Any other "powder charge sensitive" rifles out there?

Qc_BearHunter

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I have a 25-06 that is very sensitive to powder charge. .5 grain one side or the other and the groupings goes from sub-inch to 1.5-2"...

This is the most sensitive rifle I ever had...

Did you ever experienced the same?
 
The rifle is a Ruger Hawkeye

I've tried 3 or 4 bullets in it with 2 different powders: H4831SC and Winchester Supreme 780.

With both powders, groups will shrink from 2" to 3/4" with just .5 to 1 grain difference.

Next try will be with IMR 7828 SSC.


Try some Reloder 17 or 19. Try magnum primers as well.

NormB
 
My 1903A4 did that when I was working up the load, long ago. Went from an inch or so to a one hole group with a .5 of a grain increase. Kind of unusual for a commercial hunting rifle to do it, but it does show the advantage of working up the load.
 
The hot quarter bores can be twitchy, but that is ridiculous.
It sounds like you are too far up the pressure curve.
I'd try a few other powders.

The pressure pad brings it own accuracy variable in the field as it makes the POI sensitive to forend pressure.
 
Ok...

I've put 5 strips from a matchbook cover between the forend tip and the barrel to give some pressure. I shot 3 3-shots groups with loads at 54-54.5 and 55 grains of W780 under a 100 grains bullets.

54 gave me 1"
54.5 gave me 1.25"

Both groups had a definite horizontal spreads because my hold was wobling from side-to side so I put my rest and sandbags on the ground to shoot sniper style.

No more wobbling and a far steadier hold: 55 goes into a nice .625" cloverleaf.

This is a major improvment because groups with 54 and 55 grains gave me 1.8 for 2 3-shots groups and 2" for 2 3-shots groups.

Well, I think I've found something there....
 
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Try dropping the charge by 4-5 grains. It will make hardly any difference to velocities, lower pressures considerably and might just make your load very consistent accuracy wise. It's possible you are at the high end of the spec for bullet performance.

As mentioned above, when a load is that touchy, temperature and or just about anything else, like case weight can have a deleterious effect.

I had a similar problem with a 338 Win Mag. It was on a Rem 700 with a 26 inch bbl. It would shoot "red box" Federal 225 grain bullets into an inch or less all day. My hand loads, even though they were just slightly hotter would go all over the place, depending on conditions. Funny thing, at 100 yards the bullet holes were round. At 150 yards the holes were egg shaped (larger group), 200 yards, three foot pattern and the bullet holes looked like a profile of the bullet. There were 0 pressure signs.
I reduced the load by 5 full grains and all was touched by a magic wand. No more problems. I sold that rifle to a fellow that felt a rifle should have substantial recoil to be really effective. He still uses the mid range load and the rifle just keeps on performing, even though he abuses the hell out of it.
 
I have a 25-06 that is very sensitive to powder charge. .5 grain one side or the other and the groupings goes from sub-inch to 1.5-2"...

This is the most sensitive rifle I ever had...

Did you ever experienced the same?

Wecome to the club. It's just a rifle. I have one like that, it's a-bolt in 30-06. Always the same story with the bullets of 110, 150, 165, 180 and 220gr. and powders imr3031, imr4895, imr4064, imr4350. A .5 change in powder spreads groups to 2". I take it as my fate, otherwise the rifle is perfect. I use only my own loads so this is not a real trouble.
 
I have encountered similar issues with different calibers. I liked the powder I was using so I kept trying different bullet manufacturers in that category(hunting/target/varmint) until I find one that hits the sweet spot. What I do is use the lowest published charge I can find in my manuals and start there, going up in .5 increments. then fine tuning by 10ths.

I have seen groups get tight on low charges, spread as the go then close up again towards the top end.

Very tedious but if you enjoy reloading it is enjoyable.

I have had trouble hitting 8 1/2" x 11" paper at 200 with some of my testloads. :eek: Don`t feel bad
 
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