Christmas Reloading CHALLENGE/KARMA!

55_grain

55_grain

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Green members only, please!

The good news: I'll give you a dozen free bullets! Better yet, I'll give you a dozen free 163-grain .30-cal M2 AP bullets! I'll even pay postage! [smile]

The Challenge:
1. You must reload these into any .308" cartridge (.30-06, .308, 7.5x55 Swiss, 7.5x54 French, .300 Savage, and so on)
2. You must shoot 5 of them for a 100 yard group. You can use the others for load development or whatever you want.
3. You must also shoot a 5-round group of your "usual" cartridges as a control group.
4. You must post a pic of your targets on this thread as well as some details of the caliber and powder type used.

The bad news: The bullets are ugly! Most have dented tips, and may have other nicks and dings. They are all .308 diameter and usable, but they're ugly.

For inspiration, read this well-done article on shooting deliberately-damaged bullets.
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot49.htm

IMAG1357.jpg

These are the actual projectiles I'll be mailing out. 12-piece lots will be personally hand-selected by a small child.

Green reloaders, post "IN"...I'll choose 3 random members on Christmas!

(I will do the same challenge with a 4th hand-selected-by-a-child batch of projectiles.)

Merry Christmas!

55_grain
 
Interesting idea. My only comment is that if there is an accuracy difference between your bullets and my SMK or Nosler Match bullets, its probably only .25 to .35 MOA or so at best. Statistically you'd have to shoot many 5 shoot groups to measure that kind of difference, unless you really mangled them like the BOT guys did.

I've done this experiment on my own stock, I got some repeatable data...after I shot about fifty 5 shot groups (albeit my bullets weren't beat up, just non-match hunting bullets). Overall the idea sounds fun.
 
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I agree that it's not statistically significant, but it's more fun this way!

I'm betting that there's considerably more than a 0.35 MOA difference between these and match bullets. I'll be using my usual Nosler 168 HPBT's as the control. Guess we will find out. [grin]

FWIW, I've had some "rough" bore milsurps that love the long AP bullets, but will shoot shotgun patterns with shorter 147-grain ammo.

55_grain
 
I wouldn't even attempt to load those with someone else's press. Then again, it would be nice to see a Dillon 650 in action again.

[laugh]Great CS you know.
 
Those look great. Sorry I haven't been able to test them yet, I've been so busy lately with other projects. I'll try to test them out as soon as possible.
 
Marcus - No worries. These have been sitting on my bench for a month-and-a-half, and I just reloaded them this weekend. I should have results in a week or two, compared vs
a) a quality HPBT handload and
b) NATO milsurp.

Pixel - I figured the pic would draw out another reloader. [smile] PM me your mailing address!

55_grain

EDIT 2/8: Pixel - I mailed yours out today! [grin]
 
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Lol. My LnL is fine. Just wouldn't load them on it. Someone else's 650 works for me.
 
I still haven't loaded them yet either, I just got the scope back for my 308. I will try to load them up this week and launch them things down range.

The wife has been yelling at me about them because they are still sitting on my mantle. LOL
 
The results are in! I finally had some time to head down the range to test these bullets out. I tried three different bullets: the bullets you sent me, the same amount of match kings and then finally some of my own cast that we use for plinking. All three loads were reloaded with the exact same amount of powder, 19.0 grains of 5744. It was a beautiful day to be out with about 15mph wind.

The first two pictures are the bullets you sent me at 100yrds. It's interesting to note vertical stringing in the first picture.
P1010116.jpg

P1010115.jpg

The next two are using match kings at 100yrds. You can notice a much tighter group that holds seven rounds. The second picture with match kings was my own fault, I shot them last and was out on the range for probably 3 hours at that point and getting kind of tired. I didn't take as much time to line up the shots.
P1010113.jpg

P1010114.jpg

Lastly shows my own cast that I use for plinking. I shot these quickly which account for the couple flyers. It was very unscientific of me. [laugh]
P1010118.jpg
 
Marcus5aurelius said:
The results are in!
Click to expand...

The gauntlet has clearly been dropped! [grin] Those are some good groups, especially considering the beat-up nature of the AP bullets. Bonus points for using the same powder charge in all three!

I'm not going to be able to beat your SMK groups...but I will try.

55_grain
 
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Nice shotin'

No kiddin' the gauntlet has been dropped!

