Arsenal 312-145 LFN "Elvis" - 300 BLK American Ranch

I’ve just started testing the Arsenal 312-145 LFN “Elvis” bullet in my Ruger American Ranch 300 BLK. I’ve had to size it at .308 in order to get it to chamber but haven’t seen any leading. Bullets are PC with Eastwood Maroon set COAL 1.975 in LC once fired converted brass with CCI 400 primers.

H4198:
Not much success with this powder and it was not a windy day. Tried 16.0 - 18.0 grains with velocity topping out at 1845fps, but groups were not impressive.

All the below tests were shot at 50 yards on a windy day which made it difficult to shoot groups due to the target swaying. The plywood backings at my range hang, which makes them vulnerable to wind and I’m sure my groups would have better on a less windy day as the target almost never came to a complete rest.

CFE BLK:
Shot loads from 17.0 - 18.2 but chronography flaked on me, so don’t have that data and plan to repeat tests.

Accurate 1680:
Shot loads from 17.0 - 18.4 grains with the best results at 18.0 grains with 1.25 inch group. I didn’t see velocity increase above 18.0 grains and SD & ES jumped.
18.0gr - 1850fps, 12.3 SD, 30 ES

Lil’Gun:
Shot loads from 13.6 - 15.0 grains with good best results at 14.6 to 15.0 grains.
14.6gr - 2003 fps, 18.2 SD, 42 ES Group: 1.4 inch
14.8gr - 2053 fps, 12.8 SD, 35 ES Group: 2.5 inch
15.0gr - 2069 fps, 7.7 SD, 19 ES Group: 1.8 inch

Loaded up 50 of the 14.6gr Lil’Gun loads using neck sized only twice fired converted LC brass, to take the range with my son on Memorial Day. We didn’t shoot groups, but drilled a 2 1/2 inch steel plate at 50 yards consistently, so accuracy appears to be good enough for my purposes.

Still have a few more powders in my cabinet to play with and want to redo the CFE BLK test to get some chronograph numbers. 1st time loading for 300 BLK and overall happy with the results so far.

Attachment 221328

H110/w296 works best for my PB 145gr in the BO, I get 2100 @ 16gr., normally load to 15 as PP get loose pretty fast. Lgun burns pretty hot I've heard.

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Originally Posted by popper

H110/w296 works best for my PB 145gr in the BO, I get 2100 @ 16gr., normally load to 15 as PP get loose pretty fast. Lgun burns pretty hot I've heard.

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I have some H110 in my cabinet already, which is the next powder I plan on trying. I was thinking of picking up some VV-N110 since I've had good success with VV-N135 & N140 in 223. I'll add w296 to my shopping list and give it a try as well.

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Originally Posted by Cleatus

I have some H110 in my cabinet already, which is the next powder I plan on trying. I was thinking of picking up some VV-N110 since I've had good success with VV-N135 & N140 in 223. I'll add w296 to my shopping list and give it a try as well.

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W296 from my understanding is the same powder as H110 so dont waste yout time if you already have H110. Same thing with HP38 and W231, same powder.
H110 works fine for me under Lee 312-155 so it should work fine for you too. You'll just have to test accuracy and see how it works out for you.

How do you like the CFE blk? I haven’t heard a whole lot of talk about it on this forum mostly H110 and AA1680.

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Originally Posted by sutherpride59

How do you like the CFE blk?

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Groups where okay with CFE BLK for a windy day and moving target. I was hitting below bullseye so without the chrono data I'm guessing it was in the 1900 fps range instead of 2000 fps. I plan to redo CFE BLK and test H110 in the next couple of weeks if I can find the range time.