Leverevolution-Grendel evolution

[fanofflyn]

One thing you have to remember is that your chamber gets hotter with every round you fire, and if the round sits in the chamber a few seconds, it will be the temperature of the chamber, not the 20 degrees or whatever it is outside. Shoot a round and chrono it, and then shoot ten rounds, and then shoot another round and chrono it, and see. That's why it doesn't help to keep your ammo warm in your pocket on a cold winter day, because by the time you chamber it in a cold gun, it is cold, and will shoot according to that temperature.

--fanofflyn

[sneaky one]

Fano.f --- Terryw4, said it about right. I try to keep my developed ammo, close to a spring & fall temp. range , before and - while I sight it in at my shooting distances - in the cooler months . It all seems to work out just fine . I've shot through many different chamber temps, hot- cold.,.. every gun 's result is so varied. Last yr. I shot my best group in a hurry, before the range closed, the week before deer season opened.... 3 shot's ,as soon as the crosshairs were on target, bang x 3. I posted that group in the 120 gmx threads. I always load my gun ,, then stroll out to the stand to sit for, 1 - 5 hrs. ,, in cold temps., and have never had an issue with the ammo, of any caliber. The guy's that load in hot temps seem to think that heat transfers over to whatever temps they shoot in later,, not possible. Load , by trials- for the temp. - your ammo will be at, when you, shoot, or hunt. Keep it simple.

[fanofflyn]

I don't deny that at all, and I appreciate the observation, but I was merely stating a safety issue in that my ammo is grouped in the temperature that I'm going to shoot also, but I will chono and check for pressure signs in a hot chamber, especially if the ammo is temperature sensitive, to make sure that it is safe. I'm not sure I would use the ammo that is only safe in a cold gun for shooting at the range when my chamber is going to get hot.

-fanofflyn

[SDguy]

i have two CZ 527's that i have tried lever evolution in with Hornady 129 Gr SP with good to great results. The most recent is a factory 6.5 Grendel and sorry and surprised to share this 1 in 8 twist has been much more finicky in terms of finding a charge of LVR that groups well. 31.6 is the best I have seen yet from this rifle. Truly surprised my 1 in 9 twist Lothar Walther barrel has been much more forgiving in terms of finding a load she likes to shoot well. Can't argue w results though.

[LRRPF52]

I just burned a bunch of it today in my Howa Mini 22" under 123gr SST and 129gr SST.

Between 31.4gr and 31.7gr looks to be a good place for me as well under the 129gr SST.

31.4 2530 2523
31.7 2534 2545

That's plenty of performance with a 129gr SST.

[thbogeymann]

Just Did A Quick Safety Spread.

20" JSE 1 in 8
123 gr A-Max
70F nominal Barrel Temp
F1 Chrony @25 feet (Add 11fps to get Muzzle Velocity)
2.265 OAL

---------------------------- 29gr -- 30gr -- 31gr

Lapua CCI #450------ 2280 -- 2301 -- 2434

Starline CCI #450---- 2275 -- 2380 -- 2481

PPU CCI #200---------- 2307 -- 2410 -- 2498

PPU WLR----------------- 2355 -- 2426 -- 2508


Starline is really nice looking brass.

Lapua seems to have variance in flash hole diameter.
(Will investigate further.)

PPU seems to like Winchester Primers.

---------------------------------------------------

Add: Elevation is 7500 feet, air temp was in the upper 60's F ; barrel temp (ranged from 69.3 to 74.9) taken in front of the chamber with Cen-Tech thermometer before each shot.

"Control": Wolf Gold 120 gr MPT ( purchased in 2011-12) averaged about 2510 fps

Relatively new barrel (H-bar), only function tested and rough sighted before test.

I'm -- "All In" -- on this powder for the three Grendels in the family ; even if I have to work up three or four different temperature range loads. (Exclusively 123 gr)

Next ladder testing from 31gr to 32gr in .2 increments. I'll be paying extra close attention to gas performance, where it kicks out the shells, perceived wear and tear, etc.

