.277 Hornady SST's in 130g

spenom

spenom

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I have been trying to shoot .277 Hornady SST's in 130g out of my winchester model 70 with horrible results. I have used H4831 as the powder for all the testing because it works good with all other bullets I have used in my gun and I am newer to reloading and don't have a stockpile of other stuff. I have tried every amount of powder from 56grains all the way to 60 grains. Changed primers between winchester and federal br-2's. Also played with The overall length. I can get MOA results using sierra game kings and hornady interlocks in 130grain but as soon as I go to the SST's I get 3 1/4 to 4 1/4 groups at 100 yards. Will a different powder possibly shrink these groups or does my gun just hate them? The reason I ask is I bought about 200 of them and they perform so horrible I don't even care to use them even when fire forming brass to my chamber. Can a switch to a different powder really make enough of a difference to get around MOA results or should I just cut my losses and shoot the bullets I know work good in my gun?
 
I'm not the most experienced reloader but have found bullets to have the most affect of any component change. I doubt that changing powder will bring your accuracy to what you are getting with SGKs or Interlocks. Depending on your needs I would try to trade off the SSTs and use one of the other bullets that was working.
 
I had the exact same problem with the same bullet, same caliber and same rifle.
Switched to Sierra 130gr BTSP and it did get better after I seated the bullets .020" off of the rifleing. It shoots 1" groups all day now.
I had tried the GMX as well with the same results (really bad).

Thunder
 
Well there we have it i guess I will cut my losses. On the bright side Thunder F/X you probably saved me $60+ dollars because I was thinking about trying the GMX and it is pricey. I might go out one more time and see if the info in AlexF's link might make it a bit better. playing around with some bigger changes in Coal. Obviously taking it slow to avoid dangerous pressures. At the end of the day though I don't want to use a bullet I have to cram into the lands because all the loading unloading during hunting with this gun and I am looking at one day gtting a bullet stuck and a chamber full of powder :)

Thanks for the info guys.
 
spenom said:
Well there we have it i guess I will cut my losses. On the bright side Thunder F/X you probably saved me $60+ dollars because I was thinking about trying the GMX and it is pricey. I might go out one more time and see if the info in AlexF's link might make it a bit better. playing around with some bigger changes in Coal. Obviously taking it slow to avoid dangerous pressures. At the end of the day though I don't want to use a bullet I have to cram into the lands because all the loading unloading during hunting with this gun and I am looking at one day gtting a bullet stuck and a chamber full of powder :)

Thanks for the info guys.
Click to expand...

The "jam the bullet in the lands" is old advice.
Many top competitors now use a 0.020" or 0.050" jump but most target shooters stick to the "jam then bullet in the lands" because it works very well even if it's not practical for hunting.

My advice is simple: start with tangent ogive bullets (Nosler and Sierra bullets) and then decide if you want to work with secant ogive bullets (Hornady).

Alex
 
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