There is no way I'm keepin' up with Markus, but I'll give it my best. Now I just have to get out back and shoot these.
They are all loaded up and waiting on my workbench.
 
So, motivated by Marcus's fine shooting, I headed out to the range.

I shot a bunch of different loads. All are 100 yards, shot on the same day.

168 gr Nosler HPBT with 40.5, 42.5, 43, and 43.5g Varget.
These all historically average 5 shots/1.20" at 100 yards, and today was no exception. The best of this bunch was 0.8", the worst was 1.5 inches. (for reference, the squares on the targets are 1"). The 43's are low because I had adjusted the scope on a previous range trip.

162 gr AP with Varget.
This load sucked. A lot. [sad2] Five shots in 4.5 inches. I shot a second group that was just as bad. Perhaps I need to try a different powder. I think I failed my own challenge!

IMAG1807.jpg

165 gr Nosler SP with 41.0 gr and 42.0gr WC844
This was my first time shooting this load. Shoots just fine.

147gr DAG surplus '93 headstamp.
This usually shoots 2 MOA for me. I put 4 rounds into an inch today. [grin]
4th round tore the rim and stuck in the chamber. [angry] These were surplussed out because of occasional minor case corrosion, which apparently makes them stick in the chamber, because I had to tap at the cleaning rod to free the case when I got home. Good thing I brought more than one rifle [smile]

IMAG1808.jpg

Conclusions:
1. I couldn't top Marcus' fine groups, but shooting stuff is fun!
2. Militaries can never have too much ammo. Surplus is surplus for a reason.
3. Just as I'm writing this I realized that I had a multi-piece rod in my range kit. Could have kept shooting. Do'oh.

Thanks for reading!

55_grain
 
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Marcus5aurelius said:
Really nice shooting! Those groups are nothing to complain about!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'd like to reliably shoot 1 MOA with this rifle, but it's not happening with the CCI-34/Varget/168 Nosler CC combination...my average over 5+ 5-round groups is a hair under 1.2"

Has anyone out there shot the Noslers and the SMKs side-by-side?

EDIT 3/25: I did shoot the Noslers and SMKs against each other on the same day last weekend.
3, 5-round groups of Noslers averaged 1.5"
3, 5-round groups of SMKs averaged 1.3"
This may call for further study...
 
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OK here comes the embarrassment...

I took the rounds out back with my Remington 700ADL in .30-06 with a 1.5-4x scope and let them fly.

First thing I need to make clear is, that compared to the results I've seen so far, I SUCK!

Now that that is out of the way here are my results. Please keep in mind that I did not re-zero for these rounds. I keep it zeroed for my hunting rounds.

First to go were the 150g M80 pull downs.

First string ended up with a 4.2" extreme spread.
150g_1.jpg


Second string ended up with a 3.7" spread.
150g_2.jpg


Now for the REAL horror! Out come the 162's I gotta say I REALLY hate posting these targets. But a deal is a deal.

First string was a complete shambles at 10.6".
162g_1.jpg


Followed up by a much better but still shitty 7.7" group.
162g_2.jpg


I conclude that the banged up 162's either fly really bad or really don't like my barrel. And I can't shoot worth a damn.
Hope this post can help y'all feel better about yourselves. I know I need to go clean and put the rifle away and go drink now.

That was just sad.
 
Hiya Pixel,

Thanks for posting your results!

Couple questions for my own curiosity:
- What scope are you using? And how does your rifle shoot with your hunting loads or factory ammo?
- What powder? Could be that your rifle doesn't like this particular combination.
 
The scope is a crappy Bushnell Banner 1-4x I put on the rifle a couple of years ago. I found that the 3-9x I used to use was just too much for the woods I hunt. I know I've had much better groups with my hunting rounds (sub 2") I run 150g Sierra Gamekings over 59.7 grains of H4831.

The M80's I had on 58g of H4831, I was using 57g H4831 under those 162s.

That 162 combo just doesn't work well with my rifle. I think the 150's would be much better if I did my part.

Gotta say, I shoot in my back yard and use a folding table as a bench. I need a better set up.
That and just as I got set up today to shoot these it starts to rain (no excuse).
Honestly, my biggest problem is I need to get out and shoot more.
 
Alright, I really suck, I havent shot these yet, I am going to try like hell to do it this week. Anyone chronied these things?
 

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