Savage 110BA 300 WM, Hornady 208 ELD Match bullets and Hodgdon H1000 powder

[Retired MKC]

The following is my ladder test results for 110BA 300Win Magnum, Hornady 208 ELD Match bullets and Hodgdon H1000 powder. Cases: Remington, flash holes de-burred & uniformed, primer pockets uniformed, necks reamed, full length sized to fit rifle chamber, trimmed to 2.609 inches, necks turned to 0.016 inches wall thickness and chamferred. Average unprimed case weight, 236.8 grains. Primers: CCI #34. All 20 Hornady 208 ELD-M bullets weighed 208.0 grains, Ogive averaged 0.7997 inches. Seated to 0.020 inches off lands as recommended by Hornady. Hornady does not list H1000 for ELD Match bullets. Hornady recommended using their charges for 212 ELD-X bullets, 65.3 grains @ 2400 FPS to 77.6 grains @ 2800 FPS. Hodgdon’s website, for 208 AMAX, lists 71.7 grains @ 2650 FPS to 78.0 grains compressed @ 2869 FPS. Starting at Hodgdon’s minimum 71.7 grains and stopping at Hornady maximum 77.6 grains for 212 ELD-X bullets. Increments of 0.3 grains. Target was at 200 yards, 19 degrees and sunny across a flat bean field. Labradar used to collect velocities. OF COURSE after getting all the equipment set up a terrible varying cross wind picked up and showed no sign of slowing down. Anyway, here are the results:



Cartridge
Grains
FPS
Notes


21
71.70
2653



22
72.00
2758



23
72.30
2764



24
72.60
2790



25
72.90
2821



26
73.30
2814



27
73.60
2822



28
73.90
2847



29
74.20
2857



30
74.50
2862



31
74.80
2878



32
75.10
2898



33
75.40
2898
Primer pushed out .0035


34
75.70
2909
Primer pushed out .0015


35
76.10
2948
Primer pushed out .0015


36
76.40
2949
Primer pushed out .002


37
76.70
2968
Primer pushed out .0025


38
77.00
2985
Primer pushed out .003


39
77.30
2987
Primer pushed out .002


40
77.60
3003
Primer pushed out .002



4351

Grid lines are 1/4 inch. I used colored permanent markers on each 5 round group for identification between groups. Primers did not show signs of flattening, yet pushed out as above. I was surprised at the higher velocities. I was very impressed how clean the fired cartridges were. I plan to perform the test again starting at 72.3 grains and stopping at 75.0 grains and calmer conditions. Any other recommendations?

[Evlshnngns]

75.4 and 73.3 look like winners. I need a local shooting range with a labradar in the lanes.

[Zero333]

76.1 - 76.4

I personally don't like R.P. brass for my 300winmag because I've broken a few decapping pins due to flash holes being off center. After you narrow it down try 215m primers.
215m primers shrank my groups in half compared to CCI-250 ! But I was able to get a lil more velocity with the cci-250 before having very slight pressure signs.

[Retired MKC]

Thank you for the information. Which brass do you prefer, I have access to Federal, Hornady and Winchester. Good info on the primers. I did not see any pressure signs other than slight push out, no flattening at all with the CCI #34's.

[yobuck]

Id be eliminating one thing at a time and see if the gun still shoots lol.

[Zero333]

Thank you for the information. Which brass do you prefer, I have access to Federal, Hornady and Winchester. Good info on the primers. I did not see any pressure signs other than slight push out, no flattening at all with the CCI #34's.

I've been using F.C. (Federal) brass because I have more than 500 once fired pieces of it from Federal Gold Medal Match ammo I fired over the last several years. It's been good so far and no complaints. If I didn't have all this FGMM brass I would buy Peterson brass or Norma.

CCI primers are great but when I tried 215m the groups got much smaller.

Load was with 79 gr of RETUMBO under the 208 ELD-M.

[Retired MKC]

UPDATE: The following is my second ladder test results for Savage 110BA 300 Winchester Magnum, Hornady 208 ELD Match bullets and Hodgdon H1000 powder. Cases: Federal, flash holes de-burred & uniformed, primer pockets uniformed, necks reamed, full length sized to fit rifle chamber, trimmed to 2.610 inches, necks turned to 0.016 inches wall thickness and chamferred. Average unprimed case weight, 246.8 grains. Primers: CCI #34. All 20 Hornady 208 ELD-M bullets weighed 208.0 grains, Ogive averaged 0.780 inches. Seated to 0.020 inches off lands as recommended by Hornady. Based on last test, starting at 72.3 grains and stopping at 73.9 grains. Increments of 0.1 grains. Target was at 200 yards, 41 degrees, 7 mph left to right breeze and overcast. Labradar used to collect velocities. Anyway, here are the results:



Cartridge

Grains

FPS



41

72.30

2761



42

72.30

2836



43

72.30

2830



44

72.30

2820



45

72.40

2856



46

72.50

2831



47

72.60

2833



48

72.70

2831



49

72.80

2822



50

72.90

2837



51

73.00

2801



52

73.10

2863



53

73.20

2845



54

73.30

2855



55

73.40

2859



56

73.50

2856



57

73.60

2869



58

73.70

2874



59

73.80

2873



60

73.90

2889





4438

Only change, using Federal brass instead of Remington and narrowing powder charges. Primers did not show signs of flattening. Target grid lines are ¼ inch. Bullet tips coated with different colored permanent marker for target identification. Four groups of five fired. Red rounds all first fired of each group, cold fired, flyers. Again, I was very impressed how clean the fired cartridges were. Any recommendations from you guys with more knowledge and experience than me?

