Well, I've been trying to develop loads with my new winchester m70 416 remington using open sights at 50 yards and 400gn Hornady RN bullets. I was finally able to get a scope on it and took my most accurate open sight load out to test. I'm happy with the results and should be ready for deer season.

Load: Fed nickle brass, 400 gn Hornady RN Bonded (2nds at midway), WLRM primers, 79.0 gn RL-15, Seated to crimp groove and roll crimped, 86 degrees Fahrenheit, gusty wind. Don't know the velocity.

0.851" group at 100 yards shot off the hood of my SUV with sand bags

Good shooting!

Not to be a PITA,but on the paper target you have 79.0 grs of RL-15.

Good catch. I changed it. it is RL-15. That's why we have to reference the manuals when looking at internet loads.

The group looks good. What is you your cartridge overall length?

I'd have to go out and measure them, but I know I trimmed to minimum trim length, then seated 2/3 up the crimp groove and crimped.

If you get a chance could you take a measurement? I have plenty of RE15, some 400 grain Partitions, and 350 grain TSXs but no Hornadys. I'm loading to reference length but not having the smoothest feeding. How do your loads feed from the magazine?

C.O.L. 3.556". Yes, they feed smooth but....

When I first got the rifle the feeding was a little rough. the slower i moved the bolt forward, the stickier it was. throwing the bolt forward fast seems to help. either way, i was getting scratched brass.

I polished the feed ramp and the bottom of the feed rails with 600 or 800 grit sand paper, also polishing around the sharper edges of the rails to the top surface and it helped smooth it out a lot. It didn't take much work compared to a CZ

I also polished and slightly rounded out the top ridge of the magazine follower, the ridge that is supposed to separate the cartridges from left to right.

I'm seeing the same type of feeding issues. I have the same rifle in .375H&H as well and that one didn't feed very well at first either. I started using a Lee collet crimp die and haven't had a problem since. Thanks for taking the time to measure and for providing the feeding tips. I'll definitely see if I can polish up the .416.

Had a M70 in 416 just like yours (currently being converted to 470 Capstick), 79 gr. of R15 was my go to load as well!