Forrest r
01-01-2021, 08:58 AM
Got this mold awhile ago (1 year +), a 3-cavity brass mold. Put in hp pins in all 3 cavities and cast up 1 pot of bullets & traditionally lubed and sized them. Used LBT blue + 45/45/10 on them and sized them to .310. They've been sitting ever since & I decided to finely give them a try. They mic'd out at just under .311" (grew over time) so I re-sized them and re-lubed them. I loaded them in mixed lc nato brass/308w and used H335 for a powder.
https://i.imgur.com/hF0W79K.jpg
I've used H335 in the past with the lee 312-160-tl bullet in the same rifle doing ladder tests. Was getting 2464fps for a 10-shot group using that lee bullet and 34gr of H335. I didn't both setting up a chronograph for this 1st outing with the mihec silhouette bullet. I did ladder tests with H335 32gr/33gr/34gr/35gr.
https://i.imgur.com/3tjTnMc.jpg
The 32gr/33gr/34gr loads were all measured outside to outside. The 35gr loads started to blow out with a couple fliers that really opened the group up. Interesting for the 1st testing/outing with this bullet that such a wide range of powder weights produced the same 10-shot groups @ 100yds. I'll be bringing a chronograph out with the next/2nd round of testing to get an idea of the "sweet spot" velocity/pressure wise of this bullet/rifle combination. Then I can move on to slower powders seeing what I can squeeze out of this bullet after establishing a baseline load.
Actually I was pretty impressed this bullet di as well as it did over such a wide range of loads using the same powder. I want to do head to head testing with what I consider the trifecta of my hv 30cal molds;
lee 312-160-tl VS Mihec silhouette VS The XCB
LEE ='s .990"OAL 161gr with gas check/lubed .700" from base to .308" on ogive
XCB =' .950"oal 166gr with gas check/lubeed .705" from base to .308" on ogive
Mihec Sil ='s 1"oal 175gr with gas check/lubed .750" from base to .308" on ogive
This Mihec silhouette bullet held it's own for it's 1st outing in a 308w producing 3 10-shot 2" groups @ 100yds doing 2400fps+. I'm looking forward to more testing.
https://i.imgur.com/hF0W79K.jpg
I've used H335 in the past with the lee 312-160-tl bullet in the same rifle doing ladder tests. Was getting 2464fps for a 10-shot group using that lee bullet and 34gr of H335. I didn't both setting up a chronograph for this 1st outing with the mihec silhouette bullet. I did ladder tests with H335 32gr/33gr/34gr/35gr.
https://i.imgur.com/3tjTnMc.jpg
The 32gr/33gr/34gr loads were all measured outside to outside. The 35gr loads started to blow out with a couple fliers that really opened the group up. Interesting for the 1st testing/outing with this bullet that such a wide range of powder weights produced the same 10-shot groups @ 100yds. I'll be bringing a chronograph out with the next/2nd round of testing to get an idea of the "sweet spot" velocity/pressure wise of this bullet/rifle combination. Then I can move on to slower powders seeing what I can squeeze out of this bullet after establishing a baseline load.
Actually I was pretty impressed this bullet di as well as it did over such a wide range of loads using the same powder. I want to do head to head testing with what I consider the trifecta of my hv 30cal molds;
lee 312-160-tl VS Mihec silhouette VS The XCB
LEE ='s .990"OAL 161gr with gas check/lubed .700" from base to .308" on ogive
XCB =' .950"oal 166gr with gas check/lubeed .705" from base to .308" on ogive
Mihec Sil ='s 1"oal 175gr with gas check/lubed .750" from base to .308" on ogive
This Mihec silhouette bullet held it's own for it's 1st outing in a 308w producing 3 10-shot 2" groups @ 100yds doing 2400fps+. I'm looking forward to more testing.