Sa284

[Fuj']

Barrel keeps the 1.2” profile.


Ya know a Fuj... so much of what you are doing, are some of the same elements I’ve had in my head for at least a couple years. Funny coincidence, or great minds thinking alike? LOL!

First thing Ethan mentioned to me about the 1.200 blank was clearance
for the wrench !! A typical "OH S__T" and get out the tool box !! A Savage
nut wrench will clear (at least mine) that size blank by .020".....I picked up
the barreled action last night, so I can get back to work on the stock, and
probably the trigger guard first. It was small to begin with and now seeing
the trigger set in place, it's worse ?? I'll cut it away and fit up the trigger
guard Savage sends with the Precision action......Making up a bucket list.
lots of areas to be covered on this build before the real trigger work starts.

And Dave.....I'm the Purveyor of....."Never let a bad Idea go to waste", and
"There is always a reason why beer is brewed"

[Fuj']

Update....Stock is still on the mill with several areas of mods, and
rethinking, but I did do my first push on the barreled action. The
numbers on paper so far have proven out. With using the 185 RDF
for all aspects, I was able to get an overall length of 3.045" and no
problem ejecting a loaded round. Another plus, although this push is
jammed, I have a little room before the start of the boat tail is in the
neck / shoulder area. Plenty of room for .015 off the lands for testing.
2 more evenings on the mill and I should be well enough along to put
some fire forming rounds together.

[Dave Hoback]

Most excellent my friend.:smile-new: I’m following along with bated breath Fuj!

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on another of my custom AR’s. Milled the lower and have most of my parts. Unfortunately, I believe you will be finished this long before I am. My choice of handguard is not in stock. Called my guy today and he says his supplier told him they are “on the way”. Yeah....we know what that means. I’m very excited as I will be trying a new barrel...what looks like the perfect barrel! Company I use just released a Medium-heavy contour piece in 416R and QPQ Nitride finished. Wylde chamber & 1:8 twist. I’ve dreamt of this exact barrel for a time & it’s finally here! I truly love building firearms, as I know you do Fuj. But this type of build is something so very satisfying... a custom AR that can easily compete with the “Top Shelf” brands sprouting $3,000 price tags, but at a fraction of that price! I absolutely love it!

I apologize for the tangent. Back to yours, I love the 1.2” shank. I don’t do my own barrels(don’t have a lathe capable of said), but that’s how I’m doing my next. Like I said, using the Bugnut. If I could fit a proper lathe in my shop room, I would do what you had Ethan do. Very, very cool sir.

[Fuj']

Yeah, I'm a big AR guy myself having played with the early
Armalites, then Colts. Still have 2 in my stables. Both Rock
River's and would be hard to duplicate my 20" Varmint EOP
with Wilson full bull Wylde and 1:8 twist. Threw an early
SFP XRS Bushnell (4305) 4.5-30x50 on it. it's just one of
builds that a blind man can shoot sub moa.

Going to try and finish up the stock today. There will be some
(cough) things to a different extreme.

[yobuck]

Yeah they are long! Talking about pills pushing .719BC.. 719! It’s difficult to even grasp the concept of the still heavier 197gr SMK’s... And even a couple speciality .284’s above 200gr. Crazy!

You mentioned that whatever you use gets a makeover. LOL! Heard that my friend... I’m using an MDT TAC21, but I’ve machined the Picatinny rail off the handguard, and made my own custom stock. So I get it. I can’t leave anything as is. :becky:
Well a high BC number bullet without velocity isnt really as impressive as it sounds.
But it does sell bullets and thats why they advertise it.
The high BC 300 gr 338 bullets for example in guns with less than about 3000 fps velocity, actually perform better with lighter bullets with a lower BC number because of higher velocity.
We find the same with the larger 7 mms like the 7 mm Ultra Mag and the 7x300 Wetherby in that the 162 gr Hornady Match bullet shoots flatter out to at least 1200 yards than the 180 gr Berger due to the higher velocity. I mean its very noticeable when watching them.
I havent even bothered checking the 190s based on our results with the 180s.
The original version of the Hornady 162 gr match bullet was introduced in around 1970.
The BC number for that bullet was .725. A few years later they changed the bullet slightly which lowered the BC number by about 100.
I never got to hoard any of those original ones, but i know guys who still have a thousand or so. I do have a good supply of the second generation which are also very good. But i only have one box of the original version, and the difference in shape is very noticable.
Another good high BC .284 bullet was the old 168 gr JLK. i know a few who prefer that over the 162 Hornady, but im not sure if they still make that either.

