I've attached the first results of my tryout of the 125 gr Nosler partition bullet.
The range is indoor, 100 yds, about 75 deg F.
I used CFE223 powder,
cci450's,
1x fired hornady brass,
Nosler 125 gr Partitions,
seated to 2.252-2.255, which is less than the lands in my rifle
(2.263-2.265 was my measurement for this bullet to lands).
Not that this is the optimum depth, I was trying to ensure I didn't engage the lands yet give as much room as possible for the powder.
I didn't recall until at the range that I had re-adjusted the scope on this rifle slightly so I needed to do some re-zeroing. This I did, with my magnetospeed attached, and using some Vmax-95 loads (30.1 xbr), an accurate and medium-type load for me.
I had loaded 2 each of a ladder of CFE charges, 1 each shot as a speed indicator, then take the magnetospeed off and shoot the remaining 1 each as a ladder to see how they track on paper.
The speed readings I obtained were as follows (I also put them on the sheet next to the shots from the 2d, non-magneto-ladder):
1. 29.3 gr: 2396 ft/sec
2. 29.6 gr: 2420
3. 29.9 gr: 2433
4. 30.2 gr: 2458
5. 30.5 gr: 2485
6. 30.8 gr: 2497
7. 31.0 gr: 2531
After the speed tests, I removed the chrono and re-zeroed, using some more 95 vmaxes. I just wanted to be close to the black dots so the results might look intelligible. (My experience with my MG-speed shows it does cause a POI shift.)
As far as I could tell most of the ejects went 2:00-3:00, either bouncing off of my bag (at 2:00) or straight out to the cube wall at the range. My guess is they are somewhat overgassed but then again everything I've loaded so far has been that way. (The only major fail this trip was my Caldwell brass catcher wouldn't install - I had put the bag's rail attachment onto the rail in the wrong spot - o well, try to watch ejections as they occur...)
Primers do not appear to be flat, or might be just a tad but I haven't punched them out yet. Brass looked normal, much like any other ejects I've done.
The attached pic shows the second round of shots along with speeds from the first round.
I can't draw a lot of conclusions from these results but I think I succeeded in a couple of points:
1. Use of CFE with the 125 partition is definitely a useable powder for my Grendel.
2. Bullet velocities can approach 2500+/- in this rifle (2505 is a node for this one).
3. 31.0 gr might be the start of too hot, b/c the sudden jump (2497-2531, 35 ft/s) is bigger than any other, anyway I sort of expected it to be around 31.0 for me.
As a final step I did a 3-shot of some 123 sst hand-loads I have that closely approach the Hornady factory loads for this gun. The lower one I pulled a bit and again the upper I know I flinched some, but overall it still is ~ 1 moa, even better on some days... So this "x" gives an approximate location as a reference for the session too.
Anyway that's my report for this session.
The range is indoor, 100 yds, about 75 deg F.
I used CFE223 powder,
cci450's,
1x fired hornady brass,
Nosler 125 gr Partitions,
seated to 2.252-2.255, which is less than the lands in my rifle
(2.263-2.265 was my measurement for this bullet to lands).
Not that this is the optimum depth, I was trying to ensure I didn't engage the lands yet give as much room as possible for the powder.
I didn't recall until at the range that I had re-adjusted the scope on this rifle slightly so I needed to do some re-zeroing. This I did, with my magnetospeed attached, and using some Vmax-95 loads (30.1 xbr), an accurate and medium-type load for me.
I had loaded 2 each of a ladder of CFE charges, 1 each shot as a speed indicator, then take the magnetospeed off and shoot the remaining 1 each as a ladder to see how they track on paper.
The speed readings I obtained were as follows (I also put them on the sheet next to the shots from the 2d, non-magneto-ladder):
1. 29.3 gr: 2396 ft/sec
2. 29.6 gr: 2420
3. 29.9 gr: 2433
4. 30.2 gr: 2458
5. 30.5 gr: 2485
6. 30.8 gr: 2497
7. 31.0 gr: 2531
After the speed tests, I removed the chrono and re-zeroed, using some more 95 vmaxes. I just wanted to be close to the black dots so the results might look intelligible. (My experience with my MG-speed shows it does cause a POI shift.)
As far as I could tell most of the ejects went 2:00-3:00, either bouncing off of my bag (at 2:00) or straight out to the cube wall at the range. My guess is they are somewhat overgassed but then again everything I've loaded so far has been that way. (The only major fail this trip was my Caldwell brass catcher wouldn't install - I had put the bag's rail attachment onto the rail in the wrong spot - o well, try to watch ejections as they occur...)
Primers do not appear to be flat, or might be just a tad but I haven't punched them out yet. Brass looked normal, much like any other ejects I've done.
The attached pic shows the second round of shots along with speeds from the first round.
I can't draw a lot of conclusions from these results but I think I succeeded in a couple of points:
1. Use of CFE with the 125 partition is definitely a useable powder for my Grendel.
2. Bullet velocities can approach 2500+/- in this rifle (2505 is a node for this one).
3. 31.0 gr might be the start of too hot, b/c the sudden jump (2497-2531, 35 ft/s) is bigger than any other, anyway I sort of expected it to be around 31.0 for me.
As a final step I did a 3-shot of some 123 sst hand-loads I have that closely approach the Hornady factory loads for this gun. The lower one I pulled a bit and again the upper I know I flinched some, but overall it still is ~ 1 moa, even better on some days... So this "x" gives an approximate location as a reference for the session too.
Anyway that's my report for this session.
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