Bought new rifle, Old Sako AV in 9.3 X 300 WM - 2967 FPS with 286 NPs

That is a very nice bear Douglas, thanks for sharing the excellent pictures with us.
This has been a really interesting thread right from the start.... a good read.
 
Let me pop some corn...this is going to be fun to watch. All I need to do is text Clarke and tell him there are chrony numbers coming and watch the show!
 
Well guys, the range was very anticlimactic, I was way too conservative with both bullets in the 9.3 and only came up with 2925 fps with the 270s and IMR 4350 and only 2750 fps with the 286 Parts and RL 19. Had some successes with the 257 Rob and my new 6.5X55 700 Classic but that is another thread.
Ever had one of those days at the range when you couldn't settle in, and you were just edgy and twtichy. That's the way I was today, just didn't get into it at all !!!!!!
 
Over coffee, boiled oats, toast and some smokes - this article took me on a journey I'd like to travel; and was interesting to read. I was considering the 9.3 on the 62 case and wondering how it would fair as a hunting rig...?
 
Highwind said:
Over coffee, boiled oats, toast and some smokes - this article took me on a journey I'd like to travel; and was interesting to read. I was considering the 9.3 on the 62 case and wondering how it would fair as a hunting rig...?
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That's a whole 'nother thread. Actually, it's many other threads on here. The x62 (or .360 Wagner as it's known North of the Border) has quite a following up here and on CGN.
 
c-fbmi said:
Well guys, the range was very anticlimactic, I was way too conservative with both bullets in the 9.3 and only came up with 2925 fps with the 270s and IMR 4350 and only 2750 fps with the 286 Parts and RL 19. Had some successes with the 257 Rob and my new 6.5X55 700 Classic but that is another thread.
Ever had one of those days at the range when you couldn't settle in, and you were just edgy and twtichy. That's the way I was today, just didn't get into it at all !!!!!!
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Every so often.
I have learned to take my favorite pea shooter with me and shoot some fun stuff close range.
Get the mind in the mood.
Not sure what happens when the poi just doesn't seem to work?
Can't blame the smoke in me eyes as I don't do the puff.

Great photos on the bear.
 
Ever had one of those days at the range when you couldn't settle in, and you were just edgy and twtichy. That's the way I was today, just didn't get into it at all !!!!!!

Yep, about every other time at the range, and any time I take eight or ten shootin' irons out at a time............:rolleyes:

Doug
 
Fear not intrepid readers, this thread is not yet dead as I have ordered some 270 gnrs from Matrix and will be trying some more powders with the 286 Parts. Should have more to report later this week.
The edgy, twitchy might have something to do with the fact I just realized, I haven't been to the range in more than 7 months. A couple more sessions and I hope I'll settle down to my old self. Stay tuned for more load development.
 
I haven't been to the range in more than 7 months. A couple more sessions and I hope I'll settle down to my old self.
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Hey Douglas, we are all love'n this thread, it's amusing and unexpected twists and turns ... most of all.
Oh, how I identify with your acknowledgement of being normal and human!.
Keep it coming mate ... you have friends here.
Curious friends ... :rockOn:
 
Well I've loaded some more 286 Parts with more RL 19 as well as some more 35 Whelen and 6.5X55. I'm going to do the shoot till midnite, longest day thing I started last year. The weather is beautiful so if it holds I'll go up and shoot til midnite tonite. I'm still working with a 243 and a couple 375 H&Hs as well as my new baby, Sako Safari .375. My 257 Bob is all tweeked and tuned shooting 4 shot sub moa groups consistently and I can work out through the silhouette banks and hit 100% from the rest so I'm thinking we're good with that one. The 250 Sav showed some potential with one load so I'll have to do some more work with it as well.
For this thread I'll stick to the 9.3 though, and we'll see what tonight brings.
 
Well I'm still playing but have nothing exciting to report........286 Parts at 2850 fps shooting moa but hit the wall with RL 19 and it got erratic velocity wise. Last load bouncing from 2750-2850 no real pressure signs. Load is heavily compressed, so now we try RL 17, maybe 760 and 4350 too, but out of bullets for right now. Still 2850 with a 286 and shooting 1" or less ain't bad !! One rack of test loads an evening with this beast is enough, add a couple .375 test loads and my Whelen.......headache time. Nothing worth photoing this trip, but I'll let you know how I make out with the RL 17, have a large rack made up, 7 loads, up 1 gn at a time, gotta love wildcats....some hard on bullets. I am zeroing in on burn rate/bullet weight now, I believe I was too slow before and it seems to me that RL powders do not like to be compressed. When I start to compress more than just a touch, the velocities go erratic, just the opposite of 4350 and 4831. This cartridge has been interesting so far and an education about what I know about burn rates and compressing powders. I used to use an extremely heavily compressed load of H1000 in my 340 Wby with 250 Parts and that load shot .5-.75" groups with ES of less than 10 fps. RL powders are obviously different from the H and IMR powders I'm more accustomed to working with. The new max load with RL17 is just starting into the neck and the rifle has a long throat so the bullet is just sitting on the powder maybe 1/16" of compression, so we'll see what it does.
 
