Advice on next steps for 300 wsm load

[ShortMountain91]

So some of y'all may have seen my post in the firearms section titled "rifle cleaning anxiety". I made that post because I had just cleaned my rifle to start my 2nd round of load development. After reading some comments about not cleaning I think probably should've just gone to the range and went to work. Anyway here's where I'm at and I'm looking opinions on what you smart folks would do next.

Working on a load for my 300 wsm with 180 accubonds and H4350. My first batch was all federal once fired, federal LMR primers, and 2.838" COAL (about 0.063" jump in my rifle). I loaded 3 rounds of each charge weight starting at 61 gr and going to 63.5 in 0.5 gr increments. These were shot out of a cleaned rifle preceded by 4 shots of Nosler trophy grade factory as foulers. Here are the measured groups of that batch:

61 gr - 1.611"
61.5 gr - 0.590"
62 gr - 0.391"
62.5 gr - 0.640"
63 gr - 1.322"
63.5 gr - 0.815"

62 gr seemed like an accuracy node so I loaded up some more rounds of that and some rounds jus above and below that. I also loaded up another batch of 62 gr but in Nosler brass to see if that changed anything. Cleaned the rifle again and headed to the range today. Shot 5 Nosler trophy grade as foulers. Here are those results in the order shot:

62 gr - 1.958" - this is why I'm thinking maybe shouldn't have cleaned. Exact same recipe that yielded a 0.391" group 2 weeks earlier is 5 times bigger today
61.9 gr - 0.345" - again supporting the don't clean theory
61.8 gr - 0.642"
62.1 gr - 1.657" - was kinda surprised by this result, maybe shooter error?
62 gr in Nosler brass - 0.610"

Ok so now the ask. What do y'all make of these results? What do y'all think I should pursue further? Thinking maybe 10 at 61.9 and 10 at 62? Do y'all agree that the cleaning was throwing off the first groups even with the foulers shots fired? Maybe I should have used handloads to foul the barrel?

Any thoughts are appreciated and thanks for reading!

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[MTNTOPARCHERY]

Barrel temp played a big role for me in my rifle. I could shoot 3 and have 3 holes touching, barrel would heat up and throw a couple. Also, make sure aren’t cooking the round in a hot chamber that effects accuracy also.

Stick with 62 on a fowled rifle and play with seating depth


Side note... are you using a chrono on these group shots?




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[ShortMountain91]

Barrel temp played a big role for me in my rifle. I could shoot 3 and have 3 holes touching, barrel would heat up and throw a couple. Also, make sure aren’t cooking the round in a hot chamber that effects accuracy also.

Stick with 62 on a fowled rifle and play with seating depth


Side note... are you using a chrono on these group shots?




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Did a 3 min rest between all shots to let barrel cool. It's a pencil barrel after all. No round cooking either, the action is left open until next shot is ready to fire.

Really wish I had a chrono but unfortunately I'm flying blind on that front

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[Megalodon]

I’d be surprised if a less than .2% change in powder charge made that big of a difference. I’m going with shooter error. I have a hard time shooting my 300 WSM well. I’ll get .3 to 1.3 moa swings. In my case I just need more time behind the gun.

 

[homebru.trout]

Agree with the prior post on sticking with 62. One reason accuracy nodes are nodes at all is because they are relatively insensitive to small variances in powder charge.

It really depends on what you're going for with this gun and load and how long you want to tinker. I reload purely for hunting so looking at your data, without any chrono info to change my mind, if it was my gun I verify 62 again on a fouled barrel, load 50 of em and call it a good. The only thing that might keep me at the bench a bit longer would be disappointing velocity numbers.

 

[PathFinder]

Man I think you're right on the right track! Load up ten at 62, and take some good quality time shooting them. That will give you a great idea of exactly what the whole system is doing. Anything around 1-1.5 MOA from a pencil barreled 300 WSM is excellent for 10 shots. That will serve you well out to at least 800 yards, if you are even planning to shoot that far.
Whatever you do, don't clean that barrel! Let it foul in and stay happy.

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[HiMtnHntr]

You might try seating them out a tad farther is you can. I load most of mine right at 2.900 (mag length). Lots of other things you can mess with, primers, powders, even bullets.

 

[ShortMountain91]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll probably load some more at 62 without cleaning. Verify they're still shooting good and try and get some velocity data. Might even play with seating depth for the heck of it

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[Montero]

I know this is an old thread but I to have a 300 WSM X Bolt that I'm working up a load for with Nosler Accubonds (180 gr). I'm kinda new to reloading as well and only now getting into reloading with the goal of sub MOA groups consistently. I had always thought 1.75" groups was good enough for hunting at the ranges I feel comfortable shooting game.

ShortMtn91, did you adjust your with seating depths? And if so did it change your POI/group size?

Also, so I'm going to ask a basic question......about barrel cleaning. I've been shooting firearms for a long time and I always thought you would want to clean a barrel after each session at the range to keep it from fouling....so you can ensure more accurate/predictable groups.....not foul a barrel and keep it fouled to ensure more accurate/predictable groups....can someone clarify.

I'm wondering if I missed something.....

 

[ShortMountain91]

I know this is an old thread but I to have a 300 WSM X Bolt that I'm working up a load for with Nosler Accubonds (180 gr). I'm kinda new to reloading as well and only now getting into reloading with the goal of sub MOA groups consistently. I had always thought 1.75" groups was good enough for hunting at the ranges I feel comfortable shooting game.

ShortMtn91, did you adjust your with seating depths? And if so did it change your POI/group size?

Also, so I'm going to ask a basic question......about barrel cleaning. I've been shooting firearms for a long time and I always thought you would want to clean a barrel after each session at the range to keep it from fouling....so you can ensure more accurate/predictable groups.....not foul a barrel and keep it fouled to ensure more accurate/predictable groups....can someone clarify.

I'm wondering if I missed something.....

No I left it at 2.838 COAL. Seems to shoot great there so I left it alone. Got some RL 26 and winchester brass (federal had loose primer pockets are 1 firing) that I want to work up a load with but haven't got around to it yet. I'll start that load at the same COAL.

As for fouling, my gun shoots better a little dirty so I leave it dirty. If I do clean it, I always shoot a few foulers with the load I am testing

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[Montero]

I'll give fouling a try and see if how it influences the groups. Good to know you did not have to adjust your seating length to achieve good accuracy.

Funny, I also bought some once fired Federal brass that I had a primer fail to seat. I'll keep an eye on this, otherwise I have some once fired HSM brass that seem to be working out after three firings I've done.

Good luck with the RL26. I'm having luck with Hodgdon 100V Hybrid for accuracy so far.

 

[MallardAddict]

I never shoot groups nor hunt on a clean barrel as the POI will typically shift a bit over the first several rounds.

I typically won’t ever clean a rifle to bare metal, just run a patch with accelerator, one with Patch Out, maybe 10-15 passes of a NYLON bore brush then straight Patch Out until I’m satisfied.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I don't clean my barrels unless my groups open up.