notsorichguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- The city that rhymes with fun
Little back ground.
I bought new this last spring (April/May 09) a Remmy 700 30-06 SPS DM. I traded in a Tika 30-06 to do so (this is my 3rd 30-06)(Please hold the comments about the Tika being a better gun.... That is YOUR opinion not mine!)
I put about 100 rnds down range (breaking in the barrel and what not) I was not getting real stellar groups with factory ammo. This didn't really bother me too much as I have reloaded for years and I am planning on building up a load (or 3 or 6
) anyway.
So I start out with the only brand and weight of bullets that I can find 500 of in stock anywhere (around here anyway). They happen to be Berger 185gr. VLDs.
I look at what I have for powder and I have about 1/3 lb of 4350, 1/4lb of 4320, 6 lbs of 7828 and 2lbs of 3031 nothing I can build a load with.... So I go to the local g-store, all they have in anything I can find data on is IMR 4007 ssc. So I buy 2 lbs and the 500 185gr Bergers they have in stock.
I had done some "testing" with 5 different 150gr ammo's and the best shooter of the bunch happened to be 150gr American Eagle FMJ OAL of 3.17 (the fatory ammo's went from 3.28 to 3.17) I was getting groups under an inch so that is a good place to start in my book.
Along I go on my merry way. I load up a ladder test from 45.5gr to 51.0gr in .5gr intervals
The inital ladder test shows 49.0 gr of 4007ssc to be the "butter" zone. (.769" group)
I work up another Ladder test from 48.6 to 49.4 in .1gr intervals. (49.0 turned out to be the best there as well I still don't think it was a waste of time....really....
). (1.257" group)
So now I am confused.... the second group is a little bit bigger than I was expecting.... I put it on the fact that the wind was gusting from 10 to 25 kmph when doing the second test. The first test had little wind, from 5 to 10kmph.
So now I figgure I'll start palying around with the OAL.... I have lots of time (by now it is early Sept. I have untill mid Oct. before I NEED this this working like a top)
I decide to do 5 shots each @ 3.17, 3.24, 3.29 & 3.34 OAL with 49.0gr 4007ssc and 185gr berger VLDs. The 3.17 group is up over 5" and the best group is 3.24 OAL. (1.295" group)
So now I am very confused.... But I started using a new die, I was using an RCBS die and now I am using a Hornady New Dimension Die. (I was getting a bit of case run-out with the rcbs, so I switched to the Hornady.... Problem solved) So I decide to load up another OAL test (just 3 shots this time) (just to ease my mind) I do 3.17, 3.20, 3.24, 3.27, 3.30 OAL with the Hornady dies and 3.17 with the rcbs die..... The best result this time..... 3.27 with the hornady dies. (1.452" group)
I am noticing that the groups are starting to get some vertical stringing and are starting to open up a bit. Groups from this last test go from 3.43" to 1.54". the wind may have played a bit of a factor in this test as well, it was gusting Left to Right at a 35 degree angle across the range from 15 to 35Kmph, but that doesn't satisfy the vertical stringing on some of the groups. I also have ruled out my scale, Velocities are pretty consistant in the last OAL test they ranged from 2508 fps to 2573 fps with a max differance of 43fps and a min of 13fps on any one 3 shot group.
So I asked at my local g-store/gunsmith shop what they might think the problem could be. The consensus it that I have to bed the action and float the barrel in order to get better consistancy with my groups.
I brought up the fact that if I don't wait between groups when shooting factory ammo (as opposed to waiting for the barrel to cool when doing a ladder test) I tend to get better groups after 10 or so rounds down range (when the barrel is nice and warm/hot). For instance I was shooting some 150gr Fedeal ammo Soft Points (the box says I should get 2910 fps, according to my crony the average was closer to 2950) The first group I shot (after the last Ladder test) was around 4 1/2". I then shot off 2 more mags in fairly quick order (not waiting for the barrel to cool, just reload the mag and back to it) the last group I shot (after the barrel was hot) was under 2". So I shot a 4 shot group, then 8 more rounds in less than 5 min, then another 4 shot group..... and the group got smaller...... This is new to me......
I was told that the action is expanding from the heat, which makes it tighter and this is the cause for my inconsistancy when cool. I asked what kind of time line we are looking at for a bedding job.... 2 to 4 weeks, which gives me zero time to finish dialing in my loads before hunting season. To be honest I am a little hesitant to Bed the action myself.
Just for curiositys sake I loaded up a dummy rnd and smoked the tip of the bullet (to make it black) just to see what my head space is. I measured from where the marks in the black are (from the Lands I presume), but I have no idea how to use this info. (2.805" from the back of the case)
I was thinking I would back the ogive of a couple of thou off the lands..... and go from there....... I am now down to 3 to 4 weeks before Hunting Season.... its getting to be crunch time!!
Any Help or advice would be great!
I bought new this last spring (April/May 09) a Remmy 700 30-06 SPS DM. I traded in a Tika 30-06 to do so (this is my 3rd 30-06)(Please hold the comments about the Tika being a better gun.... That is YOUR opinion not mine!)

