300wsm reloading help

[fatski]

Hello everyone. I could use some help making sure I am going in the right direction here.

My rig - Tikka T3 in 300wsm with 24" barrel. Have 2 Hells Canyon Armory Tikka T3 Billet Mags so I can load bullets closer to the lands.
Reloading Barnes 175g LRX in front of either RL 17 or H4350.
Have 100 cartridges cleaned, sized, deburred, primed with CCI lg rifle primers.
Gonna load bullets .05 off the lands as Barnes suggest and work up powder load.
After I find the right powder load then play with jump.
For RL 17 Barnes has a range of 58.8 - 65.4 in powder weight. There is no data for H4350.
This will be a hunting load for elk/deer. Max range will be 500 yards or so.

Questions:
1 - Most importantly am I on the right track here? Powder and bullet choices.
2 - Where should I start with the RL 17? In what increments?
3 - How many cartridges should I load for each increment? Is 3 enough?
4 - What is your progression when at the range? Shoot a fouling round then shoot first 3 rounds one after the other or wait for barrel to cool between each round then move on to next 3 rounds of a different powder weight? Should I run a dry/wet patch through barrel after each round of 3?
3 - Any favorite loads for either RL 17 or H4350 would be greatly appreciated.
4 - Has anyone seen data for H4350 for this bullet?

I really appreciate any help I can get. Thanks in advance!!

 

[Ross1147]

So I have worked with everything you are asking about, just not together.lol.

I just recently got done working up a load of the 175 LRX in a Tikka T3 308. I started like they said, .05 jump and used different charges. I worked my way up by .5 (4 rounds each) up to book max. None of the groups were very good so I took the group with the best ES. I then used the Berger seating depth test and got a sub MOA group with .003" jump (I know Berger doesn't list this as a jump for hunting but I don't like starting at .010). So if .050 doesn't work move it in and out a little to see if it tightens up.

Now on to the 300 WSM and RL17. I use RL17 in bullets under 190grn, everything over I use RL26. I just went to the range the other day with cutting edge 180 grn MTHs. I started out @ 62grns of RL17 and worked up to 65.5. 65.5 got me right at 3200fps. None of the groups were all that interesting so I'll probably stick with the best ES (62.5grns has an ES of 10, SD of 4.9). Now next range period I'll move the bullet in and out a little. cutting edge are a little different with the pressure band so max jump I'll be able to get will only be about .020.

I always try to let the gun cool down between shots. If you don't have the time then wait at least between groups. This is where bringing another gun to shoot comes in handy. You can switch guns and keep shooting so ADD doesn't kick in.lol

 

[aushunter1]

I like how you have come out with all the questions/specifics in one go

I just finished a quite a few rounds of LD for a 300wsm in a Browning BLR but its with 150gr projectiles because most of our game is not really the size you guys have at your doorstep over there.
So never used any RL powders as I like to use what is local Australian & readily available all year round in our ADI powders, which actually supply to Hodgdon here are several to name a few-H4831(ADI 2219sc), Varget(ADI2208), H4350(ADI 2209).

Anyway to some of your questions.

They will all work as long as they have come out of a manual, personally as projectiles get heavier I prefer to go to the slower side of the burn rate choice when their are several in the range.
Not sure why but they just seem to do better?

I load a minimum of 4 at the charge & increments of .3 or .5 depending on what the span is from min to max load.

Shoot a few fouling shots & let it cool then start your tests, your generally only shooting 20/24 odd shots so don't clean the barrel in between otherwise you need to fire fouling shots again!

Also someone else's fave load even for the same projectile is no good to you anyway as its all about how it goes in your rifle.
There is no substitute to just doing it how its supposed to be done as in working up the loads, at your CBTO, with the action torque/bedding in your own rifle!!

Frankly I don't understand when people ask for other peoples pet loads!
They mean nothing in your rifle!!!!

Good luck

 

[coop2564]

I have not tried 4350 but 4831sc works very well in my 300wsm using 181gr hammers 69gr gives me 2990fps .7moa 5 shot.

 

[fatski]

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it!

I do not own a chronograph so the whole SD/ES thing is out for me (well actually I own a piece of &^%t one that I use to test arrow speed for my hunting bow). I would purchase one but out of my budget range right now. All about hunting right now.

Any ideas as to where I should start loading the H4350 since Barnes has no load data for this powder using the 175g LRX? Or maybe I should just stick with the RL 17 for now?