Thanks reloaders!!!

M

mdblough

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Hi All,
I just wanted to say a quick 'Thanks!' to all who offered me advice with reloading. I recently purchased a 338 lapua rifle - ammo is $$$$. So I decided to embark on reloading to save $$. I had to buy a press, powder, cases, dies, bullets, etc. I tapped into the expertise on this forum many times as I worked to optimize my load and understand the process. Today I hit the range with my reloaded rounds and was extremely pleased with the results! I fired 10 rounds down range at 50yrds - only 5 bullet holes centre target when I was done, all within 1 MOA. In other words, the loads worked and were extremely accurate. (Yes - you could suggest the other 5 rounds were off target, but I could clearly see where multiple rounds had entered the same whole! lol).

Anyhow - I am indebted to those who guided me. Thank-you.

Cheers,
M.
 
50yrds? Not being mean, but 50 is way too close. I have an SKS that will do that. You need to go out much further to see any inconsistencies with your load.
 
Agreed everyone is a sniper on here and around the water cooler at work most will shot no more the a handful of bullets a year(understandable with the price these days. plus at 100 yards its the guns accuracy past that its the shooters. Everyone can do 1 MOA at 300yrds when the moon was just right and the wind was just perfect, but their other groups that day were barn doors.
 
geotndtwine said:
Agreed everyone is a sniper on here and around the water cooler at work most will shot no more the a handful of bullets a year(understandable with the price these days. plus at 100 yards its the guns accuracy past that its the shooters. Everyone can do 1 MOA at 300yrds when the moon was just right and the wind was just perfect, but their other groups that day were barn doors.
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I wouldn't consider myself a sniper. But I also wouldn't burn through a bunch of reloads at 50 yards. If you can't site in at 100, then sure, get on paper at 50. I just hope OP isn't using these results for load development
 
laker415 said:
I wouldn't consider myself a sniper. But I also wouldn't burn through a bunch of reloads at 50 yards. If you can't site in at 100, then sure, get on paper at 50. I just hope OP isn't using these results for load development
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Exactly. I wasn't being condescending in any way. You do have to start somewhere. Hey, at least you're shooting! When I got my AR, I bore sighted it on an orange 8" plate at 30m. Then I shot it at 50m using some cheap Winchester White Box ammo from Walmart. I was so excited that I had a one hole 5 shot group at 50m! But at 100m, it was about a 4" group. At 200m, I only hit the target twice. 300m, zero hits. Once my order of bullets came in, I loaded up some ladders and got it all sorted out at 300m to shoot service rifle.
 
Laughing out loud at these comments. Yep - I shot a quick 5 rounds at 50 yards at an indoor range. I am a complete newbie to reloading (first time using my press, weighing powder, seating bullets, etc) so had no idea if my rounds would work or fizzle out or blow up in the chamber and injure me. No time to head out of town at the moment to really try the new rounds, so just a quick trip to the range to make sure everything worked, which would help me sleep at night.

All that being said, now I can get into my new box of Lapua brass and bullets and start seriously working on load development. Today was just a 'test'.

Cheers!
 
laker415 said:
I wouldn't consider myself a sniper. But I also wouldn't burn through a bunch of reloads at 50 yards. If you can't site in at 100, then sure, get on paper at 50. I just hope OP isn't using these results for load development
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Sorry not really meaning you it just really bugs me when people claim that they are hitting crazy targets at great distances every time. I know there is a fellow at my work who claims to have dim sized groups out at 500, and when you ask him what grain of bullet he shoots he does not know. Just drives me nut, I pride myself in spending a lot of time and money on this sport and people brag and really don't shoot that much.
 
Glad to hear they worked out well.
My experience with the 338L is that at less than 200 yards your results will be erratic, I do all my testing at 200 yards then when I find something that looks promising I move to 300 yards. It seems like the 338 needs at least 200 yards to stabilize and settle in to it's flight. I've shot it at 1100 yards hitting old expired 20 pound propane tanks and it's an amazing cartridge, it tears them open like a 223 does a pop can at 100 yards and at 1100yds a 308win will just dent those tanks. I've also taken a deer with it at around 40 yards and it definitely did the job that day.

What did you decide to go with for powder and bullets?
 
geotndtwine said:
Sorry not really meaning you it just really bugs me when people claim that they are hitting crazy targets at great distances every time. I know there is a fellow at my work who claims to have dim sized groups out at 500, and when you ask him what grain of bullet he shoots he does not know. Just drives me nut, I pride myself in spending a lot of time and money on this sport and people brag and really don't shoot that much.
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He forgot to mention it was a one shot dime size group, lol.
You're right, it's annoying to listen to guys like that when you know damn well he's full of shat but also know it isn't worth the effort to call him out and end up arguing with him.


hoochie said:
you shot 338Lapua indoors?
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Better than not shooting at all.
Sure hope he doubled up on hearing protection.
 
Thanks everyone. As I mentioned - this was just a test to see if the rounds I assembled would work at all, and if I was on the right track. I am pretty busy so a quick trip to the indoor range 10 minutes from my house was my best choice.

I ended up using old Nosler brass from a previous box of 338 Lapua, federal 215 primers, Lapua Scenar 300 bullets, and Vihtavuori N170 powder. I loaded 5 rounds with 75 gr, and 5 with 85gr. The 85gr was recommended in my loading manual as most accurate for a 300 grain bullet. COAL of 3.681. I had no complaints with this load - but I have nothing to compare it to. Now that I know my platform works I am going to fine tune the powder load to see what gives my the best accuracy when I start putting on some real distance. Will make a nice morning activity at some point soon.

Oh - and the rifle I am shooting is a Blaser Tac2 in 338 with a knightforce scope.
 
mdblough said:
Thanks everyone. As I mentioned - this was just a test to see if the rounds I assembled would work at all, and if I was on the right track. I am pretty busy so a quick trip to the indoor range 10 minutes from my house was my best choice.

I ended up using old Nosler brass from a previous box of 338 Lapua, federal 215 primers, Lapua Scenar 300 bullets, and Vihtavuori N170 powder. I loaded 5 rounds with 75 gr, and 5 with 85gr. The 85gr was recommended in my loading manual as most accurate for a 300 grain bullet. COAL of 3.681. I had no complaints with this load - but I have nothing to compare it to. Now that I know my platform works I am going to fine tune the powder load to see what gives my the best accuracy when I start putting on some real distance. Will make a nice morning activity at some point soon.

Oh - and the rifle I am shooting is a Blaser Tac2 in 338 with a knightforce scope.
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That's a pretty wide spread for powder charges. What range are you fine tuning this load?
 
laker415 said:
That's a pretty wide spread for powder charges. What range are you fine tuning this load?
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Yep - As I said, this was all just a test run. I am a PhD scientist by training, so tend to take a scientific approach with these things! I wanted to see if the cartridges could handle the higher load, before I did a full workup. They handled it well, without any signs of stress. For load optimization I will probably start at 75gr, and increase by increments of 2gr, up to 85gr.

Oh - I am hoping to tune it around 300-500 yrds, depending where I can find the space.
 
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