Reloading learning curve

[Riverguide]

Here are my results from this past weekend shooting. I've done a fair amount of reloading with my 30-06, but that has always been one load, one powder and one brand if primer.

Today I am shooting my bolt action CZ-527, SSK 300 WSP 16" barrel with 1:8 twist. I made three separate loads to test over my chronograph and needed to complete the sighting in of my scope. I'm very happy with some things and very surprised about some others....



The strange thing here is the big difference in elevation. This was the first in a series and I had to make some scope adjustments but to left and right only. I was also just getting settled into my shooting for the day so I won't know how much of this is the shooters fault (assuming a lot) as compared to the loads I was experimenting with. At just over 2000 FPS, I think I need to kick up the powder just a bit, maybe 16.5 grains.



My best set. These 220 SMK's looked really good. I made no attempt to adjust for zero and was aiming for the bulls eye. Considering I was shooting on a folding chair over a wobbly folding table... this is pretty good for me. The next batch is going to be at 9.4 or 9.3 grains of powder to keep them subsonic.



Here is my biggest surprise. What a great pattern! (I was aiming for the center of the blue tape at 100 yards) but could not believe the key holing. One round literally slammed sideways. As soon as I saw this I ran back to check my can and could not see any signs of baffle strike, but that does not mean it didn't happen, there could be streaks in there. I want to back off the powder a little more to keep these subsonic on a cold day but think I really need to put more powder in to make them stable

Given my lack of experience here, I'm looking for help on this last set - PLEASE!

-Riverguide.

[fasttwist]

Riverguide, Have you shot any outlaw groups without the suppressor?

[Riverguide]

I only shot one without the can a few weeks ago and did not see anything unusual That same weekend . I had also shot the SMK's without the suppressor to make sure they were stable before I put the can on. One thing I did notice is that the can seemed to add about 25 to 50 or so FPS to the speed. This past weekend was my first real attempt to get this dialed in.

Another thing I noticed was that the Outlaw's were just a tad faster out of the barrel then the SMK's that's why i backed the powder from 9.6 to 9.4 of N110.

The Outlaw's are sweet looking hunting rounds and each one weighed exactly 220 grains. More consistent in bullet weight then the SMK's were for the first few of each that i weighed. :)

-Riverguide.

[fasttwist]

Riverguide, Before going any further with the outlaws you need to confirm stability without the suppressor at 10 ft and 100 yds. After that has been accomplished guarantee that the suppressor is concentric with the bore and tight. Then shoot one round and check for stability. What distance are you loading off the lands?

[Riverguide]

Thanks Paul, I will for sure!

When I shot the Outlaw 220's the first time a few weeks ago, it was at 25 yard targets and no suppressor. This is when I noticed two things, first, the Outlaw 220's were slightly faster out of the barrel then the SMK's. The second thing I observed is that suppressor made them even slightly more fast. My initial load was 9.6 grains of N110 and there was no key holing observed with or without the suppressor.

Given the SMK's performance, I think we can say that suppressor alignment is most likely OK. I would like to think that given how tight of a pattern that the Outlaw 220's gave me at 100 yards and previous tests showing no tumbling at 25 yards, then the tumbling did not start until well past 25 yards.

I don't have my COAL for the Outlaw 220's. What I did was load my SMK's first to a COAL of 2.26. Then, I seated the Outlaw's with the same settings "assuming" the distance from the lands would be about the same for both projectiles. My cartridge checker from SSK showed that they would chamber fine meaning they were not touching the lands.

Given my lack of experience, what can be expected? If there were a baffle strike, I would not have expected such a tight pattern developing at 100 yards. Thanks again for your help and great customer service.

-Riverguide.

[snipecatcher]

Most of the loads out of my rifle are unstable, and some of them shoot pretty nice groups. I've been down that road and no one has a good explanation for what is happening. Those bullets simply may not work out of your rifle, and there isn't a whole lot you can do other than try some other types of bullets.
-Dan

[justshoot]

The Sierra HP Matchkings have a pretty long & light nose-weight with the long HP cavity .
Even though you may not ever have Suppressor muzzle cap strike. The heavy weight Matchkings ( Subsonic vel.) will start to Yaw & tumble before other heavy-weight .30 cal. bullets do .

Subsonic vel. leaving the muzzle in Heavy weight .30's like the Gamekings or the heavy-weight Pointed-soft points will travel longer distances in spin-balance with no Yaw & tumble.
.