[yobuck]

I don't know what your goal is, but i would assume it's getting the most velocity along with good accuracy.
Otherwise why bother with a magnum cartridge.
Fed 215s are the hottest primer available, so id be using those unless others shoot better groups.
No real need to shoot that many rounds if your looking for max load performance.
Rather than start low and work up slowly, start at the upper end of the recommended load range for a particular powder.
Lets say for a particular bullet weight/powder combination, max load is 60 gr.
I would start at 56 gr, with just one bullet, then load 1 each at 57,58, 59 and so on till i noticed the bolt getting stickey.
Don't even need to shoot at a target at a range, just into a dirt pile will work just as well.
AT THAT POINT STOP. You now know the max load with that combination for (that gun), and you've only fired a few rounds in order to find out.
Now you can proceed (BACKWARDS) from the now known max load, and tune the charge and seating depth for accuracy.
And do the same thing for other load combinations you plan on trying.

[Robinhood]

I would start at 56 gr, with just one bullet, then load 1 each at 57,58, 59 and so on till i noticed the bolt getting stickey.
Don't even need to shoot at a target at a range, just into a dirt pile will work just as well.
AT THAT POINT STOP. You now know the max load with that combination for (that gun), and you've only fired a few rounds in order to find out.


I'm telling Darrker!

[Zero333]

Somewhere between #55 to # 60 AKA..... 73.4 to 73.9 gr So I think judging by the target alone.

Load up 4 of each at 73.4 - 73.5 - 73.6 - 73.7 - 73.8 - 73.9 gr and shoot them for groups to compare. That's 24 shots to narrow it down.

I say 4-shot groups because that's what I do with cartridges that have shorter barrel life. 3-shot groups would be ok too.

[yobuck]

I'm telling Darrker!

Well see he dosent use magnums. He just pulls harder on his 308 trigger to shoot waaaay out there with it. lol

[yobuck]

Somewhere between #55 to # 60 AKA..... 73.4 to 73.9 gr So I think judging by the target alone.

Load up 4 of each at 73.4 - 73.5 - 73.6 - 73.7 - 73.8 - 73.9 gr and shoot them for groups to compare. That's 24 shots to narrow it down.

I say 4-shot groups because that's what I do with cartridges that have shorter barrel life. 3-shot groups would be ok too.


Well at this rate the cream is skimmed off the top of the barrel before we even have a load for it.
Especially with long range time sessions with high capacity cartridges.
I would after finding the max load, drop back to whatever charge you might feel good about using closest to the max.
Then fool around with several seating depths in an attempt to make that load work before dropping down in charge weight and starting over.
Id be doing that in 1/2 gr increments till your happy with the results your seeing, and 2 shots per is enough to at least get your attention.
You can play around and tweek the load up or down slightly, (after you've found the load).
And you would be much better off if possible, to be testing at 3 or 400 yds as opposed to 100 with magnums.
You did ask for opinions, and you just got mine. As for those opinions, they didn't originate with me.
They came from very experienced long range target shooters/hunters, and some very good gun builders who specialize in building those type guns.
Also, the 300 win mag has been around a long time, and there are well known good loads available for it. So they would at least be a good place to start. The ultimate U S sniper had several guns issued to him, but the 300 win mag was his favorite, and the one he used most.
He never tested loads for his particular guns, he simply used the ammo he was issued, which was Black Hills match.

[Retired MKC]

Great information from everyone, Thank you. You are correct, I did not state my goals which are accuracy, consistency followed by velocity. Knowing it's a 300 win mag and not a bench rest rifle, I still want to get the best out of it. Currently shooting at 200 yards, later to 400 yards and further. Maximum range I have available at this time is 1375 yards and I know it will take sometime to get to that distance. With the information received so far it helps greatly, Thanks.

[Stumpkiller]

If you are giving us the right numbers in the second test your standard deviation for that powder/primer choice is 29.85 fps!




41
72.30
2761


42
72.30
2836


43
72.30
2830


44
72.30
2820




So any of the other shots could be +/-14 fps

That ought to help you narrow down any plateaus.

[Evlshnngns]

Did you start the test with a clean bore?

[yobuck]

It's a good idea to be doing your testing over a chronagraph, assuming you have one, as even close velocity information is helpful later in establishing an elevation chart for the gun. But i wouldn't be treating the chronagraph as if it were a big factor for other than that.
Most important in dealing with max or close to max loads, is to be paying close attention to what the gun is telling you.
Bolt lift especially, but also ejector swipes on the case are signs to look for.
After that be paying attention to what the target is telling you, and not be concerned much about things like spread deviation, which might be different tomorrow anyway.
Know where max is and get right to it, or as close as you can asap. You need to be there anyway in order for owning that gun to be of any benefit.
Don't be wasting much time going for the longer distances with it either. You will no doubt do better than you now think you will, and theres really no need to be using that gun at distances where you might just as well be using a 308.

[Retired MKC]

Did you start the test with a clean bore?
Yes I did and the chamber also. Somewhat surprised at the amount of build up in the neck/lead area. The first four rounds were to foul up the barrel again.