This is from Hornady's 11th edition manual, so I'm not going on an unknown or potentially dangerous venture lol. Granted I have been only loading my own ammo for the last 10 years, I always take safety as a concern and don't load at above recommended charge weights.
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Powder choice, bullet, and group size.
- Thread starter aj427ci
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I wasn't asking for anyone's pet loads, just asking if you abandoned the bullet or powder first. I understand there is a whole lot of variables that go into making accurate ammo. I suppose I have been really lucky in the rifles I have loaded for that starting at published coal, and starting at 90% charge weight has gotten me a good start to fine tune. This is the only combo that has produced groups in the 3" range for this rifle, but I have never shot this bullet or powder before.
I didn't have a Hornady Manual, but checked the reloading data on the web site. Didn't find any data for the combination. I have never got Hornady bullets to shoot as well as others, for me most notably Nosler and Sierra. Doesn't matter what caliber or type of bullet, just don't group well for me in anything I have tried them in from MSR's to match rifles. I have a lot of boxes of partially empty Hornaday bullets sitting on the shelf. Tried them and couldn't get them to shoot up to my expectations. Then again, I am a fussy old bitch.
The Hodgdon 2024 loading manual has ALL sorts of 65Staball data but not for the 150 ELDX. They do list the 162ELDM and the 166 ATIP. Hodgdon 2024 has some great load data across the board for numerous powder/projectile combinations.
Since the bullet is the main thing I tend to pick a bullet I want to shoot and try and find a powder that works. I did some loading in 7/08 with 120,140 ballistic tips and staball. It was fast but accuracy was meh. Varget is one of the most stable powders out there and tends to work well in 308 sized case.
I did not recommend abandoning either one because I have no clue how you developed your load. As I noted, as with anything else, YMMV. As you indicated, you are lucky to be using published COAL and starting at 90% powder charge. I do not know if you have made any seating depth changes or what your accuracy node is at various powder charges.
So you know that at least Hornady tested the bullet/powder combination on their 11th ed (I have the 10th ed). However, they do not indicate which powder is the most accurate. I do not know if they still do, but I have a Nosler 6th ed showing which powder is the most accurate. I wish most reloading manuals would do the same. Regardless, it is just a reference/baseline.
I prefer to measure CBTO over COAL, but I track both on my load development tracking log and the distance to the lands. I do not chase the lands but prefer .020" +/—.005" off them.
For me I would try different bullets weights and styles 1st.
Generally you can find what powders do well with different case capacity's.
For instance 30-06 sized cases do really well with 4350 and 4831 powders.
So if you find a lot of people posting they are having good success with the same powder like varget in .308 and you're not getting good groups then I would be trying a different bullet or weight.
Seating depths is not really going to change group sizes as much as bullet weight, style
and powder choice.
For me it's the bullet that the gun will like or not regardless of powder. It may like a different powder better but generally I can tell with a ladder test if a gun likes a certain bullet pretty fast.
Having a choice of powders and bullets on the bench helps a lot though. But that comes from reloading a lot of different cartridges over many years. Anyway now I'm just rambling on.
Generally you can find what powders do well with different case capacity's.
For instance 30-06 sized cases do really well with 4350 and 4831 powders.
So if you find a lot of people posting they are having good success with the same powder like varget in .308 and you're not getting good groups then I would be trying a different bullet or weight.
Seating depths is not really going to change group sizes as much as bullet weight, style
and powder choice.
For me it's the bullet that the gun will like or not regardless of powder. It may like a different powder better but generally I can tell with a ladder test if a gun likes a certain bullet pretty fast.
Having a choice of powders and bullets on the bench helps a lot though. But that comes from reloading a lot of different cartridges over many years. Anyway now I'm just rambling on.
SmokinCrow
Well-Known Member
I find Staball 65 works best with the heaviest bullets.. Wouldn't surprise me if the 162 gr bullets shot lights out. I have also found ELD X bullets to be more difficult for me to shoot great. The ELD M on the other hand have always been easier to get to shoot great. the 162 ELD M in a 7-08 would be awesome.
Stefan Wild
Member
I have a question: what is the "mission" in your selection of bullets and powders? If you are looking for hunting, paper poking or steel clanging wouldn't stability, accuracy and dependability be more important than speed?
The guy said he was using the 150 eldx. So I assume it's for hunting. In that case I pick the bullet I like and have experience with. Bullet performance is most important to me. A small increase in accuracy is not worth the trade off in bullet performance for me. I may try a different weight bullet of the same design. Only if I cannot get acceptable accuracy will I try another bullet. Terminal performance, accuracy and being in the speed range for the bullet I find appropriate.
I went with the 150 ELDX because it was readily available in my area. I'm just hunting deer. My goal is to find a load that provides a decent max point blank range and hopefully that can be achieved at around 300 yards and also keep wind drift to a max of 4"-6" with 10 mile wind in that 300-350 range. I already bought the bullets so I would like to try them. Unfortunately I'm also limited to max length because of using a pmag. I can't get it approved with the accountant to fund a different bottom metal before the holidays lol. I'll try and use a couple different powders and see if I can get lucky, if not I'll just get closer.
7mm 150gr Ballistic Tip Hunting (50ct) (BLEM)
7mm 150gr Ballistic Tip Hunting (50ct) (BLEM)
www.nosler.com
I understand you are limited with mag clearance, but did you do a seating depth test or not?
No I didn't. With the mag length limit I just set it to 2.800. I guess for info sake I need to see how far the jump is.
