I just wanted to see how long it would take for Steve to respond to this! 
It took a whole 19 shots this time instead of my usual 9!!!!!
I recently threw together a 7mm SAUM as a last minute project for hunting season (since you can't hunt with the same gun twice!) which has proven to be exceptionally accurate. The first load I put together to zero the scope uses a 168gr Berger VLD and H4350. It shot so well that I just never messed with it. I fire one 3 shot group at 100 yards to confirm my zero every time I go out shooting and so far the largest group out of the 7 this load has fired was .24" with the smallest being .088". First trip out with the rifle, I took 3 shots to zero, one to chronograph the load and then sent the next 10 shots at a rock 1481 yards away with excellent results.
The next load I tried was with a 155gr MTH and H414 powder. I had 30 of these bullets sitting around from a past project so I figured I'd try them out. Same deal as with the Bergers, I just picked a powder charge and a seating depth and gave it a run. This time I went straight to the 1481 yard rock and just used the same hold that I did with the Bergers. The elevation was actually within 2 MOA and the windaged was dead on. The trajectory of the two loads is actually completely different, it just worked out that the POI was similar at that range. The groups were in the .75 MOA range at 1481 yards so I was starting to think that maybe the barrel just shoots everything well.
Then my box of 143gr Hammer Hunters showed up and ruined everything! I thought I'd get lucky and just pick another charge and be good to go, but that didn't happen. I started with a "random" charge of H4350, loaded 6 rounds and went to test at 100 yards. The result was a "disappointing" .8" group. I tried the other 3 shots at 810 yards and got pretty much the same results. Moving on to the next powder I did the same test but used H414. Again, I got the same .75" groups at 100 yards and very similar groups at 810. This is the most work I've ever had to do to get .5" groups with Hammer Bullets! The last trip out I loaded up 7 rounds (I had a good feeling about this load) using H100v. The 100 yard group was a very satisfactory .38" and happens to impact 2.5 MOA to the right of my zero with the 168gr Berger load with the same elevation, perfect! I fired 1 shot over the Magneto to get a veloctiy (3320 fps) and went to 810 yards. All 3 shots smacked my 8" target rock with no problem using a .241 G7 bc to go from 100 to 810. That's about as good as it gets since I'd consider this load good out to 850-900 yards just based on impact velocity.
So that's it, the hardest load development I've ever had using Hammer Bullets. I can't believe it took me a whole 19 shots!!
It took a whole 19 shots this time instead of my usual 9!!!!!I recently threw together a 7mm SAUM as a last minute project for hunting season (since you can't hunt with the same gun twice!) which has proven to be exceptionally accurate. The first load I put together to zero the scope uses a 168gr Berger VLD and H4350. It shot so well that I just never messed with it. I fire one 3 shot group at 100 yards to confirm my zero every time I go out shooting and so far the largest group out of the 7 this load has fired was .24" with the smallest being .088". First trip out with the rifle, I took 3 shots to zero, one to chronograph the load and then sent the next 10 shots at a rock 1481 yards away with excellent results.
The next load I tried was with a 155gr MTH and H414 powder. I had 30 of these bullets sitting around from a past project so I figured I'd try them out. Same deal as with the Bergers, I just picked a powder charge and a seating depth and gave it a run. This time I went straight to the 1481 yard rock and just used the same hold that I did with the Bergers. The elevation was actually within 2 MOA and the windaged was dead on. The trajectory of the two loads is actually completely different, it just worked out that the POI was similar at that range. The groups were in the .75 MOA range at 1481 yards so I was starting to think that maybe the barrel just shoots everything well.
Then my box of 143gr Hammer Hunters showed up and ruined everything! I thought I'd get lucky and just pick another charge and be good to go, but that didn't happen. I started with a "random" charge of H4350, loaded 6 rounds and went to test at 100 yards. The result was a "disappointing" .8" group. I tried the other 3 shots at 810 yards and got pretty much the same results. Moving on to the next powder I did the same test but used H414. Again, I got the same .75" groups at 100 yards and very similar groups at 810. This is the most work I've ever had to do to get .5" groups with Hammer Bullets! The last trip out I loaded up 7 rounds (I had a good feeling about this load) using H100v. The 100 yard group was a very satisfactory .38" and happens to impact 2.5 MOA to the right of my zero with the 168gr Berger load with the same elevation, perfect! I fired 1 shot over the Magneto to get a veloctiy (3320 fps) and went to 810 yards. All 3 shots smacked my 8" target rock with no problem using a .241 G7 bc to go from 100 to 810. That's about as good as it gets since I'd consider this load good out to 850-900 yards just based on impact velocity.
So that's it, the hardest load development I've ever had using Hammer Bullets. I can't believe it took me a whole 19 shots!!
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