I dont think anyones saying your way was off mate, some rifles just take a bit of faffing, guess its good to know that when the time comes there may be more gains to be had:thumbsup:
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I dont think anyones saying your way was off mate, some rifles just take a bit of faffing, guess its good to know that when the time comes there may be more gains to be had:thumbsup:
sounds like a plan...get in touch next week and we cook something up.
Well 3 steps forward and 2 steps back :oh noes: had some issues at the range today with what seemed like inconsistent grouping :pissed off:
Had me totally stumped till I got home and went over the rifle.
It never occurred to me that the old finnlight barrel and the new Tikka barrel might be slightly different in contour and diameter but clearly they are as part of my investigation revealed that the new barrel is touching the stock pretty muck most of the way from the action to the tip of the fore, it also looks like the taper is slightly different as it looks like it's been rubbing on a couple spots.
This issue was likely less pronounced when I was shooting prone off the ground as I load up the bipod a bit, however shooting off the bench at the handloaders range it's hard to load the bipod up as it just slides forward.
Anyway, will drop the rifle back to Zac and get him to re bed it and make sure the barrel is free floated, then I will load a small charge ladder at the 90thou off the lands seating depth and see if things become gravy once again :o
Im sure you NEARLY said some naughty words mate......... lets just hope you get your load sorted before you burn the barrel out or run out of components to feed it.
another thread on here recently guys saying 300ish and getting throat erosion etc etc....faaark Im glad Im not running a hot rod....
Hey MD, why don't we open up a reloading supplies business :XD::mouse:
cause the fatcats out there would screw us into the ground and stifle any supply getting to our business.
they enjoy being able to charge whatever the hell they like in times of short supply.
Thats a bugger Danny.
Just wondering....you were happy with speed and had a great group although the barrel was touching so is it necessary to do another ladder once the barrel is floated? I know its fun tinkering - hell, im doing it at the mo with my 284:thumbsup:
Quick update.....after making sure the barrel was free floated it became apparent that the bedding through the taper where the barrel meets the action is not a match none of it is touching the bedding at all :oh noes: I shot todays ladder anyway all seated at the "gravy" depth of 90thou off the lands. I did not hold great expectations after the bedding and free floating debacle.
62gn shit group no velocities recorded due to chrono issues
62.3gn shit group no velocities recorded due to chrono issues
62.5gn slightly better group (around 1") but velocity down and heavy bolt which was expected, es was still really good 10-15fps.
The chrono issues are now sorted but I was really pissed as the velocity data would've been nice as the grouping data was a complete bust.
I had already resigned myself to the fact I would have to start my load developement from scratch and it seems that's where I'm at :pissed off:
There have been some really silly things I have missed that I should have picked up on which pisses me off a little.
Guess I'll start with another seating depth ladder once the bedding has been re done and go from there.....
I feel your pain mate......so I take it the action itself is still bedded ok just nothing around the knox area???????
if you willing to be SLIGHTLY redneck I have a quick solution for you that will solve your issue and confirm or disproove bedding is the issue......
take action out of stock..coat knox area with some grease or vasoline.......get your hot glue gun as hot as you can,till its dripping is good,then push big blob of glue into knox area as fast as you can,pushing the stick itself rather than trigger works well,then slap action down into place and hold it firmly for a few minutes....
I have used this method to bed a bare rifle before with good results,you would have to fire a plurry big string of shots to get barrel hot enough to melt/move it...my wee .223 has been bedded this way for 20 years LOL....it still shoots tiny wee groups when I DO MY PART.
Appreciate the suggestion bud, I have left it with Zac (North Canterbury Gunsmithing) to re do the bedding. Either way the amount of contact the barrel had with the fore I'd be very supprised if it didn't skew my results.
If it wasn't an irreplaceable Stug stock I'd have a crack at it myself, my only other attempt at bedding a rifle ended in disaster so will let Zac do this one. Either way it needs to be right or consistent results are more likely a result of luck rather than consistency.
all good mate..... look forward to results when its done...
and this weekend...thunderbirds are GO!!!!!
Further update, picked up the rifle from Zac yesterday after he re did the bedding and he noticed the when he was fitting the action back into the stock the scope bases were loose and I mean very loose :psychotic: it would appear that somehow I forgot to locktite them when I changed back from the rail to the bases and they have worked themselves very loose :pissed off: yet another stupid mistake that has likely skewed any data I have got thus far.
Bloody pleased that the bedding, free float and scope mounting is now sorted and it certainly explains why I have been struggling to get good results.
