223 load development 55gn roo max + 260 targets

[TassieTiger]

Got a couple hours away this evening and thought it a good time to check some seating depths on the ole roo max 55 gn's.
Ive already played with the powder charge and found 24.5 and 26gn of AR2206H was pretty close - so this for this test I went with the 24.5gn of ar2206h and varied seating depth across 3 lengths.
Shooting at 190 metres, small shooters table and bi pod, AR 4.5-18 scope on 223 steyr varmint. No wind and 15% c. The orange targets are 3 inch in diameter.
I really struggled with the scope at this distance - the reticle was obscuring the centre target.
All pics are out 90 degrees - they needed rotating to the right but didnt get option to do so.

[TassieTiger]

Also got some time with the 260 - using 120gn noslers, bi pod, small desk was a bit wobbly on this one. The 6-20 leo scope is much better on this than the 223...
190meters x 5 shots each grouping. 3 inch targets and I called the pulled shot...
Frustratingly - not as good as Ive shot this rifle but I know it was me / set up and the 95's I shot last - I was just all over the shop and not on the ball at all.

[SCJ429]

They are excellent Tassie, and you are using very cheap projectiles. What was the size of the smallest group? Do you think seating depth made much of a difference? Was there a difference in speed betweenthe longest and shortest? Were you able to jam the pill into the rifling?

[SCJ429]

I only saw your 223 groups when I posted. I wasn't saying the Noslers were cheap pills.

[bones-350]

I discovered with my 223 Weatherby Vanguard S1 ss sporter barrel.....
55gr Berger Varmints 25.0gr 2206h oal 2.250" at 100yds 10 shots landed within .752"....

[TassieTiger]

They are excellent Tassie, and you are using very cheap projectiles. What was the size of the smallest group? Do you think seating depth made much of a difference? Was there a difference in speed betweenthe longest and shortest? Were you able to jam the pill into the rifling?

Cheers - always room for improvement. 200 yards is pushing my eyes to the limit...scope might be getting changed to a Leo soon I think...this rifle deserves it.
It’s strange - the 56.10mm is a LONG way shy of the rifling and the most accurate. Approx 1/2 moa at that distance - didn’t formally measure yet...

The 57.2mm was at the max length distance that I could load as the roo max are shortish projectiles and I wasn’t comfy seating them longer - but that’s still were short of the 63mm I’ve loaded with 60gn ballistic tips.

[TassieTiger]

I discovered with my 223 Weatherby Vanguard S1 ss sporter barrel.....
55gr Berger Varmints 25.0gr 2206h oal 2.250" at 100yds 10 shots landed within .752"....

10 shots at .75 inches is amazing. They must have all been touching!!

[in2anity]

Yes this is pretty good shooting Tassie, even for a supported bolt gun. Do you feel content with these groups? Also, just curious how fast are you shooting these? Have you tried a long a long string pretty quick, say 40 in a row?

[deye243]

Yes this is pretty good shooting Tassie, even for a supported bolt gun. Do you feel content with these groups? Also, just curious how fast are you shooting these? Have you tried a long a long string pretty quick, say 40 in a row?

Why would you want to cook your throat doing this ?

[Stix]

Yes this is pretty good shooting Tassie, even for a supported bolt gun. Do you feel content with these groups? Also, just curious how fast are you shooting these? Have you tried a long a long string pretty quick, say 40 in a row?

Why would you shoot off 40 rounds in tapid succession...?
I mean, in doing that what are you testing/looking for & how will the result help...?

[SCJ429]

I have done it while dressed in green, it wasn't my GPMG and a couple of those shots may have actually hit the target.

[in2anity]

Well I suppose I always test with respect to silhouette shooting. But it also interests me to see how much a barrel changes when she really starts to get hot. Rapid fire service matches also test a barrel in this regard (which I also dabble in). But yeah i see your points - if you won’t ever be doing such forms of target shooting then yeah agreed there’s no point in such a test. But that’s why I asked the question my friends!

[SCJ429]

Pressure should go down as you seat them longer, you are making the space inside the case bigger. Until you hit the lands when pressure goes way up. I would like to see what the group looks like if you could jam the pill.

[SCJ429]

Well I suppose I always test with respect to silhouette shooting. But it also interests me to see how much a barrel changes when she really starts to get hot. Rapid fire service matches also test a barrel in this regard (which I also dabble in). But yeah i see your points - if you won’t ever be doing such forms of target shooting then yeah agreed there’s no point in such a test. But that’s why I asked the question my friends!

How many shots do you fire in rapid succession during rapid fire? What caliber are you using? 308?

[deye243]

Bugger that ln2anity I won't even shoot fclass with a 7mm as I won't shoot 10 rounds in I think 15mins my long guns never get more than 60* and I like the round count I get .
My culling rifles well that's a different story .

[in2anity]

Well I suppose I always test with respect to silhouette shooting. But it also interests me to see how much a barrel changes when she really starts to get hot. Rapid fire service matches also test a barrel in this regard (which I also dabble in). But yeah i see your points - if you won’t ever be doing such forms of target shooting then yeah agreed there’s no point in such a test. But that’s why I asked the question my friends!

How many shots do you fire in rapid succession during rapid fire? What caliber are you using? 308?

