Can I go shorter??

[phil384]

I took advice of here, I think it was from Tacfoley to make a dummy round which fits my rifle perfectly then the middle load for a 77 grain bullet and N150 powder.

No signs of over pressure on the cases so far so I'll stick with the same charge for now, I'm more interested in accuracy than velocity.

Hope that makes sense.

[g60bv]

Chap if you're accuracy is that shit. With all the ammo used. I'd be looking at getting the crown redone. And a scope down the barrel to check for wear..

[weebeestie]

Chap if you're accuracy is that shit. With all the ammo used. I'd be looking at getting the crown redone. And a scope down the barrel to check for wear..

well the OP hasn't stated what condition the rifle is in, New, Used or Abused.
I'm pretty impressed with Howas and their accuracy so if the barrel isnt shot out then I still go back to the obsessive cleaning every test string.

On your next day out shoooting make up 20 rounds sized 20thou of the lands. Load with the 77gr you want to stick with and fire them in batches of 4.
As your barrel fouls and settles down your groups will get better.
Once its proven your gun can group then start on getting a good reload. this starts with your powder load not COL

PS, If the shot groups dont have any improvement then your guns F***ed, get a new one.

[kennyc]

well the OP hasn't stated what condition the rifle is in, New, Used or Abused.
I'm pretty impressed with Howas and their accuracy so if the barrel isnt shot out then I still go back to the obsessive cleaning every test string.

On your next day out shoooting make up 20 rounds sized 20thou of the lands. Load with the 77gr you want to stick with and fire them in batches of 4.
As your barrel fouls and settles down your groups will get better.
Once its proven your gun can group then start on getting a good reload. this starts with your powder load not COL

PS, If the shot groups dont have any improvement then your guns F***ed, get a new one.

By suggesting the OP load 20 thou off the lands you are taking him back to where he started, factory loads shoot ok in the rifle its his reloads where the problem lies, possibly originating in this "load as close to the lands as possible" mantra that seems to have taken hold .

[pothunter]

Different strokes for different folks....

Changing the charge isn't only about getting the most velocity, it's about finding the sweet spot for a powder and bullet combination that equates to the bullet leaving the bore at the optimum point in the oscillation cycle.

IMHO changing the length fine tunes it.

If you are stuck with changing the length to get the best accuracy your rifle can achieve you are missing out on another factor that can have a significant effect.

A change of 0.5gn or in some cases 0.3gn can change a 2" group into a .5" group which can then be tweaked further by playing with length.

If there is a dramatic tightening at 0.1gn difference then the powder/bullet combination is too finicky for me.

My advice would be to stop fighting with one hand tied behind your back.

I've had another thought....

I set up a rifle for a guy who had bought it brand new and the shop had set it up for him.

Regardless of how hard I tried I couldn't get any consistency from the damn thing.

Eventually I started from scratch with the rifle set up and found the bases hadn't been fully tightened down into the receiver.

Might be worth while checking bases/scope mounts/rings and action screws?

I took advice of here, I think it was from Tacfoley to make a dummy round which fits my rifle perfectly then the middle load for a 77 grain bullet and N150 powder.

No signs of over pressure on the cases so far so I'll stick with the same charge for now, I'm more interested in accuracy than velocity.

Hope that makes sense.

[weebeestie]

By suggesting the OP load 20 thou off the lands you are taking him back to where he started, factory loads shoot ok in the rifle its his reloads where the problem lies, possibly originating in this "load as close to the lands as possible" mantra that seems to have taken hold .

The OP has got it into his head that starting at the lands and then backing away untill he finds a sweet spot is the way to go. Hes had no progress with backing of thats why I said go back close to the lands.
Hes been cleaning the barrel before each test string effectivelly turning a test group into fouling shots which will have poor to zero accuracy.

I am guessing/hoping that you worked up a powder load at book COAL then picked the tightest group that didn't show any pressure signs and started to change the length to fine tune

Im with pothunter here.
Reload development starts with powder load testing and then COL for fine tuning

[Parabuteo]

The OP has got it into his head that starting at the lands and then backing away untill he finds a sweet spot is the way to go. Hes had no progress with backing of thats why I said go back close to the lands.
Hes been cleaning the barrel before each test string effectivelly turning a test group into fouling shots which will have poor to zero accuracy.


Im with pothunter here.
Reload development starts with powder load testing and then COL for fine tuning

Yep, cos sometimes you aint going to be able to mess with COAL much in a mag fed rifle

[Ka-Boom!]

I've skimmed this thread, so apologies if I have the wrong end of the stick, or am repeating advice above.
It sounds like your reloads and PPU factory shoot awful, but RWS factory shoots OK? I have never had PPU ammo shoot well in any of my rifles, and maybe your barrel doesn't like the 75gn Vmax.
Therefore try some reloads with the same bullet as the RWS factory ammo, or same weight bullet if you can't find the exact one. Try a middle of the book load at standard SAAMI length. Subsequent fine tuning charge and COAL may bring improvements. FWIW, I have never seen significant improvements seating bullets out long near the lands for short jumps. IMO this is benchrest twiddlyness that is suited to tight match chambers, though others' mileage may vary. I would assume that your Howa chamber will be large, and to get near the lands you have seated the bullet out almost as far as it will go. This could possibly reduce concentricity and consitent neck tension. I prefer 1x cal of shank seating depth.
Accuracy and consistency is fundamentally down to making sure your reloads are as close to identical as possible.
Well maintained kit and consistent shooting and is taken as read, on a windless day and without heating the barrel.

[phil384]

Once again thanks guys, I've got some more stuff to digest.