Weird diagonal grouping. Reduced loads. Tikka 300wsm

[HighUintas]

I have had this happen before and as best as I could figure it was me. It didn't happen all the time. Just sometimes. High right, low left. I'm right handed shooter

 

[Jimbee]

I shot 5 factory loads (left) and 5 reduced loads (right). Maybe 11 twist is too slow for the reduced velocity ? Going to try the reduced loads in my other 9 twist 300wsm when I get a chance.

 

[SDHNTR]

Do you need to shoot reduced loads?

 

[Jimbee]

Do you need to shoot reduced loads?

Well, before my Rokslide education I thought I needed a big gun to kill elk. I've since come to appreciate low recoil, spotting impacts, etc. I also enjoy reloading and shooting.

 

[BjornF16]

There is some good advice in your reduced load for 300 WSM thread.

If you drop down to 165/168 class bullet that H4895 load may work better.

Any idea what your MV is with the 175?

Have you tried it without the can?

 

[Moose83]

Maybe try a different powder? I thought I read somewhere lately that more recent lots of h4895 haven't been as consistent for reduced loads as older lots have been. I could be remembering that wrong though. I know Imr 4198 is another good choice for reduced loads. The lyman #4 cast bullet manual has data for imr 4198 in the 300 wsm.

 

[SDHNTR]

Well, before my Rokslide education I thought I needed a big gun to kill elk. I've since come to appreciate low recoil, spotting impacts, etc. I also enjoy reloading and shooting.

Put a brake on it. I have one on my .300 wsm and my 12 yr old shoots it.

 

[Jimbee]

There is some good advice in your reduced load for 300 WSM thread.

If you drop down to 165/168 class bullet that H4895 load may work better.

Any idea what your MV is with the 175?

Have you tried it without the can?

I'm going to try some 168 grain. I haven't tried without the can. I think the MV is pretty low, probably not much over 2000fps but I'm only guessing based on load data. If I find an accurate enough load I'll see what the mv is and decide if this is worth continuing.

 

[Jimbee]

I tried reduced load 175 and 168 TMKs in my 9 twist 300wsm. That seems to be the fix. Both shot well. The 168s also didn't do well in the 11 twist. Now I need to figure out velocity.

 

[BjornF16]

I tried reduced load 175 and 168 TMKs in my 9 twist 300wsm. That seems to be the fix. Both shot well. The 168s also didn't do well in the 11 twist. Now I need to figure out velocity.

Did you shoot the 9 twist suppressed?

 

[Jimbee]

Did you shoot the 9 twist suppressed?

Yes

 

[HighUintas]

I tried reduced load 175 and 168 TMKs in my 9 twist 300wsm. That seems to be the fix. Both shot well. The 168s also didn't do well in the 11 twist. Now I need to figure out velocity.

That's really weird it's just the load... The fact that the diagonal pattern is so uniform. Any idea why?

 

[Jimbee]

That's really weird it's just the load. Any idea why?

I have no idea about the diagonal thing, if that's what you are referring to. An instability issue?

 

[HighUintas]

I have no idea about the diagonal thing, if that's what you are referring to. An instability issue?

Yes. The diagonal pattern looked really uniform which is odd and I believe you had marked your shots top right to bottom left, which is also odd that the shots would lay down in a single direction rather than create the line at random

 

[theddguide]

I would think there wouldn't be much felt recoil with your current setup with the suppressor. I'm a little confused why you'd want such a low velocity load with that cartridge.

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[Jimbee]

I would think there wouldn't be much felt recoil with your current setup with the suppressor. I'm a little confused why you'd want such a low velocity load with that cartridge.

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The recoil isn't too bad but I can't spot my impacts and wouldn't say it's fun to shoot. I am mostly just trying to figure out if I can load it down and still have enough velocity at 3-400 yards to kill stuff. There's really no necessity in this project, just using up stuff that I have.

 

[RadDad]

This is a wild guess but since you haven’t found the root cause it may be worth throwing it out there…

Could the reduced powder and larger case capacity be creating more pressure during a string of shots? Not letting the gun cool between shots may cause the cartridge to heat which can increase MV. On that note, which way does your barrel twist?

-RadDad

 

[Jimbee]

This is a wild guess but since you haven’t found the root cause it may be worth throwing it out there…

Could the reduced powder and larger case capacity be creating more pressure during a string of shots? Not letting the gun cool between shots may cause the cartridge to heat which can increase MV. On that note, which way does your barrel twist?

-RadDad

Right twist? It's a factory Tikka barrel. I don't think the reduced loads are creating pressure as I am going by Hornady recommended data. I'm just chalking it up to instability from low velocity and slower twist. As far as the diagonal pattern, I'm stumped.

 

[BjornF16]

Right twist? It's a factory Tikka barrel. I don't think the reduced loads are creating pressure as I am going by Hornady recommended data. I'm just chalking it up to instability from low velocity and slower twist. As far as the diagonal pattern, I'm stumped.

What is the "Hornady recommended data" you are referring to?

 

[Jimbee]

What is the "Hornady recommended data" you are referring to?