40 shots over approx 20 minutes for silhouette - so they get pretty piping hot by the end, especially if the match starts not long after warmup. Rapid fire matches - depends on the specific rules of the shoot on the day but sometimes even faster than that. I guess I should state that when I say “quick succession testing” I’m not talking mad-minute kind of stress test, just continuous precise fire to see how the poi changes as the barrel heats... anyways with regard to my question it sounds like a resounding NO around these parts lol, retreat!

[TassieTiger]

Yes this is pretty good shooting Tassie, even for a supported bolt gun. Do you feel content with these groups? Also, just curious how fast are you shooting these? Have you tried a long a long string pretty quick, say 40 in a row?

Content ? That is an interesting question.
Short answer is yeah but longer answer is no.
These heavier barrels are capable of much better. But given my reloading capability and equipment and given my own shooting ability - which is on a bell curve, id like to see improvements.

The main test here was for the cheaper roo max bullets. They are so stumpy I didn’t think they would shoot at all...i know I can group 60gn AMax all touching at 100 with this 223 rifle and below is some earlier 260 testing at 100 meters.
Doubling the distance to 190m for 5 shot grouping is my “now” challenge and I’m slowly starting to understand some of the variables that come in to play for longer distance...but now I think more about it - a 1 inch 5 shot group for cheap as roo max at close enough to 200 yards with a $150 scope? Yeah...I’ll take that.

How fast? 5 shots inside 2 minutes per group. So not quick by any standard.

[in2anity]

Bugger that ln2anity I won't even shoot fclass with a 7mm as I won't shoot 10 rounds in I think 15mins my long guns never get more than 60* and I like the round count I get .
My culling rifles well that's a different story .

I guess I'm a little harder on my rifles lucky I have quite a few Although once I finish load development (which includes the poi stress testing), I won't flog a rifle like that (outside of competition). If I'm practising for silhouette I basically stick to mild TB loads at miniaturised distances...

[Stix]

Well I suppose I always test with respect to silhouette shooting. But it also interests me to see how much a barrel changes when she really starts to get hot. Rapid fire service matches also test a barrel in this regard (which I also dabble in). But yeah i see your points - if you won’t ever be doing such forms of target shooting then yeah agreed there’s no point in such a test. But that’s why I asked the question my friends!

How many shots do you fire in rapid succession during rapid fire? What caliber are you using? 308?

40 shots over approx 20 minutes for silhouette - so they get pretty piping hot by the end, especially if the match starts not long after warmup. Rapid fire matches - depends on the specific rules of the shoot on the day but sometimes even faster than that. I guess I should state that when I say “quick succession testing” I’m not talking mad-minute kind of stress test, just continuous precise fire to see how the poi changes as the barrel heats... anyways with regard to my question it sounds like a resounding NO around these parts lol, retreat!

No need to retreat mate...i wasnt having a crack, just asking the question, regardless of how crazy i think you are...

Hell...i saw a guy let atleast 100 rounds down range in what i rekon was 30-40 mins once.
It was s 243 & his brand new rifle was pumping out shock waves like no other 243 ive ever heard...

The crazy thing was he was shooting someone elses hot hand loads & had 2 feet of white orange flame out the muzzle in broad daylight...
I was on a bench next to him & he was making me all flinchy so i had to move

Apparently he was given the ammo by someone who didnt want it, so he shot it off to reload the brass.

I rekon he turned his sporter weight barrel into an ultra lite sporter weight...

[Gamerancher]

Where in the world do you shoot 40 rounds of centrefire rifle silhouette in 20 minutes?
Certainly none of the matches I've been to in 20 + years of competing.

[in2anity]

Where in the world do you shoot 40 rounds of centrefire rifle silhouette in 20 minutes?
Certainly none of the matches I've been to in 20 + years of competing.

(When they were still running comps which is sadly in question this year it seems) the rimfire matches at Silverdale used to go for about 20 minutes - perhaps a tad more. Hardly a break between banks. Admittedly that's not centerfire, but they shot lever action centerfire comps there also in the afternoons, albeit unofficial club rules, where everything was timed - for those, timing seemed pretty similar to RMS. I never actually timed those but the barrels sure seemed to get hot.

On average how fast would you estimate a centerfire match would go for gamerancher? more than 25 minutes?

[Gamerancher]

Depends on the venue, how many relays there are, how long it takes for resets, but an average 40 shot match with about 30 odd shooters can take anywhere from 2 and 1/2 to 4 hours.

[TassieTiger]

How does this rapid fire effect accuracy and/or barrel life? I’d imagine it would be a red hot barrel at the end of it?

[in2anity]

Depends on the venue, how many relays there are, how long it takes for resets, but an average 40 shot match with about 30 odd shooters can take anywhere from 2 and 1/2 to 4 hours.

right of course. silverdale has the luxury of pneumatic resetting of the silhouettes. plus the crowds are often smaller. the centerfire in the arvo is also at paper silhouettes, making target changes much faster, btw do you know whether ssaashb has an updated calendar for this year gr?

[in2anity]

How does this rapid fire effect accuracy and/or barrel life? I’d imagine it would be a red hot barrel at the end of it?

probably not great for the throat. it's always shot from offhand though so accuracy is more on the shooter than the rifle.