TwoEyedJack
Member
Most of the hunting rifle load development I have done has been with the .270 win and .338 win mag. My .270 is an old Remington Sportsman 78 (very similar to a Model 700ADL) restocked with a walnut Remington 700ADL stock, glass bedded and free floated. My .338 is a Ruger M77 Mark 2 with the newer synthetic stock.
With both of these rifles I was able to sight the rifle in for one load, and similar loads would hit pretty much the same point of impact at 100 yards. In the .270, I have tried 130 gr. bullets from Nosler, Speer, Sierra, and Remington. None had a point of impact more than an inch or two away from where it was sighted. Even a 150 gr. Partition hit in the same spot. The .338 shoots factory 250 gr. Partitions (Federal factory load) to the same poi as my 225 gr. Hornady SST reloads.
I bought my first .308 last summer and have been trying out different recipes. The rifle is a Ruger Hawkeye stainless laminated. It has been skim bedded and free floated. Today I tried out two different loads, both using a 155 gr. Sierra Match King. The first one used 51 gr. of Win760. It went 1.125" for five shots, about 1.5" high and 1" left from point of aim. This is one of the most accurate loads I have tested so far.
The next load was the exact same bullet, casing, casing prep, primer, OAL, etc. but using a stout dose of Reloader15. This load was off the paper. At least 8" lower and 4" left. I noticed this same phenomena a few months ago when the rifle was sighted in for factory 165 gr. CoreLokt and a Herters 180 gr. load printed 6" lower.
Is it normal for a rifle to throw different loads to such wildly different points of impact? Have I just gotten lucky with my .270 and .338?
With both of these rifles I was able to sight the rifle in for one load, and similar loads would hit pretty much the same point of impact at 100 yards. In the .270, I have tried 130 gr. bullets from Nosler, Speer, Sierra, and Remington. None had a point of impact more than an inch or two away from where it was sighted. Even a 150 gr. Partition hit in the same spot. The .338 shoots factory 250 gr. Partitions (Federal factory load) to the same poi as my 225 gr. Hornady SST reloads.
I bought my first .308 last summer and have been trying out different recipes. The rifle is a Ruger Hawkeye stainless laminated. It has been skim bedded and free floated. Today I tried out two different loads, both using a 155 gr. Sierra Match King. The first one used 51 gr. of Win760. It went 1.125" for five shots, about 1.5" high and 1" left from point of aim. This is one of the most accurate loads I have tested so far.
The next load was the exact same bullet, casing, casing prep, primer, OAL, etc. but using a stout dose of Reloader15. This load was off the paper. At least 8" lower and 4" left. I noticed this same phenomena a few months ago when the rifle was sighted in for factory 165 gr. CoreLokt and a Herters 180 gr. load printed 6" lower.
Is it normal for a rifle to throw different loads to such wildly different points of impact? Have I just gotten lucky with my .270 and .338?