300 WIn mag 215 Berger

[coastbuck]

Just shot some loads I made with the 215 Berger. Probably should of waited for a nicer day but with limited time I have I went for it. Day was 50 degrees dark cloud cover with off and on rain. Started off at 74 grains of h1000 and 30 thousands off the lands cause that's were my 210 loads shot the best and took it up to 76. Also just changed brass to Norma from Hornady which the Norma was averaging 30 grains less. The other thing with the new virgin brass I had pressure marks on the case head all the way up bolt lift was super easy so I was kind of puzzled on that.

74 h1000 coal 3.530 CCI 250
Avg 2714 es 17 SD 9

75
Avg 2771 es 41 SD 18

75.5
Avg 2790 es 24 SD 10

76
Avg 2781 es 23 SD 12
Some cases had marks on case head some didn't but bolt lift was two finger easy and I was getting 2850 avg with the 210 so I went up. 76.5 had a few errors so I didn't get any good data to record.

77 same charge as 210
Avg 2840 es 19 SD 7

77.5
Avg 2867 es 30 SD 12

78
Avg 2896 es 25 SD 12

So question I got is should I try the last 3 charges again in better condition, like what the speed was at 78 maybe fine tune more with seating depth? Just looking for some pointers so I don't waste more components and days cause I'm on a time restraints with my job and weather.

 

[BEEMAN]

Not exactly sure what you are asking. But if you are seeing pressure signs at 78 gr you should back it off. Did the gun not shoot good at 78 gr? Your speed and ES ok? Is the gun a full custom? Barrel length? These will all be deciding factors to velocity and pressure signs. My full custom 300 Win Mag drives the 215 Berger at 3000 fps out of a 26" Brux with H1000. Custom reamer also makes a huge difference. I am using Nosler brass and Federal GM 215 M.

 

[Gord0]

From what I have heard, the Hornady brass is pretty soft. You may see some pressure signs early with it.

 

[coastbuck]

The gun shot fine. 1/2 moa or less pretty much the whole day. I'm trying to get the es down and want to know why the brass would be show pressure signs. It wasn't like everyone in every shot string did it it. Basically one would show pressure out of the group. Gun is factory Remington with some work done to it.

 

[brentc]

Try working around 77 grains, that's where the node usually is and your velocity reflects it's about where it should be. Also, don't discount the effect of changing primers to bring your ES down. The Norma is good brass. Run it until the primer pockets stretch.

 

[brentc]

Another thing to consider is the difference between virgin brass and fire formed. If you saw 2840 in virgin brass, there is a chance you could see an additional 40-50 fps increase and a tighter ES in fire formed brass with the same load. Powder capacity increases when the case is blown out to chamber specs. This is especially true in belted mags headspacing off the belt on the first firing.

 

[coastbuck]

Well brentc I tried a few different primers when I did the 210 loads and CCI seem to be what it like best so I did the Cardinal sin of getting all my brass prep and primers in so the whole lot all has CCI in it lol. My fps was starting to worry me and my es and SD on my loads cause all the info I read about making the switch to 215 was for the better. 77 grains was a nice node I thought also. Well I guess brass picking up some speed from virgin to fire formed is a good thing and bad lol cause I got 80 more virgin pieces left and was hoping to have a load work out and shoot drops before bear season. So looks like I need to find a load with virgin brass hunt then re chronograph my fire formed loads and do drops again or maybe try some fire formed loads and run them. Idk what to do. Maybe I'll do a compression between the two and see what the numbers come out like.

 

[brentc]

Well brentc I tried a few different primers when I did the 210 loads and CCI seem to be what it like best so I did the Cardinal sin of getting all my brass prep and primers in so the whole lot all has CCI in it lol. My fps was starting to worry me and my es and SD on my loads cause all the info I read about making the switch to 215 was for the better. 77 grains was a nice node I thought also. Well I guess brass picking up some speed from virgin to fire formed is a good thing and bad lol cause I got 80 more virgin pieces left and was hoping to have a load work out and shoot drops before bear season. So looks like I need to find a load with virgin brass hunt then re chronograph my fire formed loads and do drops again or maybe try some fire formed loads and run them. Idk what to do. Maybe I'll do a compression between the two and see what the numbers come out like.

Your load shouldn't change much accuracy wise between virgin and fireformed, but it is worth knowing the velocity data between the two.

The Fed 215 is generally the preferred primer for this combination, however it's always worth the time to verify. Like I said before, you're in the right area for powder charge. Take your fired brass and verify the node. I would work with powder charges 76.7, 77, and 77.2 with your best performing components. One of these should give you your desired results.

My Remington 5R printed in the .3s with 5 shots (1.25" group) at 330 yards with a 215 at .050" off the lands with 77.2 grains of H1000 in Norma brass primed with a Fed 215M. Not saying this is what you'll end up with, but it's an example of results obtained in a factory barreled Remington.

You don't have to fireform all of it at once. You can break it down into batches of 25 or 50, once a batch wears out, start the next batch.

 

[coastbuck]

Thanks brentc. I've look for so long for the fed 215 and always seemed to miss them when there in stock that I pretty much gave up on them. I would like to get some to try. I never measured any of my groups from testing but every load I tried was cutting holes. Ya I think I'm gonna fire form half my batch then work loads off of those.

My load with the 210 and Hornady had a slight crunching of powder when seating the bullet and I haven't had that yet with the Norma brass and the 215. So I'm taking it as the Norma has slight more capacity and being lighter and virgin that I had less pressure. Out of those cases that showed pressure will marks start to fade out after a few firings or are they permanently going to be there? Almost all the loading I do I find a good node before max pressure that I just run with it and don't worry about max speed and stuff. I'll try your suggestion and report back waiting for a nice day now.

That's a really nice group. If I got that I would be super stoked. My gun is a Remington 700 lr. It's been pretty much a 1/2 moa gun stock. Factory or reloading, tightened up little but with reloading. Just had it bedded to see if it would help get little more accuracy out of it so this is the main voyage for it. Other than that Holland brake jewel trigger night force base and rings with a vortex scope, saving for a Nightcore. Thanks for the help and I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[coastbuck]

Well got some shooting in today and the node I had earlier at 3.530 with 77 grains of h1000 went up in smoke. Idk if it's the chrony or what. Conditions today was 55 and sunny. Tried charges u talk about in the virgin brass but didn't really have a big time window for resizing and trying 1 fired brass be cause of work and I already had some made up at 3.520 so those are what I shot today and hit a node at 78 grains. So now I'm starting to get tick off lol. Guess I'm just gonna load up at this node and try drops. But anywho got a average of 2873 with a es of 12 and SD 4.