Finally had a chance to run some loads today for my Win 70 FWT Winlite (McMillan factory stock). First 3 shot group at 100 yd was the factory Rem Corelokts 165 psp which grouped at .78". I then ran the following charges with 165gr Speer BTSP, Rem brass, CCI BR-2 and 3.30" OAL...IMR 4350 at 56 & 57gr and Varget at 48, 49 and 50gr.
I kept getting a 3rd round flyer on every load, even trying to allow for the barrel to cool between shots and loads. The best 2 shot group I got before a flyer was 50gr of Varget at .412". I checked OAL of the Corelokts and they were around 3.15". I'm wondering if my barrel likes a bigger jump and that's why the Corelokts did better as a 3 shot group than any of my hand loads?
It seems to me the next step may be to load up some 50 gr Varget loads with different depths and see if I can tighten things up a bit. Does this sound logical? I've never had issues with my hand loads not getting better groups than factory ammo before, but this is a new to me rifle and my first attempt at working loads for it. Maybe use a dummy round to find max OAL and then start seating it off the lands in .010-.015 increments?
