225 eld's & 230 otm with n570. I never shoot more than two rounds back to back and I don't do that often. I usually take about 30 minutes for three shots in hopes of maintaining barrel life. What kind of barrel life would you expect shooting in the fashion that I mentioned?

Your barrel will last over a 1000 no problem. I shoot almost as cautiously. I use a Riflekuhl device between shots and let it cool atleast a minute before the next shot. the barrel never gets warm that way. Im only getting .003 throat erosion every hundred rounds this way.

 

[rpierce]

Super helpful info, Ryan. Just checked the load that I settled on for my Piercision .300 Norma Improved you built and I'm running 92.5 of N-570 with the 215 Berger at 3175 fps verified by my labradar. It routinely plunks 5 into the same hole at 100 yards. Most repetitively accurate rifle I've ever shot. Huge accuracy node too - I can slow it down 100 fps and it's still a one hole rifle at 100.

Interesting about the powder drying out - I totally believe it. Before I lucked into a case of N-570, I had a buddy on the east coast load some already fired primer ammo with a pound of it and ship it to me since he couldn't legally ship powder, just ammo. I pulled the bullets and legally had a pound of N-570 to play with. When you dump it from the case, it sticks together in clumps. It definitely has some moisture or something in it so makes sense it would dry up some if left out. Sweet range you have there - not nearly that easy to find a place to shoot 1000 yards for most of us.

Im glad to see shes hammering for you. Its a sweet setup. Ya. The powder thing surprised me. Im gonna go out and do some more testing soon. Im definitely lucky to have the range in the backyard.

 

[rpierce]

How much twist do you have on this barrel?

Im using a 9.0 tw