Noob reloading process question

Hi guys,

Given people's willingness to help, here are my specifics. I'm trying to get back into hunting with my Uncle in Nevada. I have only hunted deer once in my life and it was with a TC contender in .45 colt at 25 yards. I'm from a county in southwest Minnesota that does not allow rifles. Western hunting is about as different as you can imagine so I wanted to invest in one gun caliber that is as flexible as possible, so I got a .300 win mag. The rifle is a CVA Cascade, nothing fancy as I didn't want to worry about it getting beat up in the back of the buggy or quad when putting on the miles out on BLM land. Spent more money on the glass than the rifle with a Meopta Optika 6 4.5-27 scope and I knew I'd want a brake, so bought an EC Tuner brake.

Like others have mentioned, I had a bullet in mind when I started this journey. I was/am very interested in Norma's 180 bondstrike, so I picked up a box. I did my initial development (after barrel break in) with H4831sc in .3 grain increments. Each 3 shot group shot around 1" with a little more averaging 1.25 than 1". However, the .30cal Bondstrike bullet (not the loaded ammo) has not been for sale for over a year so I don't want to do a lot of development on a bullet that is unreliably available and I don't have a stock pile of. So I just picked up a goodly amount of 165 Hornady Interbonds from Grafs the other day. So for those who have offered to suggest load data, I am greatly appreciative as I don't have enough Bondstrikes left to finish tinkering and then doing what I really need to do which is practice. So I'm starting over with the 165's. Here are the details:

CVA Cascade .300 Win mag.
Hornday 165 Interbonds (not interlocks)
New Lapua brass
CCI 250 Primers
Powders available for me to try: H4831sc, IMR 4350, H4350, RL19, RL22, RL 25, Superformance.

I have received one load recommendation in a different thread based on his experience with the 165 grain interbond in a .300 win mag and his load was based on IMR4350. If there are other "this usually work for this bullet / caliber" loads out there, please feel free to suggest them. As I mentioned, my biggest limitation is now time, so if ya'll can help me shortcut that with some suggestions, I'd be appreciative.
 
Last edited:
Anthrops said:
Hi guys,

Given people's willingness to help, here are my specifics. I'm trying to get back into hunting with my Uncle in Nevada. I have only hunted deer once in my life and it was with a TC contender in .45 colt at 25 yards. I'm from a county in southwest Minnesota that does not allow rifles. Western hunting is about as different as you can imagine so I wanted to invest in one gun caliber that is as flexible as possible, so I got a .300 win mag. The rifle is a CVA Cascade, nothing fancy as I didn't want to worry about it getting beat up in the back of the buggy or quad when putting on the miles out on BLM land. Spent more money on the glass than the rifle with a Meopta Optika 6 4.5-27 scope and I knew I'd want a brake, so bought an EC Tuner brake.

Like others have mentioned, I had a bullet in mind when I started this journey. I was/am very interested in Norma's 180 bondstrike, so I picked up a box. I did my initial development (after barrel break in) with H4831sc in .3 grain increments. Each 3 shot group shot around 1" with a little more averaging 1.25 than 1". However, the .30cal Bondstrike bullet (not the loaded ammo) has not been for sale for over a year so I don't want to do a lot of development on a bullet that is unreliably available and I don't have a stock pile of. So I just picked up a goodly amount of 165 Hornady Interbonds from Grafs the other day. So for those who have offered to suggest load data, I am greatly appreciative as I don't have enough Bondstrikes left to finish tinkering and then doing what I really need to do which is practice. So I'm starting over with the 165's. Here are the details:

CVA Cascade .300 Win mag.
Hornday 165 Interbonds (not interlocks)
New Lapua brass
CCI 250 Primers
Powders available for me to try: H4831sc, IMR 4350, H4350, RL19, RL22, RL 25, Superformance.

I have received one load recommendation in a different thread based on his experience with the 165 grain interbond in a .300 win mag and his load was based on IMR4350. If there are other "this usually work for this bullet / caliber" loads out there, please feel free to suggest them. As I mentioned, my biggest limitation is now time, so if ya'll can help me shortcut that with some suggestions, I'd be appreciative.
Click to expand...
First, always take the tuner off when doing load development. Once you get your best load, reinstall it and final tune. Try RE-22 with the 165's. I think you'll see a difference.
 
@Rflshootr thanks for the tip about taking the tuner brake off. Is the reason because a load might shoot well without the tuner, but adding the tuner might make it worse and I would blame it on the load and not realize it's the tuner on the wrong setting? I haven't heard that advice before so I'm just trying to under the "why" behind the advice. Thanks!
 
Everyone has their own experience with breaks and tuners, but my advice would be to leave the tuner break on. Your results could be completely different without the brake as the recoil impulse (and the amount of recoil) will be completely different.

The only way I would develop a load without the brake on is if I was planning on hunting without the brake.

Just.my two.cents.
 
I've never used a tuner with a brake, just regular tuners without a brake. That is the way I have always done it. But now thinking about what Bang4theBuck said, if E.C. offers an initial setting to use, then go with that. A muzzle break alone can change the load completely. Otherwise, yes you may be screwing up the harmonics if the tuner adjustment is way out of whack.
But, try the RE-22. it is my go to powder for a 300 Win with 165/168 grain bullets.
 
Last edited:
Rflshootr said:
I've never used a tuner with a brake, just regular tuners without a brake. That is the way I have always done it. But now thinking about what Bang4theBuck said, if E.C. offers an initial setting to use, then go with that. A muzzle break alone can change the load completely. Otherwise, yes you may be screwing up the harmonics if the tuner adjustment is way out of whack.
But, try the RE-22. it is my go to powder for a 300 Win with 165/168 grain bullets.
Click to expand...
What sort of velocities do you typically get out of a good load of RE-22 with 165/168 class bullets? I've got a friend that is just getting ready to start developing loads and I think I saw the Reloader 22 available somewhere
 
Everyone is pointing you in the right direction on a powder. You could even try something a little slower too, I know there are some powders available often where I'm at that work well in 300 Win Mag. I've used MagPro for 168gr projectiles and had decent luck. I'd also be looking for some H1000, otherwise go with the slower powders that you have like the Re22 or Re25.

Maybe instead of going down in bullet weight you should've picked up some 180gr Interbond or ELD-Xs or really anything in the same weight, then you'd have a better starting point if you go back to the bullet you wanted to shoot.
 
the size of your group and the direction will give you an idea about what to work on. if the group is up and down try powder charge .2 grain at a time and if your group is left to right try seating depth. bullet makers are good people to call for info.
 
Anthrops said:
Thanks everyone. We have a decent supply of RL 22, so that will be our first choice.
Click to expand...
You'll save yourself a lot of time, money and frustration if you take a recipe that has been proven to be effective with several others and fine tune it yo your rifle than trying to create a new load with components that aren't commonly used for your cartridge. As always, start low and work up.
 
Imr4350, start with mild load, seating depth test at 100 yds. Then powder test. Then adjust tuner. Done.
 

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