So my savage seems to hate sierra bullets??

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Vitamin G

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Well, after extensive screwing around with oal, figuring out my distance to the lands, trying different powder, i concluded that my savage 30-06 hates the 165 (or is it 168) hpbt bullets. I couldn't get more than 3 or 4" groups at 100 yards. I was beginning to think that my rifle was defective or just poorly assembed.
So, i tried some of the speer 125gr val-u-pak hp rounds with 4064, and holy crap! i was getting .75 moa consistently, and it was windy! anywhere from 50 to 54gr, was awesome! I also just kind of slapped them together, not really paying attention to seating or distance to the lands.

Is this a strange thing to have a rifle hate a bullet so much? I picked up a box of berger 130grs, since i heard they were known for accuracy in alot of guns. Any other recommendations?
Do you think my gun hates heavy bullets, or maybe just those particular sierras?
 
It's not uncommen for a rifle to dislike a particular bullet weight. What is your twist? If it likes the lighter bullets you may have too slow of a twist for the heavier ones. Just a thought. Also, if you just slapped them together, perhaps your rifle likes a little "jump" into the lands. Try the heavy weights seated a little deeper (with adjusments to powder charge, of course).
 
I have been playing with heavy bullets in my Savage 99C, in .243. Thinking heavy would be good. Factory loads come in 85 and 100 grain but i thought the 105 Speers I had found could be nice.

Not so it seems so far and the load I thought would be great - ain't!!! I have used N-140 (33.9 grain) shoving these and am not getting anything approaching a good group.

I am now probably going to forget heavy and go for something like 85's over some 3031. For sure - I still need to find the ''sweet'' load. And heavy seems not it! I have yet to establish the twist rate on my Savage - must do a measurement - but suspect it is not right for heavy (long) pills.
 
My Savage 110 will consistently put 1/2" groups at 100yds with Sierra Gameking 165 in both HPBT and SPBT bullets over IMR 4350. The HPBT bullets do impact 3/4" right of where the SPBT's impact at 100yds.

I shot a doe at 90yds last year with the HPBT and it did some nasty damage to the deer. The deer ran 40yds and piled up. Shot another doe at 100yds with the SPBT and she dropped in her tracks. Bullet exit was no where near as tore up as the HPBT. I've since stuck with the SPBT's exclusively.

Took the -06 out today for a last minute check before next weeks hunt and its spot on at 100yds. I'm happy as a pig in crap with the load and have no desire to try another.

Best of luck finding a bullet that works for you. Which powder are you using by the way?
 
I've got a 112BVSS in .30-06.

When I bought it, the chamber was very short throated. It wouldn't chamber anything much longer than a 150gr. GI ball round.

I took it to a local smith who lengthened the throat to allow me to use the Sierra 200gr. Matchkings which I prefer.

Now it's a tackdriver at 600 yards.
 
12 BVSS in 308

For what it's worth, my savage prints one hole groups at 100 yards with 175 smk's. Sure, it took a little work doing the load development, but with:
varget or 4064 powder
Winchester brass
Winchester primers
I can get a one hole group with a couple different loadings of 4064, and at least one with varget.


D
 
It's not unheard of for a rifle to dislike boatail bullets. I found that out about 15 years back while trying to develope a load for one of my wife's 7mm-08s. I went through a whole box (100 bullets) of Hdy 139-grain SPBTs, trying different powders, different charge weights, different primers and different seating depths, and that darn rifle still wouldn't put 3 of those Hornady boatails inside of 4 inches at 100 yards. Finally I ran out of the boatails while I still had 4 or 5 cases charged with powder (IMR-4064 as best as I can remember) so I went ahead and poked some Hdy 139-grain SPs (plain bases) in the charged cases I had left over. The 4 or 5 plain based bullets all went in about an inch at 100 yards. And those are the bullets my wife has used for mule deer ever since.
In between hunting seasons a few years back we even tried some Sierra 140-grain SPBT's in that rifle and had the same results as with the Hdy 139-grain SPBT's - 4" + at 100 yrds.
However, I do have a 30-06 that I can count on to put 3 165-grain Hdy SPBTs in an inch at 100 yards. So I'm not saying boatail bullets are bad. It's just that in my experience, some rifles don't like them.
 
Hey Vitamin,
One more thing to check
The crown of the barrel for damage.
I read in one of the gun rags that if the crown is worn from scraping with a cleaning rod or anything else that boattail bullets will not shoot untill the barrel is recrowned.

Just my $0.02 worth.
 
Thanks all...

I will check the barrel when i get home tonight..

And do savages actually come in different twists in 30-06? I bought the package model with the cheap scope (impulse buy) and replaced the scope. I thought this was only offered in one twist rate, especially in retail stores.
 
i agree with hazzard in his post,it must be the twist rate of the rifling.
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That I know of, all factory Savage 10/110s are 1 in 10". That seems to work exceptionally well with heavier bullets, 175gr. to 200gr.

I use NOTHING but 200gr. Sierra Matchkings in my gun and it gets the job done at 600 yards.
 
That I know of, all factory Savage 10/110s are 1 in 10". That seems to work exceptionally well with heavier bullets, 175gr. to 200gr.

I use NOTHING but 200gr. Sierra Matchkings in my gun and it gets the job done at 600 yards.
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What kind of velocity are you getting with heavy bullets?
 
If your barrel is 1:10, as Deanimator said, it should stabilize the heavy bullets with no problems. Are you pushing max loads with them? Try reducing your charge and see what happens. How much muzzle blast are you experiencing? Are your groups stringing in elevation, or is it a shotgun pattern? Sorry for all the questions, but a little more info may be helpful.
 
What kind of velocity are you getting with heavy bullets?
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I'll have to check my logbook. I actually chronoed the loads a couple of years ago. According to a friend who's a high master, they should be supersonic at 1000 yards.

PS - I meant to say, all Savage *.30-06* barrels are 1:10.
 
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