Savage 16 300 WSM seating depth

[HawHee]

I have always been a Remington shooter, and am used to seating bullets with a .010"-.020" jump to the lands. Last week I ordered a Savage 16 FCSS in 300 WSM. Does anyone know if it is possible to seat a 180 grain bullet to touch the lands, and still fit the round in the magazine? If not, will this adversely affect the accuracy?

[EFBell]

I doubt it and no it will not be a problem. You will find a load the will shoot good and fit the mag box.

[HawHee]

I doubt it and no it will not be a problem. You will find a load the will shoot good and fit the mag box.

Thanks for the feedback. This will be a whole new concept, in that the jump to the lands is controlled by the magazine, not by the reloader. I will have to take a leap of faith on this one.

[EFBell]

If your using it as a hunting repeater you dont have much choice with the savage magazine box. Mine shoots fine with 180 Scirroco's loaded to the magazine length minus a hair or two for clearence. I get the first 2 shots touching at 100 yards most of the time. What more do you need for a hunting rig?

[Elkbane]

MIne put 3 180 grain Nosler Accubonds into one hole (literally) this morning loaded at 2.88 OAL. I've loaded the 165g Accubonds to 2.915 OAL and they are a tight fit in the mag, but still off the lands (can't recall how much offhand). Just a hint - the WSM's run at some serious pressures and you can run into some unanticipated pressure changes with farily slight changes in seating depth. At least in my experience. Mine shoots the 180's best using H4831sc near Nosler's book max load - not a barnburner for velocity, but great consistency with very little vertical......(and it happens to match well with the DBC type reticle I'm using).......
ELkbane

[HawHee]

MIne put 3 180 grain Nosler Accubonds into one hole (literally) this morning loaded at 2.88 OAL. I've loaded the 165g Accubonds to 2.915 OAL and they are a tight fit in the mag, but still off the lands (can't recall how much offhand). Just a hint - the WSM's run at some serious pressures and you can run into some unanticipated pressure changes with farily slight changes in seating depth. At least in my experience. Mine shoots the 180's best using H4831sc near Nosler's book max load - not a barnburner for velocity, but great consistency with very little vertical......(and it happens to match well with the DBC type reticle I'm using).......
ELkbane

Your OAL measurements are helpful. Do you happen to know what the distance is from the bolt face to the lands? Just curious.

The fact that you guys get tight groups with the 300 WSM is encouraging to me. Thank you for listing the bullet/powder combination.

[Elkbane]

Hawhee,

I'll try to get you some measurements based on the way I have mine headspaced tonight.
Elkbane

[EFBell]

Ditto.

[Elkbane]

Hawhee,
Here are my measurements. These are on Norma 300WSM cases, which are a little thicker/heavier than Winchester...

Neck OD: Fired .3425 Sized .335 Loaded .3365
Neck wall : 14.8 Thousands
Headspace: 1.759 Fired 1.757 Sized (measured to a .4" datum line)
Trim length: 2.097
Case Weight (average) 243.2 grains
OAL to Lands: 2.977
OAL in Mag 2.997 (with a little clearance, not tight fit)
SAAMI OAL 2.86

My load is 69.3g H4831sc in Norma brass (slight neck turn for cleanup), Fed 210M primers, 180gr Nosler Accubond, seated at 2.88". This is safe in my gun, but it;s a full case of powder and slightly compressed - I get a little powder crunching when I seat them.

Elkbane

[HawHee]

Elkbane,
Thanks for going to all the trouble to post your measurements. If you are interested, I could post some 300 WSM data that I got from Barnes Bullets. I have found that Barnes bullets are deadly and accurate. The Accubond is also excellent. I killed a Shiras moose with a 180 gr. Accubond in 2008. So both are great, but the Barnes bullets have a reputation for exiting the animal, thus providing more of a wound, accompanied by a blood trail.

