ADG Brass and Loading 300 Win Mag

[Double Dropper]

Been playing with 4 powders, Hornady 200 and 212 grain ELD-x and new ADG brass. Its nice stuff and very consistent. New brass so its obviously not fire formed or at max internal capacity. All the loads I have tried to date were started low and worked up high. Frankly the primers all look the same, some slight flattening but nothing concerning, easy bolt lifting and no extractor marks to speak of.....maybe a tiny one lol with 74.5 grains of RL-25 and the 212 ELD-X, how hard should one push the envelope? Keep going til I see some real signs? With this tougher brass how have others experienced pressure signs? My rifle loads to date (safe in mine only) 212 ELD-x 77 grains of IMR 8133, 76 grains of H-1000 and 74.5 grains of RL-25, just starting some with Retumbo.

 

[Elk Hunter 338]

pressure is pressure .. no matter what make the brass is. if your seeing any kind of ejector mark your a gr to high
id drop the rl25 load that powder is temp sensitive as it gets.
the h1000 load is spot on for bullet weight id run that find accuracy

 

[Double Dropper]

Getting better results with the 8133

 

[Elk Hunter 338]

if that's the case then I would use 1x fired brass and go up until I see an ejector mark, click at top or hard bolt lift … then decrease by a gr and shoot it!!

 

[MagnumManiac]

Best part of using thick brass is that you use less powder for the same pressure/velocity than thinner brass.
The first runs of Nosler brass were Federal, thick but extremely soft.
Had ejector marks in those a full 3gr below max in every book I've ever seen.

ADG is great, but thick, which is good, but bad, as you run out of case capacity with bulky powders.

Cheers.

 

[Double Dropper]

Bulky powders, lol you bet, RETUMBO, 8133, H1000 all full to the base of the neck.

 

[Okanogan]

I normally run Norma brass and H1000 and RL26 with 215 Bergers in my two 300WMs. I do have some ADG brass and like it but it is easier for me to stick mostly with one brand of brass. When I loaded up the ADG brass, it shot well for me but needed about 1-1.5 grains less powder to achieve the same results as for my Norma brass. Your loads with H1000 and RL25 look pretty similar to the loads I use with Norma brass which would make them pretty warm in my rifles if I were using my ADG brass. YMMV

If it were me, I look for what shot well in terms of accuracy and SD/ED at about where you are or a little lower without trying to push the envelop until you see signs of problems. Whether you are shooting steel, paper or game, I don't think you gain much with a few fps if it comes at the expense of accuracy or consistency. Having a little longer brass and barrel life isn't a bad thing either.

 

[Double Dropper]

Leaning towards RL-25 as it is the least compressed and does shoot well.

 

[jebel]

In my experience, the pressure point with new brass is different from the pressure point with FF brass. For that reason, I don't even try to find pressure until the brass is FF. I use shooting new brass to experiment with seating depth and run some scope tests (if the scope is new).

 

[Okanogan]

If you can find it, RL26 might give you similar fill ratios with less temperature sensitivity. Not that I'm trying to talk you out of RL25.

For what it is worth when you get around to fine tuning, I find CCI250s give me better SD/ES with RL26 than the F215Ms I normally use with H1000. Just suggesting that trying different primers might help if you are looking to cut SD/ES at some point during load development. As others have pointed out fine tuning is best done with fire formed brass.

 

[Double Dropper]

I have switched to CCI 250 primers as I have been back and forth with both Fed 215GM and the CCI and feel the same. Second RL-26 is impossible up here in Canada. I loved it and much preferred it over RL-25 but it has been unobtainable for over a year. H1000 is the other powder but the RL-25 has been more consistent with respect to grouping. It is what it is. As far as temp sensitivity, I have a range off the back deck of my house, shoot regular and will be confirming the load outside in the ambient conditions. I worked up a load last night with RL-25 and 190 grain Berger VLD's and it ended up grouping better than the ELD-X?? Just the way it goes. I can get H1000 and RL-25 here in Alberta pretty regular.