300WSM / 180 Accubond .015 off lands/ RL-17 / Fed. 215
95*f with a thunderstorm rapidly building directly above me. Winds 15-20 swirling, & gusting.
Brand New barrel brake in, & load work up. First shots fired (other than my smith proof shooting it). So, between bbl break in, & horrible conditions, these groups may not be real accurate indicators, but here goes:
63gr- Sub moa, barely. 5 shots group
-quick, but thurough cleaning of the bore.
64- Sub Moa barely, 5 shot group
-Cleaned thuroughly, & cooled thuroughly to ambient temp.....of 95* freakin degrees....
65-Hated it bad, over 1.5 Moa!! 5 shot group.
-Quick, but thurough cleaning.
65.5- two thru same hole twice fifth a bit high (could've been me) about 3/4 moa 5 shot group.
-noticed slightly stiffer bolt-
-didn't clean, because I wondered if 66 gr in a hot chamber, & bbl would show more pressure, so shot next string with 1.5 min between shots while brass warmed in chamber.
66- two touching twice one high & between the two. About 3/4 moa 5 shot group.
Slightly heavier bolt than 65.5gr. No flattened or cratered primers. No shiny marks in brass. No other indicators other than the "feel & sound" of the gun durring recoil, & your "senses" knew you were about there, & 66 was a good stopping point.
I hunt Hells Canyon in August for bear, where 115-118*f isn't unheard of. So I do my load work up on the hottest days I can to check for pressure signs. This was also my reasoning for not cleaning, but rather, warming up my brass in the chamber between 65.5 & 66gr.
I just don't know without a doubt that I'd trust this load in that heat. So the Load work up will likely continue with a different powder.
I was prone out of the back of my pickup..... May also have contributed to poor groups
I need to adjust my trigger down another pound or so too.
I'll be experimenting with RL-19 next. I know I'll loose some velocity, but it works beautifully in 3 other Shortmag I load for (all chambered in 270WSM tho).
gun) Keep building on this thread guys. Accurate Data for RL-17 is just not too easy to find.gun)