• If you are being asked to change your password, and unsure how to do it, follow these instructions. Click here

Have you had success getting Nosler ABLR bullets to group well?

Better luck with the ABLR's in my 26 Nosler, 7mm STW, 30-378 and my 300 PRC than any of the Berger's I'm sub-MOA in all four rifles. They love speed and a slight jump. They do not like being crammed into or within 0.003 of the lans. This is 300 yds in my 26 Nosler. Calm day no wind 91 degrees low humidity. 142's at 3,424 fps using Retumbo 28" barrel
What's your load for the STW? I'm trying right now to get them to shoot and not having great luck with the accuracy.
 
I use the ABLR in my .338 LM, .300 WM, .260 Rem, 6.5x5, and .308 Win. I called and spoke to a bulletsmith from Nosler and he told me to start load development at 0.070" off the lands then fine tune from there. It has worked for me on all of my rifles except the Garand which is no big deal as I probably will never hunt beyond 300 yards with that anyway.
 
At 200 yds, outstanding groups with 284 175 ABLR.
When I moved out to 600, the groups dropped 6-7" lower than predicted and couldn't identify any of 3 separate groups I was shooting. My guess is they lost stability somewhere in the flight.
Then digging into the problem, most people using them were commenting on bad lots of bullets. Now, it seems to be continuing so something else is going on. Lost one beautiful deer at 400 and thought it was due to other factors, me being one of them. Never hit the deer.
I'm back out to the range today to re-develop my 180 Berger load.
 
At 200 yds, outstanding groups with 284 175 ABLR.
When I moved out to 600, the groups dropped 6-7" lower than predicted and couldn't identify any of 3 separate groups I was shooting. My guess is they lost stability somewhere in the flight.
Then digging into the problem, most people using them were commenting on bad lots of bullets. Now, it seems to be continuing so something else is going on. Lost one beautiful deer at 400 and thought it was due to other factors, me being one of them. Never hit the deer.
I'm back out to the range today to re-develop my 180 Berger load.
Try reducing the BC 8%. I had the same issue with 175s. 600 is the magic mark where those things start to take affect drastically. I used Litz's tested BC and it was spot on. Most BC numbers are inflated
 
Try reducing the BC 8%. I had the same issue with 175s. 600 is the magic mark where those things start to take affect drastically. I used Litz's tested BC and it was spot on. Most BC numbers are inflated
The drop was one thing, BC or not. The groups opened up from .28 inch at 200 to >6" at 600 yards. I wouldn't consider them "grouping" or even "gathering".
Somewhere in flight, the bullets just began to drop lower and scatter.
The small target was at 200, 1 fouler and 2 to confirm.
Missed a deer at 400.
Went out after the hunt to check drops at 600, ended up with those circled areas, 3 places and that's what made me go back to my Berger load. The inches of drop from my aim point are written next to each hole on the cardboard....
 

Attachments

  • 20211001_070752.jpg
    20211001_070752.jpg
    821.9 KB · Views: 78
  • 20211001_095545.jpg
    20211001_095545.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 81
Last edited:
The drop was one thing, BC or not. The groups opened up from .28 inch at 200 to >6" at 600 yards. I wouldn't consider them "grouping" or even "gathering".
Somewhere in flight, the bullets just began to drop lower and scatter.
The small target was at 200, 1 fouler and 2 to confirm.
Missed a deer at 400.
Went out after the hunt to check drops at 600, ended up with those circled areas, 3 places and that's what made me go back to my Berger load. The inches of drop from my aim point are written next to each hole on the cardboard....

What's the twist rate on your barrel?
 
8.5 twist Krieger, 26" medium sporter.
According to Litz, the minimum recommended twist for the 175 ABLR is 1:8.7. You SHOULD be ok with a 1:8.5, but depending on environmental conditions, MV, etc., you might getting into the marginal zone. Just a thought.
 
Interesting. I just looked up the old thread he did about them. I wonder if part of why I got better groupings compared to others is even though I was shooting a 10 twist it's a RUM so the 210s were trucking along 200FPS faster than the same bullet from a 300 WM, and it was last summer so it was approximately hotter than Hades when I shot my groups.

I ran the numbers from that post through the Berger stability calc, I got SG 1.59 for my load, the 300 WM was 1.49, and got worse dropping from 95* to 35*.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 4 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top