...don't ever give up on reloading for a given rifle until you try all avenues
...i bought a new 700 Rem. .243 Win Classic in 2000...a lighter weight/recoil for my kids to use at the time as they were just getting their PAL and hunter certificates...
...do you think I could get that rifle to shoot? ...not a chance ...at least not MOA ...I have been reloading rifles since 1979 ...I floated the barrel and bedded the action ...no change ...I went through Barnes, Hornady, Sierra, and Speer bullets ...every weight from 58 to 100 grain ...CCI to Win primers ...and every bullet with every combo of powder/primer - 4350, 4831, 3031 ...nothing better than 2" at 100 yards and often much worse ...not acceptable ...my kids lugged that gun around for ten years ...it rarely was shot other than for them to practise every so often ...i have been able to get every 700 i have ever owned to shoot with a bit of work, but not much
...i grew to distrust this gun and that's not something you want to do when going into the field to hunt ...but i kept it
...and then for some reason not so long ago i got it out and said that this was a make or break couple of days and i reloaded all these combinations again with the same results
...and then
...in one of my older manuals it listed H322 for bullets up to 80 grains
...so i thought what the hell, tried it with slightly reduced loads on some 87 grainers that i have
...and there ya have it at 100 yards...what i've waited 17 years to see and from an less-used powder no less
...it's not a smoking hot load, but it will do what i want it to...87 grain VMax at 2900 fps...good out to 300 yards
...i'm happier than punch
...if you're new to reloading don't give up until you've tried all combos
...i have dumped a couple of rifles in my life that have not performed but only 2 out of many
...later...
...i bought a new 700 Rem. .243 Win Classic in 2000...a lighter weight/recoil for my kids to use at the time as they were just getting their PAL and hunter certificates...
...do you think I could get that rifle to shoot? ...not a chance ...at least not MOA ...I have been reloading rifles since 1979 ...I floated the barrel and bedded the action ...no change ...I went through Barnes, Hornady, Sierra, and Speer bullets ...every weight from 58 to 100 grain ...CCI to Win primers ...and every bullet with every combo of powder/primer - 4350, 4831, 3031 ...nothing better than 2" at 100 yards and often much worse ...not acceptable ...my kids lugged that gun around for ten years ...it rarely was shot other than for them to practise every so often ...i have been able to get every 700 i have ever owned to shoot with a bit of work, but not much
...i grew to distrust this gun and that's not something you want to do when going into the field to hunt ...but i kept it
...and then for some reason not so long ago i got it out and said that this was a make or break couple of days and i reloaded all these combinations again with the same results
...and then
...in one of my older manuals it listed H322 for bullets up to 80 grains
...so i thought what the hell, tried it with slightly reduced loads on some 87 grainers that i have
...and there ya have it at 100 yards...what i've waited 17 years to see and from an less-used powder no less
...it's not a smoking hot load, but it will do what i want it to...87 grain VMax at 2900 fps...good out to 300 yards
...i'm happier than punch
...if you're new to reloading don't give up until you've tried all combos
...i have dumped a couple of rifles in my life that have not performed but only 2 out of many
...later...
