Analyze my group- What to do next?

[Bluejeep]

Were your flyers the higher fps? An ES of 35 is a little high for me, but then again I am very picky with my load development and am so far down the rabbit hole, I have started digging my own tunnel lol.

You do have a group that will kill any animal if you do your part. If you want that little tiny bug hole group on paper though, you will need to start swapping components and changing COAL. Check out the "6.5 guys" on YouTube and look for the Scott Saterly episode. He talks about developing loads in the most efficient way possible. Basically you shoot 1 round each of your starting load up to your top end increasing powder by .2 grain increments then graph the results and look for the "node" or flat spot where .2 grains up or down doesn't increase your fps by hardly anything and then work from there. This is the method I now use on all my rifles when working a load. It saves time and components and works.

 

[Bluejeep]

That's from an AR10 btw, not a bolt gun :hump:

 

[1_pointer]

A 1.5" 12 shot group is more impressive, to me, that many of the 3 shot "bragging sized" groups that get posted on the internet...

I'd hunt that as is, but if you wanted to tinker, I'd adjust seating depth. Go to max mag length or just off the lands and work back from there.

 

[jt13]

Firstly, I've got about a dozen left from this batch and Ill shoot them outside of the lead sled and pay more attention to barrel temp.

After that I'm going to do some messing around in the reloading room and will report back! I think first thing I will try is adjusting my seating depth from max mag length progressively shorter to see if that makes any significant change.

If that doesn't work and better, consensus seems to be to go back to SAAMI specs and do a ladder test from minimum to maximum to find a velocity node.

I'd like to tighten it up a little bit more if I can! Thanks everyone

 

[JLS]

Get rid of the lead sled. Do a four 3 shot groups and see if barrel heating is an issue. Superimpose them to look for patterns and compare them to this group.

If you want to stay with that powder, tinker with seating depth. I wouldn't think magnum primers would make much difference with 4350, but they have made a big difference for me with ball powders.

 

[LopeHunter]

I use the lead sled when am shooting after placing a scope on a rifle and need to dial in with a few shots. I then switch to the bipod or sandbags or both as find I can get a more natural cheek weld and alignment. I hoot a .338 WinMag for most hunts and that rifle has had the same scope for 4 years now so do not do much more than shoot 2 or 3 times right before hunting in the fall. I use the same factory load and bullet always and get very acceptable results on paper.

I did put a new scope on my .25-06 so will be shooting 20 or more rounds through it as dial in the scope. I really need to get my old .308 worked on as has not shot well since the tumble in Alaska where I dinged the barrel crown. A fantastic rifle that was great until it was not after the tumble.

 

[jt13]

Did a little more science today...

Fired the same loads using front and rear bags and got about the same result as i did with the lead sled. I do admit that I was more confident and comfortable with all of my shots though.

I made another batch of rounds and kept everything the same but changed bullets from the Accubond to the Partition. Same case, primer, OAL, etc. and my group improved to just about an inch @ 100 yards in a 7 round group, as opposed to the inch and a half I had with the Accubonds. All were fired with front and rear bags and the gun was allowed to cool 30 seconds between shots and 15 minutes between groups (in the A/C). I may be on to something here...

Still going to keep working on eeverything that was suggested. Primers, OAL, ect