lancetkenyon

Good shooting, and TOTALLY addicting.

Fill in the blanks you cartridge tease! Stock: McMillan Game Scout Action: Win 70 LA Barrel: 28" Bartlein Sendero contour Twist rate: Trigger: Base & Rings: Scope: Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5-27x56 MOA/MOA w. EBR-2C MOA Load info... Brass: Primer: Powder: 53gr. H4831 Bullet: Velocity: 2925fps SD/ES: CBTO/COAL: Jump/Jam:

A 13+# 6.5-.284 must shoot beautifully. How about a little more info on the gun and load?

So let's say factory virgin brass is 2.110" from case base to shoulder datum.You shoot it in your rifle, and they come out 2.124" after firing. If you are reloading for your rifle, you would only want to bump the shoulder back about .002", to 2.122". Not all the way back to 2.110". This is way more important in Standard cases vs. belted magnums, which space off the belt and not the shoulder. I anneal every time I reload a case. Depending on cartridge, you will need to trim every 2-5 firings. Cases stretch when firing and resizing. When you hit max length, trim neck back .010".

I am starting load development for a member here for his Savage LRH in .300WM. We had discussed this previously, and came to an agreement. We discussed brass quality and durability vs. price, bullet design & weight and intended use, and powder choices. We came up with a pretty good game plan in my opinion, so off we go. I supplied the components and gave him receipts and when I picked up his rifle, he had cash in hand. I will be keeping this thread going during load development with photos, and will be keeping the member informed throughout the development too. He agreed that I can share the information here as well, so this is the start of another load development thread. We all know the reason for reloading is not to save money. It is to get the components the shooter prefers to use, and to get the best accuracy out of your gun using those pieces. I already had a set of .300WM Redding dies, and of course the press, scales, trickler, shell holders, hand primer, trimmer, calipers, gauges etc. But 100 pieces of new brass, 2# of powder, 200 bullets, 200 primers, and two 50 round plastic boxes add up to $381.xx when you buy good quality. You can pay more for Lapua brass and Fed GM215M primers, or go cheap and do cheap brass and less expensive bullets too. Component choices are as follows: Nosler .300WM brass (x100) H1000 (x2#) CCI250 Mag primers (x200) Berger .308 210gr. HVLD (x200) I just picked up the rifle last night, so I haven't pulled it apart to clean and reassemble yet. It has about 80 rounds through it per the owner, and he tried $350 worth of factory ammo and was not satisfied with it. So here we go trying to make it shoot well. The only thing I have done so far is brass measurements. I weight sorted the brass, and was very pleased to find a total of .9 grains difference across all 100 pieces. Ranging from 216.8 to 217.7gr. Base to shoulder datum using the .420" insert was pretty close too across 20 randomly sampled pieces. And OAL average was just under recommended trim length for SAAMI specs. SAAMI OAL case length is 2.620", with a trim to length of 2.610". These averaged 2.605". So two firings before needing a trim is expected. Case neck wall thickness was right at .015", similar to most other cases. I recorded all the brass info in the new build notebook for reference. I already had the .300WM dies, so good there.

If I were to buy a readily available factory rifle from a big name store, I have 3 in mind. Leaving out the high end factory rifles like Kimber, Cooper, Sako TRG, Nosler, etc., here are my top 3 in no particular order, for the average Joe. 1. Savage. I have never been a fan of Savage rifles. They have always seemed cheep to me. But the one I just did load development for sure is accurate! I still wouldn't buy the bottom end of their line though. I have seen and handled a bunch. Still not a fan of those at all. 2. Tikka. I have thought about picking one up as a loaned for a while. Just haven't done it yet. Not a ton of aftermarket support if I ever wanted to go crazy on it in the future. They are supposed to be really accurate out of the box. 3. Remington. Still my favorite factory rifle. I know, I know. The LR, Sendero, Alaskan, Mountain, or TI are all way up there in price compared to Savage, but they are really nice factory rifles. Huge aftermarket support if you want to customize them. Honorable mentions: Ruger. The new RPR (Ruger Precision Rifle) is awesome. The American series are cheap and pretty nice. I have had a couple M77s, and all shot pretty well. Not a lot of aftermarket support though.

