Best Loads

[BD1]

20 shots, two different shooters

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Two five shot groups, completely different loads

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This is the 300 yard 250 FTX group from a clean , cold barrel, 600 miles south of the last shots fired

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The thing that impresses me the most about this chambering is the consistency and repeatability of good groups across a broad variety of loadings. I've been able to consistently keep both the 225 and 250 grain Ftx bullets under an inch at 100 yards. The pics attached are the groups that have real meaning to me. When I first put this rifle together I was living in central NY near Skaneateles. The local range was short, 85 yards max shot from the far left bench to the far right end of the backstop. On one of my first trips to the range I put 10 rounds of the 250 FTX into a little under an inch. This group from a short, and very loud, AR so impressed the guy to my right that he got up and came over. I let him shoot the next ten, and they went into a similar group a little lower and right, but in the same hole, only opening it up to 2" or so. The other group I really like is one I shot at 300 yards after moving back to SC for work. In NY I started into shooting cast pretty intensively. When I moved down south I scrubbed the barrel and loaded some more of the 250 FTX. The 300 yard group was shot from a clean, cold barrel with no "sighters", based entirely on the Leupold grand slam aim points.

[simpleman]

Thnks Hoot.
Sitting in deer blind bow hunting here it AR. Will head to the range around noon to shoot the other 10 of 20.
This is the 5th reload on this brass. Probably needs annealed. If I have the accuracy out of next ten I want this load to work. I will chrony these today.
Neck tension. Why is it not recommended here to use the hornady roll crimp I think it's called in the biker seating die?

[simpleman]

That's awesome 300 yard groud that far you could almost get to a good spotting scope in time to see it hit. Lol. What is the build on your AR. I am all bushmaster other than triggerand Nikon Monarch 2.5. - 10 BDC scope.

[simpleman]

Hoot
I forgot to mention. I use drier sheets cut in 3rds in tumbler to soak up dust. 1 sheet each cleaning. Sheets come out almost solid brown cases come out almost dust free. If you have not tried this you may want to use a couple sheets for a few times.

[Hoot]

Thnks Hoot.
Sitting in deer blind bow hunting here it AR. Will head to the range around noon to shoot the other 10 of 20.
This is the 5th reload on this brass. Probably needs annealed. If I have the accuracy out of next ten I want this load to work. I will chrony these today.
Neck tension. Why is it not recommended here to use the hornady roll crimp I think it's called in the biker seating die?

I read that the roll crimp, while appropriate for straight walled cartridges that headspace off of their rim, is not a good choice for rimless ones that headspace by their mouths engaging the lip at the front of the chamber. I never understood why Hornady designed and included that capability in their 450b die, if they didn't want you to use it. Never made manufacturing engineering sense.

WRT the sooting. If a particular load you shoot goes from not sooting to suddenly sooting, it is probably a good idea to sit back and examine what changed between the two sessions. I you shoot over a chronograph, at least you have a metric other than accuracy and the condition of the brass to go off of. I'd wager that the ones with the most soot, flew slower than the ones with the least. If you can add the observation of velocity to the picture, you can then associate a particular behavior with the symptom.

Hoot

[Wicked Hunter]

I read that the roll crimp, while appropriate for straight walled cartridges that headspace off of their rim, is not a good choice for rimless ones that headspace by their mouths engaging the lip at the front of the chamber. I never understood why Hornady designed and included that capability in their 450b die, if they didn't want you to use it. Never made manufacturing engineering sense.

I read in the instructions included with my dies that, Hornady makes there seating dies by the bullet diameter and not to specific cartidges. That is probably the reason the roll-crimp is in there. The same seating die probably gets used for the 45 L.C. and the 460 S&W.

[BD1]

My .450 B is a 16" Cabela's upper on a used Bushy lower with a Leupold grand slam 3x9. The only mods are a RRA 2 stage trigger and a custom Gentry Quiet Brake. It just plain shoots really well.
BD

[Jim in Houston]

The 460 S&W seating die is the one use on the BM450. The are relatively cheap, and I ordered an extra to avoid having to reset the die, when changing from reloading 250 gr FTX to the 225 's.

[Hoot]

Hoot
I forgot to mention. I use drier sheets cut in 3rds in tumbler to soak up dust. 1 sheet each cleaning. Sheets come out almost solid brown cases come out almost dust free. If you have not tried this you may want to use a couple sheets for a few times.

That's what I do as well, except I cut the sheet into postage stamp width strips. Same net effect. Keeps the man cave smelling good also. I have a bad habit of forgetting I have cases tumbling, what with everything else going on. Solved that one with a Christmas light timer. Before I got it, I would go down to the cave and discover a running tumbler full of cases that you could comb your hair in the reflection. I often wondered it that degree of polish, combined with the chrome plated chamber in my 450b, contributed to some instances of ejector and extractor imprinting when my loads started getting up there in power. Then I tried spinning the cases pinched in a piece of scotchbrite pad to bust the shine. That left them with a lustrous, albeit circumferential scour pattern. Didn't seem to make any difference in gripping the chamber though. Another bright idea that didn't pan out. You gotta try 'em though. That's half the fun.

Spent the last three range visits working out loads with the 6.5 Grendel using Barnes 120gr TTSX. An incredibly long bullet for it's weight. That's never a good thing in an AR, with the COL restrictions. The Grendel is my meat hunting caliber. Laser accurate, pick an eye accurate, save the meat accurate. Yet in a pinch, plenty effective on a body shot for white tails. Fall is in the air big time. Was out this morning shooting in 45 degree, wind in your face off the lake conditions. The wind layed down at sunset and It cleared off. With the temp already down to 38 as I write this, we'll probably get our first frost tonight.
Should have gotten the remaining apples off the trees today. .

Been getting some help gathering the ones off the ground though.



Hoot's starting to drift off topic. Say night night...

[simpleman]

I went to the range twice this weekend. Shot the ML some 200 ftx and 250 FTX in BM. I didnt get accurate crony on 200s. Had guys next to me throwing errors on crony.
Is there a hotter primer than the 7 1/2 to use with the Lil gun that may help with sooting?
My Bm really like the Lil Gun and 200s.
Has anyone tried N110 or powder hotter than Lil Gun?
I have read on the 2400. And considering trying that with 7 1/2 or I have some CCI primers that I got Delayed firing on with 296. Maybe a cooler primer will tone the 2400 down some.
Got the grand kid wallering me so better go and play with him.
Yep almost time to hunt here to. Bow season is open. Waiting to us 44 mag Super Red Hawk and first with Bushy to.