Muddyboots
Well-Known Member
They do slide in easier than other bullets but that is from their unique bearing band design they patented which reduces presdure. My thought anyway.
300 wm 10 twist - which hammer hunter
- Thread starter JTH
- Start date
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Loaded up some test rounds last night with Peterson brass, H4350 and the 178 absolute hammers, Starting at 70 grains, will fire through chrono today. I did have a little trouble with neck tension, the bullets are moving after being seated. Thankfully I bought a Lee crimping die on Butterbean's recommendation from another post, this seems to have helped get them stabilized in the brass, but seating depth is not as precise as I'd like. Will post results later.
Ok, posting the results of my first attempt at reloading. All of this was with new Peterson brass in 300 Win Mag Long. Powder is H4350. Primers were CCI (incidentally, I had 2 primer failures out of 40 rounds fired today). Bullet is the 178 grain Absolute Hammer. Started at 70 grains, worked up to 76 grains In 0.5 grain increments. Seated bullets to @3.600 coal, all rounds crimped with the Lee crimping die. The rifle has a 24" barrel and a suppressor. Here's some of the data:
70 grains high 3016, low 3003, avg 3009, sd 6, es 13
72 grains high 3100, low 3086, avg 3093, sd 7, es 14. This produced a 3 shot group of 0.46 @ 100 yards
74.5 grains high 3228, low 3220, avg 3225, sd 4, es 8. This also produced a 0.46 group
76 grains high 3284, low 3276, avg 3281, sd 4, es 8. This group was 0.613.
No signs of pressure, bolt lift was normal, case and primers all look fine.
I'm hooked. Really appreciate all of the help getting me to this point. It's hard to believe I'm getting this kind of velocity out of a 300 win mag and 178 grain bullets.
Any suggestions on where to go from here to dial in for accuracy?
If I switch to Federal primers (or another brand, to gain reliability) will I see a noticeable change to the numbers above? Would I need to drop back down and work my way up to max load again?
70 grains high 3016, low 3003, avg 3009, sd 6, es 13
72 grains high 3100, low 3086, avg 3093, sd 7, es 14. This produced a 3 shot group of 0.46 @ 100 yards
74.5 grains high 3228, low 3220, avg 3225, sd 4, es 8. This also produced a 0.46 group
76 grains high 3284, low 3276, avg 3281, sd 4, es 8. This group was 0.613.
No signs of pressure, bolt lift was normal, case and primers all look fine.
I'm hooked. Really appreciate all of the help getting me to this point. It's hard to believe I'm getting this kind of velocity out of a 300 win mag and 178 grain bullets.
Any suggestions on where to go from here to dial in for accuracy?
If I switch to Federal primers (or another brand, to gain reliability) will I see a noticeable change to the numbers above? Would I need to drop back down and work my way up to max load again?
I settled in at 74.5 grains of H4350. That load has sped up a bit, I think the last time I checked with my LabRadar it was averaging about 3280 FPS with zero signs of pressure, and grouping under 3/4" at 200 yards (0.35 MOA). I'd suggest doing what I did, start at 70 grains and work your way up 0.5 grains at a time, back off if you see signs of pressure. I never pushed it that far, found a great grouping load with phenomenal speed before I maxed out.