I have done 3 already. All 3 loved the same load. Not crazy fast, but accurate. I have sighters loaded up for the Ruger in that recipe to testablish out during sight in. Rem or Win brass CCI 250 Mag 62.0 RL22 168 HVLD 2.635" CBTO The M77 LA has a short magazine box, so you can't chase the lands if you want a repeater.

A Schmidt & Bender in their RAL8000 finish would looks really good on that rifle. Just saying. Got any more specs on it? Barrel contour? Weight? Brake info? Plans for loads? That is going to be a joy to shoot, but not to carry. Not that it would stop me. I carried my 14# .300RUM last year for 9 days, and my 15.5# 6.5 SLR for 8 days too.

Looks like a successful hunt. Great photos.

Gila River near Buckeye, Big Lake, Parks in 7W many times, Flagstaff, Williams, Lake Pleasant, Roosevelt Lake, Bartlett Lake, Globe area, Tonto Natural Bridge, Woods Canyon Lake, Willows Springs Lake, Bear Canyon Lake, 39th Ave & 101, Scottsdale, Wickenburg, and probably a few more places I can't think of. I have seen a ton of them.

It is funny, after finishing this load development, I asked myself why I keep spending money on custom guns? Not all factory rifles shoot this well, this one is a true tack driver. Heck, not all custom rifles shoot this well!

Wow. What a shame. Tough way to go.

Look for a thread on load development for a Ruger M77 in 7 Rem Mag pushing a 168 HVLD to start soon. Completely factory rifle.

I finished load development for this rifle. Got 100 rounds loaded up. All fired brass has been resized, shoulder bumped .002", cleaned, annealed, and loaded. Each charge weight was individually weighed to the single kernel of H1000. Each bullet individually seated and measured to within .0005" of target CBTO 2.7800". Scope turrets zeroed for the 200 yard zero. Rifle was cleaned 23 shots ago, so member said to leave it fouled. All information recorded in the ammo box and in a notebook. 21 virgin brass loads marked for identification. Then only difference in the virgin brass loads and the fire formed brass loads is headspacing. The virgin brass has about .013" shorter base to shoulder length. Ready to go home to it's owner.

Someone should put a bullet...or arrow....in them.

.22 or .25 cal pneumatic pellet gun.

Energy = mass x velocity. You go up in arrow weight, you will go down in speed. I say leave it alone if you are shooting well.

No sweat. I drive by every day, and just now had the opportunity to stop in. And saw I missed the grand opening by a day. Letting everyone know they are open. There were 2 more boxes of FED GM210M on the shelf when I left. Guess they went quick.

Your avatar is a smoking good group. Care to elaborate on the gun/load? And shooter? Back to the topic at hand. I got to shoot one in 6.5 Creed. Totally factory, with a 3-9x40 Leupold VX2 on it. It shot a .75 MOA 3 shot group with factory Hornady ammo.

I have never been a big fan of the "bugle" pose. That 4th palmated bull looks like he is on a hot cow, and is one of the coolest forms I have seen. I dig it.

Maybe they have been open. The "Grand Opening" was yesterday though. The store is definitely smaller than the old Goodyear store and the Phoenix and Mesa stores. It is along the lines of the Flagstaff store for size.

How do the Fierce rifles shoot? I know they sell them at Sportsman's Warehouse, but I have never seen any performance first hand, or heard any reviews from anyone I know. I know you work there, so you might be a bit biased, but looking for an honest review.

Wells are not a municipal water source, so no regulation on them like a municipal water source of 10 PPB. 40PPB could be considered "low" in a private well. http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/122-A130/ Not that it means it is safe or unsafe. Apple juice, rice, and other foods have higher levels of arsenic than 40 PPB. Peach/nectarines, apples, etc. all have naturally occurring arsenic in the seeds/pits too.

One with a lot of pretty scenery. Hunting is not always about killing. It is the experience. Looks like the guy had a successful hunt to me.

What was the PPM reading?