Savage EL Series K 500/375 HPDT

[sixonetonoffun]

Hi Jim. I believe it helped. Though as I mentioned previously it looked very good to start with. And I was a bit on the hot side to start. Deans posts had me a little over excited. Who wouldn't want to launch a 500gr missle at 308 velocities? I'm taking a much more sane approach and working up slowly.

Consider the barrel fully proof tested though!

I am confident the barrel is going to match the 50 B&M at least with 275-350gr bullets. I'm going hold off on the heaviest bullets until I've some solid loads for the 350's.

I'm also polishing the cases with steel wool which may have as much impact on ejecting as polishing the chamber.

Again thank you for giving us this unique chambering to use.

Only problem I see is theres no Praire Dogs up here. Though there seems to be possums all over. Dang hitchhikers!

[sixonetonoffun]

Ok so as soon as I setup the chrono it starts raining. Won't complain its long overdue! But I got off 10 test rounds and managed to get six readings that looked accurate. Here we go!
All rounds were Hornady 350gr XTP's over accurate 5744.
54.5@1944
56@1996 & 2067
58@2140 & 2153
60@2153

All rounds ejected normally except the 10th which was the 2nd load of 60gr the shots.were basically done quickly though single loaded.

Weather what it.was I intend to load from 58-60 in .5 increments to see what's an optimal charge. Since todays results may not be accurate. But if they are somewhere near 58 will be the best I can do with this powder. Which looks good for 2150fps average. 60 is showing high pressures more due to the lack of increase in fps and felt recoil then on the cases and primers.

[savagetoter]

Good Lord Almighty! That round is HUGE! :eek:

[sixonetonoffun]

Clearly my numbers last post were skewed by the rain. The best consistency to date with 350gr Xtp's and accurate 5744 were at 60.5 grains.
Hight 2164
Low. 2134
Avg 2148
ES. 30
SD. 10

This is pretty hot. Primers are flat but ejections consistently smooth. I am calling this max load for this powder and bullet. Which I'm out of until I can pick up some more. I am going to work on the.400's should be.very close to the same charge. My son stopped and I had him shoot 7 rounds of 400gr over 59 gr 5744 they ran just about 2025fps. Pretty sure he likes the round even said its pretty BA! He was suprised how managable the recoil was. No doubt the recoil pad gets some credit there.

[sixonetonoffun]

I should add that I took the 350gr XTP up to 61gr 5744 shot 10 rounds with fps up to 2200 with 1 as low as 1990 primers were not only flat but deeply cratered. 1 actually showed signs of cracking micro sized and very faint signs of.gases.escaping. Some looked.fine and.I suspect the.crimp may be the.differences. its difficult to control.

[sixonetonoffun]

Am going to go ahead with tac again. Will see if the 83gr loads will extract now. I don't see 5744 giving me the velocities I'm after with the heavier bullets. Tac was clearly there without a hitch.

One thing I can say these hornady cases are awesome. Some of the abuse I put them through to date its just amazing. Pretty much using the same 10 pcs over and over. Which means they have at least 8 loadings.

[Jeff518]

geezuz! how big are the bears up there?

[sixonetonoffun]

True bears.get pretty big here. Not a lot of competition and under hunted. No idea what average is but commonly they go 325. Really its the gophers ya need this bad boy for. You have to be close and you don't get time for a followup shot. Lord help you if one gets through your defenses and the lil fart runz up your pants to chew off yer nutz!

[sixonetonoffun]

Got out to shoot this a little today with the 400gr bullets over 82.5 grains of Ramshot tac@2025 avg. This is a pretty stout load. Extracts well but I did have one primer get loose this was on its 9th load so wasn't exactly a huge suprise. This rifle shoots really nice I had better groups with the 50 today then from my newish 7mm rm but in its defense the 7 just shot its 100th rnd on the factory barrel which could really use some lapping as the rifling is so crisp n sharp it copper fouls quickly.

Got side tracked with the big 7's my neighbor brought his 72 700 over too. He was trying to get a consistent zero with Remington cor lokts 175gr factory loads. We ran a 10 shot string over the chrono and got an ES of 110 which probably explains the 3-4" groups. Just before it got dark I had him shoot 5 168gr Berger Hunting vld's I had jumped over when working up my load and you could easily cover the group with a quarter. I'm not sure it proved anything other then my loading is coming along nicely.

We estimate his rifle to be well over 2500 rounds probably closer to 3000 so really its holding its own very well.