I also picked up some 178gn ELDM'S that I'm gonna try as well, I really liked how they performed in my 30/06 and I should be able to get a little more velocity out of them in the wsm even with my 19" barrel :pacman:
Looking at Hornady load data you could probably push those even faster with Superformance they quote 3100fps with a book max load of 69gn of superformance. ....man I wish I hadn't sold all my superformance with the 30/06,
2209 theoretically should provide 2950fps with a book max load of 62.5gn of 2209 granted these are seated to saami spec and out of a 24" barrrel.
I reckon I'll be good for 2800-2850ish fps with my 2209 in my 19" barrel
Knew from the get go when I sarted researching 300wsm loads :oh noes: can't do much about it when I can't get the powder or rely on further stock being available if I did find a single tub. At least with 2209 I know that ADI will eventually come through with the goods.
I have about 5-6kg of 2209 and I'm sure it will poke the eldms or the targex fast enough for what I want.
All to often we get caught up chasing every last fps hell I'm a bc slut and a velocity whore at the best of times but no matter what a 178gn pill will sack reds with authority out to plenty far away at either end of 2800-2900 fps spread.
Slim times with components at the moment gotta work with what I can get, I for one refuse to pay more than retail for components as I will not be part of the gouging that's going on either by buying and hoarding to sell at inflated prices or by paying too much thus creating demand and setting precedent. Likewise when I sell off stuff that isn't needed I sell it at fair prices or trade it like for like value.
All to often you see stuff come up for sale on trademe and even here on occasion priced well above retail cause the sellers themselves have paid too much and want yo try and recoup their costs, personally if you paid more than retail well thats your problem you created by paying too much.
Rant over that last bit isn't directed at you @25/08IMP :D
I know how you feel too often you see guys buying up stuff they don't need and then try and on sell to make a big fat profit.
Just leave it for others who need it.
Sent from my CPH2145 using Tapatalk
Tripped over some 178gn eldms so i have loaded up a ladder cause i love these pills and my experience using them in the 30/06 was very positive, hopefully ring a little more velocity outta the wsm than i was getting in the 06 but even if I don't they will do the buisness.
The 178eldm is what i would've picked right from the get go if i could find them when i started.
At mag length thay are touching the lands so i have started at 20thou off which has worked well in multiple other rifles.
Attachment 199100
I still have a couple hundred targex 190gn if i decide to play with them again :thumbsup:
oh well, the targex will shoot pretty darn well with your best attempts so far.. would be a shame,to NOT at least try another group of five with your best guess loading of them,for shits n giggles...... you never know,they may just grab you by nuts and scream USE ME BABY!!!!!! at some point,and at least you be confident they will work as will have load already sorted.
that 600 yard wallaby.......oh yeah BABY!!!!!!!!
Finally got out to the range and got some consistent results.
Shot 6 different charge weights and all bar the lowest shot under an inch but surprisingly there was no POI shift as the velocity increased, the only change was the groups tightening up.
Best group .36" 3 shots at 100y @2788fps with an ES of 14fps.
Attachment 199348
Attachment 199349
So relieved to finally get some consistent results, granted having the free float and bedding sorted would have helped and likewise the scope being torqued down would have helped immensely.
Ducks in a row!
and the five targex?????????
Danny...Danny...Danny... shaking head and chuckling to self......
that group is tighter than one of my rifle can possibly do with one shot...I have four different loads made up to try with it...and one of them Im almost scared to squeaze off...485grns of lead is HUGE!!!!
So now I have a moral dilemma..... is my tikka barreled Sako now a Tako or a Sikka :yaeh am not durnk:
Really was starting to think I'd lost my mojo trying to get this rifle sorted, in hindsight I was rushing and trying to do too much too fast.
I would've saved myself a lot of stress and heartache if I had gone over the rifle more thoroughly when it was first completed.
This would have shown the loose scope and the free float/bedding issues.
strangely enough both times I had scope base come loose issues,that also nearly drove me to drink...the rifle had been away to be threaded for suppressor.... it is now one of the first things that get checked.
Good stuff @dannyb
Nice looks like your 270wsm groups without all the hassles of a new build....
Yup pretty happy with it, would love to try some superformance powder at some stage as it gives more velocity, but in reality even at 2877fps it's more than enough out to further than I'm likely to shoot it and still slow enough that it wont blow up at closer ranges.
It does however leave me in a quandary as to what to do with the 270wsm barrel, even if I had a tikka or sako action to screw it into what's it gonna do the the 300 won't do better :o