c-fbmi said:
Well I'm still playing but have nothing exciting to report........286 Parts at 2850 fps shooting moa but hit the wall with RL 19 and it got erratic velocity wise. Last load bouncing from 2750-2850 no real pressure signs. Load is heavily compressed, so now we try RL 17, maybe 760 and 4350 too, but out of bullets for right now. Still 2850 with a 286 and shooting 1" or less ain't bad !! One rack of test loads an evening with this beast is enough, add a couple .375 test loads and my Whelen.......headache time. Nothing worth photoing this trip, but I'll let you know how I make out with the RL 17, have a large rack made up, 7 loads, up 1 gn at a time, gotta love wildcats....some hard on bullets. I am zeroing in on burn rate/bullet weight now, I believe I was too slow before and it seems to me that RL powders do not like to be compressed. When I start to compress more than just a touch, the velocities go erratic, just the opposite of 4350 and 4831. This cartridge has been interesting so far and an education about what I know about burn rates and compressing powders. I used to use an extremely heavily compressed load of H1000 in my 340 Wby with 250 Parts and that load shot .5-.75" groups with ES of less than 10 fps. RL powders are obviously different from the H and IMR powders I'm more accustomed to working with. The new max load with RL17 is just starting into the neck and the rifle has a long throat so the bullet is just sitting on the powder maybe 1/16" of compression, so we'll see what it does.
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And thank YOU for adding to my education, vicariously as it were. I have almost no experience with the RL powders either.

Doug
 
Well gentlemen there it is 2967 fps with a 286 gn Nosler Partition from my 9.3X300WM !!!! As you can see from the photos the hottest load still has it's primers, no ejector marks and primers are neither pierced nor unduly flattened. The rifle is shooting better than the targets indicate, I had taken quite a beating as this was the 6th and 7th of the rack of loads I had for this rifle. The low shot on both targets was me and was the second shot on each target. Me clinching down after the first wallop, and then back to proper shooting technique for 3rd and 4th shots. Oehler was giving me grief as it was registering something I couldn't get a handle on, so lots of 0000-0000 but it never failed to catch a shot. This ghosting made it almost impossible to get a proper summary, only got a few all evening.
Spent 6 1/2 hrs there shooting pretty much continuously. I had taken 9 rifles with me so as to not have to wait for barrels to cool, just grab another and give 'er. 4PM it was 23 deg C with a 64% humidity and a less than 5 kt wind from the south, 5/10 broken cumulus cloud. By10:30 the temp had dropped to 17 deg C other conditions remained pretty constant. The 2 groups shown were shot between 9:30 and 10:15 PM.
Obviously RL 19 was not the powder for this cartridge and bullet weight and as I mentioned earlier the top load here was not compressed more than MAYBE 1/16th of an inch. As you can tell by the chronograph tapes the velocity was increasing very linear and had been through all 7 loads, no surprizes, no jumps and no lags. A very successful event all 'n all.









 
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PS

I believe this rifle and load is capable of much greater accuracy, I haven't played with COAL at all, at this juncture, and have only tried the 2 RL powders. A higher powered scope would likely improve it some as well. Overall I'm quite happy and impressed with this rifle to this point. I'm still waiting for the 270 gn Matrix bullets I ordered a couple of weeks ago, as this is the weight I would like to settle on in this rifle and cartridge. Going to have to go back to the burn rate chart for some more study and see what might be better for the 270 gn Matrix, considering what I learned from the 286 Part. I will be doing another full work up with them, when and if I get them, and will take photos and post for y'all to see. I'll probably be trying more powders with the 270 and playing with COAL a bit, as this is the bullet I want to end up using. Given what I know now with education from the 286 gn Part, I would have to say that 3100 fps with the 270 is certainly not out of the question. But let me tell you, I'm sure taking a beating on the bench, recoil is significantly more than even 2800 fps.
 
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