Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 30-06 ... Corelokts > hand loads?

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?

I'm not as experienced as other handloaders here, but I also got some very good groups with Federal Premiums and partitions, being quite shorter than what I loaded for, so I kept decreasing the COAL. Different bullets like you have may behave differently, though.
If it is a hunting weapon I start as long as magazine will allow, find pressure/accuracy via OCW (or speed if you have a chrono) and then shorten to fine tune promising groups.
If the first 3 shots were good and then you keep getting flyers after, maybe bedding is wrong. Did you try again with the Coreloks?

Find your OAL, but don't load them over magazine length. Normally for hunting I try and find loads that work at a 3.3" COAL so I don't have any feeding issues. Try 55.5 and 56.5 grains of IMR 4350, some rifles are picky. IMR 4350 should work or my guess is you have some rifle issues.

Won't guarantee it, but a lot of guys on the Handloader Forum say if you get two close together and one flier, seat the bullets deeper by turning the seating stem 1/4 turn for 3-5 rounds and repeat a few times to see if that flier goes away.

I run 48 grains of Varget under a 150 Accubond for 2600 ft/sec as a reduced recoil load. COAL is 3.222" for a couple different rifles. They look short as heck but group very well.



P

I"ve done exactly that more then once.

Three shot groups don't really tell you much. Perhaps the flyer isn't really a flyer.
Several '06s I've owned showed a preference for the clunky old core lokts over the various higher priced bullets.
And too, if the rifle doesn't shoot well with 57grs of I4350 and the 165gr bullet of your choice, sell the rifle.

Sell the rifle because it won't shoot a certain load? Why do they even have other loads listed in the manuals if all '06s are supposed to shoot 57gr of 4350.

I think if it will group the factory Corelokts at 3/4 MOA then is worthy of keeping. I'll try to adjust seating depth to see if that has any effect. Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm not saying that will be your best load but I have yet to have a '06 that wouldn't shoot that combo well. As far as factory loads, I have never fired the first round of factory ammo through one of my '06s.
As I said, a three shot group doesn't tell you much.

I agree that 3 shot groups dont tell you much but is it realistic to expect longer shot strings to stay in tight groups with a featherweight profile barrel? Its a hunting rifle but I'd still prefer to have at least a 3 shot group without significant change in impact.

My rests consist of homemade bags filled with shelled corn. I'd like to step up to a mechanical front rest but haven't done so yet..mainly due to cost vs amount of use. I typically work up a good load and then don't bench rest shoot the rifle much after that.

Perhaps my bags or relative inexperience reloading is hindering my groups, but I've always been able to work up a load that will get my rifles to shoot 1" or better.

I shoot 180 grain CL's a lot and have had good experience with H4895. The best though is probably IMR4350 in around 45 to 46 grains or there-abouts. Trouble is I've owned more -06's than any other cartridge, The Springfields are more touchy and vary a lot in POI when changing loads. The 700's and other 'factory' rifles - not so much. I've also found that what shoots outstanding in one rifle may not in another.

As far as bags go, I prefer sand than any other material in my bags. And as for fine tuning the aim, sand bags can be squeezed or moved around so that the aim is slightly different.

Number of shots is up to you. I remember when the American Rifleman often used 10 shot strings, now I see they've sometimes gone with average of 5 shot strings. Statistically speaking the more rounds you shoot the more accurate reading you get. However, hot barrels, fatigue etc also enter the equation. If you got someone behind you wanting to use the bench, letting the barrel cool between shots is not always appreciated.

i shoot 50.5 varget and a 168 berger, 210M, Lapua brass. 030 off. not sure what you are shooting at . try a 5 shot of the factory load,

My Remmy shot the 165gr Corelokts very well also. I have found my rifle has to have a good jump to shoot well. My 165 NBT load has a COAL of 3.275" and my 168 TSX load is at 3.285.

Personally i'd just shoot the factory Corelokts

Someone lose a bet..

In my experience, these charge recommendations are 10-12 grains underloaded using IMR 4350 and that is not a good practice with a relatively slowish powder.

55grains would be a safer minimum powder charge using 180 grain bullets.
John

Some rifles don't like boat tail bullets. My 243 isn't fond of the ones I've tried. I've had good results with 56gr of H4350 or IMR4350 with a 165gr CoreLokt or Hornady flat based bullet. Some rifles seem to shoot better with the bullets farther away from the lands.

There was a post by AussieGunWriter about when you have two shots touching (or almost) and have a third shot flyer, seating the bullets a quarter turn deeper until it goes away. Twice this has worked for me. I will agree with Dave in WV's post about some rifles not liking boattailed bullets. I have a 243 Win that will absolutely stack about any 70-100gr flat based bullet into tiny groups but for some reason, boattailed bullets haven't faired as well. I hear it has to do with the crown but don't know for sure.

MOST rifles will shoot a flat base bullet better than a boat tail for short range shooting.

I am with the guys saying shoot more than 3 per group, and the guys saying that a 2+1 group may be served by seating a bit deeper. Whenever I do something new: new cartridge, new bullet, new powder, I start with 5-shot groups until I get a bit of an understanding of what is going on. If the gun is to be a hunter, I'll usually move to 3-shot groups later when I'm tuning stuff. Three shots can give enough information, if you already have a basis of info under it.