I put about 100 rnds down range (breaking in the barrel and what not) I was not getting real stellar groups with factory ammo. This didn't really bother me too much as I have reloaded for years and I am planning on building up a load (or 3 or 6
So I start out with the only brand and weight of bullets that I can find 500 of in stock anywhere (around here anyway). They happen to be Berger 185gr. VLDs.
I look at what I have for powder and I have about 1/3 lb of 4350, 1/4lb of 4320, 6 lbs of 7828 and 2lbs of 3031 nothing I can build a load with.... So I go to the local g-store, all they have in anything I can find data on is IMR 4007 ssc. So I buy 2 lbs and the 500 185gr Bergers they have in stock.
I had done some "testing" with 5 different 150gr ammo's and the best shooter of the bunch happened to be 150gr American Eagle FMJ OAL of 3.17 (the fatory ammo's went from 3.28 to 3.17) I was getting groups under an inch so that is a good place to start in my book.
Along I go on my merry way. I load up a ladder test from 45.5gr to 51.0gr in .5gr intervals
The inital ladder test shows 49.0 gr of 4007ssc to be the "butter" zone. (.769" group)

I work up another Ladder test from 48.6 to 49.4 in .1gr intervals. (49.0 turned out to be the best there as well I still don't think it was a waste of time....really....

So now I am confused.... the second group is a little bit bigger than I was expecting.... I put it on the fact that the wind was gusting from 10 to 25 kmph when doing the second test. The first test had little wind, from 5 to 10kmph.
So now I figgure I'll start palying around with the OAL.... I have lots of time (by now it is early Sept. I have untill mid Oct. before I NEED this this working like a top)
I decide to do 5 shots each @ 3.17, 3.24, 3.29 & 3.34 OAL with 49.0gr 4007ssc and 185gr berger VLDs. The 3.17 group is up over 5" and the best group is 3.24 OAL. (1.295" group)

So now I am very confused.... But I started using a new die, I was using an RCBS die and now I am using a Hornady New Dimension Die. (I was getting a bit of case run-out with the rcbs, so I switched to the Hornady.... Problem solved) So I decide to load up another OAL test (just 3 shots this time) (just to ease my mind) I do 3.17, 3.20, 3.24, 3.27, 3.30 OAL with the Hornady dies and 3.17 with the rcbs die..... The best result this time..... 3.27 with the hornady dies. (1.452" group)

I am noticing that the groups are starting to get some vertical stringing and are starting to open up a bit. Groups from this last test go from 3.43" to 1.54". the wind may have played a bit of a factor in this test as well, it was gusting Left to Right at a 35 degree angle across the range from 15 to 35Kmph, but that doesn't satisfy the vertical stringing on some of the groups. I also have ruled out my scale, Velocities are pretty consistant in the last OAL test they ranged from 2508 fps to 2573 fps with a max differance of 43fps and a min of 13fps on any one 3 shot group.
So I asked at my local g-store/gunsmith shop what they might think the problem could be. The consensus it that I have to bed the action and float the barrel in order to get better consistancy with my groups.
I brought up the fact that if I don't wait between groups when shooting factory ammo (as opposed to waiting for the barrel to cool when doing a ladder test) I tend to get better groups after 10 or so rounds down range (when the barrel is nice and warm/hot). For instance I was shooting some 150gr Fedeal ammo Soft Points (the box says I should get 2910 fps, according to my crony the average was closer to 2950) The first group I shot (after the last Ladder test) was around 4 1/2". I then shot off 2 more mags in fairly quick order (not waiting for the barrel to cool, just reload the mag and back to it) the last group I shot (after the barrel was hot) was under 2". So I shot a 4 shot group, then 8 more rounds in less than 5 min, then another 4 shot group..... and the group got smaller...... This is new to me......
I was told that the action is expanding from the heat, which makes it tighter and this is the cause for my inconsistancy when cool. I asked what kind of time line we are looking at for a bedding job.... 2 to 4 weeks, which gives me zero time to finish dialing in my loads before hunting season. To be honest I am a little hesitant to Bed the action myself.
Just for curiositys sake I loaded up a dummy rnd and smoked the tip of the bullet (to make it black) just to see what my head space is. I measured from where the marks in the black are (from the Lands I presume), but I have no idea how to use this info. (2.805" from the back of the case)

I was thinking I would back the ogive of a couple of thou off the lands..... and go from there....... I am now down to 3 to 4 weeks before Hunting Season.... its getting to be crunch time!!
Any Help or advice would be great!
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