I got some more test ammunition together over the past two weeks and hit the range two days last week. I wanted to try some new bullets and some other powders with a shoot out between the Starline and the Silver State along the way. All th brass was once fired and I really wanted to see if the work hardening on the SL cases would make a difference.
I decided to shoot the Speer 70 TNT and the Hornady 87 Varmint. I've shot a short ton of the TNT's and the Hornady over the years in various 6's so I knew they would proabaly do fine.
I had great weather in the upper 60's and mid 70's so I wasn't going to complain and the winds were cooperative.
First up was AA2015. Not real outstanding as other than one set that was 0.800 with four in 0.259 and one that had four in 0.652.. I'll have to look at that little one again. The speed was up to 3233 and out of an 18" barrel that is outstanding. This is close to 243 range and one heck of a lot abusive to the shooter.
Next up was H322.. Several of us that shoot the 6X6.8 rage back and forth with each other. We have found. Given H332 and 8208 your barrel will usually shoot one or the other markedly better than the other. I have one barrel that hates the 322 but shoots 8208 very well. My other two barrels like the 8208 but have not been subjected to the 322 challenge. This one likes the H322 in that it was consistent across a full two grain spread. I have not had one that shot this consistently in a long time. Big to little the groups only varied 0.035. I shot two groups at 28.5 grains with a speed of 3046 with an SD of 18 and had a 0.729 backed with a 0.723. I'd take these to the PD field if I just needed a load post haste and would handle anything out to 300 with aplomb and would be a coyote hammer deluxe. That 0.729 had a tall shot that I pulled and had four in 0.480.
I moved onto uncharted waters with the RL10. I love this powder in the 223 light stuff so maybe it would do something for me here. The first five at 27.5 grains gave me a nice looking group from the get go and I could have boxed it up with that one. At 3019 it looked good. The next load up was 28.0 and I picked up a bit of velocity moving up to 3060. Not a lot but a nice step up in progression. The first five looked decent getting a bit tall at 0.778. with a back upshot by a crazy man at 1.184 but four in 0.520. The final charge of 28.5 gave me a nice round group that was stretched out to 1.082 at 3099. I saw a nice progression from weight to weight and I like that. It showed I had a bit more room to go up on this one. The RL10 was certainly promising to me and one I want to look at more in other weights in the 6X6.8 now based on this quick run through.
My final test powder was CFE 223. I have never used it in this one before but I had great expectations based on how things were going .The temp was still a nice balmy 76 so I wasn't fighting sweat in the eyes.. The first group was a bit vertical at 1.412 with four in 0.878. I felt it was more technique on this one than the load and took another break to think about it.
I sat down with the final two loads and got more serious. Perhaps the guys from the PHX SWAT that had just driven up made me want to do by bestest but what the heck. Pressure is my middle name..LOL
Shooting the next five at 33.0 of CFE gave me a big mile t 3119 FPS I got a cluster of 0.318. I was pretty happy but one last load at 33.5 needed its chance and it didn’t disappoint either. Speed moved up to 3138 and yielded a nice 0.530 that with a better shooter would have been even better IMHO.
I still had the 87's to shoot and these were loaded up in the Starline brass that took such a beating the first time. This time I can say that it was not near as bad with the markings with only a few showing mildly bent rims vs. the big turned up lips I had on the first firing. I did see some ejector marks a and swipes and some rim gnawing from the extractor but the primers stayed rounded on the edges except in the AA 2015 load. Obviously the brass is soft and the loads aren't all that hot.
I started with AA 2015 and the first one was a bit ragged but not overly so. The second batch 26.5 was great up until shot five when I conveniently turned a four in 0.320 into a whopping 0.967!! That load showed a light ejector mark but not excessive Thinks went South fast then with the next one up smoking the primer on the first shot. The primers weren’t that bad but this brass calls it quits in a hurry..
H322 was number two on this one and I was looking HARD at the case heads on each shot. They looked OK at the start. AT 26.8 it was showing light marking and the 27.3 load showed extractor damage. Not like last time but more than I find reasonable, which is none BTW. Groups were ho hum with a 0.909 at 2808 and a big one of 1.658 with four in 0.764 at the top load of 27.3 at 2923. My established MAX on this one will be 26.8 with this brass. The SSA would take the higher level without any issues IMHO.
I went after it with the RL 10 stuff next. Speeds were good maxed at 2972 and all three groups were sub-MOA. The faster it went the better it did with a final batch at 0.937 and 2972. These don't sound all that fast but they are equal to a 24" 6X45 loaded hot and at these velocities. I've shot this speed and bullet out of my 24" 6X6.8 at 500 yards in F-class and to get it in 18" is a real eye opener. Not a bad powder all told between this and the 70s.
Final shots for the two days came down to H4895 and this one did fine considering the brass issue. First five showed a nice group with my obligatory jerk at 0.654 and the second that was staring to show case head damage hung at 0.780. Neither of these groups are that outstanding but I was relatively happy with them. Just a tad over what I want shoot past about 300 for match scoring but adequate. as the BC on this bullet is not all that bad. The last group opened up something fierce and the speed gain was only 5 FPS over the previous load of 28.6 ant 0.5 more. Not good news as this was a clear indication that it's done all it can do and can't do anymore. I want to retest this in the new Starline and my old SSA at this level. Two of the last three shot.
All told I was quite pleased with the barrel that day. The speeds are outstanding and I felt like several loads left some velocity on the table. I'm sure Ritch would have made my ho hum stuff groups turn in to something out standing but I have that same screw it up with one shot issue that many of us have..LOL Thank goodness I never get to shoot a group on a prairie dog and I don't do it for a living. The new Starline brass is in my reloading room for testing as they sent me 100 pieces to run since the methodology of manufacturer has been changed to make it harder. Range time will tell..
Just some time on the range and with luck more to come.
Greg