Goal is to find closest node to 2600 fps to see what velocity these barrels like.

[mdewitt71]

It's a very close copy of CFE223 without the Copper eraser.
I have used LE in 30-30 loads and CFE in .308 loads but, not Grendel yet.
I can tell the difference in recoil, Velocity, and POI when shooting from 20 degrees and 96 degrees in the same loads with both powders so I tend to not use them anymore....

[jrf]

Adding this in as a data point for anyone searching.

I've been trying to work up a load for my 16" Ruger Ranch. Using Barnes 115grn TAC-TXs. Powder availability is uh...difficult at best right now. So using quickload I ran through some powders I had and ended up with a load with Ramshot TAC.

27 was by far the best accuracy giving me .5 moa.
28 just under an inch but almost 90fps more speed.
28.5 group started opening up

I know I could probably tune with seating depth...but.

at 28 I'm getting 2297 fps out of that 16" barrel.

At the local store that had powder on the shelf and saw the LeverEvolution and remembered seeing some loads for it so I grabbed it. Quick workup in quickload and it looked like I should get more speed out of it.

Shot a 30.5 grn charge of LVR with same bullet/depth (2.185) and ended up with an average of 2231fps...AND it had unseated the primers! Brass otherwise looked ok. Obviously wasn't going to work up from there. Anyone else seeing signs of pressure? The above loads are well above mine. I was hoping to get about 2400fps out of these bullets and was thinking LVR was going to get me there.

[LRRPF52]

[Yondering]

When you say, "unseated the primers", do you mean they blew out?

My question exactly. Did it expand the primer pocket so the primers fall out, or did it back the primer out of the case? Because backing the primer out is a sign of low pressure, not high pressure. Expanding the primer pocket of course is a sign of extreme high pressure.

[jrf]

No it pushed the primer out past flush with the case head. Lapua brass.

I worked up a load with TAC but found the LVR and thought it might give a bit more speed. I choose those loads based on quckload and shot over a chrono. Mostly to see if I could get better speed than TAC before I did an actual ladder test. Sorry it's not clear from my post. I didn't jump from 28 to 30.5. The 28 was my TAC loadings. The 30.5 was my workup when I had the primer push out. It's definitely not under pressure. I basically stopped there and felt no need to continue testing LVR as the results weren't as good as with TAC. I also have subsequently tried Varmint and got very similar results to TAC (maybe to be expected based on burn rate)

Anyone else running this powder with that bullet having a different experience?

[Mad Charlie]

"No it pushed the primer out past flush with the case head."

Usually means lower pressure loads coupled with greater than desirable headspace. Hard to say without photo.

[Yondering]

No it pushed the primer out past flush with the case head. Lapua brass.

I worked up a load with TAC but found the LVR and thought it might give a bit more speed. I choose those loads based on quckload and shot over a chrono. Mostly to see if I could get better speed than TAC before I did an actual ladder test. Sorry it's not clear from my post. I didn't jump from 28 to 30.5. The 28 was my TAC loadings. The 30.5 was my workup when I had the primer push out. It's definitely not under pressure. I basically stopped there and felt no need to continue testing LVR as the results weren't as good as with TAC. I also have subsequently tried Varmint and got very similar results to TAC (maybe to be expected based on burn rate)

Anyone else running this powder with that bullet having a different experience?

[jrf]

PXL_20201216_153126349.jpg

Primer.

Maybe the data I have for LVR is off and quickload is off. I'm seeing loads here with 31.5 with 123grn bullets. But still 30.5 should by no way be low pressure. Using the same brass/primers as my other loads. Lapua/FED SRP

[Mad Charlie]

Was the case neck/shoulder area sooty? That photo looks like a good example of low pressure and a little too much headspace.
Since I don't have it in my hands, it's a little hard to measure the primer protrusion. How much are you setting the shoulder back?