Sandstrom22
Well-Known Member
Today, I went out to the mountains in a short window of time before a friends birthday gig to try out some bullets I handloaded. 210 gr Berger VLD bullets are what I decided to go with so I did some load development a few weeks prior with retumbo, h1000 and IMR4451. The retumbo and h100 never got above 2700 fps with either up to the recommended max load charge for each in the book. But the IMR 4451(67.5grains) shot nice and consistent 3/4" groups at 150 yrds and ended up shooting 2890fps without much muzzle velocity difference. I than shot the same bullets at 500yds and got about a 10" group. But I was not loading these bullets out to my lands, which is (3.68") I was only loading them (3.35") so that they fit in my magazine, that goes for all three different types of powder. Doing this made the berger bullet crush the retumbo and h1000 down because they required more powder per the book as compared to the IMR 4451. I was told that shooting where your lands were is what makes your grouping become much more superior. So I loaded the 4451 load out to my lands and printed out a bullet drop chart off of G7 app. went out and shot 500 yards and my bullets were grouping about 4" but they were a complete foot low. so I put that data into the FPS validation. and it adjusted my muzzle velocity down to 2660 fps. Which is a huge drop from what the gun was shooting a few weeks prior at a shorter coal length. I would like to stay above 2800fps or even more to maintain better energy. Im torn and confused. is giving the case more powder space making the bullet loose compression? should I try retumbo and h1000 at my longer coal length and see if they perform better now with a longer COAL length bullet instead of the shorter coal length I initially tested them at?
