Slow barrel?

ginsingjones

ginsingjones

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This thread is kinda about a few things. Out at the range today with my 30-06 which I'm working up a load for. I have a Remington 700 24" barrel and I barely broke 2700 fps. Shooting 180 gr pro hunters and 180 speer btsp. I have never chronographed for this rifle. I was getting very flat primers with the winchester brass but not Remington. I weighed my brass before loading and they were all very close to the same weight.
Now does 2675fps to 2705 fps seem slow for 55.5 gr Imr 4350?

Winchester brass yielded me 2782fps for a high with the same powder charge, but extremely flat primers, starting to crater. Weights of the brass were the same.

My question is do I have a slow barrel? With this powder charge and pressure shouldn't I be getting better velocity? You always read of people getting 2800 fps out of their 30-06 and same powder, same bullet. And they get it with a 22" barrel and no pressure sighns. Or is perhaps my chrony reading low?
I'm a little confused
 
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I get 2850 fps out of a 26" Benchmark barrel with 56.5 grains of H4350 in one 30-06. The other 3 won't make 2700 with anything, in fact in the dead of winter are lucky to crack 2700 with 165s.

It's enough to make me go home and hug a .300, I tell ya.
 
I have consistently topped 2800 in a 24" barrel, using Norma MRP [60 - 62 grains, depending]
In my Vanguard, 61 grains is yielding 2880 with no excess pressure signs, and stellar accuracy.
Superformance has also shown promise with both 165 and 180 grain pills. D.
 
57 grns imr 4350 with a 180 gets me around 2750. I have been using superformance powder 180 grn and getting high 2800's to 2900. seems an ideal powder for the 30 06. both velocitys in a custom rem with 22 inch barrel.
 
What headstamp brass are you using? Did the Superformance exhibit any pressure sighns? I may be approaching my loading a little too cautiously. I see flattened primers and I stop or back off by a half grain. I am at a loss why winchester and federal brass is showing pressure so much sooner than Remington.
 
i'm using older win brass not the current crap and cci 250 mag primers. any load above the 57 grn of imr 4350 will start to show signs of pressure. superformance shows no high pressure signs but I stopped increasing the charge when I was around 2900. kinda suprized me the speed I could get. I get good life from my brass as well. I found fed brass to be softer than most and have a short life span, also quick to show pressure signs. as for you having a slow barrel I find my McPhee barrel to be the opposite, its very smooth and coppers very little.. I get over 2725 using win silver tip 180 grn factory ammo.
 
Are mag primers needed for the Superformance? I typically use WLR primers. Is it fairly consistant through different charges or erratic? How was the accuracy? Sorry for all the questions I am very unfamiliar with that powder
 
While Superformace is a spherical powder, it does not seem very hard to ignite. I have used the WLR throughout my work with it.
It has seemed very consistant with low velocity spreads. I am also using the older WW-Super brass, not the newer stuff stamped Winchester.
My vanguard shoots sub-moa with the 180 Accubond and Superformance at 2880 fps. D.
 
accuracy is on par with my imr 4350 loads. when i'm on at the range I shoots sub inch groups. tends to shoot inch to inch and a quarter groups with win factory as well. its quite a light weight rifle and the recoil is stout not making the best bench gun. I only use magnum primers mostly cci 250 and federal 215. never tried this load with win primers. doubt it would make a lot of difference. I like the magnum primer for winter hunting. i find it to be consistant in my tests and i weigh each charge so i don't know how well it would meter in a powder measure. I have tried superformance in a couple of other calibres but in the end found it to work the best in my 30 06. it seems to be a very limited use powder,for what it works in its very effective.
 
more or less. depends which reloading book your using. some of the newer books show some very sedate lawyer type loads. i tend to load until i have some high pressure signs or too high velocity then back off the load a little. if your speed is crazy high its most likely over pressure even without pressure signs. some rifles handle high pressure better than others without showing it. a crony is very helpful when working up loads.
 
I was getting high 2600fps to just over 2700 with R-P brass with 55.5gr. My high numbers were over pressure. 55 gr was giving me about 2650-2670fps so I am still almost 100 fps slower than you. Regardless I bought some Superformance and am gonna try H4350 for a work up.
 
ginsingjones said:
I was getting high 2600fps to just over 2700 with R-P brass with 55.5gr. My high numbers were over pressure. 55 gr was giving me about 2650-2670fps so I am still almost 100 fps slower than you. Regardless I bought some Superformance and am gonna try H4350 for a work up.
Click to expand...

Speaking of slower. My gf has a m70 30-06 featherweight. I have the same gun but hers is a year or 2 old and mine is 5-6 years old. I load 165gr bullets in ours and with 57gr of h4350 hers is 2911fps mine with 57gr is 2830fps. No pressure on either load but they are accurate.
 
As far as barrels go, it is always a bit of a crap-shoot. I at one time owned two Ruger #1 Single shot rifles chambered in the time-proven 30-06.
First was a #1-B, with a 26" barrel. Second was a #1-AB, with a 22" barrel. The same load shot very well in both rifles, a 180 Partition in a WW-Super
case, fired by a CCI 200, and 58.8 grains of IMR 4831. Here is the sticker. The 22" barrel delivered a consistent 70 fps more velocity than did the 26"
I slugged those bores to see if I could find a difference. but there was no measurable difference in bore and groove diameters. However, I did note
that the #1-AB had a slightly tighter chamber than the #1-B. A fired case from the AB would chamber in the B, but not vice-versa. ?? Who knows?
Just one of those things we run into in our hobby. D.
 
When I build a rifle, there is often 2 or 3 of the identical rifle made, because the whole family shoots. The barrel blanks come off the rifling machine as consecutive barrels. They are all chambered by the same reamer.

Each shoots best with a different load and the same load in 3 rifles can have a 150 fps spread (308W).

This is why loading manuals are different and why you should not assume that Max in the book will be ok in your rifle. It may not be.
 
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