I was able to make it back out to the range today with some handloads to see what they would do. Overall I was pleased and found a good node to play in with the 143 ELD and 40.5-41.5 of H4350. I also took along some 124 grain Hammer Hunters and found a load at 44.5 grains that is promising. That is a hot load though, so I will likely try 44 and see if the accuracy holds. On the recommendation of Steve with Hammer Bullets I also have some Varget to try with those bullets.
I had the ELDX's loaded over 39, 39.5, 40, 40.5, 41, 41.5, 42, and 42.5 of H4350. The groups at 40.5, 41, and 41.5 were .2440, .2470, and .3445. I will load some at 40.5, 40.7, 41, and 41.2 and take them to 300 on the next trip to see where it's at when it comes to longer ranges.
With the H4350 the only problems I noticed were slight ejector marks with the 42.5 loads.
I was pretty disappointed in the 124 Hammer Hunters until I got to the last group at 44.5 grains, which measured .2825, so I will load some more at 44, 44.2, and 44.5 to take to 300 along with some loads over Varget on my next trip. I really want to use these on my mule deer trip in November as well as in Africa next June. I like the design of the solid copper bullet and the extra velocity of the 124 round. My rifle is a 22" 1:8 barrel and the 44.5 rounds averaged 2913 with an ES of 16, compared to the 41 grain ELDX loads at 2603 with an ES of 42. I was a little disappointed with the ES numbers across the board, but I think some of that comes with practice. I haven't reloaded in about 10 years, but was pretty proud of how they performed overall.
You'll notice that some of the targets have 5 rounds, but only 3 measured for the group, that's because I shot 3 shot groups, then went back with a hot barrel to see where the last 2 loads for each were hitting compared to the cold barrel shots.
39 ELDX
39.5 ELDX
40 ELDX
40.5 ELDX
41 ELDX
41.5 ELDX
42 ELDX
42.5 ELDX (slight ejector marks and was also running out of places to aim on the target)
41.5 124 Hammer Hunter
42.5 Hammer Hunter
44.5 Hammer Hunter
Figured I'd throw in a picture of the rifle from tonight with my new patches because let's face it, who doesn't like a picture of a pretty girl!!
I had the ELDX's loaded over 39, 39.5, 40, 40.5, 41, 41.5, 42, and 42.5 of H4350. The groups at 40.5, 41, and 41.5 were .2440, .2470, and .3445. I will load some at 40.5, 40.7, 41, and 41.2 and take them to 300 on the next trip to see where it's at when it comes to longer ranges.
With the H4350 the only problems I noticed were slight ejector marks with the 42.5 loads.
I was pretty disappointed in the 124 Hammer Hunters until I got to the last group at 44.5 grains, which measured .2825, so I will load some more at 44, 44.2, and 44.5 to take to 300 along with some loads over Varget on my next trip. I really want to use these on my mule deer trip in November as well as in Africa next June. I like the design of the solid copper bullet and the extra velocity of the 124 round. My rifle is a 22" 1:8 barrel and the 44.5 rounds averaged 2913 with an ES of 16, compared to the 41 grain ELDX loads at 2603 with an ES of 42. I was a little disappointed with the ES numbers across the board, but I think some of that comes with practice. I haven't reloaded in about 10 years, but was pretty proud of how they performed overall.
You'll notice that some of the targets have 5 rounds, but only 3 measured for the group, that's because I shot 3 shot groups, then went back with a hot barrel to see where the last 2 loads for each were hitting compared to the cold barrel shots.
39 ELDX
39.5 ELDX
40 ELDX
40.5 ELDX
41 ELDX
41.5 ELDX
42 ELDX
42.5 ELDX (slight ejector marks and was also running out of places to aim on the target)
41.5 124 Hammer Hunter
42.5 Hammer Hunter
44.5 Hammer Hunter
Figured I'd throw in a picture of the rifle from tonight with my new patches because let's face it, who doesn't like a picture of a pretty girl!!
Comment