[Dave Hoback]

I figured you were Fuj. Could tell from your posts here & there. The only ones who aren’t into AR’s are the handful of “Fudds” who believe their Leupold Standard style rings are “Cutting Edge” technology & that Forged Knives made from “Carbon Steel” are the greatest knives made! :stupid:

Looking forward to seeing the stock. “Different extreme” huh? With a pause & cough even?? Do tell..

[Fuj']

First Range Report.....

Fired the first five fire forming loads. A lower velocity then
expected, but all's well. Going to boost the charge weight
on 5 more and head out in the morning..... Loving that new
8-40x50 Burris !!

All info on target.....

[Fuj']

Second day and second 5 round string.....I went up to 46.5 grains of
R-16, and the max charge I had planned. Case fill is about 90%. Bolt
lift at the top end is stiff. Slight swipe on the bolt head. Primers are
flattened but still have a minor rounded edge with no material migration.
Also no cratering. Cases are nice and well defined. Going to drop back
to 46 grains for the rest of the fire forming, although I'll throw in some
R-23 for a look see. This load gave me a nice .300 MOA 4 shot group but
one of the 5 went a full inch low. LOL Not bad for a fire forming string
and using blem bullets. And with the warmer load, the powder burned much
cleaner then the first string, but for some reason not as clean as what I
get from my 6.5 Creedmoor. I'm just using the R-16 for fire forming purposes
only, along with the WLR primers. Maybe by next week I'll have some H4831sc
come in, and dig out the BR2's.....Headed out this morning to bust more caps.

[Fuj']

This morning went well. Shot a few more R-16 loads to form cases
and foul the barrel. I loaded 5 with 47 grains of R-23, and fired those
last. interesting results. So far the best group shot during the forming
process. Kind of nice that these cases came out real close to where
they should be. Lets me explore. The R-23 load came in at a 5 shot
average of 2493 fps with an ES of 14 and SD of 5.7 Since still in
break in mod also, I'll be scrubbing the barrel again shortly then load
5 with 47.5 and another 5 with 48 grains of R-23 and see what the
Lab says. That 47 grain load was about 80% case fill. When fired,
the bolt opened and ejected like there was no case in the chamber.
Cases were fully formed, and primers looked like I had just pushed
them in. I'll probably run out of case room with R-23 before reaching
any pressure concerns with this 185 RDF.....I'm having fun !!

[Fuj']

Finished the testing with R-23. The 4, 5 shot groups at 1/2 grain
apart were relatively close in group size and just a tad over 1/2
MOA. Hit the pressure brick wall at 2606 fps with 49 grains. I hit
this same wall at 2603 fps with 46.5 grains of R-16......Will clean
barrel, and check for copper.....I have 12 cases left to form, waiting
on one pounder of H4831sc to show, and thankfully Fedex dropped
it off late yesterday. I'll split these up for 3, 4 shot groups, then all
50 cases will go thru the formal process. If the weather holds, Monday
morning I'll shoot these last 12.....I'm invited to a 500 yard range next
Saturday. Hopefully can pull off a decent showing.

[Fuj']

Well all 50 cases are fire formed. The last 12 as mentioned used
H4831sc. Velocities were quite a bit short on what I figured, for
the initial test. I hit what I feel was the pressure max with R-16
and 46.5 grains, and the 185 RDF, So that's where I started with
H4831sc, and things got weird !! At 46.5grs H4831, and 4 shots
fired, the average speed was only 2398 fps with an ES of 105 and
an SD of 49.9 ?? I will note that when I filled the cases, with this
charge weight, I had room to drop a bus in !! I had second thoughts.
I then loaded the next 4 at 47grs, and the last 4 at 47.5. The 47.5
load still shows a ton of room, and the Lab radar shows it. With 47.5 grs
of 4831sc, and the 185 RDF .015" off the lands, It only recorded, 2443
fps average with an ES of 22, and SD of 9.2 !!.....So I'm staring at
50 cases that need to go thru my formal process, which with stormy
weather today, that's what I'll be doing. When that's done, I'll switch
to the BR2 primers and cherry picked components, and get back to the
4831sc where I left off.

I do have some 168 Bergers coming in. but may not have them in time
for this weekends testing out to 500. Right now I just have use of our
lower 100 yard range as the upper 300 range is closed for maintenance.

[Fuj']

First 3 groups with the prepped components. Went up another 1/2
grain per string. 3 shot groups for the time being is good enough to
let me know what going on. Still slow and maybe room in the case
for one more grain. No bug holes, but not too shabby either.....Need
to bump the shoulders back some, but I did expect that from the get
go. Email from Mid South Shooters Supply has the 168 Bergers on
their way.

