Corelokt? Seriously?

[Havard]

How's the song go, "you can't always get what ya want"?
my oldest son's model 700, Gen 2 / 5R in .308 has been more challenging that I care to admit. Round count is still less than or right at 100, so I am hoping it will hit a tight spot somewhere in the future.
I worked up a load with Varget & 150gr TSX using 210m primers and Lapua brass. Minus .020" off the lands gave me a decent 3/4 MOA group so I proceeded to load 25 rounds for whitetail season. Long story short they wouldn't magazine feed (my mistake) so I seated deeper and the group opened up. The sucker has a tremendous amount of gap between COAL magazine lengths and ogive / lands so I thought we would try some factory rounds and see if it liked anything off the shelf to possibly avoid more load development during said season. We have tried Hornady 150gr SST, Federal loads with 150gr Partitions, Whitetail Deer Season, 168gr Federal GMM, and a couple more that I have forgotten. He has some of his high school buddy's that talked him into trying Remington Corelokts and against my better judgement, we got a box. 4 shot group, cold bore included, produces a .669" group at 100yds. Now can someone please explain this one? And what should I try to load going forward?At this point I refuse to accept that I can't work up a load equal to or better than a $22 dollar box of Corelokts

 

[SilverbulletMAG]

lol I've been there myself and know exactly how frustrating that can be! Good news, corelokt's are super cheap to load. ;-) Maybe try to match the factory seating and velocity with Varget, IMR 4064 or 4166 (all powders I've had good luck with in various 308s shooting 150-175 bullets).

 

[YZ-80]

lol I've been there myself and know exactly how frustrating that can be! Good news, corelokt's are super cheap to load. ;-) Maybe try to match the factory seating and velocity with Varget, IMR 4064 or 4166 (all powders I've had good luck with in various 308s shooting 150-175 bullets).

This is what I would do. Not sure if the factory stuff is crimped but you can just ignore the cannelure and maybe manipulate the seating depth a bit shallower than the factory load (seat to just under mag length) and might even be able to improve on that .669 group.

 

[wv270wsm]

Frustrating!! May try to get Core-Lokt bullets in bulk maybe I thought I saw them at Cabela's before. I've been having very good luck with Speer bullets here of late. Another cheap option if they would shoot good for ya

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

shoot what works ..

 

[rharfo]

Have a Wyatt box installed.

 

[Muddyboots]

The rifle may be telling you that it likes a bullet that jumps the SAAMI loaded measurement distance to lands. I had a Savage 110 .270 that wouldn't shoot a darn until the load was SAAMI measurement and then it shot well. Swapped barrel out last year and now It will shoot closer to lands. I suggest starting your load at SAAMI and working your way out to the max COAL feed measurement. Or if it shoots well at SAAMI, accept it and kill stuff with it. Not all rifles shoot better closer to lands; that is why we reload to find the sweet spot. This rifle sweet spot may be SAAMI or close to it. Either way, you proved the rifle can shoot! I guess one of the benefits is a 100 bullets is only $30! Usually we pay more than that for 50 premium bullets!
Link: 150 gr Core Lokts

 

[Dmagna]

Try accubonds. They have worked really well for me

 

[PredatorSlayer]

How's the song go, "you can't always get what ya want"?
my oldest son's model 700, Gen 2 / 5R in .308 has been more challenging that I care to admit. Round count is still less than or right at 100, so I am hoping it will hit a tight spot somewhere in the future.
I worked up a load with Varget & 150gr TSX using 210m primers and Lapua brass. Minus .020" off the lands gave me a decent 3/4 MOA group so I proceeded to load 25 rounds for whitetail season. Long story short they wouldn't magazine feed (my mistake) so I seated deeper and the group opened up. The sucker has a tremendous amount of gap between COAL magazine lengths and ogive / lands so I thought we would try some factory rounds and see if it liked anything off the shelf to possibly avoid more load development during said season. We have tried Hornady 150gr SST, Federal loads with 150gr Partitions, Whitetail Deer Season, 168gr Federal GMM, and a couple more that I have forgotten. He has some of his high school buddy's that talked him into trying Remington Corelokts and against my better judgement, we got a box. 4 shot group, cold bore included, produces a .669" group at 100yds. Now can someone please explain this one? And what should I try to load going forward?At this point I refuse to accept that I can't work up a load equal to or better than a $22 dollar box of Corelokts

Why reload? If I find a factory load that shoots close to .5 moa, consistently, I stop loading for it.

 

[tr175]

Check the front action screw. I have seen more than once that HS has too thick of an aluminum block in there & the front screw does not have enough threads to keep it stable.

 

[Paul Spaulding]

I have an older 700 in .270 Win, and I struggle to find a load that shoots better than the cheap off the shelf Core-Lokts. In the end, the animal winds up just as dead as with a premium bullets at the ranges I shoot at.

 

[Airedale56]

My 700 PSS likes 165-168 grain bullets with W748 powder.

When it was a duty rifle (1988-1995) I shot Federal Gold Medal Match for LE duty.

However, I did discover that pulling the Sierra Matchking and seating a 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip to the same overall length gave me the same hole point of impact as the GMM.
Killed several antelope and deer and one unlucky coyote with that combination

 

[jrock]

Been there. Found its best to sell the gun. I've spent over $300 into trying to force a gun to shoot well. Not worth it for a $500 gun. That money would have been better spent on a better quality gun in the first place.

If the gun likes corelocks and nothing else and you want to shoot something else then you are not a compatible match. BTW, I think corelock bullets are great.

I have found that some guns like certain shaped bullets better than others. Flat base bullets usually shoot better. If you find a bullet with a similar shape as the corelocks it may shoot well. I have a .243 in which I tired 4 different brands of 100 grain SPBT bullets. Only one shot well. On closer inspection, the shape of the boat tail, bearing length, etc was different enough to matter.

As far as finding a box off the shelf that shoots better than all your hard work, that's a tough pill to swallow. But so it goes.

 

[jvr]

100 grain Core lockets shoot cloverleafs with and old tang safety ruger 243. I bought 20 boxes (a lifetime supply) and called it a day.