Load development

JMack

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Developing loads for my new to me lightweight rifle, 300 win mag built off a Remington action. It's the most finicky thing I've ever messed with. I did finally build a round that proved a 7/8" @100yd with a 200gr A-frame, .030 jump. The chamber is .10 longer than saami specs. I'm shooting off a Caldwell leadsled. It's a 6.5 lb rifle scoped with a #2 barrel. Am I asking too much and would you be content with it? My buddy has an almost identical rifle, his is in a 300bee, that is half moa and I really haven't seen it shoot anything bad.

I guess I'm used to my tikkas that pretty much shoot anything I stuff in the chamber.

Am I being too picky? Ha!
 
Is your buddy's 300Bee shooting a 200 gr A-Frame? maybe the rifle is not liking the bullet. When I have issues with a 30 cal something, I like to try 180 gr Nosler Ballistic tips. For me they seem to always shoot well in about anything. They are not very seating depth sensitive. Once I have a good shooting rifle with them, then I move on to more expensive higher performance bullets and see what it will do.
 
No he's been shooting 168 and 190 ablrs. I'm not sure I seen any of his groups regardless of charge over 1 or 1 1/4 inch. My tikka T3x sl is similar nothing really over an 1". Makes me want to just stick with tikka, I always seem to tinker much more with Remington's, custom or factory. Maybe its me
 
For me the biggest advantage of a custom or semi custom rifle has been the barrel. A good aftermarket hand lapped barrel shoots better and longer without fouling and is way easier to get clean. Just saying that once you get the custom barrel shooting, it should shoot at least as well as the Tikka and do it longer. Try not to loose faith in it too quickly!!!!

Also your custom barrel is probably a 10 twist and the Tikka is a 11 twist. So the custom should handle bullets heavier than 180 gr better than the Tikka. I would definitely try a lighter bullet with tight manufacturing tolerances. They just usually shoot well. I can believe that your buddy's 300Bee shoots 168 and 190 gr bullets well.
 
Developing loads for my new to me lightweight rifle, 300 win mag built off a Remington action. It's the most finicky thing I've ever messed with. I did finally build a round that proved a 7/8" @100yd with a 200gr A-frame, .030 jump. The chamber is .10 longer than saami specs. I'm shooting off a Caldwell leadsled. It's a 6.5 lb rifle scoped with a #2 barrel. Am I asking too much and would you be content with it? My buddy has an almost identical rifle, his is in a 300bee, that is half moa and I really haven't seen it shoot anything bad.

I guess I'm used to my tikkas that pretty much shoot anything I stuff in the chamber.

Am I being too picky? Ha!

The recoil must be brutal. All that aside, look at h1000 (I'd start about 75) and 210/215 berger. Keep them within 30 thousandths of the lands.
If that won't shoot, look and something mechanical.
 
Recoil is tame its wearing a slim radial brake. I'm going to try some of the 190 ablr. Yes I'm pretty positive its a 1/10 twist. I'm not fully giving up on it yet, just hard to spend time and money tinkering knowing the tikka is sitting in the safe and will hold half moa all day, however the rifle is a pound lighter than the tikka, which will be an absolute joy to carry.
 
Recoil is tame its wearing a slim radial brake. I'm going to try some of the 190 ablr. Yes I'm pretty positive its a 1/10 twist. I'm not fully giving up on it yet, just hard to spend time and money tinkering knowing the tikka is sitting in the safe and will hold half moa all day, however the rifle is a pound lighter than the tikka, which will be an absolute joy to carry.

Never got the 190 ablr to shoot out of my gun. Any weight Berger, 200 accubonds, and 180 ttsx were all sub .5 moa. Good luck.
 
I couldn't get the 190 ABLR bullets to shoot well in my 300 Win Mag. I ended up using theNosler 200 gr Accubond.

I've had mixed results using a lead sled. I now use a front rest and rabbit ear rear bag for testing.
 
H1000 and RL19

The group mentioned above was with the rl 19
You might want to try RL26, I've had very good luck with it in my .300wm's.

Either just load it to mag length and tweak the charge or find a charge that shows good promise, get it as tight as you can and then tweak the seating depth. Either way works well for me depending on the rifle and cartridge I'm loading.
 
I couldn't get the 190 ABLR bullets to shoot well in my 300 Win Mag. I ended up using theNosler 200 gr Accubond.

I've had mixed results using a lead sled. I now use a front rest and rabbit ear rear bag for testing.
I'm not a fan of the lead sled either. The shooter needs to be a part of the equation.
 
Nosler ABLR 210's sucked in my win mag, and I did a ton of load development. I really wanted those to work. Switched to Berger 215's and bam! Half MOA gun, consistently.
 
I've had mixed results using a lead sled. I now use a front rest and rabbit ear rear bag for testing.

Same inconsistent experiences here. For whatever reason load development for my .338-06 (Savage) wasn't upset by the use of a lead-sled and the rifle grouped well with or without it. Had a Remington 700 once that shot horrible groups with the lead-sled, but grouped well shooting on top of Protektor bags. Now I just use Protektor bags exclusively whenever I shoot. I guess some rifles really "complain" when you don't let them do what they naturally want to do.......
 
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