Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Trouble getting X's to group: HELP!!!

I'm working up loads for a recently aquired CZ 550 in 9.3 x 62.....<P>At the urging of my friend John Campbell, I tried the Barnes 250 X bullet in this caliber..<P>Currently I'm shooting groups of just over 3/4" with good velocity , 2500 FPS with IMR 4064...<P>Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones....<P>It is interesting to note that I've tried the 270 Speer and the usually highly accurate Nosler Ballistic tip and while both provide good hunting accuracy, neither has provided the precision that I'm getting with the Barnes...<P>My barrel seems to clean up quite quickly..More so than my Winchesters, Remingtons and Rugers.....This leads me to believe the barrel is smoother in the CZ...I know the fit and finish is better than similarly priced American made rifles...

I'm putting X bullets in the same catagory as mules.A feller that knows me pretty well raises mules.Good mules.High dollar riding,jumping,hunting mules.He told me one time:<P>"Gene,just because you're smart enough to want a mule dont mean you got enough sense to own one."<P>Since the bullets have such a good reputation for killing,I would have been satisfied if they would just consistently put the first shot within 2 in. of the aiming point.Will not do it in my rifle.Not from a clean as I can get it with CR 10 barrel and not from a fouled barrel.<P>I'm done!And I don't own a mule either.

Ummm, Gene, are you going to throw away all those Xs that are worthless, or what? LOL<P>I haven't tried to ride that mule yet, might as well get my butt dusty, won't be the first time.

Cat,I used all but a dozen trying to make 'em shoot.I'm giving the rest to my hunting lease partner.He is having a rifle built in 300 wsm necked to 257.I'm gonna bet him he cant make 'em shoot,then if he does,I'm gonna borry his rifle!<P>You go ahead and try them.If you do make 'em work,you can have a tee shirt printed,"I rode the blue mule".

I tried the 120gr XBT's in my .270 and the first 3-4 would shoot, then groups became patterns. I get 130gr partitions under an inch without the fouling so needless to say I won't be using X's again unless I firelap or re-barrel.<P>Mike

I've noticed with my new Pac-Nor barreled rifles it isn't as easy to get the "X" to group as well as it was with Sierras. <BR> My .280 only shot one load under 1 moa with Re-19 and the 120 gr. XBT. That one was .46 and at one grain under maximum. That will do for it. But with the 120 gr. Sierras, and IMR 4350, it shot 4 loads under one moa, including one at .46 moa.<BR> My .25-284 is a bit tougher. Again only one group under moa (.48) with Re-19. But this one was 4 grs. under maximum. The maximum load is at about 1.25, which isn't bad. I'd just like more. Tried seating the bullets deeper. All the above where about .01 off the lands, so I tried seating them at .02 and .03 off the lands. No soap, the groups opened up. Tried a different powder-H4831. The best group was 1.5 moa. Nuts. So now I'm considering IMR 4831, or Re 22. In contrast, with the Sierra 100 gr. BT, and IMR 4350, I had 7 out of the 8 loads I tried shoot under one moa. Maybe I should try IMR, or Hogdon's, 4350. I'll post, if I learn anything. E