Had an opportunity to shoot a brand new un fired Fierce Firearms Carbon Edge rifle chambered in 300 RUM with a carbon fiber wrapped 26" barrel in 1:10 twist, a friend of mine just returned from a stag hunt in New Zealand and picked one up to replace his heavy barreled custom Rem 700 300 RUM, he had packed that heavy rifle all over the hills in NZ and in Alaska for dall sheep, mt. goat, black tailed deer and moose, he made the decision that he wanted a lighter rifle that also had a detachable mag system where the mags were flush with the stock, after some research he chose the Fierce Carbon Edge...
the bare naked rifle weighed in at 6 lbs 12 oz on my calibrated postal scale, and 8 lbs 12 oz with a VORTEX PST 4-16x50 scope with sunshade, ( only used scope I had that was not mounted on a rifle ) Vortex bubble level, Butler Creek scope caps, Talley 2 pc Weaver style bases and Nightforce low Ultra Light 1" rings....... basically 2 lbs of scope and stuff
Alex is an Alaskan commercial fisherman and had no time to do his own load data development as he was en route to the airport for a flight to King Salmon for the Bristol Bay summer salmon season and dropped off the rifle with a box of 212 gr ELD-X bullets and a can of RL 33 powder with the request that I develop the most accurate and fastest load that would function from the detachable mags,
the inside dimension of the magazine measured 3.750" so I loaded 4 dummy rounds to 3.7" coal and cycled the 4 round mag about 30 times over and over as fast as I could, at med and slow speeds and not once did any sort of failure occur and all fed cleanly from the mag.... as a safety measure I loaded the 212 gr ELDX for a slightly shorter COAL at 3.685" with CBTO at 2.962" ....... powder in all loads was Alliant Reloder 33 and Winchester WLRM primers...... brand new un fired Norma 300 RUM brass was run through a Redding full length Type S bushing die, sizing neck down about 7/8" without bumping shoulder, bullet tension was set at .003" for the designated to be hunting loads..... as is my usual procedure for load data development I do a complete workup from low charges to max with the Magnetospeed chronograph recording all the velocities, when I run into the first signs of tight bolt lift I back down two gr for a safe operating load, this load data reflects that method ....
I ran a 20 round ladder test which consisted of 87 gr to 97 gr in one gr increments and then 98 gr to 102 gr in 1/2 gr increments, the ladder test showed the tightest 3 shots were at 99.5 gr, 100 gr and 100.5 gr ... I ran into the first sign of slightly snug bolt lift at 101.5 gr and the next and last shot at 102 gr was a bit tighter still but no other signs of pressure were observed on the case head or primer, early max was located and backing down to 100 gr I loaded 12 rnds for a four 3 shot group accuracy confirmation test, the results were excellent and the Fierce Carbon Edge 300 RUM rifle 100% achieved the guaranteed 1/2" at 100 yards accuracy claimed by Fierce Firearms, in fact it surpassed that accuracy claim....... have another 20 rounds loaded for accuracy and velocity confirmation ready for this weekend,
3170 fps plus/minus for the 212 gr ELD-X is not too bad with less than half inch 3 shot groups..... beautiful rifle and shoots as good as it looks,
Alex WILL NOT be getting this baby back because It will fall out of my truck on the highway somewhere, never to be found again ..........
1:10 twist 26" carbon fiber barrel
Norma 300 RUM brass
RL 33 powder
Winchester WLRM primers
212 gr Hornady ELD-X bullets
.003" bullet tension
case neck ID .305" prior to bullet seating
C.O.A.L 3.685" C.B.T.O 2.962"
87.0 gr 2680 fps
88.0 gr 2688
89.0 gr 2751
90.0 gr 2796
91.0 gr 2815
92.0 gr 2876
93.0 gr 2920
94.0 gr 2946
95.0 gr 2990
96.0 gr 3024
97.0 gr 3046
98.0 gr 3097
98.5 gr 3121
99.0 gr 3094
99.5 gr 3138
100.0 gr 3172
100.5 gr 3180
101.0 gr 3160
101.5 gr 3192
102.0 gr 3198 fps
*** disclaimer...
this load data was developed in a particular rifle, do not assume the same max data will work for your firearm and start with a mid range load shown and work up for your rifle , not responsible for any misuse of posted data.....
