Found my .270 Load

[AF_Reloader]

I had been struggling a little with finding a load my .270 Ruger M77 MII would agree with.

The best I had found was a load that I had posted earlier:

54.0gr H-4831sc
150gr Ballistic Tip
CCI 200 Primer
Winchester Case

2" group @ 50 yards. If that's the best there was, then you know the rest were bad. And then I was enlightened with the wisdom of Pet Loads, and found this:

52.5gr H-4831sc
130gr Ballistic Tip
CCI 200 Primer
Winchester Case

Behold the results, @ 120 yards!

[URL=http://img38.imageshack.us/i/img3450z.jpg/][/URL]

On a side note, is a 1.1" group what I would call this? Doesn't sound as impressive as "6 shots in one hole." And the flier was my first shot, so we'll just forget about that one!

I'm going to give this one final test, but I think I found what's going to take down my buck this fall!


Frank

 

[WNTFW]

Looks like you could subtract 1 bullet hole diameter and your group would be smaller. 1.111 includes the bullet holes outside to outside measurement not center to center.

 

[D. Manley]

On a side note, is a 1.1" group what I would call this? Doesn't sound as impressive as "6 shots in one hole." And the flier was my first shot, so we'll just forget about that one!

An excellent group, congratulations. On your image, you seem to be measuring from outside-to-outside. Most people consider your "true" group size to be measured center-to-center. This is most easily and accurately accomplished by using the inside edge of one shot to the outside edge of another. Your "corrected" group measurement, excluding the single flyer, is likely about an inch or under.

 

[NCsmitty]

Good group AF_Reloader.
The only question I have is the load for your 130gr bullet is 3.5gr under the recommended starting charge for that weight bullet on the Hodgdon data site, but you cannot argue with the results.

www.hodgdon.com


NCsmitty

 

[AF_Reloader]

I saw that, but Ken Water's listed as the second-best load for the .270 (that he had found), so I had to go for it.

I'll post a picture of the targets used w/Hodgdon data.

 

[CoRoMo]

What other bullets have you tried in your M77?

I have the exact same rifle, and it totally prefers 130gr. Hornady Interlocks.
It'll shoot 0.723" groups when all things go right.

 

[Afy]

Congratulations on the shooting.

Personally I would continue load development to see if it can get better. But that is me, never leave things alone.

 

[AF_Reloader]

The four bullets I've gone through are:

150gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
130gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
150gr Nosler Soft Point
130gr Nosler Soft Point

You may notice a trend, but Nosler's factory is only 2 hours from my house, so I try to give them most of my business.

And I'm not going to stop with the 1" group. The only variables in my loads were bullet/powder weight. I'm still running off of Pet Loads' recommended overall cartridge length of 3.33", which is my next big area of load development. I'm going to use a headspace guage to get the best overall length for my rifle, and I might try branching out to new bullet brands/types.

I'm just happy to reach a point I can be (temporarily) satisfied with, so I can focus on:

Deer season
Trap Shooting Intramurals
Making my own lead shot


Frank