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Post by bigblue on Apr 25, 2008 14:14:51 GMT -6
I took a day off yesterday and a trip to the range with the Tikka .243. I tried several loads with an eye towards a pair of loads that shoot to the same point of impact. I did pretty good with Hornady 100gr. RNSP bullets and Hornady 58gr. V-Max. bullets, both using Varget powder. I only loaded three of each so I have to load more for some fine tuning. Here's the two targets with the top being the 58gr. load and the bottom the 100gr. Don   |
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Post by juliang on Apr 25, 2008 15:39:31 GMT -6
Not too shabby Don! I'm glad to see that your Tikka is a shooter as well. What was your load recipe for the 100gr pills? I have lots of Varget, what OAL did you use? I have an unopened box of 100gr ready to play with when I get home.
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Post by DocHolladay on Apr 25, 2008 16:57:14 GMT -6
Good groups Don. I bet you were glad to have a day off.
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Post by bigblue on Apr 26, 2008 18:19:42 GMT -6
What was your load recipe for the 100gr pills? I have lots of Varget, what OAL did you use? I used 34.5gr. of Varget which is 0.8gr. above the recommended max. load according to Hodgdon. Looking at their load data they show 35gr. of Varget as max. for 95gr. bullets, but only 33.7gr. as max. for 100gr. bullets. Sierra shows a max. load of 34.1gr. of Varget. That just doesn't add up so I pushed their numbers a bit and ended up using the 34.5gr. which showed no pressure signs at all. The bullets I used were the Hornady 100gr. round nose soft points that I bought and loaded to a COL of 2.648". Did the bullets shape make a difference? They are very close to the rifling, but not enough to show any resistance to the bolt or get cramped in the magazine. Varget has always been a favorite of mine for any of the .308 based cartridges. It's one of Hodgdon's Extreme rifle powders and the burning rate is supposed to remain consistent despite extreme changes in temperature. Don |
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Post by bigblue on Jul 16, 2008 18:42:37 GMT -6
With all the hours I've been putting in at work, I haven't gotten much hunting in this past year. One downside of that is that I don't get a chance to test handloads on real critters. Well my vegetable garden has been suffering because of it. Mostly due to rabbits, I've pretty much eliminated the groundhog population in these parts. Well tonight opportunity knocked so I thought why not try that 58gr. Hornady V-max load that I worked up for the Tikka .243? I would have included pictures of the results, but a wide angle lens would have been necessary to capture all the remaining parts and it would have been too graphic anyway. All I can say is at just under 3800FPS, those V-Max bullets are DEVASTATING!!!!! ;D
Don
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Post by DocHolladay on Jul 16, 2008 21:28:58 GMT -6
I take it there wasnt any field dressing??? Are you the keeper of the red mist?? Nicely done.
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Post by juliang on Jul 17, 2008 5:36:29 GMT -6
Well done Don, I am sure that ruint was the order of the day, not much left for rabbit stew. Sounds like you deserve some time off, y'all need to come down South for some hawg hunting.
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Post by GrampaJer on Jul 17, 2008 7:58:46 GMT -6
If you didn't adjust you site, Looks to me that the top target was shot with a higher velosity. Either way, those are great paterns.  |
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Post by smokepole on Jul 17, 2008 12:15:14 GMT -6
Not to bad at all I don want to be on the reciveing end of you.
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Post by madoktor1 on Jul 17, 2008 17:22:59 GMT -6
I wouldn't mind trying some reloading and working up some special loads for my .30-06.
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Post by juliang on Jul 18, 2008 3:46:10 GMT -6
Mad, be careful. You need particular loads for the old thing you call a rifle.
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Post by madoktor1 on Jul 18, 2008 20:33:53 GMT -6
Old thing huh? It shoots better than some new things I've seen. LOL
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