For the 500/375 I'm going to order some swift A-frames 325gr bullets next. These are rated for "3000 fps and beyond". If they shoot well based on cost and the likely potential of reaching 2250 safely with enough down range energy to be effective out to 300yards it seems like a no brainer. We'll see if it pans out! So as of today round count for my 500/375 is 90 and each time I shoot it all I can say is "Gawd I love this gun!".

[sixonetonoffun]

Finally scored a couple pounds of rl7 as soon as the rainy overcast weather stops I'll give some of the 50 B&M loads a try. Somewhere around 76grs should work. Still looking for 4198.

[sixonetonoffun]

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii554/sixonetonoffun/Mobile%20Uploads/20140831_150810_zps6e680417.jpg (http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/sixonetonoffun/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140831_150810_zps6e680417.jpg.html)

Too cloudy to chrono any loads today so shot steel. Here is a before after. The copper cup from a 400gr JHP and a small lead that had to be the base. These were shot with 76gr RL7 I also shot a few 91.5 tac loads which I either over shot the plate or they vaporized. Not really sure which but there was spidering on the primers so I took the load down to an even 90grs of tac for the next session.

The 76gr RL7 load was very pleasant to shoot and quite accurate. My guess would be 1950-2000fps. It was 6" lower then my zero with 88grs of tac which I don't have fps on.

[foxx]

Too cloudy? Just curious, 'cuz I don't use mine much, but I thought cloudy days were best for a crony.

[bootsmcguire]

Too cloudy? Just curious, 'cuz I don't use mine much, but I thought cloudy days were best for a crony.

My old Chrony is picky. Too bright and it don't pick up, too cloudy and it don't pick up. I dunno but for what I gave for it I ain't complaining.

[sixonetonoffun]

Yeah it was very cloudy and I shoot on the east side of an Oak grove so it gets shaded about 4:30. But yeah starting to wonder about that thing. Plan to try again.

I think as a rule you need enough light to create a shadow. Just wasn't by the time I got setup it was trying hard to rain. Though it never did until a few mintures ago. The weather cutie says it might clear some by noon.

I had a chance to shoot the 260 a little with some 4831ssc but again was hoping to collect some numbers. Dayum thing goes bang n hits wherever ya point it. Haven't been able to really work up a load yet so guess thats a good thing but truth is I'd almost been happier if the thing was a little fussier.

Plan to make a day of it. Have tbe kids shoot balloons at various close range points starting up at 15' out to 100 yards. Should be a hoot.

Not sure how many more chances they will get to shoot with school starting.

[sixonetonoffun]

While we were shooting this weekend couldn't get a chrono read. Well not until evening after I'd shot the rounds for.this. Did shoot 78gr rl7 without a hiccup. Also shot a couple loads of 90grs of tac. Wish I had access to P-trace equipment. My best guess is its a little on the high side. But from Btsnipers ql showed 91.5 tac with a 500gr pill producing 62,000 to 63,000 ish so with the 400gr over 90grs oughta have a respectable margin of safety.

Now am out of bullets so hopefully big brown will be good to me soon. The only bullets in town are the 350 & 500 gr Hornady. I guess its.probably going to be one of those next. Been considering buckshot in sabots just cause I have some lead cast on hand and a few sabots. Call me crazy but it demonstrates how versatile the 50 cal chambering can be.

[sixonetonoffun]

Thought I might get to shoot this some but we're still working on loads for a couple other rifles. Soon as they get finished I can get back to this. I did have stellar results last time. Just wasn't able to chrono any of them. To date I have had it up to 2700 which initially well exceeded my expectations. With excellent accuracy out of my last testing with rl7. I'd really like to get a mold made to try some paper patched cast bullets in this bad boy. The $1 a shot copper barnes and swift are really the only bullets that can be expected to perform well on game @ the speeds this monstrous beast can deliver.

[scope eye]

What is the load data for a 2700 fps round.

Dean

[sixonetonoffun]

Dean sorry notes are out in the shed. Will have to get back to ya on that. It was "Oh Jesus" load of 5744 I believe. Pressure scared me with that stuff so am working back up with rl7. I wish the chrono woulda been working for the others.

[sixonetonoffun]

Dean I have to retract the 2700 I couldn't find my notes. Maybe was just on the target. Therefore I have to retract 2700. If it had happened it would have been with the 5477 @ 67.5grs or better and would more resembled a pipe bomb then a rifle cartridge.