Several weeks ago I bought a Ruger Hawkeye African, in .375 Ruger. Also bought a couple boxes of the Hornady 300 gr. DGX bullet ammo.
Initial results were, well, less than impressive- the best groups I could get were around 2.5" at 100 yd, with the average of 30 rounds being a little over 3 inches. Rounds were shot over a period of three range visits, with thorough cleaning between visits.
I took the rifle apart, checked for any obvious bedding problems, checked the scope mounts, nothing looked wrong.
Time to handload! Bought Barnes TSX bullets, in 270 and 300 grain weights, a set of RCBS dies, and 50 Hornady unprimed cases. Since I had a supply of RL 15 powder already on hand, and CCI 250 primers, I loaded up a number of rounds, as follows:
270 gr.- 73.5, 74.0 gr. RL 15, COAL 3.30"
300 gr.- 71.5, 72.0 gr. RL 15, COAL 3.30"
Bottom line is, NONE of these test rounds shot poorly! Best performers were the 270 gr. 74.0 gr. load, with a .79" 3-shot group at 100, and the 300 gr. 71.5 gr. load, with a one-hole group, at .27" center to center. No group was larger than 1.1".
It was 28 degrees this morning, and I didn't feel like setting up the chrono- that will be next.
I'm pretty impressed with this kind of accuracy, from a "DG" rifle. I just feel lucky to have stumbled on a bullet type and powder that work well, without having to to a lot of experimentation.
This rifle is headed to Argentina with me in August, for Asian water buffalo and wild boar. Will probably settle on a 300 gr. load, but I imagine the 270 gr. would work as well.
Initial results were, well, less than impressive- the best groups I could get were around 2.5" at 100 yd, with the average of 30 rounds being a little over 3 inches. Rounds were shot over a period of three range visits, with thorough cleaning between visits.
I took the rifle apart, checked for any obvious bedding problems, checked the scope mounts, nothing looked wrong.
Time to handload! Bought Barnes TSX bullets, in 270 and 300 grain weights, a set of RCBS dies, and 50 Hornady unprimed cases. Since I had a supply of RL 15 powder already on hand, and CCI 250 primers, I loaded up a number of rounds, as follows:
270 gr.- 73.5, 74.0 gr. RL 15, COAL 3.30"
300 gr.- 71.5, 72.0 gr. RL 15, COAL 3.30"
Bottom line is, NONE of these test rounds shot poorly! Best performers were the 270 gr. 74.0 gr. load, with a .79" 3-shot group at 100, and the 300 gr. 71.5 gr. load, with a one-hole group, at .27" center to center. No group was larger than 1.1".
It was 28 degrees this morning, and I didn't feel like setting up the chrono- that will be next.
I'm pretty impressed with this kind of accuracy, from a "DG" rifle. I just feel lucky to have stumbled on a bullet type and powder that work well, without having to to a lot of experimentation.
This rifle is headed to Argentina with me in August, for Asian water buffalo and wild boar. Will probably settle on a 300 gr. load, but I imagine the 270 gr. would work as well.