181 Hammers with 300 Wsm

[Draftmule]

Wow what great tips. The best powder i have tried to date in the 300 WSM with 180 - 190s is older W760 but anxious to try some of these powder suggestions. Jzeman ~
I have some 185 classic Bergers but I doubt they fly as good as your HVLDs. If you try the 190 Noslers they are challenging but for me really seemed to like lots of jump.

 

[dougduey]

N

Wow what great tips. The best powder i have tried to date in the 300 WSM with 180 - 190s is older W760 but anxious to try some of these powder suggestions. Jzeman ~
I have some 185 classic Bergers but I doubt they fly as good as your HVLDs. If you try the 190 Noslers they are challenging but for me really seemed to like lots of jump.

Nothing wrong with W760 at all. Honestly, I mainly use HV100 or RL17 in my 300 WSM. IMR 4350 and W760 are my back ups. I've played a little with RL16 and it's very nice, but I have too much RL17 and HV100 on hand to change over and redo load development with it. My SAKO 75 has a 1:11 twist, so I can't stabilize the 181gr Hammers, so I load the 166 gr. When this barrel is done and I put a new one on it, I'll switch to RL16.
I get around 3150 fps with the 166gr Hammer and HV100. Same powder gives me 3025 fps with the 180gr Accubond. I use RL17 with the 200 gr ELDX at 2952 fps. All are between 0.25-0.50" moa depending upon how good the guy behind the trigger is shooting that day. I'm the weak link

 

[Draftmule]

DOUG ~ Interesting and really helfull! This shortmag thing is new too me. The 300 wsm I am load developing with right now is a Sako 85 Bavarian with 1:11 twist. The barrel I am using for new build on a 700 LA is 1: 9 so will be interesting. Your 3150 fps sounds good.

 

[dougduey]

My SAKO is stupid accurate and I'm sure yours is too. Let me know if you want any of my load data. COAL is limited to the mag.

 

[Hand Skills]

For reference,
Etip is 1.464"
Hammer Hunter is 1.524"

 

[Wedgy]

Give RL 16 a try. Really good in the WSM and very temp stable

For some reason 2 of my 3 local(and way over priced) shops do not carry Alliant powders, and I've had a pretty steady supply of H4350 and now have a lot of it, otherwise I would try it, I have heard great reviews for it.

 

[dougduey]

For some reason 2 of my 3 local(and way over priced) shops do not carry Alliant powders, and I've had a pretty steady supply of H4350 and now have a lot of it, otherwise I would try it, I have heard great reviews for it.

Can't go wrong with H4350. You couldn't find that powder anywhere a year or 2 ago.

 

[Wedgy]

Can't go wrong with H4350. You couldn't find that powder anywhere a year or 2 ago.

Yes, the PRS creedmore club was hogging it LOL
Good thing AR's don't use it

 

[dougduey]

Yes, the PRS creedmore club was hogging it LOL
Good thing AR's don't use it

Just got an email from Bruno's. They have Alliant powders back in stock and lowered their hazmat fee.
RL16&23 are super temp stable with great velocities. RL26 is really good but not as temp insensitive. You get really good velocities out of RL26. I use it in a lot of different cartridges. Buy an 8lb jug and you won't be disappointed. I shoot it in a 243 all the way up to the 338 Lapua.

 

[Wedgy]

Just got an email from Bruno's. They have Alliant powders back in stock and lowered their hazmat fee.
RL16&23 are super temp stable with great velocities. RL26 is really good but not as temp insensitive. You get really good velocities out of RL26. I use it in a lot of different cartridges. Buy an 8lb jug and you won't be disappointed. I shoot it in a 243 all the way up to the 338 Lapua.

I was one of the early users of RL 26 and everyone said "yer gunna blow yourself up"
when I reported the velocities I was getting in the .243 Win LOL It really is magic dust ! I still use it in a couple rifles but I can't shoot them in the summer.

 

[dougduey]

I was one of the early users of RL 26 and everyone said "yer gunna blow yourself up"
when I reported the velocities I was getting in the .243 Win LOL It really is magic dust ! I still use it in a couple rifles but I can't shoot them in the summer.

Yes, I've had it be a little squirrelly when it's over 85 degrees in a couple of rifles. I live in San Antonio, so I'm right there with you on summer shooting issues. I've had issues with Retumbo too, and it's supposed to be pretty temp stable.

 

[cj518]

This is my initial testing with the 181 Hammers with the 300 WSM. My rifle is a custom built Surgeon by them with my reamer for the Berger 215's. I tested the Hammers at a COAL of 3.085" giving me a CBTO of 2.350" with my comparator. Bartlein 10 tw in 5R, Norma brass, CCI BR-2 primer and IMR 7828 ssc. My beginning charge was 65.0 grains and final charge was 69.0 grains (this load was compressed for me) increasing at 0.5 grains incrementally. My intent was looking for pressure but didn't find any suggesting I may go with a little faster powder. My velocity node was 3034 fps with ES in single digits and velocity range through the initial testing was 2923 fps to 3098 fps at max. As I said, I was only looking for pressure so all rounds were fired at 100 yards at the same POI. My group measured 0.8" with 2 outliers in the group, one of which was a fowler. I would like to add that because this rifle was set up specifically for the Bergers the jump for the 181 Hammers was 0.143" to the lands and they did NOT mind at all. I also tried them in my older 300 wm built by Charley Robertson and it likes the Hammers too. Hope this helps.

 

[Muddyboots]

If you can find RL-16, it is crazy consistent in the 300WSM. My ES and SDs are dang near single digit on 165-180 gr. Velocities are very good and it is a very stable powder. BUT one thing I have found with RL16 be prepared to clean carbon ring frequently. Worth the aggravation for the performance.

1+ with Dougduey on RL17 with 200 ELDX. 2950 out of 24" barrel, dropped back to 2900 to have little better ES SD and ACCURATE!