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

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

Attachment 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?

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

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.

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.

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

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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.

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

Attachment 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?

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.

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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.

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I'm telling Darrker!

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.

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

I'm telling Darrker!

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

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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.

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.

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

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41	72.30	2761
42	72.30	2836
43	72.30	2830
44	72.30	2820

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

That ought to help you narrow down any plateaus.

Did you start the test with a clean bore?

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.

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Originally Posted by Evlshnngns

Did you start the test with a clean bore?

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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.