MagnumManiac
Well-Known Member
Still confused, don't see what this has got to do with barrels liking bullets more than powder.
Cheers.
How often do you find its the bullet not the powder combo your gun likes?
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Cheers.
All the latest podcasts say thats just statistical error. Shoot more and the groups will eventually match. Haha - great rebuttal right there!
Well, it was one of the reasons many of us BR shooters hand swaged our own bullets to better match our barrels/bores/throats, and to improve on the weight, jacket variations and concentrics.
I've seen numerous rifles dislike various brands, weights, styles, etc, and then they became great shooters with others. In the "old days", we saw this a lot with some of our club target/varmint rifles, and usually, if they would not shoot a Sierra match bullet well, they were ready for a rebarrel.
Different bullets, brands and even lots can have varying diameters that better or worse fit a throat and/or bore size. Years ago, we miked a lot of Hornady .30 cal 168gr Match bullets that came in at .3073-.3078", and the competing Sierras came in at .3085-.3089. Many of our match M1's, M1A's, 700 Varmint 308's, etc preferred the larger Sierras. However, a few shooters' rifles with tighter bores had a slight preference the Hornady's.
Its one reason many shooters once, and some still do, slug their bores to determine proper bullet fit.
Edit to add) I saw a couple of older 30 cal rifles with overly large bores that would only shoot well when loaded with .303 cal, .311" bullets, and those bullets made those old rifles work for hunting for many years.
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Believe me, I had a lot of Hornady bullets I tried everything I know to get it to shoot. I have nearly 300 rounds down a new barrel before I gave up on them and went back to bergers.
Rick Richard
Well-Known Member
Here Here.
birddog 68
Well-Known Member
Curious if you tried any other Hornady bullets other than the eld's? I have never tried the eld but the Hornady interlock has always been easy loading. Their discontinued interbond were very finicky on seating depth.
No just different weights. The rifle used to have a 26 inch barrel. It was a proof carbon fiber ,since I run it suppressed I went with a 22 inch bartlein carbon and went from an 8 twist to a one in 7.5. I was not satisfied with the velocities of the 140s any more and dropped down to 130 grains , I got it to shoot by going with 130 grain bergers .
5 shots isn't enough to guarantee you have a representative sample. That 5 shot Berger group could double in size once you have enough rounds on target to give an complete picture of how that load will shoot. 10 shots gets you close, 30 shots more or less guarantees you have a representative sample.
The Hornady group could also get bigger, but it will never get smaller. That's why low round count groups are useful for rejecting bad loads. There's no reason to shoot 30 rounds if 5 tells you it's not going to meet your expectations.
I don't think anyone is saying your groups will all end up the same size if you shoot a statistically significant sample, but you need more than 5 shots to get a sample that shows the actual precision of your load.
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MikeMurf0505!
Active Member
I haven't found a bullet that out performs Berger.
Consistency , expansion at close and long range, nothing I've used comes close.
I'm a hunter and not a paper puncher…. With that standard, yes bullets have mattered most.
Years ago, most of my time reloading was spent with a 340wby and 300wby. I noticed the Weatherbys shot cloverleafs with bullets crimped in the cannalure. This didn't make sense given the free bore…as bullet jump was extreme….but it worked with 165 Hornady spire points and partitions. For years, I tried multiple bullets in those rifles. With lots of effort, I found acceptable accuracy but not cloverleaf. I did notice in those rifles flat base bullets were always easier to get to shoot well. Even accubonds did not shoot cloverleafs….but did shoot into 1".
Today, I load primarily for a half dozen Tikkas and one Sako. In these rifles, I start with Accubonds and Hornady Interlocs and 5/8" to 3/4" accuracy has been almost effortless. I have fine tuned COAL on a couple to shoot 1/2" but lack the patience/time to chase further. For my hunting needs, these results are more than adequate.
For me, I chase bullets, powder charge and COAL with the last being needed about 1/3 of the time.
Years ago, most of my time reloading was spent with a 340wby and 300wby. I noticed the Weatherbys shot cloverleafs with bullets crimped in the cannalure. This didn't make sense given the free bore…as bullet jump was extreme….but it worked with 165 Hornady spire points and partitions. For years, I tried multiple bullets in those rifles. With lots of effort, I found acceptable accuracy but not cloverleaf. I did notice in those rifles flat base bullets were always easier to get to shoot well. Even accubonds did not shoot cloverleafs….but did shoot into 1".
Today, I load primarily for a half dozen Tikkas and one Sako. In these rifles, I start with Accubonds and Hornady Interlocs and 5/8" to 3/4" accuracy has been almost effortless. I have fine tuned COAL on a couple to shoot 1/2" but lack the patience/time to chase further. For my hunting needs, these results are more than adequate.
For me, I chase bullets, powder charge and COAL with the last being needed about 1/3 of the time.
Not the first time I've heard this. My .243 favors 85 grain bullets.
