Was going to post this in JasonYuke's thread, but I figured I was getting a little long-winded.
Im going down this road as well. I'm new to the .338 and pretty green to handloading in general. Here's what's been working for me so far. The rifle is a Savage 111 LRH with a Elite 2.5-16x42 Mil Dot.
I've tried Retumbo as well as H-1000, with Barnes 265LRX and Berger 300 Hybrids. Using Federal 215M primers, new Norma brass. Each charge weighed as precise as I could on my Lee balance beam.
First time out I tried the Barnes LRX and H-1000, COAL 3.660".
78gr - 2479fps, 2459fps, 2465fps
79.5gr - 2557fps, 2471fps, 2484fps
81.5gr - 2647fps, 2555fps, 2543fps
83.5gr - 2706fps, 2599fps, 2600fps
Some of these velocities are out to lunch as you can see. Not sure if I could have made that much of an error in charge weight? I left more than a little puzzled. Interrestingly enough, all four loads grouped to the same POI. 78gr was best at .95" Slight primer cratering with 83.5gr. Any thoughts on the wierdo chrono results?
Tonight I tried my next batch consisting of Retumbo and the Berger Hybrids @3.738" (close to max the AI mag will allow). No obvious signs of pressure.
85.0gr - 2537, 2506, Err
88.0gr - 2611, 2599, 2605
90.0gr - 2690, 2693, 2684
92.0gr - 2789, 2809, Err
Best group was with 90.0gr Retumbo(pictured below), also with the best spread. I think I'll stick with this for now and mix up a few more to try at 800. Another point I've found is that my actual velocities are about 150fps better than the book velocities. Go figure, but most of the results I've read online have shown actual speeds to be quicker than published.
Im going down this road as well. I'm new to the .338 and pretty green to handloading in general. Here's what's been working for me so far. The rifle is a Savage 111 LRH with a Elite 2.5-16x42 Mil Dot.
I've tried Retumbo as well as H-1000, with Barnes 265LRX and Berger 300 Hybrids. Using Federal 215M primers, new Norma brass. Each charge weighed as precise as I could on my Lee balance beam.
First time out I tried the Barnes LRX and H-1000, COAL 3.660".
78gr - 2479fps, 2459fps, 2465fps
79.5gr - 2557fps, 2471fps, 2484fps
81.5gr - 2647fps, 2555fps, 2543fps
83.5gr - 2706fps, 2599fps, 2600fps
Some of these velocities are out to lunch as you can see. Not sure if I could have made that much of an error in charge weight? I left more than a little puzzled. Interrestingly enough, all four loads grouped to the same POI. 78gr was best at .95" Slight primer cratering with 83.5gr. Any thoughts on the wierdo chrono results?
Tonight I tried my next batch consisting of Retumbo and the Berger Hybrids @3.738" (close to max the AI mag will allow). No obvious signs of pressure.
85.0gr - 2537, 2506, Err
88.0gr - 2611, 2599, 2605
90.0gr - 2690, 2693, 2684
92.0gr - 2789, 2809, Err
Best group was with 90.0gr Retumbo(pictured below), also with the best spread. I think I'll stick with this for now and mix up a few more to try at 800. Another point I've found is that my actual velocities are about 150fps better than the book velocities. Go figure, but most of the results I've read online have shown actual speeds to be quicker than published.