http://fiercearms.com/products/rifle-models/carbon-edge
PS.... over the 4th of July weekend I ran the 225 gr ELD Match and 215 gr Berger Hybrid bullets with RL33 at same 3.685" mag length for velocity/pressure search, if any interest I can post the data and pics.......
the bare naked rifle weighed in at 6 lbs 12 oz on my calibrated postal scale, and 8 lbs 12 oz with a VORTEX PST 4-16x50 scope with sunshade, ( only used scope I had that was not mounted on a rifle ) Vortex bubble level, Butler Creek scope caps, Talley 2 pc Weaver style bases and Nightforce low Ultra Light 1" rings....... basically 2 lbs of scope and stuff
Alex is an Alaskan commercial fisherman and had no time to do his own load data development as he was en route to the airport for a flight to King Salmon for the Bristol Bay summer salmon season and dropped off the rifle with a box of 212 gr ELD-X bullets and a can of RL 33 powder with the request that I develop the most accurate and fastest load that would function from the detachable mags,
the inside dimension of the magazine measured 3.750" so I loaded 4 dummy rounds to 3.7" coal and cycled the 4 round mag about 30 times over and over as fast as I could, at med and slow speeds and not once did any sort of failure occur and all fed cleanly from the mag.... as a safety measure I loaded the 212 gr ELDX for a slightly shorter COAL at 3.685" with CBTO at 2.962" ....... powder in all loads was Alliant Reloder 33 and Winchester WLRM primers...... brand new un fired Norma 300 RUM brass was run through a Redding full length Type S bushing die, sizing neck down about 7/8" without bumping shoulder, bullet tension was set at .003" for the designated to be hunting loads..... as is my usual procedure for load data development I do a complete workup from low charges to max with the Magnetospeed chronograph recording all the velocities, when I run into the first signs of tight bolt lift I back down two gr for a safe operating load, this load data reflects that method ....
I ran a 20 round ladder test which consisted of 87 gr to 97 gr in one gr increments and then 98 gr to 102 gr in 1/2 gr increments, the ladder test showed the tightest 3 shots were at 99.5 gr, 100 gr and 100.5 gr ... I ran into the first sign of slightly snug bolt lift at 101.5 gr and the next and last shot at 102 gr was a bit tighter still but no other signs of pressure were observed on the case head or primer, early max was located and backing down to 100 gr I loaded 12 rnds for a four 3 shot group accuracy confirmation test, the results were excellent and the Fierce Carbon Edge 300 RUM rifle 100% achieved the guaranteed 1/2" at 100 yards accuracy claimed by Fierce Firearms, in fact it surpassed that accuracy claim....... have another 20 rounds loaded for accuracy and velocity confirmation ready for this weekend,
3170 fps plus/minus for the 212 gr ELD-X is not too bad with less than half inch 3 shot groups..... beautiful rifle and shoots as good as it looks,
Alex WILL NOT be getting this baby back because It will fall out of my truck on the highway somewhere, never to be found again ..........
1:10 twist 26" carbon fiber barrel
Norma 300 RUM brass
RL 33 powder
Winchester WLRM primers
212 gr Hornady ELD-X bullets
.003" bullet tension
case neck ID .305" prior to bullet seating
C.O.A.L 3.685" C.B.T.O 2.962"
87.0 gr 2680 fps
88.0 gr 2688
89.0 gr 2751
90.0 gr 2796
91.0 gr 2815
92.0 gr 2876
93.0 gr 2920
94.0 gr 2946
95.0 gr 2990
96.0 gr 3024
97.0 gr 3046
98.0 gr 3097
98.5 gr 3121
99.0 gr 3094
99.5 gr 3138
100.0 gr 3172
100.5 gr 3180
101.0 gr 3160
101.5 gr 3192
102.0 gr 3198 fps
*** disclaimer...
this load data was developed in a particular rifle, do not assume the same max data will work for your firearm and start with a mid range load shown and work up for your rifle , not responsible for any misuse of posted data.....
http://fiercearms.com/products/rifle-models/carbon-edge
PS.... over the 4th of July weekend I ran the 225 gr ELD Match and 215 gr Berger Hybrid bullets with RL33 at same 3.685" mag length for velocity/pressure search, if any interest I can post the data and pics.......
