Cell4soul

I've got a lot of .300 SAUM brass if you have the dies to neck it down. I was actually considering re-barreling my .300 SAUM to 7 SAUM next year. Either way, you are welcome to some brass if it will work for you.

Not sure if anyone is interested, but I just found and ordered 8 lbs of H4350. The website shows it is still in stock. I would have ordered more, but broke from all the other stuff I have been buying. This is a dang expensive hobby, but worth every penny. https://reloadingunlimited.com/product/hodgdon-h4350/

Note to self: don't plan on going to the range to test loads at 6:00 am on a Sunday when you are at a buddy's house on Saturday smoking brisket and consuming enormous quantities of adult beverages. Sunday was a bad day at the range. Pics below with the COAL that I think will be promising. The 5 shot groups were not good, but I know I was shooting horribly. Minus the fliers, which I am confident are my fault, the 2.797 and 2.817 each had 4 of the 5 shots in a pretty small group. This is fairly consistent with my charge weight tests where I had a group at .67" with a case length of 2.793 with 43 grains of RL-17. I think I am going to run the tests again and jump in .002 or .003 increments from 2.790 to 2.820. I dropped the gun off to put the Bell and Carlson stock on and have the action bedded. Thanks for your feedback.

I've heard Lapua Brass is the best. I went with the Norma brass. The last time at the range when I was testing, I shot some rounds of factory Hornady 140 grain ELD Match because I didn't want to start my tests on a cold bore. The 140 ELD Match had primers blow out of the brass on 3 separate rounds. I am not sure if it is the brass or not, but it definitely makes me glad I didn't stick with Hornady factory.

Awesome write up. I just learned a lot from reading that. Should make the next time I develope a load much easier. I am gonna start working on my model 7 in .300 SAUM soon. Thank you sir!

I loaded up some rounds for seating depth tests. I am starting to teach my step son to reload. We loaded 10 rounds each starting at .02 off the lands and jumped .02 from there. I will shoot 2 five shot groups with each. If I find an accurate seating depth from there, I will work up or down in .005 increments. That is the plan at this point. Tomorrow I will test the loads.

The gun is a stock Savage Model 10 Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor and topped with a Leuopold VX-6 3x18-44 with fire dot reticle. It will do its' job if I do on deer and antelope this year. I drew 3 deer tags and 1 antelope tag in Wyoming. Still waiting for my draw results in 36B.

I've already purchased 300 of these bullets, so I am going to see if I can't find a consistently accurate load. I was really hoping for a bullet around 130 grains with a fairly high BC. My best five shot group measured around .67" center hole to center hole, so I am hopeful that seating depths and better shooting on my part will shrink that group. I haven't done any work to the gun but I do have a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock I will be putting on the rifle and have it bedded. My goal is consistent 1/2" groups. The good news is, I enjoy both reloading and shooting, so if I can't reach my goal of .5 MOA, then I get to start all over again with a new bullet. Thanks for the feedback.

I appreciate the info. I think I am going to load up 40 rounds and start at .025 off the lands and jump in .02 increments. I will load 10 rounds of each and shoot 5 shot groups 2 times with each. Once I find out which of these shoots best I will work it up and down from there in .005 increments.

Do you find that being really close to the lands gives you significant pressure increases?

I am going to mess with seating depths using the 43 grain load. Book COAL for the 6.5 Creedmoor is 2.825. I sized some brass, cut a slit down the neck, lightly seated a bullet by hand, the chambered the round and closed the bolt slowly. I came up with a COAL of 2.877 on 3 separate tests with 3 separate bullets and cases. I put 3 rounds into the magazine and they fed fine at 2.877. For you that reload, where woul you start for a COAL? In what increments would you run your seating depths, .010?

No buck tag but did manage to draw a doe tag in 73. Also drew a 3 deer tags. Can't wait for this hunt, the freezer will be full again!

Being new to reloading, I really appreciate your post.....good work. I will being keeping track of this one to gain some more knowledge from your expertise.

Looks like there is a fire burning down in 36b. I hope they can contain it quickly. This is where I put in for tags. http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4793/

Thanks for the clarification. Hunting season can't come soon enough.

Here are some pics of the groups. I think that 43 grains looks promising. These are all 5 shot groups. I think that some of these flyers are operator error and not the load itself. I could tell immediately on several of the shots that I had jerked or I was off when I pulled the trigger. The group at 40.9 and 42.7 both have 2 bullets in the same hole, so they look like 4 shot groups. The 43 grain group measures my 5 shot group at .65" from center hole to center hole. I am tempted to go with this load as it is accurate and will be at the higher end of velocity. I am thinking of loading up some more rounds in .2 increments instead of .3 and work up to max load at around 43.6 grains. I think this will help verify my 43 grain load. Once I find the load I want to shoot, I will play with seating depths. What gauges are you all using to set seating depth? All advise, suggestions and expertise are welcome. As I previously stated, this is all new to me and I want to do it right. Here are the pics:

Thanks for the info. I have loaded 5 round of each grain quantity. I am looking for accuracy, so maybe my terminology regarding "ladder test" is incorrect. This is all new to me. I wanted to go with H4350, but don't want difficulty in finding powder. I will definitely have to check my drops as it gets closer to hunting season. I am heading to the range in Payson tomorrow, so shooting restrictions won't be an issue. Hopefully it won't be too hot up there at 9:00 am. Once I find an accurate load, I will zero at 200 yards, then I will check FPS and plug it into a shooters app to get a rough idea of MOA drops. Then I plan to actually start shooting at range in 100 yard increments to verify drops. This is all new to me, so all input is welcome. Once this gun is dialed in, I will start doing the same for my Remington Model Seven in .300 SAUM.

You can borrow mine. It is the 10 x 10. Not sure it is big enough for 4 if they are gonna set up cots inside. I think it is comfortable for 2 with cots set up. You are welcome to borrow my cots as well, I have 2 cots. I live in East Mesa.

I went with the Norma brass and loaded up a batch of 50 for some ladder testing. This was my first time reloading, so I took my time with it. I bought another 100 pieces of Norma un-fired brass. I am using RL-17, CCI BR2 primers and 129 gr Nosler ABLR. I loaded the first batch at 2.793 COAL. Gonna head up to Payson tomorrow morning to see how they shoot.

Jeeps are good, but if you want a truck with off road capabilities, you get a Dodge Power Wagon. Picture a 3/4 ton truck with Jeep Rubicon qualities. It comes from the factory with full skid plates (not cheap Ford type), 4.56 gearing, selectable lockers front and rear, a 16,500 lb winch 1 ton axle shafts and frame with additional ladder bracing.

I put in my first choice area 73 and second choice area 72.

I want to give a big thanks to the guys over at Outdoorsmans. They were very patient with my dumb questions and took the time to show me all of their options for tripods....really good guys to do business with. I got my 15x56's all set up for glassing now and can't wait for deer and antelope season. I just put in for my Wyoming deer and antelope tags this morning, so fingers crossed. Here is a pic of the new set up.

The Hemi pulls it fine, just not nearly as good as pop ups I've owned in the past.

I have the R-Pod 179 model and like it. I wanted a pop up, but the wife wanted a full bathroom instead of just a cassette toilet/shower. I like the pop ups for how well they tow. The R-Pod tows well compared to larger trailers, but not nearly as good as a pop up. I definitely feel it going up long grades. I am pulling it with. Dodge 2500 Power Wagon with the 5.7 Hemi. I think if I had to do it over again I would have bought a pop up and I am considering selling my R-Pod to do so.