bewsher500
Well-Known Member
Anyone using this combo?
would be interested to hear your success/failures
I have heard great things from the West about both the powder and the combination and finally managed to get a tub from a kind chap on here
Hodgsons says 71-78 gr for 2650-2850fps from a 24" barrel (was kind of hoping for more MV at the higher end but it seems the Max is conservative)
reading the online stuff I see people using everything from 72 to 81gr!
previous loads I have tried with N165, H4831sc (both average at best) and finally N160
The N160 loads were all fairly regular through the charges producing 3/4"- 1.5" groups with two obvious accuracy nodes at the lower and upper end that produced touching holes with a couple of stragglers to produce a 1/2"-2/3" group
Th H1000 loads I have worked up proved to be very odd
I started at 74gr and worked up to 79gr
calmish day, front bag, roof of car, out to 115yds
New Norma brass, FedGold mag primers, Hornady 208gr, H1000 - Tikka 685, PES mod.
First group was bang on 1", (outside edge to outside edge - triangular pattern, no touching)
Exactly the same zero as the N160 load I use (in fact the first time I have had a development load hit the same POI from the off!)
Here we go thinks I!!
next one 1.25" (strung horizontal)
then 1.5" (strung vertical,some touching)
~ 1.25" (strung vertical, some touching)
~1.75"! (strung vertical)
~2.75"! (strung diagonal)
~1.8"! (strung diagonal)
~3.25"! (triangle)
All the time groups growing in size dramatically and dropping down and right, last group by 6-8" from POA
I use a 2x4' board with 18 (6x3) shoot'n'see stickers,
lets me do it all at once and compare groups as well as giving some ladder indications
As I was working up one side of the board and down the other I had to tweak the scope to stay on the board!
At this point I was losing the will to live and wondering what the hell was going on or what I was doing wrong!
The next load level, first shot - on the right hand edge of the board, just to the right of the sticker,
2nd shot nothing! "Crap!" off the board and no data!
I moved to aim at the centre vertical row of stickers which I usually leave free
3rd shot bang in the same area as the first (but on a different sticker)...so I take a walk
First two shots had gone in same hole!
group ended up at about 7/8" total or 0.56" C2C!! Bang on 78gr H1000
next group ~2.5" (triangular!)
next ~1.25" (triangular!)
never had such a sudden drop of group size and quite so dramatic
Am obviously hoping that a tweak of small powder increments, OAL and some attention on my part can shrink that even more.
Hoping this will save my N160 supplies for the other calibre/loads!
would be interested to hear your success/failures
I have heard great things from the West about both the powder and the combination and finally managed to get a tub from a kind chap on here
Hodgsons says 71-78 gr for 2650-2850fps from a 24" barrel (was kind of hoping for more MV at the higher end but it seems the Max is conservative)
reading the online stuff I see people using everything from 72 to 81gr!
previous loads I have tried with N165, H4831sc (both average at best) and finally N160
The N160 loads were all fairly regular through the charges producing 3/4"- 1.5" groups with two obvious accuracy nodes at the lower and upper end that produced touching holes with a couple of stragglers to produce a 1/2"-2/3" group
Th H1000 loads I have worked up proved to be very odd
I started at 74gr and worked up to 79gr
calmish day, front bag, roof of car, out to 115yds
New Norma brass, FedGold mag primers, Hornady 208gr, H1000 - Tikka 685, PES mod.
First group was bang on 1", (outside edge to outside edge - triangular pattern, no touching)
Exactly the same zero as the N160 load I use (in fact the first time I have had a development load hit the same POI from the off!)
Here we go thinks I!!
next one 1.25" (strung horizontal)
then 1.5" (strung vertical,some touching)
~ 1.25" (strung vertical, some touching)
~1.75"! (strung vertical)
~2.75"! (strung diagonal)
~1.8"! (strung diagonal)
~3.25"! (triangle)
All the time groups growing in size dramatically and dropping down and right, last group by 6-8" from POA
I use a 2x4' board with 18 (6x3) shoot'n'see stickers,
lets me do it all at once and compare groups as well as giving some ladder indications
As I was working up one side of the board and down the other I had to tweak the scope to stay on the board!
At this point I was losing the will to live and wondering what the hell was going on or what I was doing wrong!
The next load level, first shot - on the right hand edge of the board, just to the right of the sticker,
2nd shot nothing! "Crap!" off the board and no data!
I moved to aim at the centre vertical row of stickers which I usually leave free
3rd shot bang in the same area as the first (but on a different sticker)...so I take a walk
First two shots had gone in same hole!
group ended up at about 7/8" total or 0.56" C2C!! Bang on 78gr H1000
next group ~2.5" (triangular!)
next ~1.25" (triangular!)
never had such a sudden drop of group size and quite so dramatic
Am obviously hoping that a tweak of small powder increments, OAL and some attention on my part can shrink that even more.
Hoping this will save my N160 supplies for the other calibre/loads!