Help with factory Savage 300wsm

[Timber338]

I'm helping a friend work up a hunting load for his new Savage weather warrior 300wsm. The throat is cut really short so you can seat close to the lands and still fit in the magazine box. He bought some 212 ELD-X's and the rifle sure pressures up fast. Even factory Nosler ammo that he used to break in the barrel was showing flattened primers and awful groups.

The 212's shot pretty good with RL-17 way down at 55 grains of RL-17. But only 2640 fps. I know that long bullet is eating up a ton of case capacity.

What I'm wondering Is if anybody has experience with a factory 300wsm like this and if any particular powder is a better choice over RL-17. I'm going to talk him in to the 200 ELD-X but that bullet is not all that much shorter. I was hoping to get him up to 2800 fps with good accuracy but powder selection has to be ideal. I have RL-19, RL-22 (guessing that's too slow), H-4831sc, H-1000. Would any of those he better than RL-17? Even 2800 is slow for a 200 grain bullet in a 300wsm, but that's the luck of the draw with a factory rifle....

Thanks for the help guys!!

 

[Barrelnut]

I haven't seen the ELD-x stuff yet. But I would probably try a 210 VLD with the RL-17. I assuming that the 210 VLD has a smaller bearing surface and the VLD design will allow getting closer to the lands and free up some case capacity. As long as you don't have to jam them to get them to shoot.

That long power curve of the RL-17 will help. Also might look at Superformance. It supposedly is a lot like RL-17 with a long power curve, but think a bullet change is really the way to go.

 

[TexSavage]

I'd also look at the Berger 215 Hybrid VLD and the 185 VLD's. My Savage 12 in 300WSM likes them both. I am also using H4831SC and I'm getting velocities of 2850 and 3005 fps respectively. There are also a lot of folks using H1000. Both powders are not temp sensitive and to date I have seen no excessive pressures. I have experienced .5 MOA at 550 yards with the 185's. I'm just now working on the 215's but I expect even better performance from them in multiple areas. Good Luck!!

 

[300 Driver]

I shoot a Factory Savage 12 BVSS in 300 WSM 26" 1:10" varmit profile factory barrel.
At sea level.

215 Berger
61.8 gr R-17 or 66.7gr R-26(this R26 is a load direct from Berger staff)
2.95 COAL
Win WLRM
win brass with about 7 loads(do have some loose pockets starting to show up)
Both loads shoot about 2840fps and half MOA all day. Verified out to 600 holds .5 MOA.

Based on my experience, the 300WSM can run the 215 Bergers all day long. As of yet it has only taken targets and deer, but it has exceeded every expectation I had.

 

[jpd676]

I'm shooting a Savage Bear Hunter in 300wsm with the 208 amax. I tried several powders and got around 2650 fps. Re-17 gave a little better speed but not accuracy. I settled on 4831sc and am getting 2700 fps. I have a friend with the same rifle and he is shooting a 208 amax at just over 2700 fps with H1000. I wouldn't get too hung up on speed and just load for accuracy. With a 200 gr bullet you still have plenty of power for hunting at longer ranges. Most people I know getting awesome velocities in a 300wsm with a 200+ grain bullet have a custom barrel with a longer throat.

 

[Timber338]

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I think I'm gonna give H4831 a try and a few different bullets a try including some Bergers. We'll see what I can figure out.

 

[FEENIX]

I have 212 and 220 ELD-X but haven't had a chance to play with them yet. For what it is worth, I have a factory (except for MB install) Savage 11 FCNS in .300 WSM that propels 215 Berger with 60g RL-17, 9 1/2M, WW brass, 2.197" CBTO, .080" off the lands, 2750 FPS MV.

The loaded yielded http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/300-wsms-first-kill-161761/

Good luck!

Ed

 

[dougduey]

I have a Sako 75 in 300 WSM with a 1:11 twist. It shoots the 200gr ELD-X into one ragged sub moa hole at 100 yards with 62.8gr or RL-17. It wasn't until I set the OAL to 2.855 from my usual OAL of 2.860 that the group tightened up to the sub moa group, so you may want to play with seating depth once you find a decent accuracy node. I put it over my magnetto speed chrony to get a 2952 fps average with an SD of 9

 

[Rick Richard]

I had luck with this recipe.

 

[Timber338]

I had luck with this recipe.

Just to check, I couldn't read your hand writing are you .000 off the lands or .080 off the lands?

This is all helpful just in that it really seems my buddy got a bad-shooting rifle. His throat is incredibly short, I cannot seat the 200+ grain VLD style Bullets more than about .045 away from the lands or the ogive of the bullet starts to drop into the neck of the case. And with the 212 ELD-X and the 200 Berger VLD, his gun reaches max pressure around 56-57 grains of RL-17 at only about 2650 fps. You guys are all getting more gunpowder and much higher velocities...