Help with fine tuning my load...

[bwaites]

Using black Sharpie makes it easier to see the nice marks make by the lands.

[RangerRick]

LRR:

No, it wasn't you. I disagree with Bill and Noone. It was the bullet, not the load, neck tension, seating depth, and particularly not the wind. Not at 100. And the groups really are not bad either. Can the 123 Lapua's for short range and test them when you get around 500 where their potential as a hybrid VLD is more likely to be seen.

LR1955

That's interesting. Is there a known reason why bullets would string out horizontally instead of in a circle? Or is it just one of those things that happens and nobody really knows why?

[RStewart]

Hey RStewart, if you do this and only see a mark on one side of the bullet, would this mean? Runout?

I am by no means an expert, but when I only see one or two marks, it usually indicates the lands through throat errosion have worn back. An example, I have a Remmy 700 in .223 I shoot in F-class. I was loading 80 grain Sierras to a COAL of 2.460 and jumping 0.010 to the lands. I was only seeing one mark, so after 3645 rounds and some accuracy degradation, I put a new barrel on it. I now load to a COAL of 2.400 to jump 0.010 to the new lands. Calibers wear barrels differently due to load. Some wear out at 1500 rounds, others over 4000. If you don't see any drop off in accuracy and only see one mark, I wouldn't get overally concerned.

[LRS_Ranger]

Well, I found the key... Switch bullets! I went to 120SMK's and started
shooting ragged holes at 100. Best group of the day was about .23 inches
not counting the one I pulled a half inch to the right because someone
else on an ajacent table broke their shot right before mine and made me
jump. Best groups were obtained with:

120SMK, 30.1 gr AA2520, 2.220 COAL, CCI 450, and Lapua brass.
120SMK, 30.5 gr AA2520, 2.235 COAL, CCI 450, and Lapua brass.

I didn't chrono them (it was raining off and on) but I suspect that they
shoot a similar velocity. Would the 15 thou of seating depth difference
make up for the .4 grains of powder change? So now I will get a bunch of
120's and go to town! I am still going to fiddle with the scenars, most
likely trying something new with each time I go out, but as I'm sick of
shooting groups, I am going to mostly shelve it for now. If I can get my
sticky mitts on some 123 Amax's I'll try those too.

I will try my Scenar load at 600 as well.. maybe it will shoot well a
longer range.

[RStewart]

Best group of the day was about .23 inches
not counting the one I pulled a half inch to the right because someone
else on an ajacent table broke their shot right before mine and made me
jump.

We call those "sympathy shots." Lol!

Glad to see you solved your problem.

[LR1955]

That's interesting. Is there a known reason why bullets would string out horizontally instead of in a circle? Or is it just one of those things that happens and nobody really knows why?

Rick:

Sorry but I have been pretty busy over the last couple of weeks.

Some shooters say if the load is too hot (too high a velocity) you get horizontal stringing. If the load isn't hot enough (too low a velocity) you get vertical.

I see some logic in these statements but don't view them as being predictors so I take them with a grain of salt. Particularly with a Grendel where you won't get real fast speeds to begin with.

I don't view one range session as having any real meaning in terms of load development other than to see if the load is just blasting all over the place or has potential.

I have never seen those VLDs or hybrid VLDs shoot real well at close ranges. A huge waste of money unless you are going past about 500 yards for the most part.

LR55

[LR1955]

Well, I found the key... Switch bullets! I went to 120SMK's and started shooting ragged holes at 100. Best group of the day was about .23 inches not counting the one I pulled a half inch to the right because someone
else on an ajacent table broke their shot right before mine and made me jump. Best groups were obtained with:

120SMK, 30.1 gr AA2520, 2.220 COAL, CCI 450, and Lapua brass.
120SMK, 30.5 gr AA2520, 2.235 COAL, CCI 450, and Lapua brass.

I didn't chrono them (it was raining off and on) but I suspect that they
shoot a similar velocity. Would the 15 thou of seating depth difference
make up for the .4 grains of powder change? So now I will get a bunch of
120's and go to town! I am still going to fiddle with the scenars, most
likely trying something new with each time I go out, but as I'm sick of
shooting groups, I am going to mostly shelve it for now. If I can get my
sticky mitts on some 123 Amax's I'll try those too.

I will try my Scenar load at 600 as well.. maybe it will shoot well a
longer range.

LRR:

I have found that if a 120 Sierra won't shoot then most likely you have a barrel problem. For the .308, if a 168 Sierra won't shoot, most likely you have a barrel problem. Very few guys here have had poor luck with the 120 Sierra. Fewer still found the 120 Sierra to perform poorly while a Lapua performed well.

Shoot the Lapua's at 600 and see what they do. Shoot the 120 Sierra's at the same range and compare.

LR1955

[LRS_Ranger]

I figured that I would update my post with my findings so maybe I can help answer someone else's question. I attempted to do the berger COAL test, and so loaded my 123's all the way down to 2.175" No real change in grouping ability. I looked back over log book and shooting notes, and noticed that I had gotten better groups than most in the 30.1-30.3 gr of AA2520 range. I loaded up 30 or so at 30.1gr and 2.260 COAL. At 600 I can honestly say that if I dropped a point, it was probably me. Between me and a buddy shooting (he wanted to try the grendel for 10 rounds or so) we hit 11 10's and 4 X's. I had an 8 due to me flinching, and a couple 9's due to a bum adjustment I made.

So it appears that I burned the crap out of my barrel for 300 rounds or so just to find out that the 123's don't shoot for crap out of my barrel at close ranges, but are phenomenal at longer distances. I guess that long bullet takes time to stabilize theory just might be right, huh? I'm interested in seeing how these pills hold out a bit further now.