Reloading Question

[scsims]

I have been trying to work up a load for a 30-06, first I tried Varget with the Hornady SST touching the lands, and then .002 off the lands. Best group was about 1.75" and I couldn't get the velocity that I expected.

Then I tried H4350, and got much better velocity and the groups shrank to 1.2" @ 100 yards. This was with the SSTs seated at the .002 mark.

My question: Should I seat them back to .003 to see if I can tighten the groups or since I'm using another powder should I set them back to the lands and start over?

BTW: I'm doing this for my brother and he said that 1.2 is good for him, but if it were me I could rest with that.

 

[barnesuser28]

.001 difference isnt going to change the group size at all. i would move it back in .005-.010 increments

 

[scsims]

.001 difference isnt going to change the group size at all. i would move it back in .005-.010 increments

Move it back towards the lands? Or in the case?

 

[barnesuser28]

away from the lands

 

[boomtube]

You aren't shooting a BR rifle with a BR chamber and BR bullets so attempting to use BR techniques is not only not helpful it's probably hurting you. No sporting rifle shooting common bullets will ever see any real difference in a few thou seating change. IMHO.

Set deeper, perhaps 20 thou off the lands, and develop your best shooting charge. Then test further by seating still deeper in steps of 5 or 10 thou until you get best accuracy. Or until you're maybe .150" off the lands, meaning not all rifles, bullets and powders will give high accuracy no matter what we do.

 

[Trnelson]

What size SST? IMR 4350 is in the right burn rate range for the 06 with several bullet weights. IMO varget is a little on the fast side but still workable. I load the 150 SST .008" off the rifling with Reloder 17 right at 3,000fps in my 06 for consistent .6 MOA. With the 167 Lapua Scenar at 2,900fps it shoots .4 MOA consistently. Several folks have found acceptable accuracy using any of the 4350 powders with several different bullet weights. 30/06 can utilize a wide variety of powders depending on bullet weight. As previously posted I'd start about 20 thousandths off the rifling and move forward .005" until you find the best grouping and refine from there if you want to. You will most likely need to reduce the powder charge if you plan to seat the bullet so it lands righ on the rifling so initial pressure isn't outside the range of safe fun. In a factory gun you won't be able to notice .001" changes very readily, especially if you are still developing a load. Each rifle behaves a little differently tha's what makes it fun. YMMV