michiganmike
12-30-2014, 08:37 PM
Good evening friends, as we prepare to enter a new year.
I am the proud and happy owner of a Ruger Hawkeye Compact rifle in 7mm-08. For this rifle I have two moulds. The first is the Lyman #2660405. The second is the RCBS #82018.
The Lyman is a Loverin designed mould, round nose, which is intended to yield a 150 gr. bullet. For me, using WW, it gives 145 gr. bullets. The second is the RCBS #82018 which RCBS states will give up a 168 gr. bullet. For me, using Lyman #2 I consistently get 180 grain bullets. That's odd, but OK with me. And unlike the Loverin bullet, the RCBS has a meplate of .136" according to my caliper and tired old eyes.
As another contributor wrote in praise of the Loverin designed mould, it is consistently very accurate. In my Ruger it likes 28 to 30 grains of H4895. While 145 grains would be fine for Michigan deer at the range I would be shooting, I would like to develop a consistently accurate recipe for the 180 gr. bullet.
Thus far I have developed "OK" loads with H4350 and HBLC2. But they are not dependably, consistently accurate. What do I mean by lack of consistency? For example, I shot four 5 shot groups at 100 yards from a bench. I used H895, Varget, H4360 and BLC2. Typically Three of the rounds would be 2 MOA at or near target center. The other two would be wild, four inches high, or to the right. Or, the group would expand to 3 or 4 MOA. I loaded all of the rounds on the same day, using the same step by step process.
During a recent trip to Classic Arms, my local gunshop, I found two 1 lb. cans of Accurate 5744 sitting on the shelf, bearing a price tag of $30 per. I grabbed them up, having read about the value of 5744 for reduced loads. Classic Arms has been owned by the Evanoff family for the past 50 years and are great people to do business with.
I like the idea of the heavier bullet for deer. I hope that 5744 will yield a reliable, dependable, accurate round for the 180 gr. bullets the RCBS mould gives me.
If anyone has any data, or any experience with 5744 and reduced loads with heavy bullets in the 7mm-08, please advise me. I am willing and eager to be "schooled." Or, if anyone has experience with 175 gr. or heavier bullets in the 7mm-08, please share your insights and experience.
I thank you all in advance for any direction you may give.
God bless you and your families in 2015,
MichiganMike
I am the proud and happy owner of a Ruger Hawkeye Compact rifle in 7mm-08. For this rifle I have two moulds. The first is the Lyman #2660405. The second is the RCBS #82018.
The Lyman is a Loverin designed mould, round nose, which is intended to yield a 150 gr. bullet. For me, using WW, it gives 145 gr. bullets. The second is the RCBS #82018 which RCBS states will give up a 168 gr. bullet. For me, using Lyman #2 I consistently get 180 grain bullets. That's odd, but OK with me. And unlike the Loverin bullet, the RCBS has a meplate of .136" according to my caliper and tired old eyes.
As another contributor wrote in praise of the Loverin designed mould, it is consistently very accurate. In my Ruger it likes 28 to 30 grains of H4895. While 145 grains would be fine for Michigan deer at the range I would be shooting, I would like to develop a consistently accurate recipe for the 180 gr. bullet.
Thus far I have developed "OK" loads with H4350 and HBLC2. But they are not dependably, consistently accurate. What do I mean by lack of consistency? For example, I shot four 5 shot groups at 100 yards from a bench. I used H895, Varget, H4360 and BLC2. Typically Three of the rounds would be 2 MOA at or near target center. The other two would be wild, four inches high, or to the right. Or, the group would expand to 3 or 4 MOA. I loaded all of the rounds on the same day, using the same step by step process.
During a recent trip to Classic Arms, my local gunshop, I found two 1 lb. cans of Accurate 5744 sitting on the shelf, bearing a price tag of $30 per. I grabbed them up, having read about the value of 5744 for reduced loads. Classic Arms has been owned by the Evanoff family for the past 50 years and are great people to do business with.
I like the idea of the heavier bullet for deer. I hope that 5744 will yield a reliable, dependable, accurate round for the 180 gr. bullets the RCBS mould gives me.
If anyone has any data, or any experience with 5744 and reduced loads with heavy bullets in the 7mm-08, please advise me. I am willing and eager to be "schooled." Or, if anyone has experience with 175 gr. or heavier bullets in the 7mm-08, please share your insights and experience.
I thank you all in advance for any direction you may give.
God bless you and your families in 2015,
MichiganMike