bewsher500
Well-Known Member
Finally got round to ditching the Remington brass that came with my rifle
Nothing against the brand but they were well used, Nickel plated and showing signs of weakness
So I need to check previous load (N160) was OK in new shiney Norma brass and worked up from slightly below just to be sure
Rifle has also been recrowned and screwcut, moderated and sports a new scope now too- so all change!
(only moderated now as apparently muzzle brakes on 300WMs and foam lined percussion barrels at the range don't go together!)
In addition I had some H1000 loads I wanted to check for OAL accuracy variance (US forums suggest that the 300WM, 208gr and H1000 combo gives the best velocity you can get....if you can get your hands on it!)
Previously I had pretty good results with both powders with groups of around 2/3-3/4"
Loads are:
Norma, Fed Gold Magnum, 208gr Amax, 78gr H1000 - Arse to tip OAL 90-94mm
Norma, Fed Gold Magnum, 208gr Amax, 69.8gr N160 - Arse to tip OAL 91.5mm
H1000 first
90mm - first two shots touching, 3rd 1/2" off...promising
91mm - same as previous groups, little triangle around 3/4-1"
92mm - stringing a little, barrel was a bit warm this time, little line about 1"-1.25" long..
93mm - first two touching, third forms a perfect little clover leaf! all together just touching - 17mm group! chuffed!
94mm - first two overlapping..."tried too hard" with the 3rd hoping to get even smaller! snatched it! 1/4" off. bollox!
delighted with that even so
(even if they are only groups of three! at 78gr a pop I am not wasting ammo to prove a statistical point!)

N160
Was running out of time and rightly or wrongly I decided to avoid going through a whole range of lower loads and try the ones just below the previous known load (which is way off max anyway).
69.6gr - perfect little clover leaf slightly smaller than the H1000 and 1/2" higher on the same zero! doubly happy with that - 15.5mm group
69.8gr - first shot in same zone on S'n'C target, second shot appeared to be 3"left...gutting, 3rd shot right next to the first, touching the hole.
scratching my head as to what I did with the 2nd.
Walks up to the target to find shots 1 and 2 in the same hole!! I was looking at a screw head for 2nd shot! - 16mm group
significantly smaller than the same load, same length in Rem brass.
very happy
not only is it the best set of groups I have ever loaded and shot in a proper calibre I have almost identical POI for two different powders
(H1000 is apparently doing roughly around 2850fps and N160 around 2700fps from the load data
unlikely to be a massive difference at range, but more shooting at extended range to be done next week)
All done with Neck sized and crimped brass in Lee dies
Powder scooped and/or weighed on a cheapy Hornady electronic scale
OAL measured with £8 Aldi digital calipers
Shot off the roof of my car with a home made front sand bag!
Also wanted to take the opportunity to actually see what the recoil looks like so videoed it
Surprisingly little movement, have always maintained its not as bad as people make out, its no .22lr but very tolerable
A lot noisier on camera than I feel it is in the flesh ...but it is far from quiet!
Nothing against the brand but they were well used, Nickel plated and showing signs of weakness
So I need to check previous load (N160) was OK in new shiney Norma brass and worked up from slightly below just to be sure
Rifle has also been recrowned and screwcut, moderated and sports a new scope now too- so all change!
(only moderated now as apparently muzzle brakes on 300WMs and foam lined percussion barrels at the range don't go together!)
In addition I had some H1000 loads I wanted to check for OAL accuracy variance (US forums suggest that the 300WM, 208gr and H1000 combo gives the best velocity you can get....if you can get your hands on it!)
Previously I had pretty good results with both powders with groups of around 2/3-3/4"
Loads are:
Norma, Fed Gold Magnum, 208gr Amax, 78gr H1000 - Arse to tip OAL 90-94mm
Norma, Fed Gold Magnum, 208gr Amax, 69.8gr N160 - Arse to tip OAL 91.5mm
H1000 first
90mm - first two shots touching, 3rd 1/2" off...promising
91mm - same as previous groups, little triangle around 3/4-1"
92mm - stringing a little, barrel was a bit warm this time, little line about 1"-1.25" long..
93mm - first two touching, third forms a perfect little clover leaf! all together just touching - 17mm group! chuffed!
94mm - first two overlapping..."tried too hard" with the 3rd hoping to get even smaller! snatched it! 1/4" off. bollox!
delighted with that even so
(even if they are only groups of three! at 78gr a pop I am not wasting ammo to prove a statistical point!)

N160
Was running out of time and rightly or wrongly I decided to avoid going through a whole range of lower loads and try the ones just below the previous known load (which is way off max anyway).
69.6gr - perfect little clover leaf slightly smaller than the H1000 and 1/2" higher on the same zero! doubly happy with that - 15.5mm group
69.8gr - first shot in same zone on S'n'C target, second shot appeared to be 3"left...gutting, 3rd shot right next to the first, touching the hole.
scratching my head as to what I did with the 2nd.
Walks up to the target to find shots 1 and 2 in the same hole!! I was looking at a screw head for 2nd shot! - 16mm group
significantly smaller than the same load, same length in Rem brass.
very happy
not only is it the best set of groups I have ever loaded and shot in a proper calibre I have almost identical POI for two different powders
(H1000 is apparently doing roughly around 2850fps and N160 around 2700fps from the load data
unlikely to be a massive difference at range, but more shooting at extended range to be done next week)
All done with Neck sized and crimped brass in Lee dies
Powder scooped and/or weighed on a cheapy Hornady electronic scale
OAL measured with £8 Aldi digital calipers
Shot off the roof of my car with a home made front sand bag!
Also wanted to take the opportunity to actually see what the recoil looks like so videoed it
Surprisingly little movement, have always maintained its not as bad as people make out, its no .22lr but very tolerable
A lot noisier on camera than I feel it is in the flesh ...but it is far from quiet!