statjunk

Hey guys,

I've been looking for a bullet to take bear hunting. I've not had much luck finding anything. So far I'm down to believing that it's the bullet. Here is what I've tried so far

180gr Nos Partition
180gr Nos Accubond
180gr Sierra Game King
180gr Speer Spitzer Boattail
165gr Hornady Interbond

The only bullet from the above that I've gotten good accuracy from is the Speer Spitzer Boattail. All five bullets touching. The rest average about a 2" group. There are fliers. A solid second is the Game King that yesterday shot into maybe 1.5" but that was only one five shot test group. I've tried several different powders while testing the Nos Partition but the results were about the same. For the remainder of my testing I'm going to stick with IMR 4831 at a starting load of 69gr.

Question:

Any idea why the 180gr Speer Spitzer Boattail shot so well out of my gun? Are there premium bullets out there that have all the same flight characteristics of this bullet?

If it wasn't for this bullet I would think that this gun can't shoot. I've shot two five shot groups with this load now and all 5 shots were touching in both groups.

Thanks

Tom

bigcountry

Have you played with the COL any? Did you load up the speers that shot well, or was it the fella that let you shoot his? How much bullet runout do you have? Are you full length sizing or using a collet die? How far from the rifling are you seating the bullet?

statjunk

I loaded up the same stuff he had except I loaded it to 3.40 instead of 3.83 oal. Mine shot just as good as his did. Actually both his reloads and my reloads resulted in very similar groups. About 3/4" left to right. One other thing worth mentioning is that, the guy, full length sized and I neck sized and the groups were about exactly the same.

I need to get these bullets in the magazine and 3.40 is the longest that will fit. I measured the head space some time ago and it was much longer than the magazine would hold. Don't remember what that spacing is though?

What is COL and runnout?

Thanks

Tom

bigcountry

COL:cartridge overall length
runout:straightness of the ammo

When you roll the cartridge, do you see the bullet tip wobble?

statjunk

I doubt it wobbles but I will check it tonight.

Tom

TJEN

What cartridge are you loading the 06? Hard to beleve ya can't get it to group under 1.5" with the partition and that should be a good bullet for use in a short magazine. Try a 180gr round nose Hornady, Speer, or Remington. Between the partition, accubond, and RN's one should work if its the bullet sence their each very different.

devil dog

statjunk, sounds like you are just missing your load, what Ill do when Im trying to find my sweet spot loadis; first measure col for that particular bullet, drop it back off the lands .030, next Ill load up three sets of three each of different powder weights in .5 incrementskeeping them all seperate and shoot at three different targets through a chrony, Ill then pick the most consistant load and experiment with COL until Im satisfied or cant get a decent group and change up powders and start over. Proper case prep is a must, not all think it is, but most of them dont do any long range shooting, I start with a clean batch of brass, all the same headstamp, FL size, trim to the same length, de-burr the case mouth,true the primer cup, clean and de-burr the flash hole then run a brush on the inside of the case, finish up by weighing the cases rejecting ones with more than .5gr + or -. All guns are not created equal, you just need to find the right combination for your rifle, when I decided to go to the Barnes TSX bullets, I lucked up with my .300winmag and found a load I was happy with in a day, my AR " was about ready to give up" took me almost four months to find the right combination, both rifles shoot under 1/4 inch on a bench off of bags, I have also gotten that kind of accuracy out of the Nosler Partitions that you have tried, so dont give up on the bullet, just take a little more time to find what your rifle wants. By the way, most bad groups come from a bad crown " the last contact between the bullet and bore", an easy way to check is to ; paint the crown with white-out and shoot three shots and inspect, you should see an even pattern blackend, if not, have your crown re-cut. Good luck!

keyshunter

I assume that you mean black bear. People who have never shot a bear assume that they are difficult to kill. Not true. With a decently placed shot, any rifle that will kill a deer will kill a bear quite handily. Many, many have been killed with .30-30's, .243's, etc.

By the starting load you quoted, I assume that you are using some sort of .30 cal magnum. It seems that you want to use a premium bullet, but they do not seem to like your gun.Some guns are sensitive to things that arenot easily understood. Often it is not worth the effort to find out. I would load the Speers and go shoot a bear.

Solitary Man

Try the 168gr Barnes TSX. I've used the TSX in 4 rifles and they've all shot really well. So far in the .300 WM I've only tried it with one powder, RL22, and I'm getting 3/4" groups.

BTW, what's the maximum distance you're going to be shooting these bears? If it's no more than 150 to 200 yards you should be fine with a bullet that's only capable of 2" groups.

statjunk

I'm on a mission. I guess I should be happy that it shoots one bullet well but I want a premium bullet to shoot well too.

Tom