Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MechanicMatt]

AND….
My 7-08 still isn’t living up to it’s potential….

 

[MustangMike]

My .300winmag, my Stainless 30-06 m70

Still need your expertise on my .300savage!

And then we’ll work on the 25-35, see if you can get it better than 2in. I’m pulling my hair out on that one. That’s why Cailey sports the .243 now

One day, I’ll have to visit and get the first hand experience so I can close the gap on my 3years into it and your decades of experience

It starts with research (any load data or recommendations from companies or individuals or articles). Hodgdon Reloading Data is my primary source and is free online.

Based on this information, I try to identify one or more good powders, hopefully that I already have. I often look to find a powder that will provide near maximum velocity at less pressure than other powders in that cartridge. That allows me to start near maximum velocity with less worry. In recent years, I have also been shifting to powders that I can "throw" accurately, instead of weighing every charge (like using H-380 instead of IMR-4350). This saves me a lot of time, and these powders are also often less expensive.

My current favorite powders:

223 - H335
30-30 - LVR
308 - CFE223
270 WSM and 348 (250 gr bullet) StaBALL6.5
30-06 and 338-06 - H380

Next is picking a bullet and determining the correct seating depth. The magazine may be the limiting factor, but if not, I usually try to load the bullet as far out as possible w/o touching the rifling. I start by seating the bullet long, then keep going a bit shorter till the bolt closes easily. I have never found it necessary to crimp bullets, even in my lever guns, so I don't. If your dies are good, your bullet should not move under recoil.

Next is going to the range and seeing how it shoots. If good I go with it, if not I try changing the powder charge, or the bullet, or the cartridge length. Some guns prefer a max (or near max) charge, others get best accuracy with a slightly reduced charge. You will not know till you experiment. Since I'm looking for hunting loads (not target loads) I will usually change the powder charge 1/2 grain at a time and like to use round #s whenever possible. But sometimes, especially when close to max loads, I will go with tenths.

So basically, it is just common sense and hard work! (Adjusting dies and determining if your gun likes full length or neck sizing is a whole new discussion)

You should ALWAYS ensure that your ammo fits and feed right in your magazine, and that it chambers easily and smoothly in your gun. The ammo I load is specific for each individual rifle, not just for any rifle of that caliber.

You may recall last year I reloaded my 3 different 30-06 rifles, and each one preferred something different (all had 22" barrels with 1 in 10 twist).

My Rugar American Rifle shoots very well (and to the same point of aim) with 58 gr of IMR 4350 over a magnum primer w/168 gr Barnes TTSX or 57 gr H-380 (standard primer) and 165 gr Speer BT.

Your Dad's pre-64 Model 70 Featherweight preferred the charge reduced to 56 grains of H-380. It shot both bullets well, but groups were about 2" apart, so we just loaded the Barnes TTSX bullets.

Your post-64 Model 70 Stainless did not like the Barnes bullets but shot the Speer 165 grain BT well with 56.5 gr of H-380.

All 3 of these rifles will be going up with us tomorrow. Your Dad will be using his Featherweight, your nephew will be using your Stainless and my Ruger American Rifle will be a backup rifle in case anyone has any problems.