[Fuj']

Hit the limits with H4831sc. Again, closed in on 2600 fps, and hit
the wall with the 26.5" barrel. Of note though, this powder gave
me the best groups and especially as I ran up in the higher nodes.
Sucks that the best group, my first bughole is maxed out. I have
an informal gathering of the clan this morning where we do test
and tune, then go for bragging rights. I have dropped back the
charge, and loaded 15 for the finale !! See if this cat will do some
clawing at 500.....Email from Mid South Shooters Supply has my
168 Bergers coming in Monday.

[Dave Hoback]

Awesome, awesome stuff Fuj! That rig is a shooter no doubt! I get what you’re saying...the “big hole“ being at MAX charge. Doesn’t give ya a whole lot to left to play with. BUT... There are many other billets...and many other powders. Also, regardless of it being at max, it’s STILL a fine, fine group! Been fun watching this Fuj. Great build. I would be jealous...if I didn’t love my 6.5-08 build so much, that is-LOL!

[Fuj']

Yeah Dave, having fun !! Saturdays informal bragging rights shoot
went well for me in the short game. Long game, has some work to
be done. 169 Bergers are supposed to be here shortly. Yobuck and
Robinhood just peaked my curiosity about the old Hornady 162's.
The BC's on these things back in the 70's were about .725. I do think
it would be cool beans to test this pill. I do believe this cartridge has
160 class bullets written all over it .

[Fuj']

Here's a general idea using H2O fills, and note
that the SA284 has not been fire formed yet !!

Using Hornady cases / H20 capacities

.284 Winchester 66 grs
SA284 59.78 grs
7mm-08 AI 58.29
7mm-08 55.84



Processed my 50 case lot to start more test. The 168 Bergers look
very promising. Doing the water capacity test on twice fired brass,
My average on the SA284 is 60.36 grains .....Right now I'm back on
R-16. Monday morning will be the final 100 yard testing for this powder.
I have a charge that is about 2800 fps for the 168, And all three
touching, Will send some out to 300yds tomorrow.

Note.....The water check was made after full length sizing.

[Fuj']

Project is more then alive and well. Have not posted much about it
on here since this site and my old browers no longer agree about
posting pictures. I do have a running thread on Accurate Shooter
if anyone is interested.....I have since moved on to the 180 class
bullet area, and again shooting well under 1/2 MOA with of course
the ones that get pitched in the garbage can. LOL Shot 500 yards
yesterday and had 5 different loading's to test. I hit a a load of 52.2
grains of Ramshot Hunter using a WLR primer and 183 SMK. 1/3 MOA
for 8 shots to finish my current brass cycle. ES's were at 15. At 2782
fps, I'm more then happy.....Going to order in some 184 Bergers and
see what that arena has in store. Lucky I have a good quantity of
WLR's. My BR2 stock is low, and none to be found at this time.

[Robinhood]

I am enjoying your journey Fuj'. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[Fuj']

I am enjoying your journey Fuj'. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

Yes Sir !! ;) This journey has that Bartlein test barrel at just over
600 rounds, 6 different bullets and 5 different powders. The 183 SMK
I'm pushing my luck with twist rate. That pill is a good 1.625" long !!
With this bullet, the calculators show me at the low end at 1.34
stability factor at an average of 2767 fps out of a 26.5" barrel and 8.7
twist rate. I will continue to use this barrel for fire forming and general
testing, as the plan is for a new barrel over the winter. I have another
12 target action ready to go. Maybe do another Bartlein but a gain twist
to 8.5. I don't see a need to go to an 8 twist. May go to a finished 28"
length, and carbon wrapped. Bartlein has been offering a carbon wrapped
barrel for some time now.....In the mean time, I have more cases to form.
As I've been testing, I've been storing away all the twice fired cases for
the new barrel. The Norma Lot I got from Rardoin had 536 cases. I'll be
gold for some time.....

[Fuj']

A little update.....

With the weather on the downside, work has slowed. I did order a new
barrel. Brux will be doing a 30" MTU blank for me in 8.5 twist. The 183 SMK
is the clear winner of all the tests with 6 different powders. Surprisingly I
pulled Reloder 16 back into the mix. It was not doing well with the 180 class
bullets, but It came to life with the 183 SMK's ???? These extra long and
pointed pills have a shorter bearing surface, and a smaller diameter then the
Berger's. I'm getting better velocities with less pressure. I still have a ways
to go with R-16 though. Staball and Ramshot Hunter are giving me good nodes
between 2775 and 2810. I'm at 2730 at this point with R-16, with no pressure
and easily 1/2 Moa at 100.....I have one more batch of that Norma brass to
prep then use that for the next R-16 ladder.....Also.....Down to my last 400
BR2's. Still have a large supply of WLR's but do not like using them above 2750.