Berger VS Hornaday

[BrentM]

Upon thd purchase {December}of a New Seekins Havic Element 300 wm topped with a new VX6HD 4x24x52 Leupold im not happy with any of my hand loads. 3 different powders h1000 h4350 h4831sc 2 different bergers190 & 155 gr. With an extremely long throat on the seekins the bergers didnt want any jump. I ordered a box of hornady 178 gr eldx. I even ordered a box of old school flat base 180 grain Hornadays to have if i cant build a grouping with Boattails plus a factory box of Hornadys 178 gr eldx just to try to find the guanteeed factory MOA group of the rifle. My question is are the hornadys as sensitive to jump? I'm looking for a starting point. I've yet to shoot a inch group from factory coal to lands> 3.570. I also used a second set of RCBS Dies for a change up to no avail. It was shot by a 2nd party, along with all contacts rechecked properly torqued in inch pounds.In cleaning the gun it appears to have been lapped at the factory, there is some fouling with hardly any copper residue. Yes it was sold as brand new from Euro Optics. Your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks, Jeff ~

It seems odd to have a have chamber that is not SAAMI. I would either cast the chamber and ensure spec or get a proper OAL length to ensure spec. If out of spec the rifle goes to seekins. If in spec, something else seems off.

Just curious...... 155 and 190 are kind of odd sizes for a 300. Seems like most people prefer a 200 class bullet in a magnum. Is there a particular reason for the lighter bullets? As far as hornady x's, I found they are just fine with jump but most prefere 20-30k. Berger, I am not a huge fan, but I had very good luck at 100k. I had 1 rifle that jumped 250k and it was good to go. Unless you are crushing powder I'd do a seating depth test to 250 if you can actually get that far.

 

[jpd676]

I've got a Havak PH2 in 300 prc. It wouldn't shoot 225's at all, factory or handloads. It loves the Hornady 208 Eldm's; I shoot them in everything from a 300 blackout to 300wm. They usually like a .02 to a .04 jump. I'd suggest you try the 208's.

 

[bonie]

I have not seen anything on your twist rate, my sons WM has a 1 in8.5 and loves Hornady 215 ELDX hand loads, my 300 WSM has a 1 in 11 and won't shoot a good group beyond 200 yards with anything heavier that a 180s. it love 168 Berger clasics at .030 jump and 178 ELDXs at .010 of jump. they were my most accurate out to 528 yards,( thats our max range we have here) 3/4 MOA less then 1/2 MOA at 100yds