Josh06
Well-Known Member
Good morning - want to get the opinion of the great members of this forum. I plan to try elk hunting in the fall so I put my 280ai on a diet with a lightweight scope and got a 20" cf barrel. My plan is to make up for short barrel by using Hammer 172 AH, trying to achieve 24-26" barrel velocity out of the shorter barrel. Went out last weekend and shot a short ladder with 6.5 staball in peterson brass. Only shot 1 for each load to get an idea of velocity and pressure, see below.
56.5 - 2814
57 - 2826
57.5 - 2868
58 - 2885
58 didn't show any signs of pressure but then 58.5 pierced the primer so I think 58 is max. 57, 57.5 and 58 created one ragged hole at 100yrds so I know I can find a good load in there around 2850ish. I think I should be happy with that and it would be above 2000fps out to 500 yards (which is max I feel confident shooting at animals right now). I've got 4000MR which is faster that I could try to chase some more velocity with but do I need to?
56.5 - 2814
57 - 2826
57.5 - 2868
58 - 2885
58 didn't show any signs of pressure but then 58.5 pierced the primer so I think 58 is max. 57, 57.5 and 58 created one ragged hole at 100yrds so I know I can find a good load in there around 2850ish. I think I should be happy with that and it would be above 2000fps out to 500 yards (which is max I feel confident shooting at animals right now). I've got 4000MR which is faster that I could try to chase some more velocity with but do I need to?