7mm-08 Bullets - 09/24/23
First bullet I tried with this rifle (Tikka super light) was the 145 Speer flat base. Tried it with Big Game powder, and while accuracy was great at .6, velocity was poor, only 2575 range. Decided to try a few 150 Eld-x with the big game powder. I got 30 or so just to try. Took them out today, and velocity was better, 2650, but the best accuracy was 1.4 inches. I wonder if magazine constraints aren’t a part of the problem. With the 145 I was about .010 off the lands. This measured about 2.3 using a comparator. With the 150s I seated them so they just fit the magazine and they were 2.160 to the ogive. So they had a pretty heathy jump to the lands. I still have a few eld-x left to try, not sure if I should try seating them deeper? On the other hand, maybe there is another bullet in the 140-150 weight class that is shorter and will allow me to get closer to the lands, yet have a pretty good bc. The bc is what made me want to try the eld-x in the first place. Or should I look at making it a long action? I remember seeing that one could get a longer magazine for the Tikka and maybe an aftermarket bolt stop that would allow me to get the Eld-x closer to the lands.
As an aside I tried a few factory loads that used the 150Eld-x (Hornady precision hunter) and they only did about 1.75 at 100. I forget the measurements, but they were a shorter oal than my hand loads. This doesn’t give me much hope that deeper seating will help much. Thanks for the help!
As an aside I tried a few factory loads that used the 150Eld-x (Hornady precision hunter) and they only did about 1.75 at 100. I forget the measurements, but they were a shorter oal than my hand loads. This doesn’t give me much hope that deeper seating will help much. Thanks for the help!