I will experiment with the bullet/powder/seating depth combination you posted once my new rifle arrives. By the way, I ordered it through Scott Null, of SavageGunsmithing.com, who will accurize it for a $250. Should be a real shooter after he's done with it. He will also install one of his muzzle brakes. First time I've ever done business with Scott, and hoping it turns out the way he advertises.
HawHee

[pphreed]

When you get your rifle you might also consider Reloder 17 with a mag primer I just tried it and and got godd velocity 3100 + with 65 grains under a hornady 180 sst was a bit hot and will probably settle into aload at 63 to 64.5 accuracy was good and velocities consistent 13 fps spread on 1 3 shot group should wind up with a load in the 3000 fps + range good luck fred

[Elkbane]

Thanks pphreed, I plan on trying RL-17 - I have about a half a pound of it.

Hawhee, I would like to see the laod data for the Barnes Bullets. As for the Accubonds, I've shot 3 elk with the 165's (shot one twice) and have not recovered a bullet yet. They seem to poke right through, with decent terminal performance. One was 315 yards high sholder shot - knocked him down, then put another through the ribs when he tried to get up. Another was 200 yards through the lower ribs, right behind the shoulder crease. He didn't even kick. The third was last day raghorn frustration shot in the middle ribs at 30 yards. I got to see how he reacted really well, given that he was so close - he moved one front leg once, briefly and was DRT. So far, I've shot 2 elk with a 280 Rem and 6 with the 300WSM. Never shot through one with the 280 (I traded it) and have never failed to shoot through one with the 300WSM (even one at 525 yards). I shot a decent whitetail last year with my 300WSM 165g elk loads - in the ribcage and he ran about 40 yards and piled up. I'm switching back to ballistic tips for deer.

I made the switch to 180's this year because the ballistics tend to match up with the reticle on my new Zeiss scope a little better than the 165's. I tend toward using "enough bulet" and "enough velocity", favoring accuracy and precision over surplus energy - from what I've seen, I have enough terminal performance - I just want to make it easier to hit things I want to hit.

Here's what my rig looks like- but it has a 4-14 Zeiss on it now...
[img width=600 height=449]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h28/elkbane/NewRifle003.jpg[/img]
Elkbane

[EFBell]

Nice Rig!

[HawHee]

Elkbane,
Here's the Barne's data: http://www.barnesbullets.com/wp-cont.../300WSMWeb.pdf.

Your rifle looks sweet. What do you think about the Accustock? I ordered a Model 16 FCSS, which comes with the Accustock and a detachable box magazine. I've always had hinged floor plates, so this will be new for me. The factory rep says you can convert it to a hinged floor plate if you want, so I'm not stuck.

For this new rifle I bought a Leupold VX3 3.5X10 40 mm with a Boone & Crockett reticle, and I'm thinking the 180's will work best with it, just as you found with your Zeiss.

As for elk, I've killed all three with a 30-06 and 180 grain bullets, longest shot was about 200 yards. My Shiras moose dropped after being hit twice with 180 Accubonds at 160 yards from my '06. I love my 30-06, but where we hunt elk/deer, there are cross-canyon shots that can go 500+ yards, and since my 30-06 is 17 years old, I thought I would step up to a magnum. That's why I ordered the 300 WSM. Your hunting experience convinces me that I made a good choice.

[HawHee]

Yes, it's been a year since I lasted posted to this thread; but it's taken me that long to 1. get a rifle, and 2. work up a load.

Here's what I've settled on for now:
1. 180 gr. Nosler Accubond seated 0.040" off lands, 64.0 gr. RL-17, Win. brass, WLRM primer; best group=0.25" at 100 yds; MV=2979 fps.
2. 180 gr. Sierra GameKing seated 0.030" off lands, 68.5 gr. RL-19, Win. brass, WLRM primer; best group=0.5" at 100 yds; MV=2964 fps.

These loads will match up nicely with my Leupold Boone & Crockett reticle, especially the Nosler load. They advertise a B.C. of .507. I will be confident out to 500 yards.

I was quite pleased to find that my magazine is long enough to allow me to seat the bullet out as far as I wanted.

Thanks again for all your input!