Finding the 'sweet spot' for 4198 and 300g Barnes Origonal

gleason.chapman · 04-26-2008, 03:58 PM

About 1 month ago I posted a thread on shooting 64, 65 and 66g of IMR 4198 using a 300g Barnes Origonal SSP (Spitzer Soft Point) using .452 Black Crushed Rib and a Federal Primer. The thread is here if your interested: http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2733904&mpage=1&key=&#273390 4

Some of the folks over on the Savage forum shoot up to 76g of 4198, but I determined ahead of time that I would stop at about 69 or70g. Well today I shot 5 shots each of

66.5g (66g shot well for me last month)
67g
68g
69g
all at 100 yards. No swabing, first 5 shots was no waiting between shots.

Loading procedure was:

lay out 5 bulletswith 5 sabots (cover from the sun so they don't get soft)
lay out 5 primers
lay out 5 loads of 66.5g of 4198

Short starter allthe way to the end of short starter. Then XS Power rod about 1/2 way down, then rest of way down. Put a lot of weight into bullet to seat firmly. Tapseated bullet 3x with breech plug wrench (learned from Wilmsmeyer, who has never had a 4198 misfire)---this is new for me--I have never done this before. BCR is very tight in the fouled bore of my Savage, shaves a bit of the CR off of the sabot sometimes.

Shooting with a Lead Sled withtwo 4 lb sandbags.
Here is the first targetat 66.5g of 4198, BO, BCR. Not very good, surprised me since I expected to see it do about what the 66g did a month ago.

gleason.chapman · 04-26-2008, 04:05 PM

Here is 67g of 4198. This was an excellent group (for me at least). Why was 66g great, 67g great,but 66.5g not so great is my question, any clues as to why, gun cool? I am not sure.

gleason.chapman · 04-26-2008, 04:06 PM

Here is 68g of 4198. Not so good.

gleason.chapman · 04-26-2008, 04:07 PM

Here is 69g of 4198. I let the barrel cool between shots 3 and 4. Shot 1, 2, 3 had about 10 minute wait before shooting them. Barrel is warm but not hot to touch. Not that good a group.

gleason.chapman · 04-26-2008, 04:13 PM

My conclusion from all this shooting of Barnes Origonals was that 66 or 67g of 4198 is my gun's 300g sweet point, 44g of 5744 was my gun's sweet point with 300g bullets. I have found a good combo of 300g Barnes Origonals at 66g or 67gfor elk. That is what I will try now at 200 yards. I have seen some folks crony that load right at 2350, that should get me MPBR with 3"-3.5' high at 100 yards to 200 yards no problem. 4198 kicks a lot harder than 5744, some say the 5744 is dirtier, but I can't tell that really. Chap

oldsmellhound · 04-26-2008, 04:42 PM

That's a really nice group with 67 grains - good shooting! I agree that rifles tend to have a sweet spot when it comes to various combinations of powder and bullets. Sometimes increasing or decreasing the powder charge by even a small amount can have ahugeeffect on accuracy.

Keep up the goodwork!

gleason.chapman · 04-26-2008, 05:23 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: oldsmellhound

That's a really nice group with 67 grains - good shooting! I agree that rifles tend to have a sweet spot when it comes to various combinations of powder and bullets. Sometimes increasing or decreasing the powder charge by even a small amount can have ahugeeffect on accuracy.

Keep up the goodwork!

Yes 1/2 grain made a huge difference, I would say this is like shooting an extra 5gs of BP. I was expecting it to be bit tighter than 66g, but it fooled me, looking at the 66g target again that I shot 1 month agoand the 67gthat I shot todayand comparingthem side by side. I would say the 67g isabout 1/4" tighter, since the target on the left has both upper and lower bullets cutting the line, but eh one on the right has them inside the line Here is a side by side picture, 66g is on the left 67g is on the right.
Chap Gleason

bronko22000 · 04-26-2008, 05:36 PM

Nice Chap - Your 66 and 67 gr loads seem to be just right for your rifle. Now the only way to be sure is to see if you can duplicate the group. Its fun to tinker. Now all you will need is a little fine tuning of the scope adjustment.
Good Luck.

gleason.chapman · 04-26-2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: bronko22000

Nice Chap - Your 66 and 67 gr loads seem to be just right for your rifle. Now the only way to be sure is to see if you can duplicate the group. Its fun to tinker. Now all you will need is a little fine tuning of the scope adjustment.
Good Luck.

Right, I will move my scope at the end of all my testing, easier that way since I see exact what each bullet is doing with a zero I had for a 275g Parker Ballistic Extreme. I am just shooting for group size right now at 100.Will move the scope 6 or 7 clicks right and about 10 clicks up, when I am finally done. I 've shot about40 of these Barnes Origonals now, and they really are avery nice shooting bullet with the Crushed Rib sabot. Some of you777 150g shooter may want to look at this, I am sure it would hold up to 777 velocity. Chap

Redclub · 04-28-2008, 10:14 AM

That Barnes is a great bullet 300 original SS (45/70 government) I use 60 gr.of VV 120 with an orange sabot I bought a bunch years back at a nice price compared to now.
Redclub